Hans Sitt

Hans Sitt (born Jan Hanuš Sitt on 21 September 1850, Prague – 10 March 1922, Leipzig), was a Bohemian violinist, violist, teacher, and composer. During his lifetime, he was regarded as one of the foremost teachers of violin. Most of the orchestras and conservatories of Europe and North America then sported personnel who numbered among his students.

Sitt was born in Prague the son of Anton Sitt (originally Szytt) the Elder (1819–1878), a prominent Hungarian-born violin maker. Sitt's musical talent manifested itself early and from all accounts, he could easily have enjoyed the typical career of a “wunderkind” had his parents chosen to exploit him, but they wisely refused this course. Instead, he was allowed to have a normal life and received a regular education at a gymnasium (high school) before being sent to the Prague Conservatory. There he studied violin with Moritz Mildner (1812–1865) and Antonín Bennewitz, and composition with Josef Krejčí (1821–1881) and Johann Friedrich Kittl (1806–1868) from 1861 to 1867. Subsequently, he pursued a successful solo career for a short time. Sitt was appointed concertmaster of the Breslau Opera Orchestra in Wrocław in 1867 at age 17, and in Chemnitz from 1873 to 1880. In addition, he was a conductor of repute holding positions with orchestras in France, Austria and Germany.

From 1884 to 1921 Sitt held the august position of Professor of Violin at the Leipzig Conservatory, and authored several important studies for violin and viola, some of which are still used. He was conductor of the Leipzig Bach Society (Bach-Verein Leipzig) from 1885 to 1903. Sitt played the viola in the Brodsky Quartet of Leipzig from 1883 to 1895 along with Hugo Becker, Julius Klengel, and founder Adolph Brodsky.

Besides his pedagogical works, Sitt wrote several pieces for violin and orchestra, including six concertos and a number of sonatas for various instruments. The only chamber music of his we have are two piano trios which were composed during the 1880s.

Sitt is responsible for the best-known orchestration of Edvard Grieg's Norwegian Dances, Op.35, an 1881 work for piano duet. His most prominent students include the composers Franco Alfano, Pablo Sorozábal and Frederick Delius, and the conductor Václav Talich. See: List of music students by teacher: R to S#Hans Sitt.

Hans Sitt's elder brother Anton Sitt the Younger (1847-1929) was also a noted professional violinist, and the concertmaster of the Helsinki Orchestral Society, who premiered most of the major orchestral works of Jean Sibelius.