Highly honored sir, you call Joachim only the leading German violinist? I find him to be the leading performing musician altogether — an ideal of perfection. With his incomparable mastery he has terrified me and laid me low — but the feeling of artistic elevation that I owe to him won out in the end.
Hans von Bülow to Franz Wüllner, 1 December, 1866
(Berlin SBPK: Mus. ep. Hans von Bülow 1537)
This website is dedicated to the life and art of Joseph Joachim. The information on the site derives from my ongoing research and writing, which I am publishing here in the spirit of modern, open-access scholarship. For copyright reasons related to the source material, some information remains password-protected and unavailable to the public. The WordPress blog format does not allow me to organize posts as I wish: it organizes posts by date, which is to say, randomly. I am, however, presenting the Biographical Posts in sequence, and organizing all of the material in the INDEX. Content is also searchable using the “search” function, though in recent years that has become cumbersome. The detailed Biographical Posts begin here (“Kittsee, 1831”), and continue as a series of linked articles. There are some gaps in the links — this is, as I say, an ongoing project.
In general, if you wish to use any of the content on this site, especially copyright material or photographs, please acknowledge the source. I request that those with whom I have shared protected information keep their password secret and refrain from making public any information that is not already in the public domain.
I wish to acknowledge the invaluable and generous support of the University of New Hampshire, without which this work would not have been possible.
Robert W. Eshbach Associate Professor of Music Emeritus
University of New Hampshire
reshbach (at) unh.edu
1. “Of the Highest Good”: Joachim’s Relationship to Mendelssohn R. Larry Todd
2. Joseph Joachim and His Jewish Dilemma Styra Avins
3. Joachim and Romani Musicians: Their Relationship and Common Features in Performance Practice Mineo Ota
PART TWO: Joachim as Performer
4. Joachim’s Violins: Spotlights on Some of Them Ruprecht Kamlah
5. (Re-)Enchanting Performance: Joachim and the Spirit of Beethoven Karen Leistra-Jones
6. “Thou That Hast Been in England Many a Year”: The British Joachim Ian Maxwell
7. Joachim at the Crystal Palace Michael Musgrave
8. “Music Was Poured by Perfect Ministrants”: Joseph Joachim at the Monday Popular Concerts, London Therese Ellsworth
9. “Das Quartett-Spiel ist doch wohl mein eigentliches Fach”: Joseph Joachim and the String
Quartet Robert Riggs
10. Professor Joachim and His Pupils Sanna Pederson
11. Performers as Authors of Music History: Joseph and Amalie Joachim Beatrix Borchard
12. At the Intersection of Performance and Composition: Joseph Joachim and Brahms’s Piano
Quartet in A Major, Op. 26, Movement III William P. Horne
PART THREE: Joachim as Composer
13. Re-considering the Young Composer-Performer Joseph Joachim, 1841-53 Katharina Uhde
14. “Franz Liszt gewidmet”: Joseph Joachim’s G-minor Violin Concerto, Op. 3 Vasiliki Papadopoulou
15. Drama and Music in Joachim’s Overture to Shakespeare’s Henry IV Valerie Woodring Goertzen
16. “So Gleams the Past, the Light of Other Days”: Joachim’s Hebräische Melodien for Viola and Piano, Op. 9 (1853) Marie Sumner Lott
17. Tovey’s View of Joachim’s “Hungarian” Violin Concerto Robert Riggs
Bibliography
Index
2) I am interested in finding birth records from the Kittsee Kehilla from the late 1820s to the early 1830s. As far as I know, birth records exist only from the mid 1830s onward — too late to include Joachim.
3) I would like to find Margaret Alsager Ayrton’s unpublished diary.
4) I am always interested in seeing letters, photographs, memorabilia, etc. connected with Joachim. Please email me at the above address.
Joseph Joachim at the time of his Adelskasino debut
This priceless historical artifact was erroneously sold by Stair Galleries on September 13, 2008 as “Joseph Joachim Guernier — The Young Violinist,” “Oil on panel, 8 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. Provenance: Property from the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.” It’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
Thank you! RWE
Desiderata:
Ich versuche, die Korrespondenz zwischen Joseph Joachim und Bettina von Arnim zu finden, die 1929 von der Auktionsfirma Henrici versteigert wurde. [Karl Ernst Henrici, Versteigerungskatalog 155, Berlin: am 5. Juli 1929.] Für jede Information, die zum Aufenthaltsort führt, wäre ich sehr dankbar.
