Ševcik, Otakar
Ševčik, Otakar
Ševčik, Otakar, noted Czech violinist and pedagogue; b. HoraŠdowitz, March 22, 1852; d. Pfsek, Jan. 18, 1934. He studied violin with his father, then at the Prague Cons. with Anton Bennewitz. From 1870 to 1873 he was concertmaster of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, then held a similar post in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. He was a prof. at the Prague Cons. (1892−1906). After teaching privately in Pisek, he was prof. of violin at the Vienna Academy of Music (1909–18), and then taught at the Prague Master School (1919–21); also gave master classes in the U.S. (1920, 1924, 1931), London (1932), and elsewhere. His method, in contradistinction to the usual diatonic system, is founded on chromatic progressions, especially valuable in securing both accuracy and facility. His most famous pupils were Jan Kubelik, Efrem Zimbalist, and Erica Morini. He wrote many pieces for solo violin.
Writings
Schule der Violine-Technik (1881); Schule der Bogentechnik (1895); Lagenwechsel und Tonleiter-Vorstudien (1895); Triller-Vorstudien und Ausbildung des Finger-Anschlages (1901); Doppelgriff-Vorstudien in Terzen, Sexten, Oktaven und Dezimen (1901); Violine-Schule für Anfänger (1904–08).
Bibliography
V. Nopp, Profesor O. S.: Žvot a dilo (Professor O. S.: Life and Work; Brno, 1948); O. ševl and J. Dost´;l, eds., O. S. (Prague, 1953).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire