Gruenberg, Eugene

1854-

Violinist, teacher and writer; born at Lemberg, Galicia; was a pupil of the Vienna Conservatory, studying violin under Heissler, composition under Bruckner and Dessoff, and orchestral and chamber-music under Hellmesberger. Soon after his graduation he played in the Vienna Court Orchestra, and about 1881 became a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipsic, where he lived till 1891. He then came to America, where he played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra for seven years, and succeeded Eichberg at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he taught violin for several years. Upon his resignation from the Boston Symphony Orchestra he became teacher of violin, viola, and ensemble-playing at the New England Conservatory. His work as a violin-player covers a quarter of a century under the best conductors of Germany and America. At the City Theatre in Leipsic he conducted the performance of his ballet, Tanzbilder, and at the Gewandhaus, of his symphony in A minor. Other compositions are a so nata for violin and piano; a suite for violin and piano; two ballet scenes; a cadenza to Brahms' violin concerto; a number of dances and songs; and studies for violin. He has also written articles for various periodicals; The Violinist's  Manual; and a Theory of Violin-Playing. In conjunction with Adamowsky he was conductor of summer popular concerts in the Boston Music Hall. Gruenberg is said to be agreeable in personality, inclined to be a society man, but serious in his art, nevertheless.