Dr. Sanna Pederson, University of Oklahoma
Lili Petschnikoff (1874-1957) was born Lili Schober in Chicago. She was the youngest daughter of German parents who moved to Berlin with her when she began studying at the Hochschule with Joachim. In her memoir, she admitted that “accepting this career was not of my own choosing; it was my dear mother who had placed … Read more
Soprano Sophie Heymann-Engel is giving a concert of lieder from the “15th-18th centuries,” and what is billed as the first performance of Bach’s “Coffee” Cantata, with bass-baritone Anton Sistermanns. There is a concert in memory of Ludwig Thuille, who was remembered on the Königliche Kapelle concert last week. It includes a variety of his works: … Read more
Easter Monday isn’t a holiday in the US, but it remains so in Germany. The only concert is a Philharmonic popular concert with concertmaster Anton Witek and principal cellist Joseph Malkin the soloists. Witek will become concertmaster for the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1912-1918 (under Karl Muck). Malkin will go on to be principal cellist … Read more
The lady violinist, “an exhibition of grace” <strong>The “Violin Girl” as a solution to the “Piano Girl”</strong> <br />Around 1890, English-language press started describing a trend in which women musicians were choosing the violin over the piano. “Violin playing is all the rage now, and is a welcome relief after the feminine piano banging one … Read more
Young women violinists from the United States made headlines such as this in the late nineteenth century. The most frequently profiled were Dora Valeska Becker (1870-1958), Maud Powell (1867-1920), Leonora Jackson (1879-1969), and Geraldine Morgan (1867-1918). While publicizing their very real achievements, these news items also emphasized their conventionally feminine charms. In the “American Girls” … Read more
While looking through the alphabetical list of musicians in Twenty-five Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra 1900-1925 by Frances Anne Wister, I was struck by the number of people in the orchestra who shared a last name. There are more than thirty pairs of these. Perhaps this wasn’t unusual. What about other orchestras? I can find … Read more
Joachim’s students as orchestral players Joachim was a critical force in the first decades of the Berlin Philharmonic. He contributed important administrative and organizational assistance and served as one of the <strong><a href=”https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/geschichte/anfang/#event-joseph-joachim-dirigiert”>main conductors</a> </strong>of the orchestra from 1882-1887. Perhaps just as importantly, his fame attracted string players to Berlin at a time when there … Read more