Ich interessiere mich für Geburtsregister aus der Kehilla von Kittsee aus den späten 1820er bis frühen 1830er Jahren. Soweit ich weiß, existieren Geburtsregister erst ab Mitte der 1830er Jahre – zu spät, um Joachim einzuschließen.
Ich würde gerne das unveröffentlichte Tagebuch von Margaret Alsager Ayrton finden.
Ich interessiere mich immer für Briefe, Fotos, Erinnerungsstücke usw., die mit Joachim in Verbindung stehen. Bitte schreiben Sie mir eine E-Mail an die oben angegebene Adresse.
Ich interessiere mich für den Aufenthaltsort des Gemäldes von Felix Possart vom Joachim Quartett in der Singakademie zu Berlin (1903).
Joseph Joachim zur Zeit seines Debüts im Adelskasino (siehe oben): Dieses unschätzbar wertvolle historische Artefakt wurde irrtümlicherweise von Stair Galleries am 13. September 2008 als “Joseph Joachim Guernier – Der junge Geiger” verkauft, “Öl auf Holztafel, 8 3/4 x 6 3/4 Zoll. Herkunft: Eigentum der New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox und Tilden Foundations.” Der derzeitige Aufenthaltsort ist unbekannt.
Sold at Sotheby’s on December 13, 2022:
Joachim. Collection of printed and manuscript music belonging to Joachim and his family.
Collection of printed and manuscript music belonging to Joachim and his family, WITH A MANUSCRIPT FULL SCORE OF JOACHIM’S OVERTURE DEMETRIUS,REVISED BY JOACHIM
the printed scores including by Bach (including a Breitkopf edition of six violin sonatas with piano accompaniments by Schumann, INSCRIBED BY SCHUMANN TO JOACHIM), Beethoven (Peters editions of the quartets op.18, arranged for piano four hands, inscribed “Joh. Joachim Pforta, d. 12 Sept. 1883”, and the violin concerto op.61), Gluck (a Peters edition of Iphigénie en Aulide, belonging to Marie Joachim), Mozart (a Peters vocal score of La clemenza di Tito inscribed by Marie Joachim), Tartini, Leclair, Spohr, Schubert, Mendelssohn (including a Peters edition of overtures arranged for piano four hands belonging to Johannes Joachim), Joachim (op.2 no.1, Romance), Schumann (first editions of Bunte Blätter, op.99, and Albumblätter, op.124), Ernst Rudorff (Variations op.24, inscribed by the composer), Brahms (including Ungarische Tänze, arranged for violin and piano, vols.1-3, vol. 3 without the violin part), and Heinrich von Herzogenberg (full score of Symphony no.2, inscribed by the composer “Seinem lieben Freunden Joseph Joachim Weihnacht 1890 HH”)
the manuscript comprising a scribal full score of Joachim’s orchestral overture Demetrius, op.6, notated in brown ink on one 16-stave system per page, dated by the scribe at the end (“Berlin, den 28sten August 1854″), WITH EXTENSIVE PENCIL ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS IN JOACHIM’S HAND, the title-page annotated by Joachim (“Umarbeitung einer frühern Ouverture”), 79 pages, oblong 4to (25.5 x 33.5cm), contemporary cloth, no place, [1854 and later]
33 volumes in all, various sizes, bound in with the volume containing Beethoven’s op.61 some manuscript items, including a sonata by Tartini, possibly marked up by Joachim, mostly cloth, nineteenth century, the inscription by Schumann on one edition cropped
A remarkable collection of volumes from the library of arguably the greatest violinist of the nineteenth century. Of particular interest is the score of Joachim’s Demetrius overture, composed 1853-1854 and later revised – a fine example of what the composer himself termed ‘psychological music’.
I would be delighted to hear from the buyer of this collection. The manuscript copy of the Demetrius Overture is of great historical importance, and should not be lost to scholarship. Please contact me at: reshbach(at)unh.edu. Thank you!
Nur das Bedeutungslose fährt dahin,
Was einmal tief lebendig ist und war,
Das hat Kraft zu sein für immerdar.
Only the meaningless passes away.
That which is and was once deeply alive
Has the power to be for eternity
— Joseph Joachim in Agathe von Siebold Schütte’s Stammbuch, Fall, 1894
elov’d of all to whom that Muse is dear
Who hid her spirit of rapture from the Greek,
Whereby our art excelleth the antique,
Perfecting formal beauty to the ear;
Thou that hast been in England many a year
The interpreter who left us nought to seek,
Making Beethoven’s inmost passion speak,
Bringing the soul of great Sebastian near.
