Franz Drdla was born in Saar, Moravia on November 28, 1868. He attended
the Conservatories in Prague and Vienna, winning at the latter place
first prize in violin playing and the medal of the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde. After serving for several years as a violinist in the
orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera, he toured Europe as a concert
violinist. From 1923 to 1925 he lived in the United States, making many
concert appearances. He died in Bad Gastein, Austria, on September 3,
1944.
Drdla’s most famous compositions are slight but lyrical pieces for the
violin, of which he wrote over two hundred fifty. His most famous
composition is the _Souvenir_, with its familiar upward skip in the main
melody and its broad sentimental middle section in double stops. In a
similarly sentimental and gentle melodic vein (they might aptly be
described as instrumental songs) are the _Romance_, _Serenade in A_ (No.
1), and _Vision_. All are familiar to violin students, and to lovers of
light classics in transcriptions for orchestra.