Franz Samohyl (3 April 1912 – 14 June 1999) was an Austrian violinist,

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 ...

of the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

and academic teacher.

Life

Born in Vienna, Samohyl began his musical education in 1929 at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

with and continued these studies from 1931 after passing the Reifeprüfung. He attended

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es for

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 ...

with Franz Mairecker from 1933 to 1935 and followed private studies with Ernst Morawec and

Arnold Rosé Arnold Josef Rosé (born ''Rosenblum''; 24 October 1863 – 25 August 1946) was a Romanian-born Austrian Jewish violinist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic for over half a century. He worked closely with Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler. ...

. In 1930, he founded the Vienna Philharmonia Quartet, with which he travelled abroad to England, Hungary, Italy and Germany. Samohyl was concertmaster of the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...

from 1932 and of the orchestra of the

Vienna Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

from 1934. From 1936, he was first violinist of the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, serving as its concertmaster in 1947. From 1946 to 1982, he taught violin and viola at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts (now the

) and was

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the Stringed Instruments Department from 1964 to 1972. In addition, he taught from 1964 to 1974 at the

Mozarteum University Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteum ...

. His students included

Michael Frischenschlager Michael Frischenschlager (born 31 October 1935) is an Austrian violinist. Life Born in Salzburg, Frischenschlager studied violin with Theodor Müller, André Gertler, Franz Samohyl and Yehudi Menuhin as well as conducting and musicology in Sa ...

, , Werner Hink, Thomas Kakuska, Bijan Khadem-Missagh, ,

Rainer Küchl Rainer Küchl is an Austrian violinist who was born in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Austria, 25 August 1950. Background He started to play the violin at the age of 11, and was admitted to the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, at the age ...

, , Gerhard Schulz, René Staar and .

Awards

* 1946: Appointment as professor at the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst * 1965:

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

* 1966: Mozart Medal of the Mozartgemeinde Wien * 1970: Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst I. Klasse * 1972: Silver * 1976: Großes Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich * 1977: Nicolai Medal in Gold for outstanding services to the

* 1980: Silbernes Komturkreuz des Ehrenzeichens für Verdienste um das Bundesland Niederösterreich * 1982:

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

* 1987: Goldenes * 1988: Goldene Ehrenmedaille of the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

References

External links

Franz Samohyl im Personenlexikon der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek
retrieved 6 August 2021 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samohyl, Franz Concertmasters of the Vienna Philharmonic Austrian music educators Austrian classical violinists Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure 1912 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Vienna