Franjo Krežma

Born in Osijek, Austrian Empire, he showed interest for music in his early childhood and began playing the violin, gaining a reputation as a violinist. After moving to Zagreb he was taught by the violinist, composer and conductor Đuro (Gjuro) Eisenhuth. Krežma performed his first public concert on the 10.8.1870 in Sisak, at the very young age of 8, playing his violin with his three years older sister Anka (later Krežma-Barbot) backing him on the piano. Noticed and recommended by the Zagreb-born composer Leopold Alexander Zellner, he entered the music Conservatory of Vienna, Austria-Hungary at the age of 9, as the youngest student ever, already then starting to compose, and completing studies before the age of 13, in the summer of 1875.

Having finished his studies, Krežma started a European career, performing with his sister. By the age of 16, he had performed in cities across Europe like Rome, Prague, Genoa, Paris and Venice. On 1 July 1879, at the age of 16, he became the concert master at Benjamin Bilse's Bilse'sche Kapelle, the orchestra which would in the following years become Berlin Philharmonic. • Illustration — Statue in Osijek

Rêverie za violinu i veliki orkestar u As-duru (1880)