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Leopold Auer (In Hungarian: ''Auer Lipót''), ( June 7 , 1845 – July 15 , 1930 ) was a Hungarian Violinist , teacher, Conductor and Composer . Auer was born in Veszprém . He first studied violin with a local concertmaster. He later continued his studies with Ridley Kohné in Budapest , Jacques Dont in Vienna and finally Joseph Joachim in Hanover . He settled in St. Petersburg and taught at the Conservatoire there from 1868 to 1917, taking over the position after the death of Cesare Pugni . During that time he was also lead violinist of the orchestra of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, which included the principle venue of the Imperial Balet and Opera, the St. Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (until 1886), and later the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre (until 1917), as well as the Imperial Theatre At Peterhof , and the Imperial Hermitage Theatre . For nearly 50 years, Auer performed almost all of the violin solos in the ballets performed by the Imperial Ballet , the majority of which were the work of the choreographer Marius Petipa . Many of the great ballet composers of the day, such as Cesare Pugni , Ludwig Minkus , Riccardo Drigo , Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov , wrote the violin passages of their scores especially for his talents. In 1918 he moved to the United States , eventually teaching at the Curtis Institute Of Music in Philadelphia . Auer is remembered as one of the most important violin pedagogues and as one of the most sought-after teachers for gifted pupils. He taught many violinists who later became famous, including Mischa Elman , Jascha Heifetz , Nathan Milstein , Efrem Zimbalist , Benno Rabinof , and Oscar Shumsky . A number of composers dedicated pieces to Auer, although he initially refused to play Tchaikovsky 's '' Violin Concerto '', despite being the dedicatee, because he regarded the work as unplayable. He did play the work later in his career, however, with alterations in certain passages. Performances of the Tchaikovsky concerto by his students (with the exception of Nathan Milstein 's) were also based on Auer's edition. Auer wrote a small number of works for his instrument, including the ''Rhapsodie hongroise'' for violin and piano. He also wrote a number of Cadenza s for other composers' Violin Concerto s including those by Beethoven , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Brahms (see Violin Concerto (Beethoven) and Violin Concerto (Brahms) ). He also wrote two books: ''Violin Playing as I Teach It'' (1920), and ''My Long Life in Music'' (1923). Auer died in Loschwitz , a suburb of Dresden , Germany and was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York . The jazz vibraphonist, Vera Auer , is a niece of Leopold Auer. The actor Mischa Auer (born Mischa Ounskowsky) was his grandson. The composer György Ligeti (the name Ligeti is a Hungarian equivalent of the German name Auer) was his great-nephew. EXTERNAL LINKS
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