Kneisel Hall has generously donated its archives to The Juilliard School library. Founded in 1902 in Blue Hill, Me. by the violinist Franz Kneisel, the summertime Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival has trained hundreds of gifted musicians in the art of chamber music performance. Kneisel (1865-1926) emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the invitation of Wilhelm Gericke to assume the position of concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. That same year he founded the Kneisel Quartet, which was initially comprised of the principal chair string players of the B.S.O.: Kneisel himself; Emanuel Fiedler, second violin; Louis Svecenski, viola; and, Fritz Giese, cello. In 1905 Kneisel and his fellow quartet members joined the inaugural faculty of the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard's predecessor institution, where he served as the chair of the string department.

Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival artistic director Seymour Lipkin and Juilliard librarian Jane Gottlieb examine the Kneisel Hall archives. (Photo by Lisa Yelon)

The Kneisel Hall Archives documents the history of the program since its founding a century ago. The collection, which is housed in 64 boxes, also includes Franz Kneisel's personal papers and memorabilia, as well as programs and papers of the Kneisel Quartet, which was in existence as an ensemble until 1917. The ensemble's personnel changed several times during its 32 years; in its final seasons the members were Kneisel, Hans Letz (second violin), Louis Svecenski (viola), and Willem Willeke (cello). All of these musicians were also members of the Institute of Musical Art faculty.

The quartet's members presented many significant premieres in their public concerts, including the world premiere in Boston of Dvorák's String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 ("American") in 1894, and the first U.S. performances of Brahms's String Quintet, Op. 111 (Boston, 1891); Bruckner's String Quintet in F Minor (Boston, 1916); Chausson's Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 30 (Boston, 1903); Enesco's Octet (New York, 1916); Fauré's Piano Quintet in D Minor, Op. 89 (New York, 1907); Ravel's Piano Trio in A Minor (New York, 1916); and Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht (Philadelphia and elsewhere, during the 1914-15 season). Although these works are now considered part of the standard repertory, at that time they were new to audiences. It was said that Kneisel felt it was his "duty" to perform "modern" music. The quartet also premiered and championed works of American composers, including Amy Beach, George Chadwick, Frederick Converse, Arthur Foote, Rubin Goldmark, Henry Hadley, Charles Martin Loeffler, Horatio Parker, and Emerson Whitmore.

Kneisel discovered the town of Blue Hill soon after his arrival in the United States. In 1902 he brought some of his students there for study, thus inaugurating the summer chamber music program. After Kneisel's death in 1926 the program's activities ceased until 1953, when the school was re-established by his daughter Marianne Kneisel, the pianist Arthur Balsam, the violinist Joseph Fuchs, and the violist Lillian Fuchs. Among the many other renowned musicians who performed or taught at Kneisel Hall over the years were Leopold Auer, Georges Barrère, Samuel Gardner, Sascha Jacobsen, and William Kroll. All of these musicians also taught at Juilliard.

Violinist Joseph Fuchs (1899-1997), who began studying with Kneisel when he enrolled as a student at the Institute of Musical Art in 1906, often spoke of his teacher's important influence on his own career. On the 50th anniversary of Kneisel's death in 1976, Fuchs wrote: "Franz Kneisel respected tradition, and he insisted that his students do likewise. As for myself, I like to think that I have carried on that tradition in my concert career as well as in my teaching. Without the tremendous influence of this man, my own ideas and ideals about music might have been quite different." A plaque commemorating Kneisel's tenure at Juilliard is found in Room 541, formerly Fuchs's teaching studio.

Kneisel Hall remains closely connected to Juilliard. Piano faculty member Seymour Lipkin is the festival's present artistic director. Other Juilliard faculty members who currently teach at Kneisel during the summer are Juilliard String Quartet members Ronald Copes and Joel Krosnick, and cellist Jerry Grossman.

The Kneisel Hall building on the Maine campus is filled with memorabilia, including portraits, programs, and photographs relating to the many famous musicians who were part of its distinguished history. The program's board of directors and administrators were concerned about properly preserving these and other historic documents on the Maine campus, and in 1999 they approached Juilliard to discuss moving parts of the collection here. Given the close connections between our institutions, we were very pleased to pursue this arrangement, and the Kneisel Hall Archives is now safely housed in the library's climate-controlled Peter Jay Sharp Special Collections Room. The library and archives staff will create special exhibits each summer for display at Kneisel Hall in Maine.

Lipkin, who has been working with the archival materials to create programs for Kneisel Hall's centennial season, said, "The records of Franz Kneisel and his quartet give us a unique and fascinating insight into the musical life of 100 years ago. We are very grateful to Juilliard for providing safety for this material and making it accessible for all who are seeking information about the era." And we are very grateful to Kneisel Hall for entrusting us with the care of these important documents.

Jane Gottlieb is Juilliard's associate vice president for library and information resources.