Alexander Schneider
Encyclopedia
Alexander Schneider was a violinist, conductor
, and educator. Born in Vilna, Lithuania
, he later moved to the United States
as a member of the Budapest Quartet
.
after cutting his knee in an accident. The tetanus distorted his joints and recovery was long and painful. Sascha left Vilna in 1924 and joined his brother Mischa Schneider in Frankfurt
, after securing a scholarship to study violin with Adolf Rebner
, the principal violin tutor at the Hoch Conservatory
.
In 1927, Alexander became leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra in Saarbrücken. It was at this point that he changed his name. The orchestra director wanted him as leader but wanted a German-sounding name. Abram took Schneider as a surname because his brother Mischa had already selected it. Alexander appealed to him as a first name. In 1929 he was appointed leader of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Orchestra in Hamburg
. In 1932, he lost this job as a result of the ongoing Nazi campaign against Jews - soon the time would come to leave Germany.
In 1934 the Nazis made threats to the quartet and they left Berlin for Paris the next day, never to return to Germany again - even on tour. When war broke out in 1939 they happened to be on tour in the United States. They all obtained permission to stay and from then on made it their base.
, and leadership of the Pro Arte
and Paganini Quartet
s but turned them down. He toured with Ralph Kirkpatrick
and he formed the Albeneri Trio with Benar Heifetz and Erich Itor Kahn
.
In 1949 Schneider formed the Schneider Quartet to perform and record all eighty-three of Haydn’s quartets. This was not completed because its sponsor, the Haydn Society, ran out of funds.
He studied with Casals in Prades
. There he persuaded Casals to participate in the 1950 Prades Festival to honour the two hundredth anniversary of Bach
’s death. At the occasion he recorded Bach's Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin (BWV 1001-1006) for Mercury Records. He supported Casals in further Bach festivals at Prades and Perpignan
. Later he would conduct Casals' oratorio The Manger (El Pessebre) in Guadalajara
, Jalisco
, Mexico
, during the Festival Casals de México, recording it in 1973 in Puerto Rico
.
Schneider was a very sociable man with a wide circle of friends. He worked hard to promote chamber music with free or subsidized concerts.
(New York City), from 1957 until his death. Under the auspices of the New School, Schneider and his manager, Frank Salomon, founded the "New York String Orchestra", a year-end seminar-performance for young string musicians, in 1969.
In addition to the Budapest Quartet, he played with a number of other chamber groups, among them his own string group, and the Brandenburg Ensemble.
He received the Kennedy Center Honors
in 1988.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, and educator. Born in Vilna, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, he later moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a member of the Budapest Quartet
Budapest Quartet
The Budapest String Quartet was a string quartet in existence from 1917 to 1967. It originally consisted of three Hungarians and a Dutchman; at the end, the quartet consisted of four Russians. A number of recordings were made for HMV/Victor through 1938; from 1940 through 1967 it recorded for...
.
Biography
Alexander (Sasha) was born Abram Sznejder. At 13 he almost died of tetanusTetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
after cutting his knee in an accident. The tetanus distorted his joints and recovery was long and painful. Sascha left Vilna in 1924 and joined his brother Mischa Schneider in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, after securing a scholarship to study violin with Adolf Rebner
Adolf Rebner
Adolf Franklin Rebner was an Austrian violinist and violist....
, the principal violin tutor at the Hoch Conservatory
Hoch Conservatory
Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium - Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on September 22, 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. ...
.
In 1927, Alexander became leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra in Saarbrücken. It was at this point that he changed his name. The orchestra director wanted him as leader but wanted a German-sounding name. Abram took Schneider as a surname because his brother Mischa had already selected it. Alexander appealed to him as a first name. In 1929 he was appointed leader of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
Orchestra in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. In 1932, he lost this job as a result of the ongoing Nazi campaign against Jews - soon the time would come to leave Germany.
Budapest Quartet
At this time, the Budapest Quartet, whose cellist was Sasha's brother Mischa, lost their first violinist. Although the quartet had not yet left Germany, they spent a lot of time out of the country, were self-exployed, and the Nazis had not yet caught up with them. For Sasha to join them was an ideal arrangement all round. Their existing second violinist, Josef Roismann, switched to first and Sasha joined as second. This was because Roismann was already comfortable with the other players whereas Sasha would need time to learn their repertoire and style.In 1934 the Nazis made threats to the quartet and they left Berlin for Paris the next day, never to return to Germany again - even on tour. When war broke out in 1939 they happened to be on tour in the United States. They all obtained permission to stay and from then on made it their base.
Independence
Later on, Schneider felt the need to develop himself as an independent musician so he left the quartet in 1944, full of energy and ideas. He was offered a conductorship of the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, and leadership of the Pro Arte
Pro Arte Quartet
The Pro Arte String Quartet was founded in Belgium in 1912, and transferred permanently to Madison, Wisconsin in 1941. After becoming the Court Quartet to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Pro Arte began the first of many international tours in 1919. Bartok, Milhaud and Honegger entrusted the...
and Paganini Quartet
Paganini Quartet
The Paganini Quartet was a virtuoso string quartet founded by its first violinist, Henri Temianka, in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari , had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini...
s but turned them down. He toured with Ralph Kirkpatrick
Ralph Kirkpatrick
Ralph Kirkpatrick was an American musician, musicologist and harpsichordist. He is most famous for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas.-Life and work:...
and he formed the Albeneri Trio with Benar Heifetz and Erich Itor Kahn
Erich Itor Kahn
Erich Itor Kahn was a German composer of Jewish descent, who emigrated to the United States during the years of National Socialism.-Biography:...
.
In 1949 Schneider formed the Schneider Quartet to perform and record all eighty-three of Haydn’s quartets. This was not completed because its sponsor, the Haydn Society, ran out of funds.
He studied with Casals in Prades
Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales
Prades is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is the capital of the historical Conflent comarca. Its inhabitants are called Pradéens.-Geography:...
. There he persuaded Casals to participate in the 1950 Prades Festival to honour the two hundredth anniversary of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
’s death. At the occasion he recorded Bach's Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin (BWV 1001-1006) for Mercury Records. He supported Casals in further Bach festivals at Prades and Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
. Later he would conduct Casals' oratorio The Manger (El Pessebre) in Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
, Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, during the Festival Casals de México, recording it in 1973 in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
.
Schneider was a very sociable man with a wide circle of friends. He worked hard to promote chamber music with free or subsidized concerts.
Return to Quartet
In 1956 the quartet persuaded Schneider to rejoin them. They had tried two other second violinists (Ortenberg and Gorodetzky), neither of them able to reach Schneider's high standards, and Roismann had refused to continue with anyone else. Schneider had remained in close contact with the quartet and he stood in for Ortenberg or Gorodetzky when they were ill. Now it was agreed the quartet would operate part-time with Schneider and he would continue his independent career. They finally disbanded in 1967.Other Work
Schneider was the Artistic Director of the Schneider Concerts at The New SchoolThe New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
(New York City), from 1957 until his death. Under the auspices of the New School, Schneider and his manager, Frank Salomon, founded the "New York String Orchestra", a year-end seminar-performance for young string musicians, in 1969.
In addition to the Budapest Quartet, he played with a number of other chamber groups, among them his own string group, and the Brandenburg Ensemble.
He received the Kennedy Center Honors
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
in 1988.