Anton Stark

Anton Stark was born on 7 December 1902 in Hötting (now part of Innsbruck, Austria). His father, Anton Stark Sr. (1879–1935), was a horn player with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from 1903 to 1932.
At the age of 19, Stark entered the Vienna Academy of Music. From 1925 onwards, he played trombone in various prominent dance orchestras and also worked as an arranger and film musician. In 1936, he was listed among the officially appointed trombone examiners for professional musicians in Vienna.
From 1946 to 1951, Stark was principal trombonist of the Vorarlberg Radio Orchestra under Hans Moltkau. Around 1951/52, he became music recording director at the regional broadcasting station in Vorarlberg.
As a composer, Stark was particularly active in the late 1940s, when several of his orchestral works were performed by the Vorarlberg Radio Orchestra. His Scherzando for Large Orchestra was performed in 1946 and again in 1947. His Arabeske, premiered in Vorarlberg in 1947, was subsequently performed with considerable success by the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg in early 1948.
On 9 April 1948, the Vorarlberg Radio Orchestra premiered his symphonic tone picture "Im Schoße der Nacht". Contemporary critics noted the work's colourful orchestration and impressionistic qualities, particularly the influence of Claude Debussy. Another premiere followed on 29 July 1948 with his "Musik für Streicher und vier Bläser" (Music for Strings and Four Wind Instruments).
Other documented compositions include a Rondo capriccioso for solo violin, clarinet and strings, broadcast in October 1947 and January 1948, and a Symphonischer Tanz, Op. 13, broadcast in May 1950. Further orchestral works mentioned in the Austrian Music Encyclopaedia include Triptychon, Symphonisches Vorspiel and a Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra.
Besides his orchestral compositions, Stark was extensively involved in writing and arranging music for radio plays. The surviving catalogue of the former Vorarlberg Radio Orchestra lists ten manuscripts associated with him, including music for "Der liebe Augustin", "Der Ketzer von Soana", "Christinas Heimreise" and "Semele". In 1956, Stark also collaborated with the Swiss writer Sophie Gasser on a musical adaptation of Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz. 
Anton Stark died on 20 January 1962 in Dornbirn (Austria).

In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the Rondo capriccioso for solo violin, clarinet and string orchestra by Anton Stark. The exact date of composition is unknown, but the work was already being performed in the late 1940s.
The work was probably performed for a radio broadcast as early as 1947 by the Vorarlberg Radio Orchestra under Hans Moltkau, with Raimund Kolbe (violin) and Karl Dabolins (clarinet) as soloists. It was subsequently broadcast several times over the following years.