Alexander Schneider
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Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the
Budapest String Quartet The Budapest String Quartet was a string quartet in existence from 1917 to 1967. It originally consisted of three Hungarians and a Dutchman; at the end, the quartet consisted of four Russians. A number of recordings were made for His Master's ...
.


Early life

Alexander (Sasha) was born Abram Sznejder. At 13, he almost died of
tetanus Tetanus (), also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'' and characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually l ...
after cutting his knee in an accident. The tetanus distorted his joints and recovery was long and painful. Sasha left Vilnius in 1924 and joined his brother Mischa Schneider in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
after securing a scholarship to study violin with Adolf Rebner, the principal violin tutor at the
Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...
.


Career

In 1927, Alexander became leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra in Saarbrücken. It was at this point that he changed his name. The conductor wanted him as leader, but wanted a German-sounding name. Abram took Schneider as a surname because his brother Mischa had already chosen it, and Alexander appealed to him as a first name. In 1929, he was appointed leader of the
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...
Orchestra in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. In 1932, he lost this job as a result of the ongoing Nazi campaign against Jews, and soon had to leave Germany.


Budapest String Quartet

At this time, the Budapest String Quartet, whose cellist was Sasha's brother Mischa, lost their first violinist. Although the quartet had not yet left Germany, they spent a lot of time out of the country, were self-employed, and the Nazis had not yet caught up with them. For Sasha to join them was an ideal arrangement all round. Their existing second violinist, Josef Roismann, switched to first and Sasha joined as second. This was because Roismann was already comfortable with the other players whereas Sasha would need time to learn their repertoire and style.Brandt, Nat (1993). ''Con Brio: Four Russians Called the Budapest String Quartet''.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
In 1934, the Nazis made threats to the quartet and they left Berlin for Paris the next day, never to return to Germany again – even on tour. When
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
broke out in 1939, they happened to be on tour in the United States. They all obtained permission to stay and from then on made it their base.


Independence

Later on, Schneider felt the need to develop himself as an independent musician, so he left the quartet in 1944, full of energy and ideas. He was offered a conductorship of the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
, and leadership of the
Pro Arte Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retir ...
and
Paganini Quartet The Paganini Quartet was an American string quartet founded by cellist Robert Maas and violinist Henri Temianka in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had ...
s but turned them down. He toured with
Ralph Kirkpatrick Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick (; June 10, 1911April 13, 1984) was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings. Life an ...
and he formed the Albeneri Trio with Benar Heifetz and
Erich Itor Kahn Erich Itor Kahn (23 July 1905 - 5 March 1956) was a German composer of Jewish descent, who emigrated to the United States during the years of National Socialism. Biography He was born in Rimbach in the Odenwald, the son of Leopold Kahn, a mathema ...
. In 1949, Schneider formed the Schneider Quartet to perform and record all eighty-three Haydn quartets. This was not completed because its sponsor, the Haydn Society, ran out of funds. The same year he recorded Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin (
BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...
1001-1006) for
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
. In Prades, Schneider studied with
Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
's death. He supported Casals in further Bach festivals at Prades and
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. Later he would conduct Casals' oratorio ''The Manger'' (''El Pessebre'') in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
,
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, during the ''Festival Casals de México'', recording it in 1973 in
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. Schneider was a very sociable man with a wide circle of friends. He worked hard to promote chamber music with free or subsidized concerts.


Return to the Budapest String Quartet

In 1956, the Budapest String Quartet persuaded Schneider to rejoin them. They had tried two other second violinists (Ortenberg and Gorodetzky), neither of them able to reach Schneider's high standards, and Roismann had refused to continue with anyone else. Schneider had remained in close contact with the quartet and he stood in for Ortenberg or Gorodetzky when they were ill. Now it was agreed the quartet would operate part-time with Schneider and he would continue his independent career. They finally disbanded in 1967.


New School, Brandenburg and Washington Square

Schneider was the artistic director of the Schneider Concerts at
the New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, from 1957 until his death. Under the auspices of the New School, Schneider and his manager, Frank Salomon, founded the New York String Orchestra Seminar, a year-end performance seminar for young string musicians in 1969. The musicians, in their teens and early 20s, are selected by audition, and those accepted pay no fee to take part in a intensive 10-day regimen of rehearsals, coaching sessions, workshops, and performances which culminates in an annual Christmas Eve concert at Carnegie Hall. During the time Schneider also joined forces as the conductor of the
Columbia Symphony Orchestra The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records for the purpose of making recordings. In the 1950s, it provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known conductors and recording artists to record using only compan ...
with the legendary
Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...
to record
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595 for Columbia Masterworks (ML 5013, 1957). Schneider played with a number of other chamber groups, among them his own string group, and the Brandenburg Ensemble. In 1975, he accompanied pianist
Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.
in
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's ''
Emperor Concerto The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, known as the Emperor Concerto in English-speaking countries, is a piano concerto composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven composed the concerto in 1809 under salary in Vienna, and he dedicated ...
'' with the
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Hebrew: התזמורת הסימפונית ירושלים, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Simfonit Yerushalayim'') is a major orchestra of Israel. Since the 1980s, the JSO has been based in the Henry Crown Symphony Hall, part o ...
in Israel. Schneider founded the Washington Square Music Festival in 1953, a free alfresco concert series specializing in chamber music for the enjoyment and education of his Greenwich Village neighbors. Now an international festival, it continues with his mission.


Recognition

Schneider received the
Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
in 1988.


Death

Schneider died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
in Manhattan, New York City, at the age of 84.Kozinn, Allan (February 4, 1993)
"Alexander Schneider, Violon Virtuoso, Dies at 84"
''The New York Times''.


References


External links



* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071225223232/http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3796&source_type=A Kennedy Center biography
"Farewell to the Budapest"
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''. January 10, 1969. (archived fro
the original
December 14, 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Alexander Lithuanian classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists Jewish classical violinists Jewish American classical musicians Concertmasters American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Hoch Conservatory alumni Lithuanian Jews 1908 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American classical violinists Kennedy Center honorees Lithuanian music educators