In 1860 he reached Turkey, where he played before the Sultan, who beat time to his music and seemed highly delighted. Hauser had many amusing stories to tell of his travels, and especially of his experiences in the Sandwich Islands and Turkey, Cairo and Alexandria. His adventures, which were numerous and thrilling, were published in two volumes, in Vienna.

Hauser was not the possessor of a great technique, but there was something characteristic and charming in his tone and mannerisms, which were especially pleasing to the fair sex. He was a man of restless, and, in some respects, dissatisfied nature. Some of his compositions are still to be found on concert programmes, and these he used to play exquisitely. Hauser lived in retirement in Vienna after concluding his travels, and in 1887 he died practically forgotten.

Few violinists succeeded more completely in captivating their audiences than Henri Wieniawski, whose impetuous Slavonic temperament, with its warm and tender feeling, gave a colour to his playing, which placed his hearers entirely under his control, went straight to their hearts, and enlisted their sympathy from the very first note. Both fingering and bowing were examples of the highest degree of excellence in violin technique, and difficulties did not exist for him. At times his fiery temperament may have led him to exaggeration, and to a step beyond the bounds of good taste, but this was lost sight of in the peculiar charm of his playing, its gracefulness and piquancy.

Wieniawski's tour in America, which took place in 1872, when he accompanied Rubinstein, may be said to mark an era in the musical life of this nation. These two great artists revealed the possibilities of the musical art to a people who, while loving music, were still in their infancy as far as musical development is concerned.

Wieniawski, like nearly all the great performers, showed his talent while very young. He was born in 1835 at Lublin, in Poland, where his father was a medical man. He was taken to Paris by his mother when he was only eight years old, and he entered the Conservatoire, where he soon joined Massart's class, and when only eleven gained the first prize for violin playing.

After this he made a concert tour in Poland and Russia, but soon returned to Paris to renew his studies, especially composition. In 1850 he went again on the road, and with his brother Joseph, a pianist, he gave concerts in most of the principal towns in the Netherlands, France, England, and Germany. In 1860 he was appointed solo violinist to the Emperor of Russia, and held that position for twelve years, residing chiefly at St. Petersburg.

It was at the conclusion of this engagement that he made his tour in the United States with Rubinstein, who was his intimate friend, and when the great pianist returned to Europe Wieniawski remained in America and succeeded in making a large fortune, travelling all over the country and creating a furore by his performances. This tour was cut short toward the end of 1874 by a telegram from Brussels offering him the position of professor of violin at the Conservatoire, during the illness of Vieuxtemps.

He remained in Brussels until 1877, when, Vieuxtemps becoming convalescent, Wieniawski set forth once more on his travels.

At this time his health was failing, and an incident took place at Berlin which is well worth recording. During a concert he was seized with a sudden spasm, and was compelled to stop in the middle of a concerto. Joachim was amongst the audience, and came to the rescue, taking up Wieniawski's violin and finishing the programme, thus showing his friendship for the sufferer and earning the enthusiastic applause of an appreciative audience.

Notwithstanding his sufferings, Wieniawski continued his tour, but at Odessa he broke down altogether.

It has been stated that he died unknown and friendless in the hospital at Moscow, and was buried by public charity; but his son, Jules Wieniawski, has contradicted this, and states that he died in the house of the Countess of Meek, and was buried by the Czar Alexander III., of whom he was the friend as well as the favourite violinist.

Wieniawski was a man of somewhat enthusiastic nature, and his actions were not always tempered by the most perfect wisdom. It was said that just before his marriage to Miss Hampton he took a run up the Rhine, not, like a wise man, waiting until he had some one to take proper care of him. The consequence was that he must just take an hour's look into Wiesbaden to see several old friends, and this led naturally to passing an idle moment looking at the green table doings. Here the excitement became too great for one of his temperament, and he felt compelled to stake a small sum. A small sum led to a larger amount, and when he left the place he was poorer to the tune of forty thousand francs, and he came away to his bride a sadder and wiser man.

Although a great gambler, Wieniawski owed the loss of a large part of his fortune to the failure of a New York banking firm in 1873, rather than to his favourite propensity.

The friendship between him and Vieuxtemps was very strong, in fact it was described as being ideal. Once, while Wieniawski was playing at a concert, Vieuxtemps was among the audience, and, at the conclusion of one of the violinist's solos, Vieuxtemps called, at the top of his voice, "Bravo, Wieniawski!" This drew attention to Vieuxtemps, who was immediately recognised by the audience and enthusiastically welcomed.

Wieniawski's compositions number two and twenty. As a proof of the old adage that "doctors do not always agree," we are told by one excellent authority that his D minor concerto, the two polonaises, and his "Legende" will probably never vanish from the violinist's repertoire, and by another that Wieniawski's compositions are not of much importance. Both statements are no doubt true, for there are many fascinating concert pieces which, from the strictly classical point of view, are not important additions to musical literature.

An American critic wrote of him, after his first appearance: "In Wieniawski we have the greatest violinist who has yet been heard in America.... Of all now living Joachim alone can claim superiority over him."

This sweeping enthusiasm was not universal, for a critic more difficult to please wrote as follows: "Wieniawski's playing is as perfect as a faultless technique, artistic culture, great aesthetic sensibility, and perfect mastery over himself and his instrument can make it But with all its perfection we cannot but feel that the great original, heaven-and-earth-moving master-soul is wanting."

He was also severely scathed by a critic in New York in 1872, who wrote: "Some people like pure, clear tone,—others don't. Those who admire scratching and false stopping, together with sundry other things of the same nature, would have experienced wild joy upon hearing Beethoven's "Violin Concerto" as it was played by Wieniawski; but for those who regard a correct intonation as a thing of primal importance, it could not have been pleasing. Wieniawski belongs to that school of which Ole Bull is a prominent member, whose first article of belief is that genuine passion and fervour is signified by rasping the strings."

Other criticisms of the same concert, however, were of a very different tenor, and when, a week or two later, Wieniawski played the same concerto in Boston, John S. Dwight praised the performance highly, and took occasion to specially record his disagreement with the eminent critic in New York.

While not technically the equal of one or two of his contemporaries, Wieniawski played with so much fire, and knew so well how to reach the heart of his audience by methods perfectly legitimate, that he must be ranked among the greatest violinists.

Don Pablo Martin Meliton de Sarasate is a name known throughout Europe and America, if not throughout the civilised world. Sarasate was born in Spain, in Pampeluna, the chief city of Navarre. He was a youthful prodigy, and played before the court of Madrid at the age of ten, when Queen Isabella was so delighted with him that she presented him with a fine Stradivarius violin.

A couple of years later he was sent to Paris, where he entered the Conservatoire, and was admitted into Alard's class, while M. Lassabathie, who was then administrator of the institution, took him into his house and boarded him. This arrangement continued until the death, about ten years later, of M. Lassabathie.

In the course of a year after entering the Conservatoire, Sarasate won the first prize for violin playing. From the first he manifested remarkable facility in mechanical execution, and his playing was distinguished for elegance and delicacy, though nothing indicated that his talent would become extraordinary.

For ten years after gaining the prize Sarasate remained a salon violinist, of amiable disposition, a ladies' virtuoso, with a somewhat mincing style, who played only variations on opera motives, and who was an entire stranger to classical music.

Then came a complete change; the character of his playing becoming serious, a large and noble style replaced the mincing manner which he had previously affected, and, instead of the showy trifles which had filled his repertoire, he took to the works of the great masters. By hard work he developed his technical ability, so that he reached the limit beyond which few, if any, violinists succeed in passing. And all this he accomplished without losing anything of the elegance of his phrasing or of the infinite charm of his tone.

Although Sarasate made Paris his home, he began to travel as early as 1859, and in 1872, when he played in Paris, he was welcomed as a new star. When his prestige was well established in Paris his friends advised him to go to Germany, but he feared that so soon after the Franco-German war he, who by long residence was practically a Frenchman, would not be welcome. At last, however, the entreaties of his friends prevailed, and when Sarasate appeared at Leipzig he produced an immense sensation. Then followed a series of tours in Germany, Russia, Austria, England, and Belgium, which lasted three years, and brought him much glory and pecuniary gain.

In Vienna the celebrated critic, Hanslick, wrote of him as follows: "There are few violinists whose playing gives such unalloyed enjoyment as the performance of this Spaniard. His tone is incomparable,—not powerfully or deeply affecting, but of enchanting sweetness. The infallible correctness of the player contributes greatly to the enjoyment. The moment the bow touches the Stradivarius a stream of beautiful sound flows toward the hearer. A pure tone seems to me the prime quality of violin playing—unfortunately, also, it is a rare quality. Sarasate's virtuosity shines and pleases and surprises the audience continually. He is distinguished, not because he plays great difficulties, but because he plays with them."