Their music liveth ever, and ’tis just
That thou, good Joachim, so high thy skill,
Rank (as thou shalt upon the heavenly hill)
Laurel’d with them, for thy ennobling trust
Remember’d when thy loving hand is still
And every ear that heard thee stopt with dust.
Robert Bridges, May 2, 1904
First published in the Times, May 17, 1904, p. 11
E[duard] Klingebeil, Das Joachim-Quartett in der Singakademie, illustration, Berliner Leben: Zeitschrift für Schönheit und Kunst 4, no. 1 (January 1901): 11, digitized by the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, https://digital.zlb.de/viewer/image/15599725_1901/19/LOG_0007/.
Eduard Klingebeil, born 1863 in Neuchâtel (Neuenburg), Switzerland, is described in the German National Library’s authority file as a watercolorist and illustrator who lived in Berlin; “E. Klingebeil” and “Ed. Klingebeil” are recorded there as variant forms of his name (GND 137977670). He is the only artist of that surname in the file, and the dates and Berlin residence fit a 1901 Berlin illustrated weekly.
Klingebeil was a jobbing illustrator rather than an exhibiting artist of note. What survives under his name in library catalogues is mostly book illustration, much of it juvenile fiction: Sigismund Rüstig, Der alte Trapper, Mamsell Übermut, Treue Freundschaft, Die Jüngste des Kleeblatts (DNB/lobid). Contemporary booksellers’ advertisements bear this out, e.g. a Riga notice for a volume “mit 4 Vollbildern u. 20 Textillustr. v. E. Klingebeil”.dom.ln. This is reportage illustration by a commercial magazine draftsman working “nach dem Leben” on deadline, not a documentary portrait group.
Of the two gentlemen in the inset at top left the one on the lower right can be identified as the artist Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (1815-1905), a regular attendee at the Joachim Quartet’s Singakademie series. The other figure may be Heinrich von Herzogenberg, but I am less certain about that identification. The same person appears to be sitting in the audience at lower left.
Thanks to Sanna Pederson for discovering this print.
Ebenezer Prout, “Crystal Palace—Herr Joachim,” The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art, February 21, 1874, 214–15.
CRYSTAL PALACE — HERR JOACHIM.
THE special feature of last Saturday’s concert at the Crystal Palace was the first appearance this season of Herr Joachim. This great artist has been so long acknowledged as the first of living violinists, that it is all but impossible to write anything new about him: and one is at the same time met by the difficulty that his performances are invariably so absolutely perfect that the mere description of them sounds like extravagant eulogy. The critic has simply to lay down his pen and admire. While, considered merely as a virtuoso, Joachim has few equals, the last thing one thinks of in hearing him is his wonderful mastery of the instrument. No idea of mere display or the overcoming of mechanical difficulties is suggested by his performance; and the reason of this is simply that, probably more than any other living performer on his instrument, he enters heart and soul into the spirit of whatever he plays. As Beethoven says, “That which is to go to the heart must come from the heart;” and with Joachim everything comes warm from the heart. It is not merely intellectual playing, though that is not to be disparaged; but it is the combination of a perfect understanding of the music and a complete sympathy with it which constitutes the great charm. He seems, if the phrase may be allowed, to have assimilated whatever he performs, and he reproduces it as if it were the spontaneous production of his own soul. Hence, whether in a sonata of Bach, a concerto of Beethoven or Spohr, or a quartet of Schubert or Schumann, the same feeling is produced of perfection, of absolute satisfaction. It is not Joachim’s “reading” of the work; it is rather the work itself. The player seeks to bring forward, not himself, but the composer; and by his very self-denial takes the highest possible artistic position.
To those who have never heard Joachim, this language may perhaps seem exaggerated; but those who have had that good fortune will heartily endorse every word.
The concert on Saturday showed that the great artist had returned to us in the full possession of his powers. Indeed he seems, if possible, to play more finely every year. His performances consisted of Spohr’s Concerto in E minor (No. 7) and a selection of Brahms’s “Hungarian Dances,” originally written as piano duets, and arranged by Joachim himself, with the concurrence of the composer, for violin and pianoforte. Spohr’s concerto, though less popular than his “Scena cantate,” is one of the best of the fifteen works of this class which he produced. The first and last movements are full of charm; the slow movement, though the opening subject is interesting, becomes tedious before its close. It is somewhat the fashion at the present day to decry Spohr. No doubt he has been unduly exalted; no one would rank him with Beethoven or Mozart; but on the other hand he is one of the first in the second rank of composers. True, there is a certain mannerism, a strong family likeness between all his works; but he is never commonplace or vulgar, and the workmanship of his music is always most artistically finished. His concertos for the violin rank among the best of his compositions, and some of them will probably outlive much of his other music.
