A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Concert-Meister

by George Grove

CONCERT-MEISTER, the German term for the leader, i. e. the first of the first violins in an orchestra, who sits next the conductor and transmits his wishes to the band. He is, as far as any one player can be, responsible for the attack, the tempo, the nuances of the playing. Ferdinand David, who was the head of the orchestra at the Gewandhaus concerts during Mendelssohn's reign, and till his own death, was the model concert-meister of our time.

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