Both in France and Germany Sarasate has always been a great favourite, and is always sure of a large and enthusiastic audience, even though he has passed the zenith of his powers. He has never taken pupils, but has confined himself to concert playing only, and he has been called the highest-priced player in Germany, where it was said that he received three thousand marks for a concert, while even Joachim received only one thousand. He has received many valuable gifts during his career, and these he has presented to his native city, Pampeluna, where they have been placed in a museum by the municipal council. The collection includes articles of great worth from the Emperor William I. of Germany, Napoleon III., the Emperor of Brazil, and the Queen of Spain, and its value is estimated at one hundred thousand francs.

Sarasate has visited the United States twice, and won great favour, for his playing is of the kind which appeals to the fancy, graceful, vivacious, and pure toned, and he plays Spanish dances in a manner never to be surpassed.

He has been compared with some of the most eminent violinists thus:—Vieuxtemps was an artist with an ardent mind, and a magnificent interpreter of Beethoven; Joachim towers aloft in the heights of serene poetry, upon the Olympic summits inaccessible to the tumults of passion; Sivori was a dazzling virtuoso; Sarasate is an incomparable charmer.

There are doubtless many who remember the tour of August Wilhelmj, the celebrated violinist, who visited the United States about twenty years ago. He was considered second to no artist then living in his general command over the resources of his instrument, and he excelled in the purity and volume of his tone, no less than in the brilliancy of his execution. He did not possess the warmth and impulsiveness which constituted the charm of Wieniawski, but his performances appealed to his audiences in a different and more legitimate manner. He was even a greater traveller than Remenyi, and visited almost, if not quite, every civilised country. His travels took him throughout Europe, America, Australia, and Asia. He was, in 1885, invited by the Sultan of Turkey to perform in his seraglio, the only violinist to whom such a compliment had ever been paid. The Sultan on this occasion decorated him with the Order of the Medjidie, second class, and presented him with some beautiful diamonds.

August Wilhelmj was born in 1845 at Usingen, in the Duchy of Nassau, and, showing his aptitude, was placed under Konrad Fischer, a violinist of Wiesbaden, at the age of six. His progress was so rapid that when nine years old he played in a concert in Limburg and received great applause. Wilhelmj's father was a lawyer of distinction and a wealthy vine-grower, and, in spite of the boy's progress, he did not favour the idea of allowing him to take to the violin as a profession, for he felt that the majority of infant prodigies fail as they reach manhood. But the boy had received much encouragement, and persisted in his desire. Henrietta Sontag, the celebrated singer, heard him play Spohr's ninth concerto and "The Carnival of Venice," and was so charmed that she said he would become the German Paganini.

In the course of time Wilhelmj succeeded in obtaining a concession from his father:—he was to get the judgment of a musical authority on his capabilities, and, if favourable, no objection should be made to his becoming a virtuoso. On the recommendation of Prince Emil of Wittgenstein, the young violinist went in 1861 to Liszt at Weimar, and after playing to him Spohr's "Scena Cantante" and the Hungarian fantasia by Ernst, he was asked to play several pieces at sight. At the end of this trial Liszt sprang from his seat, calling out in a loud voice, "Ay! indeed you are predestinated to become a violinist—so much so that for you the violin must have been invented if it had not already existed." This judgment satisfied the father, and a few days later Liszt himself took the boy to Leipzig and introduced him to Ferdinand David, saying, "Let me present to you a future Paganini. Look well to him!" For three years Wilhelm; was a pupil of David, and at the same time studied the theory of music with Richter and Hausmann. In due course he passed his examinations at the Leipzig Conservatory, playing Joachim's Hungarian concerto.

In 1865 he began his concert tours, travelling through Switzerland and Holland to England, and from this time he seems to have been almost continually travelling. During 1869, 1870, and 1871 he made a long tour in England with Charles Santley, the great singer. In 1876 he led the violins at the Nibelungen performance at Bayreuth, and the Wagner concerts in London, at the Albert Hall, in 1877, were due to his representations. In 1882, after travelling all over the globe, he spent some time in Russia, but presently returned to Germany and established a violin school at Biberich, which, however, he abandoned after a time.

From time to time he continued to play in public, but gradually withdrew and lived in retirement at Blasewitz, near Dresden. Eventually he went to London, where he was appointed professor at the Guildhall School of Music. Unfortunately, his powers have been on the wane for some years past, but though the days of his public performances are past, he is known as a most patient and painstaking teacher. The high esteem in which he has been held was quaintly expressed by an eminent musician, who referred to his decadence in these words: "Ah, if Wilhelmj had not been what he is, Joachim would never have been what he is." By which one may infer that Wilhelmj was, in some respects, a greater man than Joachim.

In 1894 Wilhelmj married Marcella Mausch-Jerret, of Dresden, a distinguished pianist.

Wilhelmj's first appearance in America took place on September 26, 1878, in New York, and his playing caused an unusual demonstration. He was described in the following words: "His figure is stately, his face and attitude suggest reserve force and that majestic calm which seems to befit great power.... A famous philosopher once said that beauty consists of an exact balance between the intellect and the imagination. The violin performance of Wilhelmj exhibits this just proportion more perfectly than the work of any other artist of whom we have personal knowledge. Wilhelmj himself has said, 'After all, what the people want is intellectual playing,' that is, playing with a clear under standing."

Neither his character nor his playing was of such a nature as to appeal to the great mass of people in the way in which Remenyi and Ole Bull won their hearts. Wilhelmj was massive in person and in tone. He stood for dignity in his actions, appearance, and playing, and was honoured by the more cultivated and educated portion of the people.

He is regarded by musicians as one of the greatest violinists who ever visited America, and at the present day visiting artists are spoken of as "one of the best since Wilhelmj," or, "not to be compared with Wilhelmj," and by many Ysaye is regarded as "the best—since Wilhelmj."

Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick, who was born at Jupille, near Liege, on March 9, 1848, is one of the foremost solo and quartet violinists of the day, with a remarkable technique and admirable intelligence, power, and fire.

When eight years of age he was placed at the music school at Liege, where in two years he gained the first prize in the preparatory classes. In 1864 he secured the gold medal, which is awarded only to pupils of extraordinary talent.



He now entered the Brussels Conservatoire, where his expenses were met by a lady who was a musical enthusiast, and he studied for two years under Leonard, working at the same time in composition under Kufferath. In 1868 he went to Paris, where he studied for a season under Massart.

In 1870 Marsick proceeded to Berlin, where, through the instrumentality of a government subvention, he was enabled to study under Joachim. After that he began to travel, and soon acquired a great reputation. He was said to equal, if not exceed, Sarasate in the wonderful celerity of his scales, and in lightness and certainty. His tone is not very full, but is sweet and clear. His playing is also marked by exceptional smoothness, scholarly phrasing, and graceful accentuation, but, in comparison with some of the other great players, he lacks breadth and passion. He appeals rather to the educated musician than to the general public, and for that reason many people were somewhat disappointed when he played in the United States in 1896. He was compared with Ysaye, a player of an entirely different stamp, and he suffered in popular estimation by the comparison.

To this period also belong a number of excellent violinists whose names are seldom heard in America. Edmund Singer, a Hungarian, born in 1831, by dint of hard work and talent reached a high position. He became celebrated as a teacher, and was for years professor of violin at the conservatory in Stuttgart. He was also largely instrumental in the establishment of the Musical Artists' Society of that place.

Ferdinand Laub was a virtuoso of high rank who was born in Prague in 1832. He succeeded Joachim at Weimar, but two years later became violin teacher at the Stern-Marx conservatory in Berlin, also concert-master of the royal orchestra and chamber virtuoso.

Heinrich Karl de Ahna was an excellent artist, and was for some years second violin in the famous Joachim quartet. At the age of fourteen he had already made a successful concert tour, and become chamber virtuoso to the Duke of Coburg-Gotha. He then abandoned the musical profession and entered the army, fighting in the Italian campaign as lieutenant. After the war he returned to his profession, and became leader of the royal band in Berlin and professor at the Hochschule. He died in 1892.

Russia also produced an excellent violinist, Wasil Wasilewic Besekirskij, who was born at Moscow, and after a career as virtuoso in the west of Europe returned to his native city. He is the composer of some good violin music and has formed some excellent pupils, of whom Gregorowitsch is perhaps best known.

In England, John Tiplady Carrodus and the Holmes brothers attained high rank. Carrodus was a native of Keighley, Yorkshire. His father was a barber, and it was only by the most constant self-denial and incessant hard work that the boy succeeded in securing his education. He walked with his father twelve miles in order to hear Vieuxtemps play, and to take his lessons he walked each week ten miles to Bradford, usually getting a ride back in the carrier's cart. He became a pupil of Molique, and eventually one of the best known violinists of England, where his character as a man was always highly respected.

Alfred Holmes was born in 1837 and his brother Henry in 1839. They appeared together at the Haymarket Theatre in 1847, but immediately withdrew from public life and continued their studies for six more years. In 1853 they again appeared in London, and then made a long concert tour through the north of Europe. Finally they settled in Paris, where, nine years later, Alfred died. Henry Holmes became the chief professor of violin at the Royal College of Music in London, and has been also active as a composer and editor of violin works.

