Eduard Rappoldi, real name Eduard Rappold (21 February 1839 – 16 May 1903) was an Austrian violinist and composer.

Life

Born in Vienna, Rappoldi played piano and violin as a child, and was already performing his own compositions at the age of seven. He was a pupil of

Leopold Jansa Leopold Jansa (23 March 1795, Wildenschwert ( cs, Ústí nad Orlicí), far north-east Bohemia, Austrian Empire – 25 January 1875, Vienna) was a Bohemian violinist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Wildenschwert, Austria-Hungary (present d ...

and Josef Böhm and from 1854, a student at the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna with

Georg Hellmesberger Sr. Georg Hellmesberger Sr. (24 April 1800Zwei lexikalische Werke (ÖBL, Czeike) geben das Geburtsdatum mit 24. Februar 1800 an. – 16 August 1873) was an Austrian violinist, conductor, and composer. He was born in Vienna. His first music lesson wa ...

Rappoldi was a member of the orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera from 1854 until 1861. After a time (1861–66) as concert master of the Deutschen Oper in Rotterdam he was

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

in Lübeck, Stettin, and Prague. In 1871 he joined the faculty at the

Königliche Hochschule für Musik The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

in Berlin and played viola in the

Joachim Quartet Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

. In 1877 Rappoldi left Berlin for Dresden, where he was concert master of the Dresden Königliche Kapelle until 1898, and königlichen-sächsischen Professor at the Dresden Conservatory (today the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber The Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber (Carl Maria von Weber College of Music; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university of music in Dresden, Germany. History The Hochschule opened ...

). Rappoldi composed two

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

s, small symphonies and sonatas for violin and piano, as well as about 30 songs. Rappoldi was important as a string quartet player. He led a quartet in Rotterdam and in Dresden. With the latter quartet he gave a performance of all of the Beethoven quartets (including the

Grosse Fuge The ''Grosse Fuge'' (German spelling: ''Große'' ''Fuge'', also known in English as the ''Great Fugue'' or ''Grand Fugue''), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. An immense double fugue, it was ...

, Op. 133) as a cycle during the 1888–89 season and in 1892–93. The more famous

performed the Beethoven cycle for the first time fifteen years later in 1903, and they never included the Grosse Fuge. In 1870, he met the pianist Laura Kahrer (1853-1925), whom he married four years later. They had five children, one of which was the violinist Adrian Rappoldi (1876–1948). Rappoldi died in Dresden at the age of 64.

References

External links

* Uwe Harten, Art. "Rappoldi, Ehepaar", in: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online, begr. von Rudolf Flotzinger, hg. von Barbara Boisits (letzte inhaltliche Änderung: 9 December 2020, retrieved 3 December 2022), https://dx.doi.org/10.1553/0x0001de74 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rappoldi, Eduard Austrian composers Musicians from Austria-Hungary 1839 births 1903 deaths Musicians from Vienna