| Víctor Mirecki Larramat | |
|---|---|
Víctor Mirecki Larramat, 1908 |
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| Born | 21 July 1847 Tarbes, France |
| Died | 7 April 1921 (aged 73) Madrid, Spain |
Víctor Alexander Marie Mirecki Larramat (21 July 1847 – 7 April 1921) was a Spanish cellist and music teacher of Franco-Polish origin. He was born in Tarbes, France and died in Madrid, Spain.
Víctor Mirecki was one of the versatile concert performers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was a worldly man with a great array of social and cultural relations and was known as an ingenious cellist for his manner of interpreting music and for his work as a chamber musician and teacher. His work with Jesús de Monasterio in the Quartet Society of Madrid (Spanish: Sociedad de Quartetos de Madrid) greatly influenced the Spanish music of the era, promoting contemporary European chamber music and allowing the work of emerging geniuses such as Manuel de Falla to spread.
His dedication to teaching in the National School of Music, later known as the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid (Spanish: Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid), was important in fostering the next generation of innovators in cello techniques. He, along with the Belgian cellist Adrien-François Servais and the French cellist Auguste Franchomme, founded the Spanish school of cellists, whose most notable later students include Augustín Rubio, Juan Ruiz Casaux and Pablo Casals.
Son of the Polish Aleksander Mirecki and of Marie Zelinne Larramat, Víctor grew up in a notable musical environment. His father, marshal and hero of the November Uprising against Russia, had taken refuge in France. After a stay in Paris, his father moved to Tarbes, where he taught violin. His three sons, Víctor, Maurice and Françoise, were born there, and they all eventually became dedicated to music. In 1857, at the age of ten, Víctor moved with his family to Bordeaux, where his father taught the violin as a professor of the Conservatory. There he began his studies for a military career in the Lycée.
In April 1862, the cellist Adrien-François Servais and the violinist Henri Vieuxtemps went out to visit Bordeaux and were sheltered in the Mirecki house. Impressed by these masters' performance and ability to interpret, the young Víctor, along with his brother, Maurice, dedicated himself to the violoncello for the next two years, under the supervision of his father. His natural talent was outstanding, and in March 1864, at 17 years of age, he played as a soloist in a public concert at the Bordeaux Conservatory in the presence of Servais. Víctor's success was such that Servais convinced Victor's father to allow him to abandon the military studies and dedicate himself completely to his instrument.
When his studies in Bordeaux ended, he had obtained the first prize and the medal of honor of the Conservatory, and he had also been granted a scholarship to continue his studies in Paris. He began studying at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1865 and became Auguste Franchomme's star pupil. During the course of that year, he visited Halle for the grave of his mentor, Servais. His period of training in Paris concluded as he obtained the award of honor of the Conservatoire de Paris, on 6 August 1868, surpassing his classmate, also a cellist and the future successor of the master Auguste Franchomme, Jules Delsart.
With the help of his father and of his master, he also worked diligently in the orchestras of various Parisian theaters, meeting the great composers and musicians of the era who had to visit Paris; he developed an intimate friendship with Pablo Sarasate, Edouard Lalo, Camille Saint-Saëns and Jules Massenet. On 6 August 1868, at the end of his training in Paris, he was given the award of honor of the Conservatoire de Paris.