Brahms’s “Hungarian Dances” are distinguished by great originality and a strong national colouring. We cannot but think they are more effective in their original form; but in Joachim’s adaptation they make excellent concert pieces. After what has been said above, it is needless to add a word as to the performance. It should, however, be stated that the piano accompaniments were excellently played by Mr. Franklin Taylor.
Of the remainder of the programme a few words will suffice. The symphony was Beethoven’s C minor—the best-known of the nine; the other instrumental pieces being Schubert’s graceful “Overture in the Italian Style,” written avowedly in imitation of the overture to Tancredi, and the now well-known and popular Tannhäuser overture. The vocalists were Madame Elena Corani and Signor Agnesti. Mr. Manns being prevented by domestic affliction from occupying his usual post at the conductor’s desk, his place was most efficiently filled by Mr. Wedemeyer, the leader of the first violins.
To-day, in addition to Mendelssohn’s music to the Midsummer Night’s Dream, a new overture by Mr. Alfred Holmes and three pieces for female voices will be produced for the first time at these concerts.
Ebenezer Prout, “[Herr Joachim at the Monday Popular Concerts]”, The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art, February 21, 1874, 214–15.
Herr Joachim’s reappearance at the Monday Popular Concerts last Monday was no less of a success than that just adverted to at Sydenham. The announcement of his name was sufficient to crowd St. James’s Hall to the doors; and his reception on mounting the steps of the orchestra was such as a “Monday Popular” audience reserves for its special favourites. The quartet which Herr Joachim selected for performance was Beethoven’s, No. 10, in E flat—no novelty at these concerts, the present being its eleventh performance, but none the less welcome on that account. After what has been said above, it is needless to enlarge upon the exquisite manner in which this great work was rendered; but if one point can be selected for special mention, we should be inclined to name the deeply-moving and pathetic adagio (the influence of which on Mendelssohn, it may be remarked, is clearly to be traced in the slow movement of his Scotch symphony) as one of the most perfect pieces of quartet playing ever heard, both from the expressive, yet never exaggerated “singing” by Herr Joachim of the principal melodies, and from the admirable way in which he was supported by Messrs. Ries, Zerbini, and Piatti.
An even greater effect was produced later in the evening by Herr Joachim’s playing of Bach’s sonata for violin solo in G minor. Owing to the enormous mechanical difficulties to be found in Bach’s violin sonatas, they are very seldom heard in public; and it may safely be said that no living player can give such a reading of them as Joachim. His performance last Monday was one of the most marvellous exhibitions of technical skill, combined with intellectual appreciation of the spirit of the music, which even he has ever given. The clearness with which the elaborate combinations of the fugue were brought out, and the unerring certainty of execution of the final presto (taken at a tremendous pace), can hardly be imagined by those who were not present. The audience recalled the performer with enthusiasm at the close of the piece, nor would they be satisfied until Herr Joachim repeated the last movement.
The pianist at this concert was that sterling artist, Miss Agnes Zimmermann, who chose for her solo Schubert’s sonata in A, Op. 120—a work comparatively but little known, but one of its author’s most individual, though by no means one of his greatest creations. Miss Zimmermann’s reading was not only faultlessly accurate, but full of taste and feeling. No less successful was she in Beethoven’s Trio in C minor, in which she was joined by Herr Joachim and Signor Piatti. A more satisfactory performance could not have been wished.
The vocalist of the evening was Mdlle. Victoria Bunsen, a lady with an excellent contralto voice, who took the place of Mdlle. Nita Gaetano, who had been originally announced, but was prevented by hoarseness from appearing. Mdlle. Bunsen sang extremely well, but was hardly happy in her choice of music, as her first song, Schubert’s “Wanderer,” is much better suited for a baritone voice than for a contralto; and her second, Mozart’s “Voi che sapete,” required transposition to bring it within her compass.
EBENEZER PROUT.
Deutsche Übersetzung
Ebenezer Prout, “Crystal Palace—Herr Joachim,” The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art, February 21, 1874, 214–15.
