Ferdinand David
Compositions for: Piano
Bunte Reihe, Op.3012 Salonstücke, Op.24Concert-Studien für Violine5 Salonstücke, Op.28CapricenKammerstücke, Op.36Nachklänge, Op.413 Impromptus en forme de valse, Op.40Salon-Duett über ein Lied von Ed. Haase, Op.25Variations de concert sur un thème original, Op.18Introduction et variations brillantes sur un thème original, Op.197 Stücke for Cello, Op.34Aus der Ferienzeit, Opp.46-50LiebesschwurArrangements for: Piano
25 Etüden, Capricen und Charakterstücke, Op.39Trombone ConcertinoBunte Reihe, Op.30Andante and Scherzo capriccioso, Op.16Bassoon Concertino, Op.12Concert-Polonaise, Op.22Introduction et variations sur 'Lob der Tränen', Op.15Introduction et variations sur un air écossais, Op.21Introduction et variations sur un thème de Franz Schubert, Op.8Introduction et variations sur un thème original, Op.13Introduction et variations sur un thème russe, Op.6Introduction et variations sur ‘Je suis le petit tambour’, Op.5Violin Concerto No.1, Op.10Violin Concerto No.2, Op.14Violin Concerto No.3, Op.17Violin Concerto No.4, Op.23Violin Concerto No.5, Op.35WikipediaFerdinand Ernst Victor Carl David (German: [ˈdaːvɪt]; 19 June 1810 – 18 July 1873) was a German virtuoso violinist and composer.
Born in the same house in Hamburg where
Felix Mendelssohn had been born the previous year, David was raised Jewish but later converted to Protestant Christianity. David was a pupil of
Louis Spohr and
Moritz Hauptmann from 1823 to 1824 and in 1826 became a violinist at Königstädtischen Theater in Berlin. In 1829 he was the first violinist of Baron Carl Gotthard von Liphardt's (father of Karl Eduard von Liphart) string quartet in Dorpat and he undertook concert tours in Riga, Saint Petersburg and Moscow. In 1835 he became concertmaster (Konzertmeister) at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig working with Mendelssohn. David returned to Dorpat to marry Liphart's daughter Sophie. In 1843 David became the first professor of violin (Violinlehrer) at the newly founded Leipziger Konservatorium für Musik. David worked closely with Mendelssohn, providing technical advice during the preparation of the latter's
Violin Concerto in E minor. He was also the soloist in the premiere of the work in 1845, and, with
Clara Schumann, played the official premiere of Schumann's first violin sonata in Leipzig in March 1852. After F. Mendelssohn's sudden death, David was assigned Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. A duty he fulfilled 1841–1842 and 1852–1854. He died suddenly in 1873, aged 63, while on a mountain excursion with his children, near Klosters in the Graubünden (Grisons) area of Switzerland.
David's own compositions number about 50 opuses. They include 12 "theme and variations" pieces for violin and orchestra, five violin concertos, a string sextet, "concertinos" for violin, bassoon, clarinet, trombone and orchestra, and a number of lieder. Supposedly he also wrote two symphonies and an opera (Hans Wacht, 1852). Unfortunately, these have not been verified to have been preserved. David's most played piece today is without a doubt his
Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra (Op.4). This piece is very often used as the obligatory piece for trombonists auditioning for symphony orchestras around the world.
He made an arrangement for violin and piano of
Niccolò Paganini's
24 Caprices for Solo Violin, which was the version used for the world premiere integral recording of the Caprices, by Ossy Renardy and Walter Robert in 1940, the centenary of Paganini's death; this was seven years before Ruggiero Ricci made the first recording of the original solo violin version.
The Chaconne in G minor attributed to
Tomaso Antonio Vitali was published for the first time from a manuscript in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden in David's well renowned violin-method Die Hohe Schule des Violinspiels (1867). He also wrote an often used version of the cadenza for
Beethoven's violin-concerto, used by 12-year old
Joseph Joachim at the revival-concert of this piece in 1844, under Mendelssohn.
David played on a 1742 Guarneri violin, which later became the main performance violin for Jascha Heifetz. The David Guarneri violin is now in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; it is on permanent loan to Alexander Barantschik who has showcased it with the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Academy Orchestra.
On the recommendation of
William Sterndale Bennett, with whom he had worked in Leipzig, David's son Paul David became the first Director of Music at Uppingham School from 1864–1908.
In 1835, the year that F. Mendelssohn was assigned Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, there was an audition for the Konzertmeister position. To have a comparison of F. David's skills at the time, one of the other applicants was
Karol Lipiński, the Polish virtuoso. Most probably, the childhood connection between David and Mendelssohn secured Mendelssohn choice to assign David as the Konzertmeister.