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 – 25 January 1875) was a violinist, composer and teacher from the Austrian Empire. Biography He was born on 23 March 1795 in Ústí nad Orlicí, Habsburg Monarchy (present day Czech Republic). He took violin lesson ...

and Josef Böhm and from 1854, a student at the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna with Georg Hellmesberger Sr. 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 ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (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 has evolved considerably in i ...

in Lübeck, Stettin, and Prague. In 1871 he joined the faculty at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and played viola in the

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

. 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 (or Dresden University of Music Carl Maria von Weber; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university school of music, university of music in Dresden, ...

). Rappoldi composed two

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

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'' (, 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 universally condemned by contempora ...

, 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