Alexander Rosenzweig

Alexander Rosenzweig was born around 1858 in Gran (then part of the Austrian Empire, today Esztergom in Hungary). In 1867, at the age of nine, he enrolled at the conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, where he studied violin and composition. His musical education was financially supported by Gustav Ritter von Eppstein, a Viennese banker and director of the Austrian National Bank. In 1869 Rosenzweig received a scholarship that enabled him to continue his studies.
A newspaper report from 1870 noted that Rosenzweig received second place in a violin competition at the conservatory, behind Bertha Haft, who won first prize, and sharing second place with Alois Bruck. In 1874 he again distinguished himself in a conservatory competition, winning second prize in the violin category among third-year students. The jury included the distinguished violinist and concert director Joseph Hellmesberger. Rosenzweig completed his studies in 1877.
He subsequently worked as a violinist in the orchestra of the Burgtheater in Vienna, a position in which he appears to have remained for several decades. By 1880 he had evidently already established a certain reputation in Viennese musical circles. In that year the newspaper Esztergom és Vidéke described him as an artist who “already enjoys artistic renown in the musical scene of Vienna” and announced that he would soon give a concert in his hometown of Esztergom. The concert, however, apparently did not take place, since no subsequent report of the event has been found. This is also the only known mention of Rosenzweig returning to Esztergom, suggesting that visits to his hometown were probably infrequent.
Rosenzweig was also closely associated with Alexander von Zemlinsky, Edmund Eysler and the music critic Max Graf. The four friends regularly met at Rosenzweig’s apartment in the Zirkusgasse in Vienna, where they performed chamber music together and discussed contemporary musical life.
No information has so far been found concerning the date or place of Alexander Rosenzweig’s death.

In my possession is the autograph manuscript "Quartett (A dur) für Pianoforte, Violine, Viola und Violoncell" by Alexander Rosenzweig. The work was composed in 1892 and is numbered op.5. I have no information about a performance of the work. Maybe the quartet Rosenzweig, Zemlinsky, Eysler and Graf played it at one of their chamber music sessions.

I have also no information about other compositions by Alexander Rosenzweig, none of his works was ever published.