Joseph Achron, the composer, created his first melody on a home-built violin at the age of two.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Achron's 'Stimmungen' (German for 'moods') focus on a single theme and mood, unlike typical classical compositions with contrasting themes.
Composition History
Achron's most famous work, the Hebrew Melody, Op. 33, was sketched in half an hour after he was inspired by the idea of a Jewish style in classical music.
Critical Reception
Despite Arnold Schoenberg's prediction that Achron's music would remain in the repertoire, his works largely fell into obscurity due to economic upheaval, Nazi blacklisting, and a lack of interest in Jewish classical music in America.
Cultural Impact
The character Stempenyu, an itinerant klezmer violinist from a Sholem Aleichem story for which Achron composed incidental music, may have inspired Marc Chagall's famous painting of a fiddler on the roof.
Composer Biography
At ten years old, Achron performed for the Czar's brother and received a golden watch, which he cherished for life.
Composer Biography
Achron studied violin with Leopold Auer, a Hungarian pedagogue whose students included famous violinists like Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein.
