Davydov (Davidov) Karl Yulyevich (3 March [15 March] 1838, Goldingen [Kuldīga], Courland Governorate – 14 February [26 February] 1889, Moscow) — cellist, educator, composer, conductor, and musical figure.
Education & Musical Beginnings
Karl Davydov was born into a cultured family, he received a home education and, at age 16, entered the mathematics faculty of Moscow University. An avid musician even then, at 14 he gave his first solo concert in Moscow and composed early works including the opera Rudokopy and, in 1858, an overture and fantasia for four cellos and double bass drawn from his opera Caligula. In 1858 he graduated from Moscow University as a Candidate of Mathematical Sciences, but soon devoted himself entirely to music.
Training & Career
He studied cello with A. Schmidt and K. Schubert, and from 1859 composition with M. Hauptmann in Leipzig. From 1860 to 1862 he served as a professor at the Leipzig Conservatory and as concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Returning to Russia, he was solo cellist with the Italian Opera Orchestra in Saint Petersburg (1862–1882) and from 1862 to 1887 was a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, directing the cello, chamber music, orchestral, and opera departments; from 1876 to 1887 he served as its director.
A distinguished pedagog—founder of a Russian cello school—his students included A. Verzhbilovich, F. Muppert, A. Kuznetsov, N. Logavovsky, D. Vzul, V. Gutor, and others. He instituted scholarships, benefits, and a dormitory for poorer students. However, his reformist measures caused friction with the Russian Musical Society’s board, and he resigned as director in January 1887.
Musical and Public Life
Davydov was also active as a conductor and community figure; from 1874 to 1876 he was on the board of the Bryansk Rail-Rolling, Ironwork & Mechanical Plant. He was fluent in three foreign languages, an accomplished mathematician and mechanical inventor (his Moscow flat contained a model railway bridge of his own calculation), and was interested in botany.
After leaving the conservatory, he toured successfully in Germany, Italy, Vienna, and Warsaw. In autumn 1887 he toured central and southern Russia with the pianist–conductor V. Safonov, then returned to Germany. Critics praised his performances. He performed with virtuosi such as A. Rubinstein, A. Esipova, S. Taneyev, F. Liszt, C.-S. Saint-Saëns, and G. Bülow. His repertoire included sonatas and concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Rubinstein, Schumann, as well as his own works. He played on a Stradivari cello gifted to him by Count M. Y. Vielgorsky—dubbed “the greatest of all cellists of all times” by the count.
Davydov was acquainted with Tchaikovsky, who called him “the king of all cellists of our century,” as well as with Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. In 1888, despite suffering from angina pectoris, he organized chamber concerts in Moscow, including free performances for students. He fell severely ill in early 1889, and died on 14 February. He was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery; his grave is marked by a memorial crafted by R. R. Bach.
Composition & Legacy
As a composer, Davydov possessed significant talent and refined taste. Works include:
Four cello concertos (the first dedicated to his father; the second to Count Vielgorsky)
A symphonic poem The Gifts of the Terek (1872) and an orchestral suite
A half-completed opera Mazeppa (only the final act remained unwritten)
Four cello concertos
Solo cello pieces, including Fantasy on Russian Songs
Transcriptions for cello, especially of Chopin
A string quartet, quintet, sextet, and piano quintet
Romances for voice
As editor, he published School for Cello Playing (Leipzig: Peters) and edited Beethoven and Schumann quartets for Breitkopf in Leipzig. His contributions to Russian performance art are ranked alongside those of Anton Rubinstein and Leopold Auer.
Select Works
Four Cello Concertos
Symphonic Poem The Gifts of the Terek
Orchestral Suite
Fantasy on Russian Songs for cello & orchestra
Piano Quintet; various chamber works
Songs & romances
References
L. Ginzburg, К.Ю.Давыдов./ K. Y. Davydov, Moscow–Leningrad
L. Ginzbourg, Гинзбург Л.С. История виолончельного искусства./History of Cello Art, Moscow 1965, vol. 3, pp. 17–121
V. Gutor, Давыдов, как основатель школы виолонч игры./Davydov as Founder of the Cello School, Moscow–Leningrad 1950