Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday

Henry Charles Lahee

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• Publié par: jezir
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English

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by Henry C. Lahee
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Title: Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday
Author: Henry C. Lahee
Release Date: February 2, 2005 [EBook #14884]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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{1}
OLE BULL{2}
FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY
AND YESTERDAY
By
Henry C. Lahee
I L L U S T R A T E D
{3} Boston The Page Company Publishers
1 8 9 9
BY L.C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED)
Ninth Impression, February, 1912
Tenth Impression, January, 1916
THE COLONIAL PRESS C.H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
PREFACE.
{4} In "Famous Violinists" the writer has endeavoured to follow the same general
plan as in "Famous Singers," viz., to give a "bird's-eye view" of the most
celebrated violinists from the earliest times to the present day rather than a
detailed account of a very few. Necessarily, those who have been prominently
before the public as performers are selected in preference to those who have
been more celebrated as teachers.
It was at first intended to arrange the chapters according to "schools," but it
soon became evident that such a plan would lead to inextricable confusion,
{5} and it was found best to follow the chronological order of birth.
The "Chronological Table" is compiled from the best existing authorities, and is
not an effort to bring together a large number of names. If such were the desire,
there would be no difficulty in filling up a large volume with names of the
violinists of good capabilities, who are well known in their own cities.
HENRY C. LAHEE.
CONTENTS.
{6} FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY AND
YESTERDAY.
PREFACE. page 4
CONTENTS. page 6
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS page 7
CHAPTER I. Introductory page 11
CHAPTER II. 1650 TO 1750 page 30
CHAPTER III. 1750 TO 1800 page 60
CHAPTER IV. PAGANINI page 104
CHAPTER V. 1800 TO 1830 page 135
CHAPTER VI. OLE BULL page 172
CHAPTER VII. 1830 TO 1850 page 204
CHAPTER VIII. JOACHIM page 244
CHAPTER IX. VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY page 261
CHAPTER X. WOMEN AS VIOLINI page 300
CHAPTER XI. FAMOUS QUARTETS page 345
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF FAMOUS VIOLINISTS
INDEX
{7}
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
{8}
OLE BULL F r o n t i s p i e c e
ARCANGELO CORELLI Page 31
NICOLO PAGANINI Page 105
CAMILLO SIVORI Page 154
MARTIN PIERRE JOSEPH MARSICK Page 238
JOSEPH JOACHIM Page 244
EMIL SAURET Page 265
MAUD POWELL Page 340
FRANZ KNEISEL Page 362
{9}
{10} FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY AND
YESTERDAY.CHAPTER I.
{11} INTRODUCTORY.
There is no instrument of music made by the hands of man that holds such a
powerful sway over the emotions of every living thing capable of hearing, as the
violin. The singular powers of this beautiful instrument have been eloquently
eulogised by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the following words:
"Violins, too. The sweet old Amati! the divine Stradivari! played on by ancient
maestros until the bow hand lost its power, and the flying fingers stiffened.
{12} Bequeathed to the passionate young enthusiast, who made it whisper his
hidden love, and cry his inarticulate longings, and scream his untold agonies,
and wail his monotonous despair. Passed from his dying hand to the cold
virtuoso, who let it slumber in its case for a generation, till, when his hoard was
broken up, it came forth once more, and rode the stormy symphonies of royal
orchestras, beneath the rushing bow of their lord and leader. Into lonely prisons
with improvident artists; into convents from which arose, day and night, the holy
hymns with which its tones were blended; and back again to orgies, in which it
learned to howl and laugh as if a legion of devils were shut up in it; then, again,
to the gentle dilettante, who calmed it down with easy melodies until it
answered him softly as in the days of the old maestros; and so given into our
hands, its pores all full of music, stained like the meerschaum through and
{13} through with the concentrated hue and sweetness of all the harmonies which
have kindled and faded on its strings."
Such, indeed, has been the history of many a noble instrument fashioned years
