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[Illustration: OLE BULL]
Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday
By
Henry C. Lahee
_ILLUSTRATED_
Boston
The Page Company
Publishers
1899
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.
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, 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.
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE ix
I. INTRODUCTORY 11
II. 1650 TO 1750 30
III. 1750 TO 1800 60
IV. PAGANINI 104
V. 1800 TO 1830 135
VI. OLE BULL 172
VII. 1830 TO 1850 204
VIII. JOACHIM 244
IX. VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY 261
X. WOMEN AS VIOLINISTS 300
XI. FAMOUS QUARTETS 345
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
OLE BULL _Frontispiece_
ARCANGELO CORELLI 30
NICOLO PAGANINI 104
CAMILLO SIVORI 154
MARTIN PIERRE JOSEPH MARSICK 238
JOSEPH JOACHIM 244
EMIL SAURET 264
MAUD POWELL 340
FRANZ KNEISEL 362
FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY.
CHAPTER I.
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. 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 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 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 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 the queen, 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 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.
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.
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 player, are
recorded. The words are as follows:
"You scrapers that want a good fiddle, well strung,
You must go to the man that is old while he's Young;
But if this same Fiddle, you fain would play bold,
You must go to his son, who'll be Young when he's old.
There's old Young and young Young, both men of renown,
Old sells and young plays the best Fiddle in town,
Young and old live together, and may they live long,
Young to play an old Fiddle; old to sell a new song."
In the course of time the English learned to esteem all arts more
highly, and in no country was a great musician more sure of a warm
welcome.
Two celebrated violinists were born in the year 1630, Thomas Baltzar,
and John Banister, the former in Germany, at Lubec, and the latter in
London.
Baltzar was esteemed the finest performer of his time, and is said to
have been the first to have introduced the practice of "shifting." In
1656 Baltzar went to England, where he quite eclipsed Davis Mell, a
clockmaker, who was considered a fine player, and did much to give the
violin an impetus toward popularity. The wonder caused by his
performances in England, shortly after his arrival, is best described in
the quaint language of Anthony Wood, who "did, to his very great
astonishment, hear him play on the violin. He then saw him run up his
Fingers to the end of the Fingerboard of the Violin, and run them back
insensibly, and all with alacrity, and in very good tune, which he nor
any in England saw the like before."
At the Restoration Baltzar was appointed leader of the king's celebrated
band of twenty-four violins, but, sad to relate, "Being much admired by
all lovers of musick, his company was therefore desired; and company,
especially musical company, delighting in drinking, made him drink more
than ordinary, which brought him to his grave." And he was buried in the
cloister of Westminster Abbey.
John Banister was taught music by his father, one of the _waits_ of the
parish of St. Giles, and acquiring great proficiency on the violin was
noticed by King Charles II., who sent him to France for improvement. On
his return he was appointed chief of the king's violins. King Charles
was an admirer of everything French, and he appears, according to Pepys,
to have aroused the wrath of Banister by giving prominence to a French
fiddler named Grabu, who is said to have been an "impudent pretender."
Banister lost his place for saying, either to or in the hearing of the
king, that English performers on the violin were superior to those of
France.
John Banister lived in times when fiddle playing was not highly
esteemed, if we may judge by the following ordinance, made in 1658: "And
be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or
persons, commonly called Fiddlers, or minstrels, shall at any time after
the said first day of July be taken playing, Fiddling, or making music
in any inn, alehouse, or tavern or shall be proffering themselves, or
desiring, or entreating any person or persons to hear them play ...
shall be adjudged ... rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars."
John Banister seems to have been a somewhat "sturdy beggar," though not
exactly in the sense meant by the ordinance, for he established regular
concerts at his house, "now called the Musick-school, over against the
George Tavern in Whitefriars." These concerts began in 1672, and
continued till near his death, which occurred in 1679. He too, was
buried in the cloister of Westminster Abbey. His son, also, was an
excellent performer on the violin, and played first violin in the
Italian opera when it was first introduced into England. He was one of
the musicians of Charles II., James II., William and Mary, and of Queen
Anne.
Henry Eccles, who lived about the end of the seventeenth century, went
to France, where he became a member of the king's band, and William
Corbett, who went to Italy to study the violin in 1710, was a player of
much ability; but one of the most eminent of English violinists was
Matthew Dubourg, born 1703, who played at a concert when he was so small
that he was placed on a stool in order that he might be seen. At eleven
years of age he was placed under Geminiani, who had recently established
himself in London. Dubourg was appointed, in 1728, Master and Composer
of State-Music in Ireland, and on the death of Festing, in 1752, he
became leader of the king's band in London, and held both posts until
his death in 1767.