Jacob Gruen, too, who was born in 1837 at Buda-Pesth, and who, after a career as concert soloist in Europe, became a teacher in the Vienna conservatory, should not be forgotten. Several of his pupils are now holding valuable positions in the United States, and he is an excellent teacher, besides being popular and kind-hearted.

Eduard Rappoldi, the leader of the Royal Court Orchestra at Dresden, has a high reputation as a sound and earnest player and excellent teacher. He was born in Vienna in 1839, and was at one time a teacher in the Hochschule at Berlin, but went to Dresden in 1877.



CHAPTER VIII.

JOACHIM.

Joseph Joachim is one of the musical giants of the nineteenth century. He will be remembered as one whose life has been interwoven with the lives of the greatest musicians of his day, as one of the greatest educators in his line who ever lived, and as the embodiment of the purest and highest ideas in public performance.



Joachim is called the greatest violinist of modern times, and no better words can be found to describe his characteristics than those of Wasielewski, who says: "Joachim's incomparable violin playing is the true chef-d'oeuvre, the ideal of a perfect violinist (so far as we present-day critics can judge). Less cannot, dare not, be said, but, at the same time, more cannot be said of him or of any one, and it is enough. But that which raises him above all other contemporary violinists and musicians generally is the line he takes in his professional life. He is no virtuoso in the ordinary sense, for he is far more,—before all he will be a musician. And that he unquestionably is,—a magnificent example to young people, who are to some extent possessed of the demon of vanity, of what they should do and what they should leave undone. Joachim makes music, and his preeminent capabilities are directed toward the serving one true, genuine art, and he is right."

Joachim was born on June 28, 1831, in the village of Kittsee, in Hungary, within the small radius which has produced three other great musicians,—Haydn, Hummel, and Liszt. He began to study the violin when he was five years old, and was placed under Servaczinski, leader of the opera orchestra at Pesth. In two years he made his first public appearance at a concert at Pesth, when he played a duet concerto for two violins and orchestra with his master, and a solo on a theme by Schubert, with variations. He was now (1841) sent to Vienna, where he entered the conservatoire and studied under Boehm for two years. At the end of this time he went to Leipzig, where he met with Mendelssohn and played in a concert of Madame Viardot's. A few months later he appeared as a finished artist in a Gewandhaus concert, and played Ernst's "Otello Fantasie." Leipzig was then, under Mendelssohn's guidance, in the zenith of its fame, and for a boy of twelve to appear in a Gewandhaus concert and earn, not only the applause of the audience, but also the praise of the critics, was something very unusual. But a still greater honour was in store for him,—the following year he took part, in a Gewandhaus concert, in a concertante for four violins by Maurer, the other performers being Ernst, Bazzini, and David, all violinists of renown and very much his seniors.

Joachim remained in Leipzig until 1850, studying with Ferdinand David, while Hauptmann gave him instruction in composition, though during this time he occasionally travelled in Germany and elsewhere to play in concerts. Thus in 1844 Mendelssohn brought him to England, where he played in public for the first time at a benefit concert of Mr. Bunn's at Drury Lane, in March, 1844, and in May of the same year he appeared at the fifth Philharmonic concert and played Beethoven's concerto with very great success. In this year two other violinists of note made their first appearance at the Philharmonic concerts,—Ernst and Sainton, also Piatti, the great violoncellist. Joachim visited England again in 1847, and since that time so frequently that he became one of the regular features of musical life in that country, where he has been so highly honoured.

Joachim's first appearance in Paris was made in 1849, when he spent two months in that city, and began his successes by playing in an orchestral concert given by Hector Berlioz. About this time Franz Liszt, who had heard of Joachim's rapidly increasing reputation, invited him to go to Weimar and lead the orchestra which he conducted. Joachim accepted the invitation and remained in Weimar two years. He could never be brought to see the beauty of the new school of music, and while he recognised the extraordinary gifts, and admired the personality and brilliant qualities of Liszt, he could not be prevailed upon to remain in Weimar longer than two years.

In 1854 he accepted the post of conductor and solo violinist to the King of Hanover, a position which he retained for twelve years, during which time he enhanced his reputation as a musician, and married Amalia Weiss, a celebrated contralto singer. In 1866 the troubles which enveloped Germany brought Joachim's engagement in Hanover to an end, but two years later he entered upon what has proved to be the most important part of his career, when he was appointed professor of violin at the Hochschule for music in Berlin. This school was a new branch of the already existing Academy of Arts, and was to be a high school for musical execution, as apart from composition.

Joachim threw his whole heart into the new work before him, and the branch of the school under his direction soon rivalled any similar school. Various branches were added to the school,—in 1871 a class for organ, in 1872 classes for brass instruments, double-bass, and solo vocalists, in 1873 a chorus class. In 1875 the Royal Academy of Arts was reorganised and became the Royal High School for Music, with Joachim as director. That Joachim had earned a very high position as early as 1859 is shown by an extract from the Musical World of London, in that year.

"So long as virtuosi walked (or galloped) in their proper sphere, they amused by their mechanical tours de force, charmed by their finesse and did no great harm to musical taste. They were accepted cum grano salis, applauded for their dexterity, and admired for the elegance with which they were able to elaborate thoughts in themselves of every slight artistic worth. But recently our 'virtuosi' have been oppressed with a notion that, to succeed in this country, they must invade and carry by storm the 'classics' of the art, instead of adhering exclusively as of old to their own fantasies and jeux de marteaux. One composition after another by the great masters is seized upon and worried. If they were things of flesh and blood, and could feel the gripe, be conscious of the teeth, and appreciate the fangs of these rapid-devouring 'virtuosi,' concertos, sonatas, trios, etc., would indeed be in a pitiable condition. Happily, being of the spirit, they bleed not, but are immortal.

"One great result attending Herr Joachim's professional visit to London is, that it enables both professors and amateurs opportunity after opportunity of studying his manner of playing the works of the giants of music. How Herr Joachim executes these compositions—how differently from the self-styled 'virtuosi,' how purely, how modestly, how wholly forgetful of himself in the text he considers it an honour being allowed to interpret to the crowd—we need scarcely remind our readers. Not a single eccentricity of carriage or demeanour, not a moment of egotistical display, to remind his hearers that, although Beethoven is being played, it is Joachim who is playing, ever escapes this truly admirable and (if words might be allowed to bear their legitimate signification) most accomplished of 'virtuosi.'"

As an example of Joachim's conscientiousness, the following little anecdote will serve to give an idea. Joachim once introduced into the point d'orgue of Beethoven's concerto a cadence terminated by a trait en octave, which caused an extraordinary effect. People spoke only of this cadence; it was the event of the evening wherever he played. This success wounded his feelings of artistic probity; he considered it unbecoming that people should be more taken up with the skill of the executant than with the beauties of the music, and the cadence was suppressed.

During the many years of his connection with the Hochschule, Joachim's personal influence has been exerted upon a large number of pupils, in fact almost every well-known violin player has been to Berlin to seek his advice and instruction, and the players he has perfected are almost without number. Many anecdotes are told concerning his kindness to his pupils, but so greatly is he sought after that comparatively few of the hundreds who flock to Berlin are able to reach him.

Joachim's early training and education developed his character both as a musician and as a man. The influence of Mendelssohn, whose friendship ended only with his death, of David, Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz, and Brahms, who was largely indebted to Joachim for the introduction of many of his works to the public, brought out the thorough uprightness, firmness of character and earnestness of purpose, and that intense dislike of all that is artificial or untrue in art, which have made him a great moral power in the musical world.

He combines in a unique degree the highest executive powers with the most excellent musicianship. Unsurpassed as a master of the instrument, he uses his powers of execution in the services of art, and represents the perfection of a pure style and legitimate school, with breadth and fidelity of interpretation. His performances undoubtedly derive their charm and merit from the strength of his talent and of his artistic character, and are stamped with a striking originality of conception; at the same time fidelity to the text, and careful endeavour to enter into the spirit and feeling of the composer, are the principles of executive art which Joachim has invariably practised.

In the rendering of Bach's solos, Beethoven's concertos and quartets, he has no rival, and for the revival of many great works the musical world is indebted to him. Of these, one instance may be cited, viz., the violin concerto (Op. 61) of Beethoven, which was first played by Clement, December 23, 1806. This concerto bears evidence of having been written in a hurry. Clement played it at sight without rehearsal, and, as a consequence of its being brought forward in such a slipshod manner, it was very seldom heard until its revival by Joachim. The MS. shows that the solo part was the object of much thought and alteration by the composer, but evidently after the first performance.

As a composer, Joachim has contributed work of value to the literature of the violin. His "Hungarian Concerto" is a creation of real grandeur, built up in noble symphonic proportions. Most of his works are of a grave, somewhat melancholy character, and all of them are marked by earnestness of purpose and a high ideal.

