Rudolph Matz: A Life in Music

Mavro Matz, Rudolph's father, received a law degree at a young age and then spent most of his career in government service. A widower, Mavro Matz chose to marry Paula Turk, a woman forty years younger, who was serving as his principle housekeeper.

Born in 1901 in Zagreb, Rudolph was the only child of Mavro and Paula Matz. This is a photograph of Rudolph and his mother when he was about twelve years old.

This is another photograph of Zagreb from the Rudolph Matz collection. The cathedral, which today remains the tallest structure in Croatia, serves as an iconic landmark in this city.

At age ten, Rudolph Matz was attending a music class at the Music Academy of the Croatian Music Institute. His first music teacher, Janko Slogar (1871-1946), encouraged him to begin playing the cello. The cello then became Matz's main instrument.

Matz continued his musical studies in Zagreb in his teen years. By his early 20s, Matz was performing in several orchestras there, conducting a choir, and composing choral works. This concert program from 1924 was for a solo cello concert.

Another concert program from December 1924 provides more evidence that Matz was an active solo performer on the cello at this time.

From a young age, Matz displayed a passion for athletics, in addition to his strong interest in music. A young Matz of nineteen or twenty here reaches the finish line to win a race. This was Matz's most treasured photograph of himself.

Matz, at the back, stands with three other track and field athletes.

Matz performed with several different chamber music groups in Zagreb. This concert program for the Zagrebački Trio is dated December 3, 1927.

The GDI Quartet, another chamber music group, was formed in 1928. Matz performed as the cellist in this group.

Matz met his future wife, Margita Neustadt, while studying music at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. An accomplished pianist, Margita accompanied Matz in performances over many years.

Matz performs on the cello in Gary, Indiana, in 1955. Rudolph and Margita Matz lived in the United States from 1955 to 1957, after he was invited to train choirs for a Croatian singing festival. This photograph shows that he himself performed during this time.

Rudolph and Margita Matz sit together on a ship while returning to Europe following their stay in the United States.

Another photograph from the 1950s shows Matz in a cello performance.

Matz here plays the cello at home in 1980. This shows that he continued t0 play his beloved instrument into the final decade of his life.

Matz, here, lectures in 1953. Especially from the 1930s onward, teaching music was a major aspect of Matz's career. He taught on the faculty of the Zagreb Academy of Music. He also opened a private music studio in his home.

Matz (second row, first on right) participates in a jury, apparently, for students at the Zagreb Academy of Music.

Matz speaks with a group of cello students around 1960.

Eight members of Matz's cello class stand with their cellos around 1960.

Matz teaches three young women who are apparently practicing chamber music. This took place around 1963.

Matz conducts in a class at the Bayreuth festival in Bayreuth, Germany. Matz participated in this renowned music festival in the 1960s.

Matz sits with a group of young musicians with whom he worked at the Bayreuth festival.

Margita Matz usually accompanied her husband on his international trips. Here they are photographed in Bayreuth, Germany.

Matz demonstrates hand positions for the cello in a photograph, probably from the 1960s. Some of these photographs are labeled "Violoncelist i njegov instrumenat," or "The Cellist and His Instrument," apparently the name for a method book that Matz wrote.

In another photograph also probably from the 1960s, Matz demonstrates hand positions and bowing technique.

The Complete Cellist is a major work for those learning to play the cello. These two volumes are based on Matz's instructional materials. Lev Aronson, a German cellist who had a successful career in the United States, compiled and translated these books. Aronson has dedicated this book to his wife, Harriet.

These photographs of hand positions for playing the cello are included in The Complete Cellist, Book One. Lev Aronson here demonstrates cello technique.

Slobodan Gospodnetić speaks with Matz in 1978. One of Matz's students in Zagreb, Gospodnetić emigrated to Canada in 1962. Matz and Gospodnetić remained in contact and visited each other in North America and Europe.

The American cellist and music professor Margery Enix wrote an extensive biography of Matz. It is the major source of information for this exhibit. Dominis Publishing published the book in 1996.

Matz started conducting various ensembles early in his career. Matz was known as a conductor in Zagreb by the 1930s, where Marijan Šimunić drew this caricature of him in 1933.

Matz here rehearses with a cello orchestra for television in 1950.

Matz conducts a cello ensemble, probably in the 1960s. Matz was associated with a number of cello ensembles throughout his career.

Another photograph shows Matz conducting a cello orchestra that is performing in 1960.

Another display features a number of Matz's published compositions.

This is a page from Matz's "Baroque concerto for three violoncellos and harpsichord." Matz wrote this particular page with his own hand.

Over the course of a long life, Rudolph Matz made major contributions as a performer on the cello, a conductor of various ensembles, a music teacher, a scholar, and a composer.