OTD in Music History: Historically important Austrian-Jewish violinist Arnold Rosé (1863 - 1946) dies, in exile, in London. After completing his musical education at the Vienna Conservatory, Rose made his first appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1881 as the soloist in the Viennese premiere of Karl Goldmark's (1830 - 1915) Violin Concerto under the baton of Hans Richter (1843 - 1916). Shortly thereafter, Rose was engaged to serve as the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. He held that position for more than fifty years, during which time he worked closely with both Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) and Gustav Mahler (1860 -1911), the latter of whom was also his brother-in-law. In addition, Rose founded the celebrated "Rose Quartet" in 1882, and continued to lead it in various iterations until 1938. As the leader of the Rose Quartet, Rose participated in the Vienna premieres of several important chamber works, including Brahms's Quintet in G Major (Op. 111, 1890) and Clarinet Quintet (Op. 115, 1891). The Rose Quartet was also entrusted with the world premieres of Arnold Schoenberg's (1874 - 1951) 1st and 2nd String Quartets, and they participated (along with two additional members of the Vienna Philharmonic) in the 1899 world premiere of Schoenberg's celebrated String Sextet, subtitled "Verklarte Nacht" ("Transfigured Night"). From 1893 to 1901, Rose taught at the Vienna Conservatory; he later rejoined the faculty in 1908 and continued serving on it until 1924. In 1938, Rose wisely fled to London to escape from Nazi persecution, and spent his final years living there as an exile. After learning that his beloved daughter Alma had perished in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp at the age of 37 in 1944, the elderly Rose suffered a severe emotional breakdown from which he never fully recovered. When the Vienna Philharmonic publicly announced that it wished to reinstate him as its concertmaster shortly after the end of WWII, Rose pointedly refused the appointment on the grounds that "there are still 56 Nazis within the ranks of that orchestra." PICTURED: A real photo postcard of Rose, which he signed and dated for a fan in April 1929.