Das besondere Merkmal des Konzerts im Crystal Palace am vergangenen Sonnabend war das erste Erscheinen Herr Joachims in dieser Saison. Dieser große Künstler ist schon so lange als der Erste unter den lebenden Geigern anerkannt, dass es nahezu unmöglich ist, noch etwas Neues über ihn zu schreiben; und zugleich steht man vor der Schwierigkeit, dass seine Aufführungen ausnahmslos so vollkommen sind, dass ihre bloße Beschreibung wie überschwängliches Lob klingt. Der Kritiker hat nichts anderes zu tun, als die Feder aus der Hand zu legen und zu bewundern. Betrachtet man Joachim nur als Virtuosen, so hat er wenige Ebenbürtige; doch ist das Letzte, woran man denkt, wenn man ihn hört, seine wunderbare Meisterschaft über das Instrument. Kein Gedanke an bloße Zurschaustellung oder an das Überwinden mechanischer Schwierigkeiten wird durch sein Spiel nahegelegt; und der Grund dafür ist einfach der, dass er wahrscheinlich mehr als jeder andere lebende Spieler auf seinem Instrument mit ganzem Herzen und ganzer Seele in den Geist dessen eingeht, was er spielt. Wie Beethoven sagt: „Was ins Herz gehen soll, muss aus dem Herzen kommen“; und bei Joachim kommt alles warm aus dem Herzen. Es ist nicht nur intellektuelles Spiel – so wenig dies auch zu verachten ist –, sondern die Verbindung eines vollkommenen Verständnisses der Musik mit einer völligen inneren Anteilnahme an ihr, die ihren großen Zauber ausmacht. Er scheint, wenn man sich so ausdrücken darf, alles, was er vorträgt, in sich aufgenommen zu haben, und er gibt es wieder, als sei es der spontane Ausdruck seiner eigenen Seele. Daher ruft sein Spiel, sei es in einer Sonate von Bach, einem Konzert von Beethoven oder Spohr oder einem Quartett von Schubert oder Schumann, stets dasselbe Empfinden der Vollendung, der vollkommenen Befriedigung hervor. Es ist nicht Joachims „Auffassung“ des Werkes; es ist vielmehr das Werk selbst. Der Spieler bemüht sich, nicht sich selbst, sondern den Komponisten hervortreten zu lassen und nimmt gerade durch diese Selbstverleugnung die höchstmögliche künstlerische Stellung ein.
Für diejenigen, die Joachim niemals gehört haben, mögen diese Worte vielleicht übertrieben erscheinen; doch die, welche das gute Glück hatten, ihn zu hören, werden jedes Wort von Herzen bestätigen. Das Konzert am Sonnabend zeigte, dass der große Künstler in voller Kraft zu uns zurückgekehrt war. Ja, er scheint, wenn es möglich ist, jedes Jahr noch vollkommener zu spielen. Seine Darbietungen bestanden aus Spohrs Konzert e‑Moll (Nr. 7) und einer Auswahl von Brahms’ „Ungarischen Tänzen“, die ursprünglich für Klavier zu vier Händen geschrieben und von Joachim selbst, in Übereinstimmung mit dem Komponisten, für Violine und Klavier eingerichtet wurden. Spohrs Konzert, obgleich weniger beliebt als seine „Scena cantate“, gehört zu den besten der fünfzehn Werke dieser Gattung, die er geschrieben hat. Der erste und der letzte Satz sind voll Anmut; der langsame Satz, dessen Eröffnungsgedanke zwar anziehend ist, wird gegen Ende etwas langatmig. Es ist heutzutage bis zu einem gewissen Grade Mode geworden, Spohr geringzuschätzen. Zweifellos ist er über Gebühr verherrlicht worden; niemand würde ihn mit Beethoven oder Mozart auf eine Stufe stellen; aber andererseits gehört er zu den Ersten der zweiten Reihe der Komponisten. Gewiss, es gibt bei ihm eine gewisse Manieriertheit, eine starke Familienähnlichkeit zwischen all seinen Werken; doch ist er niemals trivial oder vulgär, und die Ausarbeitung seiner Musik ist immer höchst kunstvoll vollendet. Seine Violinkonzerte zählen zu den besten seiner Kompositionen, und einige von ihnen werden vermutlich einen großen Teil seiner übrigen Musik überdauern.
Brahms’ „Ungarische Tänze“ zeichnen sich durch große Originalität und einen ausgeprägt nationalen Charakter aus. Wir sind geneigt zu glauben, dass sie in ihrer ursprünglichen Gestalt noch wirkungsvoller sind; doch in Joachims Bearbeitung werden sie zu ausgezeichneten Konzertstücken. Nach allem, was oben gesagt worden ist, erübrigt es sich, der Aufführung noch ein Wort zu widmen. Erwähnt werden soll jedoch, dass die Klavierbegleitungen von Mr. Franklin Taylor vortrefflich gespielt wurden.