The jubilee of Joachim's life as a violin player was celebrated in Berlin with great ceremony and with unusual honour, and in England a demonstration was made in his honour by the public, who subscribed a sum of about $6,000, with which was purchased an instrument of wonderful beauty, a celebrated "Red Strad," which was presented to him at a public meeting held at the conclusion of the Monday Popular Concerts, in 1888.

This celebration was, however, quite eclipsed by that of the sixtieth anniversary of his first public appearance, which was held at Berlin on April 22, 1899. A grand concert was given at the Philharmonie, with an orchestra consisting of two hundred performers. There were ninety violins, thirty violas, twenty-one 'celli, and twenty double-basses, and of these all except the double-basses had been pupils of Joachim, the violas and 'celli having been his pupils in chamber music. They had come from all over Europe to take part in the festival. Nearly half of the violins were concert-masters, and many of them famous soloists, as Carl Halir, Henri Petri, Jeno Hubay, Willy Hess, Gustav Hollaender, Gabrielle Wietrowitz, Marie Soldat, and others.

Joachim entered the hall at half-past six, and was greeted with a deafening fanfare played by the combined trumpeters of the military bands stationed in Berlin. The audience rose in a body and added its cheers to the noise of the trumpets. A large armchair, beautifully decorated with flowers and wreaths, was reserved as a seat of honour for the great musician.

The seventh number on the programme was left vacant, but when it was reached the orchestra began the introduction to Beethoven's concerto. No soloist was in sight, but Gabrielle Wietrowitz and Marie Soldat, his most celebrated women pupils, came slowly down toward Joachim's chair, one carrying a violin and the other a bow, which they placed in his hands. Joachim, however, did not wish to play, and did not yield except under the force of persuasion, and then he said: "I have not had a violin in my hands for three days; I am in no mood to play; moreover, there are many in the orchestra who can play it better than I, but I don't want to refuse." So Joachim played the great concerto, and received an ovation such as had probably never been accorded to him before. Then he conducted Bach's concerto in G major for strings, which was played by sixty-six violins, fifty-seven violas, twenty-four 'celli, and twenty double-basses, and this brought the concert to a close.

The concert was followed by a banquet at which there were eight hundred guests, and the festivities lasted until four o'clock the next morning. No violinist was ever more respected or beloved by his pupils, nor did one ever wield a more powerful influence in the musical world. To be put forward by Joachim gives one a high standing in the musical world to begin with, but few indeed are those who receive this privilege in comparison with those who desire it.

Joachim is not a builder of technique or a teacher of beginners. Pupils who are accepted by him must be already proficient technicians, and it may be stated that the teacher who can prepare pupils for Joachim stands high in the profession. Joachim is a great adviser, a former of style, and a master of interpretation, to whom pupils flock two or three years too early, and feel aggrieved if they are not at once accepted.

"What else can you do?" he once asked of a young man who desired to become a great violinist, and had sought Joachim's advice.

"I think I would like to study for the ministry," was the reply.

"It is much better to be a good minister than a poor violinist," said Joachim, looking him full in the face.

His liberality is proverbial, and after a long and successful life, during which he has received high salaries, he is not rich. He seldom refuses to play gratis for any really worthy object, and the anecdotes of his kindness toward his pupils are without number.

Few men have shone with such an even, steady lustre, through a long life. Others have come up, flourished, and sunk into oblivion, but the light of Joachim has shone steadily for more than sixty years, and as an interpreter of the classics he has never been excelled, and perhaps never will be.



CHAPTER IX.

VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY.

In these latter days the number of good violinists seems to have increased greatly. A season seldom passes without witnessing the debut of some half-dozen aspirants for public approbation, but the great majority of them settle down into some special field of labour, and do not acquire world-wide fame as virtuosi.

Virtuosity to-day depends very largely on the art of advertising. In the old days of Viotti and Spohr, the violinist would remain in a city for months, make acquaintances, and gradually acquire a reputation which would justify his giving some concerts. A tour lasting from three to six years would cover a comparatively small amount of territory.

To-day the concert agent searches among the new lights for one or two who seem, in his judgment, likely to please the audiences to whom he caters, and who will justify the curiosity roused by the wholesale advertising done in their behalf.

The violinist is rushed from one place to another with mechanical precision, and flits from Maine to California and from Canada to the Gulf in a few short weeks. There are more soloists, more concerts, more musical organisations than ever before.

It does not follow by any means that the travelling virtuoso is one of the greatest violinists of his time. There are, in every city of Europe and in many cities of America, violinists who equal or even excel many of those who are exploited as virtuosi. The great violinists are not to be found every day. In the past twenty years, perhaps, not more than two can be recalled who have visited the United States as mature, great artists,—Wilhelmj and Ysaye. Many violinists of excellent ability have been heard, and to some of them some day the adjective great may be applied. The fact that they have devoted their energies to concert work, and have been favourably received by the most important musical organisations, makes them celebrated, but the word great can apply but to few.

Adolf Brodsky, who came to America in 1892, and who is a violinist of much ability, with a beautiful tone, facile and brilliant technique, but somewhat lacking in elegance and polish, did not come to tour the country as a virtuoso. He was engaged by Mr. Walter Damrosch as concert-master for the New York orchestra, but during his stay in this country he appeared in many of the most important concerts, and was considered one of the best violinists who had ever come to live in America.

Brodsky was born in 1851 at Taganrog, in Southern Russia, and was one of those who found his profession at the age of four, when he bought a violin at a fair, and began to pick out Russian folk-tunes.

For four years he was taught music at home, and made good progress. Then a wealthy gentleman was attracted by his talent, hearing him play at a concert at Odessa, and provided the funds necessary for him to go to Vienna and study under Hellmesberger. He became second violin in the celebrated Hellmesberger Quartet, and thus gained a great reputation as a quartet player.

After travelling all over Europe for four years, he was appointed second professor of the violin at the Conservatory of Moscow, where he remained another four years. Then followed more study and more travel until, when Schradieck accepted the position of violin teacher at the Cincinnati conservatory, Brodsky was appointed to fill his place at Leipzig. In 1892 he was called to New York, but, owing to troubles which arose in the musical profession, he returned to Europe the following year, and, after a short sojourn in Berlin, received the appointment of director of the Royal College of Music at Manchester, England, where he succeeded Sir Charles Halle.

Emil Sauret is well known in America, for he visited the United States in 1872-73, and made a tour which was so successful, that it was repeated in 1874, when he travelled with Ilma di Murska, the great singer, and his wife, Teresa Careno, the pianist.



Sauret began his public career at the age of eight. He was born at Dun-le-Roi, in the department of Cher, in France, in 1852, and at the age of six entered the conservatory at Strasburg, after some preliminary instruction at home. In two years he began his travels, and for several years he divided his time between study and travel.

As a boy he was taken up by De Beriot, who was much interested in his welfare. He studied under Vieuxtemps in Paris, and in 1872 was one of the artists engaged for the tour organised by the President of the French Republic for the relief of the sufferers by the Franco-German war.

In 1879 ne was appointed teacher at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, a post which he relinquished on being offered the position made vacant in the Royal Academy of Music, London, by the death of Sainton.

M. Sauret is pronounced conservative and conscientious to the last degree in handling the classics, and, although he has great individuality, passion, and fire, he would consider it a sacrilege to obtrude his own personality upon the listener. He is distinguished for elegance rather than perfection of technique. He may be considered a representative of the extreme French school.

In temperament he is quick and somewhat impatient. He expects much of his pupils, and is the very opposite of the painstaking, phlegmatic Wilhelmj.

In 1896 M. Sauret again visited the United States, when it was admitted by those who had heard him twenty years before that he had grown to a consummate and astounding virtuoso. His tone was firm, pure, and beautiful, though not large. Marsick and Ondricek had preceded him by a few weeks, but Sauret did not suffer by comparison.

One of the most remarkable violinists of the present day is Cesar Thomson, who was born at Liege in 1857. He entered the conservatory of his native place, after receiving some instruction from his father, and had completed the regular course by the time he was twelve years of age, after which he became a pupil of Leonard.

At the age of eighteen he made a concert tour through Italy, and while there became a member of the private orchestra of the Baron de Derwies. In 1879 he became a member of the Bilse Orchestra, and in 1882, having won distinction at the musical festival at Brussels, he was appointed professor of the violin in the Liege conservatory.

Most of his travelling has been done since that time, and he has acquired an immense reputation in Europe. In Leipzig, at a Gewandhaus concert in 1891, he made a phenomenal success, and in 1898 at Brussels he received five enthusiastic recalls from a cold and critical audience, for his magnificent performance of the Brahms concerto.

M. Thomson's command of all the technical resources of the violin is so great that he can play the most terrific passages without sacrificing his tone or clearness of phrasing, and his octave playing almost equals that of Paganini himself. Yet he is lacking in personal magnetism, and is a player for the musically cultivated rather than for the multitude, though his technique fills the listener with wonder. He visited the United States in 1896, and was, like Marsick, compared with Ysaye, who at that time swept everything before him and carried the country by storm.

