Max Brode

Born in Berlin as the youngest son into a simple Jewish family, Brode was taught to play the violin at an early age by his father.

When Anton Rubinstein heard him there, he advised Brode against a concertmaster position at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

11 in the Hungarian style[1] Concerts in Aachen, Augsburg, Vienna, Stuttgart and Frankfurt made Brode famous.

He put together a small orchestra from his pupils and cellists, in which the winds were initially replaced by four-hand piano playing.

Max Staegemann established the tradition of demanding symphony concerts in Königsberg and entrusted Brode with important soloist tasks as a violinist.

After the University of Königsberg, Brode was appointed academic teacher of the history and theory of music in 1888, he encouraged the founding of a student Choir, of which he became the director.

When he was entrusted with the Singakademie, directed by Constanz Berneker, in 1892, he was able to set about performing large choral works for the first time.

He bought his last Stradivarius in Saint Petersburg from a Baron Vietinghoff for 6000 Marks - without playing it or checking its tone.

In his second marriage he was married to Ellida née Wittich, who stood by him faithfully until the sudden end of his life and gave him three children, Emilie, Franz, and Marie.

A detailed obituary of Brode appeared on 20 January 1918 in the Sunday edition of the Königsberger Hartungsche Zeitung [de].