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Austrian Jewish cellist, principal cello of the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Court (later State) Opera, member of the Rosé String Quartet.

Career Summary

Buxbaum studied cello at the Vienna Conservatory 1883‒87. He was for a while principal cellist of the Glasgow Symphony Orchestra, and pursued a solo career 1893‒1900. He was appointed to the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera orchestras in 1900, later becoming their principal cello and longest-serving member. He taught cello at the Vienna Conservatory (Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst) from 1903 to 1938. He was the Rosé String Quartet's cellist 1905‒21, and had a quartet of his own (with Robert Pollak as first violin). In 1938 the National Socialists removed him from his position with the Philharmonic and Opera, and also from his professorship at the Akademie. He emigrated to England in September 1938, where he played with the Rosé Quartet and Busch Quartet in exile, and was a soloist in London and elsewhere.

Buxbaum and Schenker

There are frequent references to Buxbaum in Schenker's diary throughout the 1920s. Schenker may perhaps first have made his acquaintance via Moriz Violin, who worked with Buxbaum as pianist, notably in the Violin‒Van den Berg‒Buxbaum Trio in 1925‒26. Schenker and Buxbaum were on friendly terms, and visited each other's houses with their wives. Buxbaum frequently sent Heinrich and Jeanette tickets for the Buxbaum Quartet and other chamber concerts, and the Schenkers also listened to Buxbaum performances on Radio Wien. In 1924, Schenker sent Halm's A major String Quartet to him for inspection and comment; and in 1929 he did likewise with Reinhard Oppel's String Quartet.

The diary gives ample evidence that the two men corresponded; however, no letters or postcards are known to survive.

Sources:

  • Mayrhofer, Bernadette, "Friedrich Siegfried Buxbaum," in Wiener Philharmoniker 1842 (website) http://wphwebsite.blob.core.windows.net/documents/Documents/pdf/NS/ns_mayr_ex_buxbaum_en_v01.pdf
  • Anderson, Robert Kinlock, "Rosé, Arnold," Grove Music Online

Contributor

  • Ian Bent

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Correspondence

Diaries