Leopold Jansa

Leopold Jansa ( born March 23, 1795 in Wild sword, Bohemia, † 24 January 1875 in Vienna) was a Czech- Austrian violinist and composer who primarily made ​​his name as a musician in a string quartet and as a teacher.

Life

Leopold Jansa, the son of a clothier received early Jan Jahoda, the local school teacher vocal and instrumental lessons. For his cousin, the organist Jan Zizius he learned to play the organ. On the violin Jansa initially remained a self-taught. He completed his education from Brno and moved in 1817 to Vienna, where he first took up the study of law. However, this he broke off after two years and devoted himself entirely to music. Through intensive study to Jansa became the excellent violinist, in addition to the virtuoso Josef Mayseder and Joseph Böhm certainly could exist. Additionally, however, he also took composition lessons with Emanuel Forster and created a series of violin works.

1823 Jansa got the job of a chamber virtuoso in the chapel of Count Brunswik in Hungary, but returned after about a year returned to Vienna, where he had a job at the kk Court orchestra found.

1834 the function of music director, he was transferred to the University of Vienna and in the same year Jansa also tried in Vienna since Ignaz Schuppanzigh Death ( 1830) fallow quartet tradition to revive, but initially with little success. After another failed attempt in 1836, succeeded to the Jansa Quartet until 1845 to carry out regular public concert series annually.

Previously worked as a private violin teacher, Jansa 1847 finally appointed professor at the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music. Among his most important students were Wilhelmina Neruda (later Norman or Hallé ) and Karl Goldmark.

On the occasion of the 1848 revolution apparently sympathizing with the rebels, he took in 1849 in London at a charity concert for refugees Hungarian revolutionaries in part, why he lost his positions in Vienna and 1850, also emigrated to England. There he was almost two decades successful as a violin teacher. Pardoned in 1868 by the Austrian Emperor after the double state was founded and given a grace inn, Jansa returned to Vienna, where he performed in public for the last time in 1871. He died in 1875 at the age of 80 years.

Jansa left a considerable number of compositions, most in the style of high romance but without marked originality. In addition to four violin concertos, sonatas, trios, quartets, etc. included some relevant arrangements that had emerged over the years in Vienna and London.