In 1897 Cesar Thomson left Liege, owing, it is said, to disagreements at the Conservatoire, and made his home at Brussels.

The greatest of Belgian violinists of to-day is Eugene Ysaye, who possesses that magnetism which charms alike the musician and the amateur, because of his perfect musical expression. He possesses the inexplicable and inexpressible something which takes cold judgment off its feet and leads criticism captive.

Ysaye was born at Liege in 1858, and, after studying at the conservatories of his native town under his father and at Brussels, entered that of Paris, where he completed the course in 1881, and immediately afterward started on a series of concert tours. Ysaye's eminence as a violinist has been gained by hard work. He did not burst meteor-like upon the world, but he earned his position in the violin firmament by ten years of concert touring, during which time he passed successively through the stages of extreme sentimentality until he reached the "sea" of real sentiment.

It was in 1873 that Ysaye, after preparation given chiefly by his father, made his way to Brussels and sought out Wieniawski, then professor at the Conservatoire. Wieniawski was teaching, when a note was brought to him marked "private and important." The servant was told to show the bearer in, and Ysaye, then about fifteen years of age, timidly entered the room carrying his violin. After a little preliminary conversation which allowed the youth to tell his history, Wieniawski asked him what he would play, and in reply he placed on the piano desk a concerto of Vieuxtemps. The result of his performance was that he at once became a pupil of Wieniawski, with whom he remained some three years, during the period in which Vieuxtemps was recovering from his paralytic shock. In 1876 Vieuxtemps heard him at Antwerp, and through his influence the Belgian government was induced to grant Ysaye a stipend in order to allow him to pursue his studies at Paris. There he was the pupil of Massart, who had also been the teacher of Wieniawski, Ysaye's master at Brussels. Vieuxtemps is said to have expressed the desire, while in Algiers during his latter years, to have Ysaye stay with him to play his compositions, but Ysaye was at that time in St. Petersburg. When Vieuxtemps died and his remains were brought to Verviers, his birthplace, Ysaye carried in the procession the violin and bow of the virtuoso on a black velvet cushion fringed with silver.

When Ysaye first appeared in America he was a mature artist, the recognised leader of the Belgian school of violinists, the first professor of violin at the Brussels Conservatoire, and the possessor of many decorations and honours bestowed upon him by various royalties.

Before he had been in America a month he was acknowledged to be the greatest violinist who had visited this country for many years.

A man of large and powerful physique, he plays with a bold and manly vigour, and yet with exquisite delicacy. He is a master of phrasing and of all beauties of detail, has a wonderfully perfect technique, but that quality which places him at the head of all rivals is his musical feeling, his temperament. He has been compared to Rubinstein and to Paderewski. He inspires his hearers, or, as it was once expressed, very neatly, "he creeps up under your vest." He disarms criticism, and he seems to be more completely part of his violin and his violin of him than has been the case with any other player who has visited these shores for some years. He has given the greatest performance of the celebrated Bach chaconne ever heard in America. He has been declared to be not inferior to Joachim in his performance of this work, though he has not so broad a tone as the latter, nor as Wieniawski. He combines Sarasate's tenderness of tone and showy technique with more manliness and sincerity than Sarasate gives.

The student, perhaps, can learn more from Cesar Thomson than from Ysaye, but he will receive from the latter the greater inspiration.

Ysaye is noted, too, for sincerity of purpose and seriousness such as few of the virtuosi have possessed. He is free from all traits of charlatanism and trickery. Once, when in California, he was asked for an autograph copy of a few measures of his original cadenza to the Beethoven concerto (an embellishment which all violinists seem obliged to compose), but he declared that he did not like the idea of an original cadenza to Beethoven's work, that it was much better to omit it, as it formed no part of the concerto. "In original cadenzas by virtuosi," he said, "we find too much violin and too little music," for which confession from such an artist the world may be truly grateful.

When Ysaye came to America in 1894 he was prepared with a repertoire consisting of ninety-one pieces. Of these, fourteen were concertos, seventeen sonatas, and eleven were compositions of his own.

He made a second tour in America in 1898, when he confirmed the opinions already formed as to his wonderful qualities.

In March, 1899, he went to Berlin, which city he had not visited for several years, and appeared as soloist of the tenth Nikisch Philharmonic concert, when he played the E major concerto by Bach, and scored an overwhelming success. At the end of the concert he was recalled some fifteen times, and had completely exploded the idea so firmly held in Berlin, that the Belgians cannot play the classics.

Of late years M. Ysaye has made his mark as a conductor, and has given a series of orchestral concerts in Brussels. He organised and managed this enterprise entirely by himself, without any guarantee fund, and the concerts were so successful, financially as well as artistically, that at the end of the season it was found that they had paid all expenses, and this, as all who know anything about the financial side of orchestral concerts, is a most remarkable showing.

Few, if any, artists have been made the recipients of more ridiculous adulation from women Paderewski perhaps being the only exception, and at the conclusion of his concerts scenes have been witnessed which are simply nauseating. This fashion is not confined, by any means, to the United States, for there are anecdotes from all countries illustrative of the manner in which members of the fair sex vie with each other in the effort to do the silliest things.

Ysaye has a home near the Palais de Justice in Brussels. He is married to the daughter of a Belgian army officer, and has several children. He is a man of much modesty, and is devoted to his family. As a violinist he may be considered to rank next to Joachim.

Carl Halir, who visited America in 1896, was born in 1859 at Hohenelbe in Bohemia, and was first taught by his father. He entered the conservatory at Prague at the age of eight, and remained there until he was fourteen, studying under Bennewitz, after which he went to Berlin and became a pupil of Joachim.

For some time he was a member of the Bilse orchestra, and then went to Koenigsberg as concert-master, after which he held a similar position for three years at Mannheim, and then at Weimar, where he married the well-known singer, Theresa Zerbst.

On his first appearance, at the Bach festival at Eisenath, he played with Joachim the Bach double concerto, and was very successful. He has made concert tours throughout the greater part of Europe, and while in America he was recognised as a broad artist. He is no virtuoso in the ordinary sense of the word, but a classical, non-sensational, well-educated musician, whose playing was not dazzling or magnetic, but delighted by its intellectuality. He has an even and sympathetic tone, and inspires the greatest respect as an artist and as a man, and, while other players may make greater popular successes, Halir stands on a high artistic plane which few can reach.

Franz Ondricek, who visited the United States also in 1896, was born at Prague in 1859, the same year as Halir, but is an artist of an entirely different stamp. In his early youth he was a member of a dance music band, and his father taught him to play the violin. It was not until he was fourteen years of age that he was able to enter the conservatory of his native town. Three years later he was sent, through the generosity of a wealthy merchant, to Paris, where he became a pupil of Massart. He shared with Achille Rivarde the honour of the first prize at the Conservatoire, since which time he has been a wandering star, and has never sought any permanent engagement. His playing is marked by individuality and dash, but he does not show to the best advantage in the interpretation of the classics.

Charles Martin Loeffler, who shares the first desk of the first violins in the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Mr. Kneisel, is a musician of the highest ability.

He was born in Muhlhausen, Alsace, in 1861. He enjoyed the advantages of instruction under Joachim, in Berlin, after which he continued his studies in Paris, with Massart and Leonard, studying composition with Guiraud. While in Paris he was a member of Pasdeloup's celebrated orchestra, and was afterward appointed first violin and soloist in the private orchestra of Baron Derwies, at Nice, of which orchestra Cesar Thomson was also a member.

In 1880 Mr. Loeffler crossed the Atlantic, and took up his residence in New York, but the following year he was engaged as second concert-master and soloist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position which he has held ever since, and in which he has had opportunity to display his exceptional talents.

As a violinist he plays with largeness of style, boldness of contrast, and exquisite grace. He has a technique equalled by few, and his performances have been confined to music of the highest class. Mr. Loeffler has never made a tour of the country as a virtuoso, but as soloist of the orchestra he has been heard under the best conditions in most of the large cities of the United States, and has shown himself to be a virtuoso in the best sense of the word.

As a composer Mr. Loeffler is distinctly original and imaginative. His works are both poetical and musical, and they display high thought and exceptional knowledge. His compositions include a sextet, a quintet, and an octet, also a suite for violin and orchestra, "Les Veillees de l'Ukraine;" a concerto for violoncello, which has been played by Mr. Alwyn Schroeder; a divertimento for violin and orchestra, and a symphonic poem, "La Mort de Tintagiles." Besides these large works he has written a number of songs, of which five are with viola obligato. These works have been performed by the Kneisel Quartet and the Symphony Orchestra, the solo parts of the suite and divertimento by the composer himself, and they have gained for him a reputation as a gifted and scholarly tone artist.

