Adolf Busch
Biography Adolf Busch
Adolf Busch
The son of violin maker Wilhelm Busch (1860–1929) and brother of conductor and opera director Fritz Busch (1890–1951), actor Willi Busch (1893–1951), cellist Hermann Busch (1897–1975), and pianist and composer Heinrich Busch (1900–1929), he received his initial instruction from his father and composed his first symphony around 1902. From 1902 to 1908, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory (North Rhine-Westphalia), where he received training in violin from Willi Heß (1859–1939) and Bram Eldering (1865–1943), composition from Fritz Steinbach (1855–1916), and chamber music from Carl Friedberg (1872–1955). Having become close friends with Max Reger (1873–1916) in 1907, he continued his composition studies in Bonn (North Rhine-Westphalia) in 1908 under Hugo Grüters (1851–1928), who would later become his father-in-law.
In 1912, Adolf Busch became concertmaster of the Konzert-Verein Orchestra in Vienna and founded the Vienna Konzert-Verein Quartet. In 1913, he married the economist Frieda Grüters (1891–1946). The couple spent their honeymoon at the home of the art patron Jenny Mautner (1856–1938) and her husband, the industrial magnate Isidor Mautner (1852–1930)—who, from 1925, was also the owner of the Marienthal textile factory. Adolf and Frieda Busch had one daughter, Irene Busch (1917–1999), who married the pianist Rudolf Serkin (1903–1991) in 1935.
In 1918, Adolf Busch became a teacher at the Berlin University of the Arts (Hochschule für Musik). In 1919, he founded the renowned Busch Quartet, and in 1920, he formed a trio with his brother Hermann Busch and Rudolf Serkin (1903–1991)—who would later become his son-in-law. In 1922, Adolf Busch moved to Darmstadt (Hesse).
In 1927, Adolf Busch relocated to Basel (Basel-Stadt). After being stripped of his citizenship by the National Socialist regime in 1933, he was granted Swiss citizenship in 1935. That same year, he co-founded the Busch Chamber Orchestra. In 1937, he declined an invitation to perform a concert in Germany.
In 1939, Adolf Busch moved to the United States, settling in New York City. In 1950, together with Rudolf Serkin and Marcel Moyse (1889–1984), he founded a music school in Marlboro, Vermont (which later became the Marlboro Music Festival). Following the death of his wife, Adolf Busch married Hedwig Vischer (born 1916)—the daughter of a physician—in 1947; the couple had two sons.
Adolf Busch, who left behind more than seventy compositions, is regarded today as one of the most significant violinists of the 20th century. (Reinhard Müller)
