Strube, Gustav
Strube, Gustav
Strube, Gustav, German-American violinist, conductor, music educator, and composer; b. Ballenstedt, March 3, 1867; d. Baltimore, Feb. 2, 1953. He was taught the violin by his father, and later by Brodsky at the Leipzig Cons.; was a member of the Gewandhaus Orch. of Leipzig until 1891, when he emigrated to America. He was a violinist in the Boston Sym. Orch. from 1891 to 1913; also conducted the Boston Pops Orch. (1898; 1900-02; 1905-12); then taught theory and conducting at the Peabody Cons, in Baltimore (from 1913), where he also was its director (1916-46). In 1916 he was appointed conductor of the newly organized Baltimore Sym. Orch., which he led until 1930. He publ, a useful manual, The Theory and Use of Chords: A Textbook of Harmony (Boston, 1928).
Works
dramatic: Ramona (1916; later renamed The Captivé). ORCH.: Sym., “Lanier,” after Sidney Lanier (Washington, D.C., March 17, 1925, composer conducting); Sinfonietta (1922); Symphonie Prologue (Baltimore, April 24, 1927, composer conducting); 2 violin concertos (1924, 1930); Americana (1930); Harz Mountains, symphonic poem (1940); Peace Overture (1945). CHAMBER: 2 string quartets (1923, 1936); 2 violin sonatas (1923); Viola Sonata (1924); Cello Sonata (1925); Piano Trio (1925); Quintet for Wind Instruments (1930).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire