Jan Kubelik - Mozart: Romance

Recorded in 1912. Jan Kubelik A poem by Carl Sandburg Your bow swept over a string, and a long low note quivered to the air. (A mother of Bohemia sobs over a new child perfect learning to suck milk.) Your bow ran fast over all the high strings fluttering and wild. (All the girls in Bohemia are laughing on a Sunday afternoon in the hills with their lovers.) Jan Kubelík (5 July 1880 -- 5 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering the talent of Jan, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and Karel Ondříček. Aged eight he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševčík, of whose technique he became the most famous representative. As a child, he used to practice 10 to 12 hours a day, or “until my fingers started to bl