Jan Dahmen (30 June 1898 – 20 December 1957) was a Dutch violinist. He was the first

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

Staatskapelle Dresden The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (), or Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, created by order of Maurice, Elector of Saxony in 1548. Under communist East Germany and until 1992 it was called Staatskap ...

and of the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

in Amsterdam.

Life

Born in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

, Dahmen came from a Dutch family of musicians of German descent. He was a student of André Spoor in The Hague and

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of ...

in Berlin.Nelly Backhausen, Axel Kjerulf (ed.): ''Musikkens Hvem-Hvad-Hvor. Politikens Musikleksikon''. Vol. 2: ''Biografier A–Q''. 2nd edition, Politikens Forlag, Kopenhagen 1950, . In 1916, he won a gold medal in The Hague.Anton van Oirschot (ed.): ''Encyclopedie van Noord-Brabant''. Vol. 1: ''A–F''. Market Books, Baarn 1985, . At the age of 21 (January 1920) he became concert master II under

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 ...

.Gerassimos Avgerinos: ''Künstler-Biographien: die Mitglieder im Berliner Philharmonischen Orchester von 1882–1972''. Self edited, Berlin 1972, . of the Berliner Philharmonischen Orchestra. He left the orchestra in August 1922. In 1922/23, he was primarius of the Dresden String Quartet. From 1924 to 1945, he was 1st concertmaster of the

, which was conducted during his term of office by

Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen to a musical family and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior posts in two G ...

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz, St ...

and Karl Elmendorff. Tours led him through Europe and to

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. As Primarius, he was the leader of the Jan Dahmen String Quartet from 1938 to 1943. He also taught at the orchestra school of the Sächsische Staatskapelle.

Ortrun Landmann Ortrun Landmann (born 11 May 1937) is a German musicologist. Life Landmann was born as daughter of the aircraft designer and university teacher in Szczecin. After her studies and doctorate at the University of Rostock she was a research assis ...

: ''Namenverzeichnisse der Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden: eigene Benennungen, Namen der Administratoren, der musikalischen Leiter und der ehemaligen Mitglieder von 1548 bis 2013, in systematisch-chronologischer Folge''. Vorgelegt 2013, updated and corrected annually since then (as of August 2017),
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. His students included among others Horst Förster, Folker Göthel, Henry Meyer, Erich MuckHans-Rainer Jung: ''Das Gewandhaus-Orchester. Seine Mitglieder und seine Geschichte seit 1743.''

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, Leipzig 2006, , . and Wolfgang Schulze). From 1946 to 1948, Dahmen was concertmaster of the

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; ) is a Swedish symphony orchestra based in Gothenburg. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen. The orchestra received the title of the National Orchestra of Sweden () in 1997. Ba ...

conducted by

Issay Dobrowen Issay Alexandrovich Dobrowen (; 9 December 1953) Itschok Zorachovitch Barabeitchik, was a Russian/Soviet- Norwegian pianist, composer and conductor. He left the Soviet Union in 1922 and became a Norwegian citizen in 1929. Biography He was bo ...

in Sweden. He was subsequently appointed Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra by

Eduard van Beinum Eduard Alexander van Beinum (; 3 September 1900 – 13 April 1959) was a Dutch conductor. Biography Van Beinum was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, where he received his first violin and piano lessons at an early age. He joined the Arnhem Orche ...

.Truus de Leur: ''Eduard van Beinum 1900–1959. Musicus tussen musici. Biografie''. Thoth, Bossum 2004, , .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahmen, Jan Concertmasters of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Concertmasters of the Berlin Philharmonic Concertmasters of the Staatskapelle Dresden Dutch classical violinists Dutch music educators 1898 births 1957 deaths People from Breda Musicians from North Brabant

Life

Further reading

References

External links