and years ago, in the days when violin playing did not hold the same respect
and admiration that it commands at the present time.
The evolution of the violin is a matter which can be traced back to the dark
ages, but the fifteenth century may be considered as the period when the art of
making instruments of the viol class took root in Italy. It cannot be said,
however, that the violin, with the modelled back which gives its distinctive tone,
made its appearance until the middle of the sixteenth century. In France,
England, and Germany, there was very little violin making until the beginning of
{14} the following century. Andrea Amati was born in 1520, and he was the founder
of the great Cremona school of violin makers, of which Nicolo Amati, the
grandson of Andrea, was the most eminent. The art of violin making reached its
zenith in Italy at the time of Antonio Stradivari, who lived at Cremona. He was
born in 1644, and lived until 1737, continuing his labours almost to the day of
his death, for an instrument is in existence made by him in the year in which he
died. It is an interesting fact that the art of violin making in Italy developed at the
time when the painters of Italy displayed their greatest genius, and when the
fine arts were encouraged by the most distinguished patronage.
As the art of violin making developed, so did that of violin playing, but, whereas
the former reached its climax with Stradivari, the latter is still being developed,
as new writers and players find new difficulties and new effects. While there are
{15} many proofs that orchestras existed, and that violins of all sizes were used in
ecclesiastical music, there is still some doubt as to who was the first solo
violinist of eminence. The earliest of whom we have any account worthy of
mention, was Baltazarini, a native of Piedmont, who went to France in 1577 to
superintend the music of Catharine de Medici. In 1581 he composed the music
for the nuptials of the Duke de Joyeuse with Mlle. de Vaudemont, sister of thequeen, and this is said to have been the origin of the heroic and historical ballet
in France.
The progress of violin playing can also be judged somewhat by the
compositions written for the instrument. Of these the earliest known is a
"Romanesca per violone Solo e Basso se piaci," and some dances, by Biagio
Marini, published in 1620. This contains the "shake." Then there is a "Toccata"
for violin solo, by Paolo Quagliati, published in 1623, and a collection of violin
{16} pieces by Carlo Farina, published in 1627 at Dresden, in which the variety of
bowing, double stopping, and chords shows a great advance in the demands
upon the execution.
Farina held the position of solo violinist at the Court of Saxony, and has been
called the founder of the race of violin virtuosi. One of his compositions, named
"Cappriccio Stravagante," requires the instrument to imitate the braying of an
ass, and other sounds belonging to the animal kingdom, as well as the
twanging of guitars and the fife and drum of the soldier.
Eighteen sonatas composed by Giovanni Battista Fontana, and published at
Venice in 1641, show a distinct advance in style, and Tomasso Antonio Vitali,
himself a famous violinist, wrote a "Chaconne" of such merit that it was played
by no less a virtuoso than Joachim, at the Monday popular concerts in London,
in 1870, nearly two hundred years after its composition.
{17} Italy was the home of the violin, of composition for the violin, and of violin
playing, for the first school was the old Italian school, and from Italy, by means
of her celebrated violinists, who travelled and spread throughout Europe, the
other schools were established.
Violin playing grew in favour in Italy, France, Germany, and England at about
the same time, but in England it was many years before the violinist held a
position of any dignity. The fiddle, as it was called, was regarded by the gentry
with profound contempt. Butler, in "Hudibras," refers to one Jackson, who lost a
leg in the service of the Roundheads, and became a professional "fiddler:"
"A squeaking engine he apply'd
Unto his neck, on northeast side,
Just where the hangman does dispose,
To special friends, the knot or noose;
For 'tis great grace, when statesmen straight
Dispatch a friend, let others wait.
{18} His grisly beard was long and thick,
With which he strung his fiddle-stick;
For he to horse-tail scorned to owe,
For what on his own chin did grow."
Many years later Purcell, the composer, wrote a catch in which the merits of a
violin maker named Young, and his son, a violin p