Editing Max Rostal

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name          = Max Rostal
|image         = 
|caption       = 
|background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=yes|1905|7|7}}
|birth_place   = [[Cieszyn|Teschen]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
|death_date    = {{death date and age|df=yes|1991|8|6|1905|7|7}}
|death_place   = [[Bern]], Switzerland
|occupation    = Violinist
|instrument = Violin, viola
|genre = Classical
}}
'''Max Rostal''' (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a [[viola]] player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Objekt-Metadaten @ LexM – Universität Hamburg |url=https://www.lexm.uni-hamburg.de/object/lexm_lexmperson_00002648}}</ref>

==Biography==
Max Rostal was born in [[Cieszyn]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Silvela|first=Zdenko|title=A new history of violin playing : the vibrato and Lambert Massart's revolutionary discovery|isbn=1-58112-667-0|location=New York|publisher=Universal Publishers|year=2001|pages=378|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXqBVbWm6tkC&q=rostal+1905&pg=PA378}}</ref> to a Jewish merchant family. As a [[child prodigy]], he started studying the violin at the age of 5, and played in front of Emperor [[Franz Josef I]] in 1913.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/4572-rostal-max|title = Rostal Max &#124; Virtual Shtetl}}</ref>

He studied with [[Carl Flesch]]. He also studied theory and composition with Emil Bohnke and [[Matyás Seiber]].<ref>M. Rostal, ''Violin – Schlüssel – Erlebnisse'', pp. 16–39</ref> He won the [[Mendelssohn Scholarship]] in 1925.<ref>{{cite book
|last= Schenk
|first= Dietmar
|title=Die Hochschule für Musik zu Berlin: Preussens Konservatorium zwischen romantischem Klassizismus und neuer Musik, 1869-1932/33
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clqVokEKBecC
|accessdate= 14 November 2010
|series=Pallas Athene. Beitrage zur Universitats- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte
|year= 2004
|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag
|location=
|language= German
|isbn= 978-3-515-08328-7
|page= 318
}}</ref> In 1930–33 he taught at the [[Berlin]] Hochschule, from 1944 to 1958 at the [[Guildhall School of Music]], and then at the Musikhochschule [[Köln]] (1957–82) and the Conservatory in [[Bern]] (1957–85). His pupils included [[Yfrah Neaman]], [[Igor Ozim]], [[Edith Peinemann]], [[Bryan Fairfax]], [[Lars Anders Tomter]] and members of the [[Amadeus Quartet]].{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} 

In 1945, in honour of Flesch, he co-founded what was later known as the [[Carl Flesch International Violin Competition]] with [[Edric Cundell]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Noël Goodwin|authorlink=Noël Goodwin |title=Rostal, Max |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |year=2001 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.23914 }}</ref>

Rostal played a wide variety of music, but was a particular champion of contemporary works such as [[Béla Bartók]]'s [[Violin Concerto No. 2 (Bartók)|Violin Concerto No. 2]]. He made a number of recordings. Rostal premiered [[Alan Bush]]'s Violin Concerto of 1946–8 in 1949.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Craggs|first=Stuart R|title=Alan Bush: a source book|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7546-0894-3|location=Aldershot, England|publisher=Ashgate|pages=66|
url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNHyBiEIbDgC&q=rostal&pg=PA54}}</ref> He was the dedicatee of [[Benjamin Frankel]]'s first solo violin sonata (1942),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Description Page of Frankel Sonata|publisher=Chester Novello|url=http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=12250|accessdate=7 November 2007}}</ref> and he also made the premiere recording. He commissioned the violin concerto by Bernard Stevens in 1943.<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Apr02/Max_Rostal_In_Memoriam.htm 'Max Rostal - In Memoriam', Symposium CD 1142/43, reviewed at ''MusicWeb International'']</ref>

Rostal played in a [[piano trio]] with [[Heinz Schröter]] (piano) and [[Gaspar Cassadó]] (cello), who was replaced in 1967 by [[Siegfried Palm]]. He edited a number of works for [[Schott Music]], and also produced piano reductions.<ref>A keyword search at http://www.schott-music.com turns up – after disabling fuzzy search –  16 items of sheet music – one, the ''Studie in Quinten'' for violin and piano (ISMN M-001-06487-3), of his own composition, but mostly edited by him. (Also two items in periodicals that are about his music-making or influence, but not by him.)</ref>