Mit wenigen Worten sei über den übrigen Teil des Programms berichtet. Die Symphonie war Beethovens c‑Moll‑Symphonie – die bekannteste der neun; die übrigen Instrumentalstücke waren Schuberts anmutige „Ouvertüre im italienischen Stil“, die ausdrücklich in Nachahmung der Ouvertüre zu Tancredi geschrieben ist, und die jetzt wohlbekannte und beliebte Tannhäuser-Ouvertüre. Die Vokalsolisten waren Madame Elena Corani und Signor Agnesti. Da Mr. Manns durch ein häusliches Unglück verhindert war, seinen gewohnten Platz am Dirigentenpult einzunehmen, wurde seine Stelle mit größter Umsicht von Mr. Wedemeyer, dem ersten Konzertmeister, ausgefüllt.
Heute wird, neben Mendelssohns Musik zu Ein Sommernachtstraum, zum ersten Mal bei diesen Konzerten eine neue Ouvertüre von Mr. Alfred Holmes sowie drei Stücke für Frauenstimmen zur Aufführung gebracht.
Ebenezer Prout, „[Herr Joachim bei den Monday Popular Concerts]“, The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art, 21. Februar 1874, 214–15.
Herr Joachims Wiedererscheinen bei den Monday Popular Concerts am vergangenen Montag war nicht weniger erfolgreich als das soeben erwähnte in Sydenham. Die bloße Ankündigung seines Namens genügte, um die St. James’s Hall bis auf den letzten Platz zu füllen; und sein Empfang beim Hinaufsteigen auf das Orchesterpodium war von der Art, wie ein „Monday Popular“-Publikum sie sich für seine besonderen Lieblinge vorbehält. Das Quartett, das Herr Joachim zur Aufführung auswählte, war Beethovens Quartett Nr. 10 Es‑Dur – kein Novum bei diesen Konzerten, da es nun bereits zum elften Mal dargeboten wurde, aber deswegen keineswegs minder willkommen. Nach dem, was oben gesagt wurde, erübrigt es sich, die vortreffliche Weise, in der dieses große Werk wiedergegeben wurde, ausführlich zu schildern; wenn jedoch ein Punkt zu besonderer Hervorhebung gewählt werden soll, so wären wir geneigt, das tief bewegende und pathetische Adagio zu nennen (dessen Einfluss auf Mendelssohn, wie man bemerken mag, sich deutlich im langsamen Satz seiner Schottischen Symphonie erkennen lässt), als eines der vollkommensten Beispiele des Quartettspiels, die je zu hören waren – sowohl wegen des ausdrucksvollen, aber nie übertriebenen „Gesangs“ Herr Joachims in den Hauptmelodien als auch wegen der vorzüglichen Weise, in der er von den Herren Ries, Zerbini und Piatti unterstützt wurde.
Eine noch größere Wirkung wurde später am Abend durch Herr Joachims Vortrag von Bachs Sonate für Violine solo g‑Moll hervorgerufen. Aufgrund der gewaltigen technischen Schwierigkeiten in Bachs Violinsonaten werden diese nur sehr selten öffentlich gespielt; und man darf wohl mit Recht sagen, dass kein lebender Geiger eine so vollkommene Deutung dieser Werke zu geben vermag wie Joachim. Seine Aufführung am vergangenen Montag war eine der erstaunlichsten Darbietungen technischer Virtuosität, verbunden mit einem intellektuellen Erfassen des Geistes der Musik, wie selbst er sie kaum je zuvor geboten hat. Die Klarheit, mit der die kunstvollen Kombinationen der Fuge hervorgehoben wurden, und die untrügliche Sicherheit der Ausführung im abschließenden Presto (in einem geradezu atemraubenden Tempo genommen), lassen sich von denen, die nicht zugegen waren, kaum vorstellen. Das Publikum rief den Künstler am Schluss des Stücks begeistert zurück und war erst zufrieden, als Herr Joachim den letzten Satz wiederholte.
„Prof. Dr. Joachim hat aus Anlaß seines Künstler-Jubiläums…“ Signale für die musikalische Welt 49. Jahrgang, Nr. 19 (Februar 1891): 298.
