Arnold Rosé

Arnold Josef Rosé (born Rosenblum; 24 October 1863 – 25 August 1946) was a Romanian-born Austrian Jewish violinist.

Arnold Rosé was born in Jassy, United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (now Iași in Romania).

As he and his three brothers showed musical potential then the family moved to Vienna, where his father established a thriving business as a carriage builder.

Arnold began his musical studies at the age of seven, and at ten he entered the first class in violin at the Vienna Conservatory, receiving instruction from Carl Heissler.

They had two children, Alfred (1902–1975), who became a pianist and conductor; and Alma (1906–1944), a successful violinist and orchestra leader, who in July 1943 was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and was murdered there.

Unable to continue living under Nazi occupation, he left Vienna four weeks later and travelled via the Netherlands to London, where he spent the last six years of his life.

In January 1946, the Vienna Philharmonic "wished to reinstate" Rosé as concertmaster but he refused, saying in February that "56 Nazis remained in the Vienna Philharmonic"[2] – an estimate his son believed to be far too high, but now known to be close to the actual number of 50 (60 had been members during World War II, and after the Allied victory, the orchestra expelled 10 members for their Nazi activities).

On the occasion of his 60th birthday, he received the honorary title of Hofrat (Court Counsellor) which was a professional rank above “Professor”.

He received numerous other awards from the Habsburg, Spanish and Italian courts, the Republic of Austria, and the city of Vienna.