An amusing incident is related of Dubourg and Handel. The latter visited
Dublin and presided at a performance of the "Messiah." A few evenings
later, Dubourg, who was leader of the band at the Theatre, had to
improvise a "close," and wandered about in a fit of abstract modulation
for so long that he forgot the original key. At last, however, after a
protracted shake, he landed safely on the key-note, when Handel called
out in a voice loud enough to be heard in the remotest parts of the
theatre, "Welcome home, welcome home, Mr. Dubourg."
Dubourg's name is the first on record in connection with the
performance of a concerto in an English theatre.
John Clegg, a pupil of Dubourg, was a violinist of great ability, whom
Handel placed at the head of the opera band, but his faculties became
deranged by intense study and practice, and he died at a comparatively
early age, in 1742, an inmate of Bedlam.
Another very promising young English violinist was Thomas Linley, who
exhibited great musical powers, and performed a concerto in public when
eight years old. He was sent to Italy to study under Nardini, and
through the mediation of that artist he became acquainted with Mozart,
who was about the same age. Linley's career was prematurely closed, for
at the age of twenty-two he was drowned through the capsizing of a
pleasure-boat.
This completes the list of English violinists of note who were born
previous to the nineteenth century. The later ones we shall find in
their place in succeeding chapters, but there have been very few
violinists of English birth who have followed the career of the
"virtuoso." Even Antonio James Oury, who made a series of concert tours
lasting nine years, during which he occasionally appeared in conjunction
with De Bériot and Malibran, is hardly known as a "virtuoso," and was
not all English. But there are pathetic circumstances in regard to the
career of Oury. He was the son of an Italian of noble descent, who had
served as an officer in the army of Napoleon, and had been taken
prisoner by the English. Making the best of his misfortunes the elder
Oury settled in England, married a Miss Hughes, and became a professor
of dancing and music.
The son, Antonio, began to learn the violin at the age of three, in
which he was a year or two ahead of the average virtuoso, and he made
great progress. By and by he heard Spohr, and after that his diligence
increased, for he practised, during seven months, not less than fourteen
hours a day. Even Paganini used to sink exhausted after ten hours'
practice. In 1820, we are told, he went to Paris and studied under
Baillot, Kreutzer, and Lafont, receiving from each two lessons a week
for several successive winters. With such an imposing array of talent at
his service much might be expected of Mr. Oury, and he actually made his
début at the Philharmonic concerts in London.
There was another unfortunate officer of Napoleon who became tutor to
the Princesses of Bavaria. His name was Belleville. Mr. Oury met his
daughter, and, there being naturally a bond of sympathy between them,
they married. She was an amiable and accomplished pianist, and together
they made the nine years' concert tour.
During the period in which the art of violin playing was being perfected
on the Continent, the English were too fully occupied with commercial
pursuits to foster and develop the art. Up to the present day the most
eminent virtuoso is commonly spoken of as a "fiddler." Even Joachim,
when he went to a barber's shop in High Street, Kensington, and declined
to accept the advice of the tonsorial artist, and have his hair cropped
short, was warned that "he'd look like one o' them there fiddler chaps."
The barber apparently had no greater estimation of the violinist's art
than the latter had of the tonsorial profession, and the situation was
sufficiently ludicrous to form the subject of a picture in _Punch_, and
thus the matter assumed a serious aspect.
England has not been the home of any particular school of violin
playing, but has received her stimulus from Continental schools, to
which her sons have gone to study, and from which many eminent
violinists have been imported.
The word "school," so frequently used in connection with the art of
violin playing, seems to lead to confusion. The Italian school,
established by Corelli, appears to have been the only original school.
Its pupils scattered to various parts of Europe, and there established
other schools. To illustrate this statement, we will follow in a direct
line from Corelli, according to the table given in Grove's Dictionary.
The pupils of Corelli were Somis, Locatelli, Geminiani (Italians), and
Anêt (a Frenchman), whose pupil Senaillé was also French. The greatest
pupil of Somis was Pugnani, an Italian, and his greatest pupil was
Viotti, a Piedmontese, who founded the French school, and from him came
Roberrechts, his pupil De Bériot and his pupil Vieuxtemps, the two
latter Belgians, also Baillot, etc., down to Marsick and Sarasate, a
Spaniard, while through Rode, a Frenchman, we have Böhm (school of
Vienna) and his pupil Joachim, a Hungarian (school of Berlin).
Several violinists are found under two schools, as for instance,
Pugnani, who was first a pupil of Tartini and later of Somis, and Teresa
Milanollo, pupil of Lafont and of De Bériot, who appear under different
schools.
The only conclusion to be drawn is that the greatest violinists were
really independent of any school, and, by their own genius, broke loose
from tradition and established schools of their own. Some of them, on
the other hand, had but few pupils, as for instance, Paganini, who had
but two, and Sarasate. Many also were teachers rather than performers.
We have to deal chiefly with the virtuosi.