Ferdinand Laub


Ferdinand Laub was a Czech violinist and composer.

Life and career

Laub was born in Prague from a German Bohemian family which had assimilated into the ethnic Czech community. His father Erasmus arranged for Ferdinand's first public appearance at age six. His first solo concert was at age ten in the Stavovské divadlo. From 1843 to 1846, he studied at the Prague Conservatory. He began his adult career as a virtuoso in Vienna, at the imperial court. In 1850, he traveled across Europe with a series of exhibitions. He stayed for a longer time in Weimar and Berlin. From 1866 to 1874 he was professor of violin at the Moscow Conservatory, where his many notable students included Stanisław Barcewicz.
Laub was a well-admired violinist, winning awards all over Europe; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky called him "the best violinist of our time". He was the first violinist in the premiere performances of both Tchaikovsky's First and Second String Quartets, and the posthumous dedicatee of the Third of 1876. In January 1868, during Hector Berlioz's second trip to Moscow, Laub performed the solo viola part of his Harold en Italie at the Moscow Conservatory under the composer's baton.
In 1874, lung disease forced him to stop working. He was succeeded at Moscow Conservatory by Jan Hřímalý. He died on the way to a spa in Meran, in near Bolzano, and is interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery.
His son Váša Laub was also a violinist and composer.

Selected works

Concertante