Rostal's daughter [[Sybil B. G. Eysenck]] became a psychologist and is the widow of the personality psychologist [[Hans Eysenck]], with whom she collaborated. Rostal died on 6 August 1991 in Bern, Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rcm.ac.uk/singingasong/featuredmusicianscategory3/maxrostal/ |title=Max Rostal |access-date=25 August 2024 |website=rcm.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Discography==
*[[Benjamin Frankel]]: Sonata No. 1 for solo violin, Op. 13 (1942) on Decca K 1178<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benjamin Frankel Website Discography|url=http://benjaminfrankel.org/?page_id=24|accessdate=18 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114134125/http://benjaminfrankel.org/?page_id=24|archive-date=14 November 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> <!-- choosing this instead of the violin concerto, as a legitimate recording. Though both now have competition on CD, even if the modern recording of the solo sonata has low distribution. -->
*[[Frederick Delius]]: Violin Sonata No. 2, Sir [[Edward Elgar]]: Violin Sonata, and Sir [[William Walton]]: Violin Sonata (1954 recordings, released 1955-7 on LP on Westminster), reissued on the Testament UK <!-- not [[Testament Records]] --> label, SBT1319 (2003).<ref name="t1319">{{Cite web|title=Description from Label Site of Testament SBT1319|url=http://www.testament.co.uk/shop/product/sbt1319.aspx|accessdate=18 October 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610204955/http://www.testament.co.uk/shop/product/sbt1319.aspx|archivedate=10 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Elgar Foundation Information for the Testament Delius/Walton/Elgar CD|url=http://www.elgarfoundation.org/trolleyed/2/10/index.htm|accessdate=18 October 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611035026/http://www.elgarfoundation.org/trolleyed/2/10/index.htm|archivedate=11 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> <!-- since the first reference could give the impression that they were performed, as well as released, in different years. -->
*[[Maurice Ravel]]: Sonate fur Violine und Klavier, [[Marcel Mihalovici]]: 2.Sonate fur Violine und Klavier op.45 Deutsche Grammophon SLPM 138 016, 1959.
*Violin concertos by [[Béla Bartók]] (No. 2), [[Alban Berg]], [[Bernard Stevens]], and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (No. 1) recorded between 1948 and 1962, released on CD on Symposium Records, UK<ref name="musicweb">{{Cite web|title=MusicWeb Review of Max Rostal in Memoriam CD|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Apr02/Max_Rostal_In_Memoriam.htm|accessdate=18 October 2007}}</ref> <!--note! gives birthyear as 1905. -->
*[[Franz Schubert]]: Fantasie in C major, D.934, [[Robert Schumann]]: Sonata A minor, Op. 105, [[Claude Debussy]]: Sonata, [[Igor Stravinsky]]: Duo Concertant, Symposium Records, UK
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]: Sonata in E minor (arranged by [[Howard Ferguson (composer)|Howard Ferguson]]), [[Heinrich Ignaz Biber|Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber]]: Passacaglia, [[Giuseppe Tartini]]: Concerto in G minor, Sonata ''The Devil's Trill'', [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]: Romances No. 1 and 2, Symposium Records, UK
*Franz Schubert: 3 Sonatas, Op. 137, No. 1-3, Rondo in B minor, Op. 70, D. 895, Sonata in A major, Op. 162, D. 574, Symposium Records, UK

==Media==
* [http://www.europarchive.org/item.php?id=lp-00944_BeG European Archive] Copyright free LP recording of Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata by Max Rostal (violin) and Franz Osborn (piano) at the European Archive (for non-American viewers only).

==Bibliography==
===Books===
*{{Cite book |last=Rostal |first=Max |title=Beethoven: The Sonatas for Piano and Violin: thoughts on their interpretation |year=1985 |others=Horace and Anna Rosenberg, translators, foreword by the Amadeus Quartet. With a Pianist's Postscript by [[Günter Ludwig]] and a History of Performance Practice by Paul Rolland |location=London |publisher=Toccata Press |isbn=0-907689-06-X}}
*Rostal, Max, ''Ludwig van Beethoven: Die Sonaten für Violine und Klavier, Gedanken zu ihrer Interpretation'', Mit einem Nachtrag aus pianistischer Sicht von Günter Ludwig, R.Piper & Co. Verlag, Munich, 1981
*Rostal, Max, ''Handbuch zum Geigenspiel'', unter Mitarbeit von Berta Volmer, [[Müller & Schade]] publishing house, Bern, 1993
*Rostal, Max, ''Violin – Schlüssel – Erlebnisse, Erinnerungen'', Mit einem autobiografischen Text von Leo Rostal, Ries & Erler, Berlin, 2007

===Editions===
*[[Heinrich Ignaz Biber|Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber]]: Passacaglia für Violine allein, London 1951, Bern 1984
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]: Sonaten und Partiten, Leipzig 1982
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]: Violinkonzert KV 218, Mainz 1967
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]: Violinkonzert KV 219, Mainz 1961
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]: Adagio KV 261, Mainz 1964
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]: Rondo KV 373, Mainz 1975
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]: Sonaten, München 1978
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]: Romanzen Nr. 1 and 2, Mainz
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]: Violinkonzert, Mainz 1971
*[[Franz Schubert]]: Rondo A-dur, Mainz 1964
*[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Peter Tchaikowsky]]: Konzert für Violine und Orchester, Mainz 1973
*[[Carl Maria von Weber]]: Rondo Brillant op. 62, Berlin 1930/1985
*[[Carl Flesch]]: Das Skalensystem, Berlin 1987
*[[Jacob Dont]]: Etüden und Capricen op. 35, Mainz 1971
*[[Pierre Rode]]: 24 Capricen, Mainz 1974
*[[Henryk Wieniawski]]: L'École moderne op. 10, Bern 1991

===Compositions===
*Max Rostal: Studie in Quinten, für Violine mit Klavierbegleitung, 1955
*Max Rostal: Studie in Quarten, für Violine mit Klavierbegleitung, 1957

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== See also ==
*[[List of émigré composers who came to live and work in Britain|List of émigré composers in Britain]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rostal, Max}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian people]]
[[Category:20th-century violinists]]
[[Category:Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Austrian violinists]]
[[Category:British violinists]]
[[Category:British male violinists]]
[[Category:Mendelssohn Prize winners]]
[[Category:British people of Austrian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Silesian Jews]]
[[Category:Austrian Jews]]
[[Category:People from Austrian Silesia]]
[[Category:People from Cieszyn]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln]]
[[Category:20th-century British musicians]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:20th-century British male musicians]]
[[Category:Jewish British musicians]]