Fritz Kreisler: Works

Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow) is the second piece of Fritz Kreisler's three short pieces Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen (Old Viennese Dances) for violin and piano. The other two pieces are Liebesfreud (Love's Joy) and Schön Rosmarin (Lovely Rosemary). Kreisler wrote a piano-solo arrangement of Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen, and it has been adapted for several other combinations of instruments. Liebesfreud and Liebesleid, were adapted for solo piano by Kreisler's friend Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962) was an Austrian violinist and composer. Known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, he is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Kreisler wrote a number of pieces for the violin, including solos for encores. Interestingly, he attributed some of his compositions to earlier composers, such as Gaetano Pugnani, Giuseppe Tartini, and Antonio Vivaldi. But, in 1935, Kreisler revealed that he actually wrote the pieces. When critics complained, Kreisler replied that they, the critics, had already deemed the compositions worthy. He also wrote operettas, a string quartet, and cadenzas, including ones for the Brahms Violin Concerto, Paganini's First Violin Concerto, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto. His cadenzas for the Beethoven concerto are the ones most often employed by violinists today.