Prof. Dr. Joachim hat aus Anlaß seines Künstler-Jubiläums eine „Josef Joachim-Stiftung“ durch Hergabe eines Capitals von 20,000 Mk. errichtet, welche nunmehr die gesetzlich vorgeschriebene landesherrliche Genehmigung gefunden hat. Ein aus drei Personen bestehendes Curatorium, zu welchem der Stifter als Vorsitzender gehört, verwaltet das Vermögen nach den für Mündelgelder bestehenden Grundsätzen. Die Zinsen des Stiftungsfonds sollen in je zwei aus einander folgenden Jahren zur Anschaffung von Streichinstrumenten (Geigen und Violoncelli) verwendet werden, welche als Prämien durch das Curatorium verliehen werden, in jedem dritten Jahre aber werden eine oder mehrere Prämien in baarem Gelde verliehen. Die Zuerkennung erfolgt alljährlich an des Stifters Geburtstag, 28. Juni; zur Bewerbung werden unbemittelte Schüler aller in Deutschland oder von Stadtgemeinden errichteten oder subventionirten musikalischen Bildungsanstalten zugelassen, wenn sie mindestens sechs Monate die Anstalt besucht haben.
English Translation
Professor Dr. Joachim has, on the occasion of his artistic jubilee, established a “Josef Joachim Foundation” by contributing capital of 20,000 marks, which has now received the landesherrliche approval required by law. A curatorium consisting of three persons, of which the founder serves as chairman, administers the assets according to the principles governing fiduciary funds. The interest on the foundation capital is, in each pair of successive years, to be used for the purchase of string instruments (violins and cellos), which are to be awarded as prizes by the curatorium; in every third year, however, one or more prizes are to be awarded in cash. The awards are made annually on the founder’s birthday, 28 June; eligible to apply are needy pupils of all musical training institutions in Germany that are established or subsidized by the state or by municipal authorities, provided they have attended the institution for at least six months.
„Joseph Joachim‑Stiftung.“ Signale für die musikalische Welt 58, no. 32 (14 April 1900): 507.
Joseph Joachim-Stiftung. Anläßlich des 50jährigen Künstlerjubiläums des Professors Dr. Joseph Joachim in Berlin ist bekanntlich eine Stiftung errichtet worden, deren Zweck ist: unbemittelten Schülern der in Deutschland vom Staat oder von Stadtgemeinden errichteten oder unterstützten musikalischen Bildungsanstalten ohne Unterschied des Alters, des Geschlechts, der Religion und der Staatsangehörigkeit Prämien in Gestalt von Streichinstrumenten (Geigen und Celli) oder in Geld zu gewähren. Bewerbungsfähig ist nur Derjenige, welcher mindestens ein halbes Jahr einer der genannten Anstalten angehört hat und, da es sich in diesem Jahre um Verleihung von Instrumenten handelt, seine Ausbildung als Geiger beziehungsweise Cellist erfahren hat. Geeignete Bewerber haben, wie Professor Joachim bekannt giebt, ihre Gesuche bis zum 1. Juni an das Curatorium, Berlin W., Potsdamerstraße 120, einzureichen, welches auch weitere Auskunft über die Bedingungen ertheilt.
English Translation
Joseph Joachim Foundation. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the artistic career of Professor Dr. Joseph Joachim in Berlin, a foundation has, as is well known, been established whose purpose is to grant awards, in the form of string instruments (violins and cellos) or in money, to needy pupils of musical training institutions in Germany that are founded or supported by the state or by municipal authorities, without distinction of age, sex, religion, or nationality.
Eligible to apply is only that person who has belonged for at least half a year to one of the institutions named and who, since in this year the awards take the form of instruments, has received his or her training as violinist or cellist. Suitable applicants are to submit their petitions, as Professor Joachim announces, by 1 June to the Curatorium, Berlin W., Potsdamerstraße 120, which also provides further information concerning the conditions.
„Zu Ehren des sechzigjährigen Künstlerjubiläums von Joseph Joachim.“ Signale für die musikalische Welt 57. Jahrgang, Nr. 31 (29. April 1899): 488.
Zu Ehren des sechzigjährigen Künstlerjubiläums von Joseph Joachim fand am 22. April in der Philharmonie in Berlin ein von Joachim’s Schülern veranstaltetes Festconcert statt. Es war eine imposante musikalische Huldigung, die dem gefeierten Meister dargebracht wurde. Der Streichkörper (Violinen, Bratschen und Violoncelli) des über zweihundert Personen starken Orchesters bestand ausschließlich aus früheren und jetzigen Schülern des Jubilars und Theilnehmern seiner Quartettstunden, während die Contrabässe und verdoppelten Blasinstrumente durch erste Kräfte der Königlichen Capelle in Berlin, des dortigen Philharmonischen Orchesters, der Meininger Hofcapelle, durch Lehrer und Schüler der Königlichen Hochschule in Berlin vertreten waren. Generalmusikdirector Fritz Steinbach aus Meiningen hatte die Leitung des Orchesters übernommen.
