Karl Heinrich Felix Berber (11 March 1871 – 2 November 1930) was a German violinist.

Life

Born in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, Berber was the youngest child of music and art-loving parents. He spent the first part of his childhood in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, where the family moved soon after his birth. In

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, where his parents had moved again, he received

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

lessons from the age of 7. Already at the age of nine, he made his first public appearance as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

in 1880. He was then a pupil at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber and with Adolph Brodsky at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. He gave his first major concerts at the age of 13. On the recommendation of

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

, Berber concentrated solely on music after the death of his father. In 1889 he studied in London. From 1891 to 1896, Berber was

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, but then went on concert tours through Europe in 1896 and 1897, and also gave guest performances in Russia. In 1897 and 1898, he worked in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

and from 1898 until 1903 he was first concertmaster of the Gewandhausorchester in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

under the direction of

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungary, Hungarian conducting, conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter ...

. In 1904, he was appointed for the first time as a teacher for violin at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts music school, conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, locate ...

. In 1907, he succeeded Hugo Heermann 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 ...

in Frankfurt, where he founded his "Museumsquartett". In 1908, he finally went to the Conservatoire de musique de Genève as successor of Henri Marteau. After a concert tour through the US, Berber returned to the Munich Musikhochschule in 1913. His teaching activities were interrupted by the First World War, in which he participated as an active officer. Together with his academy colleagues Valentin Härtl (

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

), Johannes Hegar (

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

) and Anton Huber (violin) he formed the Berber Quartet in Munich in 1917. In 1920, he was appointed full professor at the Munich Academy of Music. In his musical work, Berber combined the qualities of a virtuoso soloist with the skills of a disciplined

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

ians, and he was also an ideal teacher. He played together with

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

and was a pioneer for Max Reger and Hans Pfitzner. On 25 September 1918, he gave the world premiere of his ''Sonata in E Minor'' (op. 27) with Pfitzner himself at the founding event of the "Hans-Pfitzner-Verein". With his

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 ...

, Brahms- and Reger- cyclus he secured the reputation of Munich's musical life far beyond the borders of Germany. Berber was married to the cabaret artist and

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

singer Lucie Thiem. Their daughter was the dancer and actress

Anita Berber Anita Berber (10 June 1899 – 10 November 1928) was a German dancer, actress, and writer who was the subject of an Otto Dix painting. She lived during the time of the Weimar Republic. Early life Berber was born in Leipzig to the violinist Feli ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berber, Felix German male classical violinists Concertmasters of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Munich 1871 births 1930 deaths Musicians from Jena

Life

Further reading

References

External links