Sam Franko (January 20, 1857 – May 6, 1937) 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 and

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 ...

. He was the brother of violinist, conductor and

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

promoter

Nahan Franko Nahan Franko (July 23, 1861 - June 7, 1930) was an American violinist, conductor and concert promoter. His brother was violinist and conductor Sam Franko. Biography Franko was born in New Orleans on July 23, 1861. He studied the violin in Eu ...

. A native of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Franko studied the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, working with

Joseph Joachim 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 ...

and

Henri Vieuxtemps Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps (; 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th c ...

among others. Upon his return to the United States he joined the

Mendelssohn Quartet Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

, later working with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

. Franko soon grew disgusted with prejudice against American musicians, and created the American Symphony, made up entirely of American performers, in 1894. With this group he gave many American

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

s. Franko also taught violin and arranged 17th- and 18th-century music, and transcribed numerous pieces for the violin. His work with old music won him accolades from the German press. His autobiography, ''Chords and Discords'', was published in 1938, and he died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1937. The set of

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

s he wrote for Mozart's Violin Concerto in G-major K. 216 has become a standard part of the concert repertoire, more so than all of the numerous other cadenzas that have been written for this piece.

References

Bibliography

*David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of Concert Music''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.

External links

Sam Franko scores
(the composer's manuscripts) in th
Music Division
o

1857 births 1937 deaths Musicians from New Orleans American violinists American male violinists American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) {{US-violinist-stub