Max Donner (22 May 1883/4 – 30 May 1962) was an American

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 ...

ist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

, and teacher of violin,

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 ...

, and composition.

Life and career

The son of Adolph and Bertha Donner, he grew up in New York City and studied violin with

Henry Schradieck Henry Schradieck (29 April 1846 – 25 May 1918) was a German violinist, music pedagogue and composer. He was one of the foremost violin teachers of his day. He wrote a series of etude books for the violin which are still in common use tod ...

. At age fifteen, Donner traveled to Europe and studied at Berlin’s

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

under Gustav Hollaender (violin) and

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...

(composition). At Stern, Donner was the first American to be awarded the Gustav Hollaender Medal. He then studied with

César Thomson César Thomson (18 March 1857 – 21 August 1931) was a Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer. Biography He was born in Liège in 1857. At age seven, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and studied under Désiré Heynberg, Rodolp ...

and

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Early years Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...

in Brussels, where he won first prize in violin at the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

. Following a tour of Europe as a violin soloist, Donner returned to the United States, where he continued to give recitals, including with

Ernestine Schumann-Heink Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 186117 November 1936) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American operatic dramatic contralto of German Bohemian descent. She was noted for the flexibility and wide range of her voice. Heink and Schumann were her two ...

. After playing violin in the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

from 1907 to 1908, Donner served as the

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

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

under the direction of conductor

Henry Kimball Hadley Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and conductor.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th edition, p. 692 Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, to a musical ...

. From 1918 to 1923, Donner was head of violin and ensemble at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

and director of the University Philharmonic Orchestra. He then moved to California, where he joined the violin section of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

and

Hollywood Bowl Orchestra The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (HBO) is a symphony orchestra that is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl. John Mauceri led the orchestra from its founding in 1990 ...

and taught violin, at one time heading the violin department of the

Los Angeles Conservatory of Music LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

. As a conductor, Donner worked with Los Angeles’ WPA Federal Symphony Orchestra, and led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances of his own orchestral compositions. He also gave composition lessons. In 1936,

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

premiered Donner’s ''Chinese Rhapsody'' with the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Franci ...

. Donner’s wife, Angeline, was a pianist with whom he had five children. She performed with him in recitals. Donner died in 1962.

Compositions

Early on, Donner published compositions for violin and piano with Carl Fischer, including a ''Sonata'' for violin and piano, Op. 40 (1908). In ''The Literature of Chamber Music'' (1997), Arthur Cohn writes of the sonata:

Donner's music has the darker aspects of
Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
's. It has strong melodic characteristics, and these are impressively detailed, always with the full sweep of violin lyricism and in dialogue and combination with rich textural material for the piano.

He also wrote violin concertos; orchestral works, including Lyster Symphony in D minor, symphonic poems, suites, and overtures; and additional chamber music.

Sheet music collection

Donner’s manuscripts and music collection are contained in the Max Donner Collection of Sheet Music at the

University of Tennessee, Knoxville The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, two years before Te ...

References

External links

Max Donner
at Find a Grave
Max Donner Collection of Sheet Music
at Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville * Free scores by Max Donner at the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project uses MediaWiki software, and ...

(IMSLP) {{DEFAULTSORT:Donner, Max 1962 deaths 20th-century American classical violinists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American male musicians American male conductors (music) American male classical violinists Concertmasters Violin educators Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni Classical musicians from California Classical musicians from New York (state) Musicians from New York City Musicians from Los Angeles Composers for violin Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Year of birth uncertain Players of the Los Angeles Philharmonic