Hugo Kortschak
{{Short description|Austrian-born American violinist (1884–1957)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hugo Kortschak
| image = Hugo Kortschak 1913.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1884|02|24|}}
| birth_place = Goldwörth, Upper Austria, Austria
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1957|09|19|1884|02|24}}
| death_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
| nationality = Austrian-American
| citizenship = United States
| occupation = Violinist
| organization = Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Yale University
Manhattan School of Music
| criminal_charge =
| spouse = Alice Plaut (1884–1972)
| children = Alice Kortschak (1909–1995)
Hugo P. Kortschak (1911–1983)
}}
Hugo Kortschak (February 28, 1884 – September 19, 1957){{cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Hugo-Kortschak/6000000015034922879 |title=Hugo Kortschak |date=11 November 2016 |website=geni.com |access-date=1 January 2017 }} was an Austrian-born American violinist and a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1907 until 1914 (serving as assistant concertmaster from 1910 until 1914), founding member of the Berkshire String Quartet and Dean of Music at Yale University. His son was the plant physiologist Hugo P. Kortschak.
The Berkshire String Quartet was founded when music patroness Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge persuaded Kortschak to move his quartet from Chicago to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where its members could focus exclusively on chamber music. In his youth Kortschak was a member of the Pozniak-Trio founded by the Polish pianist Bronislaw Pozniak.
Kortschak was an owner of several fine violins, including:
- In 1914: a Joseph Guarnerius violin, once the property of the Crown Treasurer of Spain; and
- Period of ownership unknown: Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, 1739c
- From 1925 to 1957: a 1698 Stradivarius violin, once owned by Joseph Joachim and later Joan Field
Kortschak was an influential teacher in Chicago, Illinois. Ruth Scott Miller, the first female music critic of the Chicago Tribune, studied violin with Kortschak between 1912 and 1915, first in Chicago and then Berlin. She credited Kortschak and conductor Frederick Stock for inspiring her to become a concert violinist.
Kortschak was a key figure in organizing the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival founded by Coolidge. The original Berkshire String Quartet disbanded sometime after 1941.
Honors
Kortschak is a recipient of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for "eminent services to chamber music."
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (Kortschak is in Vol. 3 of 6), Macmillan; Schirmer
{{Space|4}}6th ed., Slonimsky (ed.) (1978); {{OCLC|4426869}}
{{Space|4}}7th ed., Slonimsky (ed.) (1984); {{OCLC|10574930}}
{{Space|4}}8th ed., Slonimsky (ed.) (1992); {{OCLC|24246972}}
Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians, Nicolas Slonimsky (ed), Schirmer (1997); {{OCLC|36111932}}
Biography Index, H.W. Wilson Co.; {{ISSN|0006-3053}}
{{Space|4}}Vol. 1: Jan. 1946–Jul. 1949 (1949)
{{Space|4}}Vol. 4: Sep. 1955–Aug. 1958 (1960)
The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, (Mata is in Vol. 3 of 4), H. Wiley Hitchcock & Stanley Sadie (eds.), Macmillan Publishers (1986); (see Oxford Music Online); {{OCLC|13184437}}, {{OCLC|230202868}}
{{Space|4}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/09/20/archives/hugh-kortschak-74-teacher-of-violin.html |title={{Sic|Hugh|hide=y}} Kortschak, 74, Teacher of Violin |newspaper=The New York Times |place=Honolulu |agency=AP |page=25 |date=1957-09-19 |publication-date=1957-09-20 |access-date=2024-08-14 |url-access=subscription}}
{{Space|4}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-man-who-gave-jack/153268837/ |title=Man Who Gave Jack Benny Violin Lessons Dies |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |place=Honolulu |agency=AP |page=18 |date=1957-09-19 |publication-date=1957-09-20 |access-date=2024-08-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{Space|4}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-advertiser-prof-kortschak/153268091/ |title=Prof. Kortschak, Violin Virtuoso, Dies at 73 |newspaper=Honolulu Advertiser |page=B7 |date=1957-09-20 |access-date=2024-08-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-topeka-daily-capital-berlin-as-seen/153267392/ |title=Berlin as Seen by Topeka Girl |newspaper=The Topeka Daily Capital |page=3 |date=July 13, 1913 |access-date=2024-08-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{Cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_ladies-home-journal_1925-01_42_1/page/25/mode/1up |title=Our Family Album |magazine=Ladies' Home Journal |volume=XLII |number=1 |page=25 |date=January 1925 |access-date=2024-08-14 |via=Internet Archive}}
}}
External links
{{Archival records|title=Hugo Kortschak Correspondence and Photographs |location= Music Division, Library of Congress|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu024008}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kortschak, Hugo}}
Category:American male classical violinists
Category:Yale University faculty
Category:Musicians from Chicago
Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States
Category:Classical musicians from Illinois
Category:20th-century American male musicians