One of the most promising young violinists of the century was a native of Brazil, Maurice Dengremont, who was born in Rio Janeiro, in 1867. He was the son of a French musician who had settled in Brazil, and who gave him his first lessons to such good effect that, when only eight years of age, he gave a concert, and the Brazilian orchestra was so delighted with his playing that its members presented him with a medal, to which the emperor added an imperial crown, as a recognition of his talent.

He now became a pupil of Leonard, and after three years' study he appeared in many concerts, travelling throughout Europe and England, and being received with enthusiasm. About 1880 he visited America, but his career ended shortly after, as he fell a victim to dissipation.

Dengremont was compared with Sarasate and Wilhelmj, but all that could be said about him was that he might have developed into a player of their rank. As it was, he disappointed his admirers, and died while still quite young.

Of the many violinists who have made their home in the United States there are few whose accomplishments better entitle them to a position among celebrated violinists than Mr. Franz Kneisel.

Mr. Kneisel was called to Boston to fill the position of concert-master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1885, and has held that place for fourteen years, during which time he has done much toward the cultivation of musical taste in America.

He was born in Roumania, of German parents, in 1865, and gained his musical education at Bucharest and at Vienna, where he studied under Gruen and Hellmesberger. He then received the appointment of concert-master of the Hofburg Theatre Orchestra, after which he went to Berlin to fill the same position in Bilse's orchestra, following Halir, Ysaye, and Cesar Thomson.

When he was called to Boston, at the instance of Mr. Gericke, who was then the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, he was only twenty years of age. He played, on his first appearance as soloist, the Beethoven concerto, and was at once recognised as a violinist of remarkable ability.

Mr. Kneisel has never toured the country as a virtuoso, but has been heard in many of the great cities of America, as solo violinist with the Symphony Orchestra, and as first violin of the Kneisel Quartet.

He is a master of technique, and surmounts all difficulties with ease; his tone is pure, and, though not large, is satisfying, and in his interpretation of the great works he never attempts to enforce his personality upon the hearer,—in short, he is a true artist. As a conductor he has marked ability, and as a quartet player he has made a reputation which will live in the history of music in America, if not in the whole world.

Charles Gregorowitsch, who visited America in 1898, has risen in a very short time to a place among the leading violinists of the world.

He was born in 1867 at St. Petersburg, and, his talent making itself manifest in the usual manner, he was taught by his father until he was of an age to be sent to Moscow, where he studied until his fifteenth year, under Besekirskij and Wieniawski. From Moscow he was sent to Vienna, where he became a pupil of Dont, and finally he studied under Joachim in Berlin, where he gained the Mendelssohn prize.

Gregorowitsch was the last pupil of Wieniawski, and that master was so impressed with the great promise of the boy that on first hearing him he offered to take him as a pupil gratis. Few violinists have had the advantage which has fallen to the lot of Gregorowitsch, of receiving instruction from so many great teachers.

Gregorowitsch has travelled extensively throughout Europe, has been highly honoured in Russia, where the Czar granted him exemption from military service, and decorated by the King of Portugal. In London he made his first appearance in 1897, at the Queen's Hall Symphony concerts.

M. Gregorowitsch is remarkable for a large tone, and in the smoothness and finish of his playing he has been compared with Sauret and with Sarasate.

A far greater sensation was caused in America by Willie Burmester than by Gregorowitsch.

Burmester was born in Hamburg in 1869, and received his first instruction from his father. He owned his first violin when he was four years of age, and it came to him from a Christmas tree. This served to show the talent which he possessed, and the next year he received a better violin, and began to study in earnest.

When he was eight years old his father took him to Berlin to consult Joachim, who was, and is, regarded as the oracle for violinists. Joachim gave some encouragement to the parent, although he does not seem to have given much to the boy, who in consequence felt somewhat bitter. Four years later he was again taken to the Berlin Hochschule, to pass his entrance examination. On this occasion he received the recognition of the jury, and was admitted to the school, where he began a rigorous course of technical study. At the end of four years' study under Joachim he was refused a certificate, for some reason not stated, and he went to Helsingfors in Finland, where he worked according to his own ideas, which were to unlearn all he had studied, and begin afresh. During this period he worked with the greatest perseverance, practising nine or ten hours a day, and thus developed the wonderful technique which has astonished the world. For three years he continued this work, supporting himself meanwhile with a modest appointment which he had obtained.

Before he left Berlin he had worn down the end of his first finger to the nerve. This troubled him to such a degree that he had several operations for the purpose of removing it, but the result was not wholly satisfactory.

Emerging from his retirement in 1894, he went to Berlin again, and gave a recital in which he met with the most remarkable success. It was written at the time: "Mr. Burmester comes from an obscure town, unheralded, and, in the face of indifference, prejudice, and jealousy, conquered the metropolis off-hand. For nearly half an hour recall followed recall."

The following season he created an equal impression in London, and shortly afterward in America.

His technique has been described as "marvellous, almost diabolical." Difficult pizzicato passages and runs in thirds and tenths at top speed are but as child's play to him. His left hand pizzicato is marvellous, and he makes runs in single and artificial harmonics as quickly as most violinists can play an ordinary scale. He plays harmonics with a vibrato (Paganini played a double shake in harmonics), and his staccato volante is developed to an astounding degree of perfection.

When Burmester played in London his success was at once attributed to Joachim, and he resented it, in view of the fact that he had been denied his certificate and had narrowly escaped musical suffocation at the hands of that great master. He had already made the same statement in Berlin, referring to the fact of his retirement to Helsingfors, and the development which he had acquired there in solitude.

This announcement brought forth a deluge of letters from "pupils of Joachim," and in a couple of weeks Burmester wrote another letter stating that he did not know the Hochschule had as many pupils as those who had claimed Joachim as their teacher, and who were all unknown. "If one known pupil of Joachim," he wrote, "will appoint a meeting to interview me on the subject, I shall be glad to continue it." But the one known pupil did not come.

The complaint of Mr. Burmester, that the one idea at the Hochschule is technique, is not new by any means. In every school there are students with great talent, who find it difficult to subject themselves to the rigid discipline required by the teacher. It is the stumbling-block on which many fall. It is, nevertheless, a fact that without a solid technique the highest perfection in playing cannot be reached, and it is usually regarded as a hopeless case when the pupil antagonises the teacher. Many pupils are apt to try and run ahead of their technical ability, and do not find out their mistake until it is too late. The argument that Paganini was self-taught leads many a young violinist into error.

If Burmester is to be judged by his playing of the Beethoven concerto in Boston, good musicians will declare that Joachim was right in refusing the certificate, for while his technique was brilliant it appeared to lack foundation. Time may justify the stand which the young virtuoso has taken in opposition to his teacher, for he is still young and has time in which to develop. He has undoubted musical talent and great ability, but while he may be a celebrated violinist he can hardly yet be considered a great one, notwithstanding the furore which he caused in Berlin.

Burmester plays with unassuming simplicity and without cheap display. He is sincere, but without authority or distinction of style. His tone is warm and pleasing, but not large, his intonation is not always sure.

One of Burmester's earliest musical friends was Hans Von Buelow, and the friendship extended over a period of three and a half years, until Von Buelow went to Cairo shortly before his death.

Von Buelow had inaugurated a series of orchestral concerts in Berlin, and as they interfered with the Philharmonic series every effort was made to put a stop to them. Musicians were forbidden to play for Von Buellow, and many obstacles were placed in his way. Von Buellow's temperament was such as to intensify the hostility rather than succumb to it. Burmester was then only sixteen years old, but his sympathy was with Von Buellow, and he wrote a letter to him offering his services, and expressing his contempt for the injustice to which he was being subjected. Von Buellow invited him to attend the rehearsals, and printed the letter which he had received. Burmester accepted the invitation, and, going to the rehearsal, found vacant a seat amongst the first violins, which he took.

The rehearsal was about to commence when Von Buellow paused and asked, "Which of you gentlemen is Burmester?"

The young fellow approached Von Buellow, who had motioned him to come.

"Mr. Burmester," he said, "I have no desk in the first row to offer you or it would be yours. Gentlemen," he added, turning to the musicians, "I wish to introduce to you the guest of honour of my orchestra, Mr. Burmester."

This was the beginning of a friendship, through which the young violinist showed unswerving loyalty, and it is now one of his greatest desires to reach a point of independence which will enable him to build a monument to Von Buelow's memory.

In 1893 a sensation was created in America by the visit of Henri Marteau, a young French violinist whose excellent playing and charming personality delighted all who heard him. Marteau was called "the Paderewski of the Catgut," and he met with a most cordial reception among musicians.

Marteau was born at Reims in 1874. His father was an amateur violinist and president of the Philharmonic Society of Reims. His mother was an accomplished pianist, a pupil of Madame Schumann. He therefore had every advantage in his early youth for the development of musical taste. When he was about five years of age Sivori paid a visit to the family, and was so charmed with the little fellow that he gave him a violin, and persuaded his parents to let him become a professional violinist. Marteau now began to take lessons of Bunzl, a pupil of Molique, but three years later he went to Paris, and was placed under Leonard. In 1884, when ten years of age, he played in public before an audience of 2,500 people, and in the following year he was selected by Gounod to play the obligato of a piece composed for the Joan of Arc Centenary celebration at Reims, which piece was dedicated to him.

