Kreuz, Select Studies for Viola Bk 4 (Stainer & Bell) Fourth and Fifth Positions

Kreuz’s viola compositions and arrangements are his most significant contributions to the viola. In just ten years, he created a vast repertoire of music suitable for violists of any level. The RCM and Royal Academy of Music promptly adopted his pedagogical works, and his music was suggested to violists for decades. Kreuz advised students to explore various study books for fresh material. Among the books, he recommended Emil Kreuz’s “Select Studies” in five books.

Emil Kreuz, born in Elberfeld on May 25, 1867, was a versatile German musician proficient in playing the violin and viola. He was also a teacher, conductor, and composer. He began playing the violin at age ten and studied under Georg Joseph Japha in Cologne. At 16, he received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London, where he learned violin from Henry Holmes and composition from Charles Villiers Stanford until 1888.

He started as a violin soloist but later became a violist and a member of the Gompertz Quartet. He gained popularity in England and played at the Leeds Festival in 1889. Between 1900 and 1903, he worked in the Convent Garden Opera Orchestra. In 1903, he became assistant musical director of the Convent Garden Opera and joined The Hallé to study conducting. After that, he focused mainly on operatic work, particularly the training of singers and conducting.

Emil Kreuz was a composer who created pieces for violin and viola, a viola concerto, songs, and chamber music like the ‘Prize Quintet’ for horn or viola and string quartet, Op. 49.