Strobl, Rudolf (EN)

Strobl, Strobel, Rudolf, *15 March 1831 Opava, †14 V 1915 Warsaw, Polish pianist and pedagogue of German origin. He spent his youth in Zhytomyr, where his father had settled, and with him Strobl began to learn music. He studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory, and his teachers were F. Fischhof and F. Volkman. From 1855, he taught in the private houses in Warsaw. In 1866–1896 he was professor, and from 1888 also the director of Warsaw’s Institute of Music. He contributed immensely to the university as a teacher and organiser. He reactivated the composition and instrumentation classes (by engaging Z. Noskowski), partially replaced the teaching staff, organised chamber concerts, and ensured a high level of teaching in piano classes. In 1896, he retired due to the difficulties he encountered in his directorial position. He then gave private lessons in Warsaw and commuted to Łódź, where he taught at the music school of T. and I. Hanicki (1898–1901) and at the piano courses conducted by M. Bojanowska (1903–1912). He composed piano miniatures (from the age of 12), which were published in Vienna (before 1843), Riga and Warsaw.

Strobl’s primary focus as a pedagogue was the development of a precise technique of playing the instrument, following the Gradus ad Parnassum by M. Clementi and some of the experiences of Th. Kullak and T. Leschetizky. He recommended “calm elbows” technique with a rounded hand by playing the piano, evenness in play, expressive phrasing (A. Polinski) and the ability to bring out expression nuances. He placed great importance on finger dexterity. He arranged works for students in series and divided them into so-called “degrés” – degrees of varying difficulty. The most famous series is the Collection Strobl. Choix des compositions classiques et modernes, which is composed of 6 “degrés” and contains in total 1270 works (published in Warsaw from circa 1882). The extensive historical and genre repertoire of this and the following series comprised simplified versions of piano, vocal, and orchestral works (e.g., four-hand operatic overtures), starting from the Baroque era (A. Scarlatti, G.F. Handel), through the rich classical and romantic literature (J.N. Hummel, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, J. Brahms), and extending to the compositions of C. Franck, C. Debussy, and J. Zarębski. Strobl arranged a particularly large number of etudes, for example by J.B. Cramer, C. Czerny, I. Moscheles (Douze études caractéristiques), H.J. Bertini, as well as E. Wolff and J. Nowakowski. He published the series in single notebooks, reprinting them many times (the largest number of reprints date from the years up to 1900, after 1905, circa 1907, after 1910, after 1918, the last circa 1925). He assigned newly added works to different “degrés”, without always following the initial plan of the series. He reworked their texture, which today makes it difficult to classify and date them. The improvements he made to the revision of Chopin’s works, prepared by J. Kleczyński, had a didactic purpose, as did the new edition of J. Nowakowski’s version of Szkoła na fortepian… from 1844, on which Strobl worked together with I. Krzyżanowski. He improved it in terms of content, modernised linguistically and increased the number of exercises (Warsaw 1885). He also reintroduced the Szkoła na fortepian by W. Żeleński (Warsaw circa 1883) into his teaching practice. Strobel taught, among others, J. Śliwiński, H. Melcer -Szczawiński, A. Różycki, A. Sygietyński, G. Lewita, H. Pachulski, H. Morsztynówna, M. Trombini-Kazuro. Strobl’s own particular contribution to Polish music turned out to be the education of a considerable number of young female pianists (known as “Stroblówki”), who were the most in demand teachers of early piano teaching at Polish manor houses at the turn of the twentieth century.

Literatura C. Jankowski Rudolf Strobl, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1888 No. 259; W. Gomulicki Pożegnanie profesora Rudolfa Strobla przez Instytut Muzyczny, “Tygodnik Ilustrowany” 1896 No. 27; Rudolf Strobl, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1896 No. 27; A. Poliński Śp. Rudolf Strobl, “Kurier Warszawski” 1915 No. 134.