In 1892 Marteau carried off the first prize for violin playing at the Paris Conservatoire, and Massenet, the celebrated French composer, wrote a concerto for him.

When Marteau played in Boston at the Symphony concerts he received twelve recalls, and immediately became the idol of the hour. The concerto selected was that in G minor by Bruch, and it was played without a rehearsal, a fact which reflects great credit on the orchestra, which was at that time conducted by Mr. Arthur Nikisch.

In the following year Marteau again visited America and brought with him a concerto composed for him by Dubois. This was played for the first time by the Colonne orchestra, with Marteau as soloist, at Paris, on November 28, 1894, and again on the following Sunday. It was next given at Marseilles on December 12th, and the next performances were at Pittsburg, Louisville, and Nashville during the second American tour.

Marteau's tone is large, brilliant, and penetrating. His technique is sure, and he plays with contagious warmth of sentiment and great artistic charm.

The violin which he used during his American tours was a Maggini, which once belonged to Maria Theresa of Austria. She gave it to a Belgian musician who had played chamber music with her in Vienna. He took it to Belgium, where at his death it became the property of Leonard, who, at his death, gave it to Marteau.

Alexander Petschnikoff, the son of a Russian soldier, is the latest violinist who has created a furore in Europe. When he was quite young his parents moved to Moscow, near which city he was born, and one day a musician of the Royal Opera House happened to hear the boy, who had already endeavoured to master the difficulties of the instrument, and he used his influence to get the lad into the conservatory. Petschnikoff now became a pupil of Hrimaly, and devoted himself to hard work, earning some money by teaching even at the age of ten.

In due course he won the first prize and the gold medal at the conservatory, and was then offered an opportunity to study in Paris, which he declined. For a time he earned his living by playing in a theatre orchestra, but fortune smiled upon him, and he became an object of interest to the Princess Ourosoff, who heard him play at a concert. Her influence was exerted in his behalf, and he was soon noticed and courted by the nobility. The princess also made him a present of a magnificent violin, which formerly belonged to Ferdinand Laub, and is said to be the most costly instrument in existence.

When he made his debut in Berlin, in 1895, his success was unprecedented, inasmuch as it covered four points,—the artistic, popular, social, and financial. He has created a furore wherever he has appeared, and has been recalled as many as sixteen times. So great has been his success that he is said to have received the highest honorarium for a single concert ever obtained by a violinist in Europe.

He is described as a man of commonplace appearance, with dull, expressionless eyes, sluggish movements, and slow, affected manner of speech. His technique is not astonishing, but he has a full, penetrating, sympathetic tone. There is no charlatanism or trickery in his playing, nor any virtuoso effects, but the charm of it rests in his glowing temperament, ideal conception, and wonderful power of expression. He has been regarded as phenomenal, because he can move the hearts of his hearers as few other violinists are able to do.

Petschnikoff has been given an introduction to America, through Mr. Emil Paur, by Theodor Leschetizky, couched in the most glowing terms, and is called by him "an artist of the very first rank and of inconceivable versatility."

One might prolong the list of violinists to a tremendous extent, and yet fail to mention all those of great merit. In England, John Dunn appears to be acquiring a great reputation. On the Continent, such names as Hubay, Petri, Rose are well known. In America, we have Leopold Lichtenberg, a good musician of admirable qualifications. Bernhard Listemann, now of Chicago, has done much toward forming musical taste in America, and was concert-master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the first few years of its existence. But space does not permit of a mention of more than has been attempted, and a few pages must be given to lady violinists and to a few words about celebrated quartets.



CHAPTER X.

WOMEN AS VIOLINISTS.

During the past forty or fifty years the violin has become a fashionable instrument for ladies, and has become correspondingly popular as a profession for those who are obliged to earn a living.

Formerly, for many years, it seems to have been considered improper, or ungraceful, or unladylike,—the reasons are nowhere satisfactorily given, but the fact remains that until recently few women played the violin.

From the year 1610 until 1810 the list of those who played in public is extremely short, numbering only about twenty, and of these several were gambists.

That women did, once upon a time, play on the violin, or the corresponding string and bow instruments which were its ancestors, there is evidence.

On the painted roof of Peterborough Cathedral, in England, which is said to have been built in the year 1194 A.D., there is a picture of a woman seated, and holding in her lap a sort of viol, with four strings and four sound-holes. This seems to indicate that in very early days ladies sometimes played on stringed instruments, if only for their own amusement.

Among the accounts of King Henry VII., dated November 2, 1495, is the following item, "For a womane that singeth with a fiddle, 2 shillings."

Anne of Cleves after her divorce comforted herself by playing on a viol with six strings. Queen Elizabeth, also, amused herself not only with the lute, the virginals, and her voice, but also with the violin.

These, however, were amateurs, and the earliest professional violinist known was Mrs. Sarah Ottey, who was born about 1695, and who about 1721-22 performed frequently at concerts, giving solos on the harpsichord, violin, and bass viol. Previous to her there was one Signora Leonora Baroni, born at Mantua about 1610, but she played the theorbo and the viol di gamba.

The next is "La Diamantina," born about 1715, who is referred to by the poet Gray in 1740, when he was at Rome, as "a famous virtuosa, played on the violin divinely, and sung angelically."

Anne Nicholl, born in England about 1728, played the violin before the Duke of Cumberland at Huntley in 1746, and her granddaughter, Mary Anne Paton, also, who was better known as a singer and who became Lady Lenox, and afterwards Mrs. Wood, was a violinist.

The celebrated Madame Gertrude Elizabeth Mara, one of the greatest singers of her time, was a violinist when young. Her father took her to England, hoping by means of her playing to get sufficient money to give her a thorough musical education. She was then a mere child, and as she grew to womanhood her voice developed and she became one of the celebrities in the history of song. There is no doubt that the training in intervals which her practice on the violin gave her proved invaluable as an aid to her in singing. In later days several of the most celebrated singers have been also good violinists, as, for instance, Christine Nilsson and Marcella Sembrich.

Maddalena Lombardi Sirmen, born about 1735, had an almost European reputation toward the end of the eighteenth century. She visited France and England about 1760-61, and was so good a player that she was looked upon almost as a rival of Nardini. She will always be celebrated in history because of the letter which was written to her by Tartini, and which is not only one of the rarities of musical literature, but constitutes also a valuable treatise on the use of the violin.

This letter, which has been printed in almost every book on the violin, would take up rather more space than can be afforded in this sketch. It is admirably clear and is divided into three parts, the first giving advice on bowing, "pressing the bow lightly but steadily, upon the strings in such a manner as that it shall seem to breathe the first tone it gives, which must proceed from the friction of the string, and not from percussion, as by a blow given with a hammer upon it,—if the tone is begun with delicacy, there is little danger of rendering it afterwards either coarse or harsh." The second section of the letter is devoted to the finger-board, or the "carriage of the left hand," and the last part to the "shake."

Maddalena Sirmen received her instruction first at the conservatory of Mendicanti at Venice, after which she took lessons from Tartini. She also composed a considerable quantity of violin music, much of which was published at Amsterdam. About 1782 she, emulating the example of Madame Mara, appeared as a singer at Dresden, but with comparatively small success.

Regina Sacchi, who married a noted German violoncellist named Schlick, was celebrated for her performances on the violin. She was born at Mantua in 1764, and educated at the Conservatorio della Pieta at Venice. This lady was highly esteemed by Mozart, who said of her, "No human being can play with more feeling."

When Mozart was in Vienna, about 1786, Madame Schlick was also there, and solicited him to write something for the piano and violin, which they should play together at a concert. Mozart willingly promised to do so, and accordingly composed and arranged, in his mind, his beautiful sonata in B-flat minor, for piano and violin. The time for the concert drew near, but not a note was put upon paper, and Madame Schlick's anxiety became painful. Eventually, after much entreaty, she received the manuscript of the violin part the evening before the concert, and set herself to work to study it, taking scarcely any rest that night.

The sonata was played before an audience consisting of the rank and fashion of Vienna. The execution of the two artists was perfect and the applause was enthusiastic. It happened, however, that the Emperor Joseph II., who was seated in a box just above the performers, in using his opera-glass to look at Mozart, noticed that there was nothing on his desk but a sheet of blank paper, and, afterward calling the composer to him, said: "So, Mozart, you have once again trusted to chance," to which Mozart, of course, graciously acquiesced, though the emperor did not state whether he considered Mozart's knowledge of his new composition, or Madame Schlick's ability to play with him unrehearsed, constituted the "chance."

