GUSTAV DANNREUTHER
1853 - 1923
It becomes my sad duty to bring to the attention of
the Faculty the death of Mr. Dannreuther on Wednes-
day, December 19, from an attack of pneumonia. He
had been in his usual health the previous Friday
when he made his last teaching visit to the college
and was ill in all but three days.
Mr. Dannreuther was a musician of international re-
putation. Born (July 21, 1853) in Cincinnati, Ohio,
he finished his musical studies at the Hochschule
fur Musik, Berlin, Germany, under Joachim and de Ahne,
the two most celebrated German violin virtuosos and
teachers of that time. He began his professional
life in London, where his elder brother, Edward, was
professor at the Royal College of Music. In 1877 he
returned to America, and from then he has taken a
notable place in the cultivation of the taste for
chamber music in this country, having been a member
of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club in Boston, the lead-
er of the Philharmonic Club of Buffalo, the founder
and leader of the New York Beethoven String Quartette,
to which after a few years, he gave his own name and
which played a prominent part in the musical life of
the city until it disbanded in 1917. He was also a
member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during its
first years, and after he came to New York was at the
first desk of the Philharmonic Orchestra for many
years.
His first appearance at Vassar was on January 19, 1887,
as leader of the Beethoven String Quartette, and near-
ly every year after that he visited the college either
as solo performer or as a member of his quartette or
some group of Chamber musicians. The connection with
the college thus happily begun culminated in 1906
when he entered the department of music as teacher of
violin, a position he held until his death.
As a teacher he was an enthusiastic disciple of the
school of Joachim, faithful and painstaking, fond of
his pupils and spending freely of time and energy in
their behalf. He made valuable contributions to the
literature of violin teaching. His students recognized
the exceptional value of his instruction as well as the
charm of his manner and the breadth of his culture.
GUSTAV DANNREUTHER (Continued)
His deep interest in Vassar was shown by the gift,
in 1910, of his library of Chamber Music, with only
the proviso that he should retain in his possession
whatever music he desired to use until his death.
It is therefore to be expected that to the several
thousand pieces already on our shelves, there will
now be made additions and that the Dannreuther
Library of Chamber Music will serve to link perma-
nently his name with the college to which he gave so
much of his spirit.
George C. Gow
VII - 313-314