The next virtuosa was a Frenchwoman, Louise Gautherot, who was born about 1760, and who played in London and made a great impression about 1780 to 1790, and about the same time Signora Vittoria dall' Occa played at the theatre in Milan. Signora Paravicini, born about 1769, and Luigia Gerbini, about 1770, were pupils of Viotti, and earned fame. The former made a sensation in 1799 by her performance of some violin concertos at the Italian Theatre at Lisbon, where she played between the acts.

Signora Paravicini attracted the attention of the Empress Josephine, who became her patroness and engaged her to teach her son, Eugene Beauharnais, and took her to Paris. After a time, however, the Empress neglected her, and she suffered from poverty. Driven to the last resource, and having even pawned her clothes, she applied for aid to the Italians resident in Paris, and they enabled her to return to Milan, where her ability soon gained her both competence and credit. She also played at Vienna in 1827, and at Bologna in 1832, where she was much admired.

Catarina Calcagno, who has already been mentioned as a pupil of Paganini, was a native of Genoa, born about 1797, and had a short but brilliant career. She disappeared from before the public in 1816.

Madame Krahmer and Mlles. Eleanora Neumann, and M. Schulz all delighted the public in Vienna and Prague. Miss Neumann came from Moscow, and astonished the public when she had scarcely reached her tenth year. Other names are Madame Filipowicz, Madame Pollini, Mlle. Zerchoff, Eliza Wallace, and Rosina Collins, who all played publicly and were well known.

In 1827 Teresa Milanollo was born, and in 1832 her sister Marie, and these two young ladies played so well, and were in such striking contrast to one another, that they proved very successful as concert players. They were natives of Savigliano, in Piedmont, where their father was a manufacturer of silk-spinning machinery. Teresa, the elder, was taught by Ferrero, Caldera, and Morra, but in 1836 she went to Paris and studied under Lafont, and afterwards under Habeneck, going still later to Brussels, where she took lessons of De Beriot, and received the finishing touch to her artistic education,—faultless intonation. Her career as a concert player began when she was about nine years of age. When Marie was old enough to handle a violin Teresa began to teach her, and in fact was the only teacher Marie ever had.

The two sisters, who were called, on account of their most striking characteristics, Mlle. Staccato and Mlle. Adagio, travelled together through France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and England, and were everywhere received with the greatest interest. They played before Louis Philippe at Neuilly, and appeared with Liszt before the King of Prussia. They also created a furore at Vienna and Berlin.

Marie, the younger, who was of a happy and cheerful disposition, was not strong, and in 1848 she died in Paris. Teresa, the elder, after a long retirement, resumed her travels, and, having matured and improved, she played better and excited more interest than before. In 1857 she married a French officer, Captain Theodore Parmentier, who had seen service in the Crimean War, and she abandoned the concert stage.

From 1857 until 1878 she followed the fortunes of her husband, who became a general and a "Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur," and her public appearances were limited to such places as the vicissitudes of a military life took her to. Since 1878 Madame Parmentier has lived quietly in Paris, where she is still to be met by a few fortunate persons in select musical and social circles.

During the lifetime of Marie, the sisters had already put themselves into direct personal relations with the poor of Lyons, but after Teresa had roused herself from her mourning for her sister she established a system of "Concerts aux Pauvres," which she carried out in nearly all the chief cities of France, and part of the receipts of these concerts was used for the benefit of the poor. Her plan was to follow up the first concert with a second, at which the audience consisted of poor school-children and their parents, to whom she played in her most fascinating manner, and, at the conclusion of her performance, money, food, and clothing, purchased with the receipts of the previous concerts, were distributed.

From 1830 there has been a constantly increasing number of ladies who have appeared as concert violinists, but few have continued long before the public, or have reached such a point of excellence as to be numbered amongst the great performers.

Mlle. Emilia Arditi, Frauelein Hortensia Zirges, Miss Hildegard Werner, Miss Bertha Brousil, and Madame Rosetta Piercy-Feeny were all born during the decade 1830 to 1840, and were well known, but in 1840 and 1842 two violinists were born who were destined to hold the stage for many years and to exert a great influence in their profession. Wilma Neruda, now known as Lady Halle and Camilla Urso are the two ladies in question, the former exerting her influence chiefly in England and on the Continent, and the latter in America.

Miss Werner has played an important part in advancing the art amongst women, having for many years conducted a school of music at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in England. She was also the first woman ever to address the Literary and Philosophical Society, when in 1880 she delivered an address on the history of the violin. There is little doubt, however, that the success of Teresa Milanollo gave the first great impulse toward the study of the violin by women.

Lady Halle was born at Bruenn, March 21, 1840. Her father was Josef Neruda, a musician of good ability, and he gave her the first instruction on the violin, and then placed her under Leopold Jansa, in Vienna. Wilhelmina Maria Franziska Neruda made her first appearance in public in 1846, at which time she was not quite seven years old. On this occasion her sister Amalie, who was a pianist, accompanied her, and shortly afterwards her father took her, with her sister Amalie and one of her brothers, on an extended tour. The family consisted of two sons—a pianist and a 'cellist—and two daughters—a violinist and a pianist.

In 1849 they reached London, where the young violinist played a concerto by De Beriot, at the seventh Philharmonic concert of that season. By the critics at that time she was said to be wonderful in bravura music, in musical intelligence, and in her remarkable accuracy.

As time went on, and her playing matured, she became known throughout Europe. In 1864 she married Ludwig Norman, conductor of the opera at Stockholm, and for a time she remained in that city and became a teacher at the Royal Music School.

Before long she was again busy with concert playing, and in 1869 she again appeared in England, where she became a great favourite, and has appeared there regularly almost, if not quite, every season since. Hans von Buelow spoke of her as Joachim's rival, and called her "the violin fairy."

Joachim has always been a great favourite in England, but Madame Norman-Neruda, or Lady Halle, as she became later, has fully shared his popularity. What Joachim is to the sterner sex, just the same is Lady Halle to the gentler.

Joachim was indeed one of the first to recognise the fact that he had in Mlle. Neruda a rival, for in the days when she was earning her reputation he heard her at some place on the Continent, and remarked to Charles Halle, who afterwards became her husband, "I recommend this artist to your careful consideration. Mark this, when people have given her a fair hearing, they will think more of her and less of me."

Ludwig Norman died in 1885, and three years later Madame Norman-Neruda married the pianist, Charles Halle, who had long been identified with all that was best musically in England, and who was knighted in recognition of his services to the cause of art.

Sir Charles Halle established a series of orchestral concerts at Manchester in 1857, and by means of these concerts brought before the English public the works of many composers who would have remained unknown perhaps for years but for his efforts. In this work he was ably supported by this talented violinist, afterwards his wife, and with her he made many tours all over the British Isles.

In 1890 Sir Charles and Lady Halle made a tour in Australia, which was highly successful. Five years later they went to South Africa, where they met with a flattering reception. In his memoirs, Sir Charles Halle tells of a curious compliment which they received at Pietermaritzburg. The mayor invited them to play at a municipal concert to be given one Sunday afternoon. The concert began, and after an organ solo and a song had been given by other musicians, they played the Kreutzer sonata. At the conclusion of the sonata, a member of the corporation came forward, and said that after the impression just received he thought it would be best to omit the remainder of the programme, upon which the audience cheered and dispersed.

In 1895, shortly after their return from the South African tour, Sir Charles Halle died, and Lady Halle went into retirement. At this time her numerous admirers in England presented her with a valuable testimonial of their appreciation.

Throughout her career she has fulfilled the prophecies made of her in her youth, for her talent and musicianship developed as she grew up, and her genius did not burn itself out as that of many infant prodigies has done. She has never endeavoured to secure public applause at the expense of her real artistic nature. Her performances are and always have been synonymous with all that is good in musical art, and nothing but that which is of the best has ever been allowed to appear upon her programmes.

She is celebrated no less as a quartet player than as a soloist, and was for many years first violin of the Philharmonic Quartet in London.

In 1898, Lady Halle had the misfortune to lose her son, Mr. Norman Neruda, who, while scaling a difficult place in the Alps, slipped and was killed.

In the following year she emerged from her retirement and visited the United States, where her playing was highly appreciated by unbiassed critics. There was a feeling, however, that she might have made the journey many years before, and allowed the American public to hear her in her prime, when she would have received not only a very warm welcome, but would have been judged rather by her merits than by her history, and she would not have challenged comparison with the violinists of the rising generation.

Camilla Urso has been for many years one of the best known violinists in the United States. She was born at Nantes, in France, in 1842, of Italian parents. Her father was Salvator Urso, a good musician, and son of a good musician, so that the young violinist inherited some of her talent. In 1852 the family crossed the Atlantic and settled in the United States, and almost immediately the little girl began to appear at concerts. Camilla Urso began to study the violin at the age of six years, and her choice of that instrument was determined by her hearing the violin and being fascinated by it during a celebration of the Mass of St. Cecilia. She was taken to Paris for instruction, for which purpose her father abandoned his position at Nantes. She entered the Conservatoire and became a pupil of Massart.