Das Programm, mit einer Fanfare für mittelalterliche Trompeten und Pauken vom Armee-Musikinspicienten Gustav Roßberg und einem von Hermann Grimm gedichteten, von der Hofschauspielerin Fräulein Rosa Poppe gesprochenen Prolog eröffnet, verzeichnete an Orchesterwerken die Ouvertüre zu „Euryanthe“ von Weber, zum „Sommernachtstraum“ von Mendelssohn und zu „Genoveva“ von Schumann, den letzten Satz aus Brahms’ Cmoll-Symphonie und Seb. Bach’s Gdur-Concert für Streichinstrumente. Ferner als Solovortrag Joachim’s Gmoll-Variationen für Violine, gespielt vom Concertmeister Petri aus Dresden. Am Schluß brachte Joachim selbst als nicht programmmäßige Nummer und gleichsam Ueberraschung für die Hörerschaft Beethoven’s Violinconcert zum Vortrag. Die ganze Aufführung nahm den glänzendsten Verlauf und bedeutete einen Ehrenabend im schönsten Sinne des Wortes für den Jubilar. Das reiche finanzielle Erträgniß des Concerts kam der „Joseph Joachim-Stiftung“ zu Gute.
English Translation
In honor of Joseph Joachim’s sixtieth artistic jubilee, a festive concert organized by Joachim’s pupils took place on 22 April in the Philharmonie in Berlin. It was an imposing musical homage paid to the celebrated master. The string section (violins, violas, and cellos) of the orchestra, which numbered over two hundred players, consisted exclusively of former and current pupils of the jubilarian and participants in his quartet classes, while the double basses and the doubled wind instruments were represented by leading players from the Royal Orchestra in Berlin, the local Philharmonic Orchestra, the Meiningen court orchestra, together with teachers and students of the Royal Hochschule in Berlin. General Music Director Fritz Steinbach of Meiningen had taken on the direction of the orchestra.
The program, opened by a fanfare for medieval trumpets and timpani by army music inspector Gustav Roßberg and by a prologue, written by Hermann Grimm and spoken by court actress Fräulein Rosa Poppe, listed as orchestral works the overture to Euryanthe by Weber, to A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn, and to Genoveva by Schumann, the final movement of Brahms’s Symphony in C minor, and Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in G major for string instruments. In addition, as solo item, Joachim’s Variations in G minor for violin, played by concertmaster Petri of Dresden. At the close, Joachim himself presented, as a non‑programmed item and as a sort of surprise for the audience, Beethoven’s violin concerto. The entire performance proceeded in the most brilliant fashion and constituted, in the finest sense of the word, a night of honor for the jubilarian. The substantial financial proceeds of the concert benefited the “Joseph Joachim Foundation.”
Arno Kleffel, „Das Joachim’sche Quartett,“ Schorers Familienblatt 11, Nr. 11 (1894): 41–42.
[English translation below]
Das Joachim’sche Quartett
Das war am 25. Januar dieses Jahres ein denkwürdiger und für alle, die ihn miterlebt, ein erhender Abend. Von Meister Joachim und seinen ausgezeichneten Genossen, den Professoren Kruse, Wirth und Hausmann, denen sich diesmal zur Ausführung der zweiten Violastimme noch Herr Concertmeister Eldering angeschlossen, war soeben als Schlußnummer des Programms Beethoven’s C-dur-Quintett beendet worden, als sich plötzlich die gesamte Zuhörerschaft erhob und in eine Beifallsovation ausbrach, wie sie die Räume der Singakademie in so demonstrativer Weise und in gleich zündender Unmittelbarkeit wohl kaum noch vernommen, und die nicht eher zu dämpfen war, als bis Joachim auf dem Podium zu verschiedenen Malen den Danktribut der begeisterten Zuhörerschaft in Empfang genommen hatte. Was war, hätte man fragen können, geschehen, um diesen außergewöhnlichen Jubelausbruch zu entfesseln? Weder das Werk noch dessen Wiedergabe konnten dazu die Veranlassung gegeben haben, denn daß von dem Joachim’schen Quartett immer nur das Beste in der vollendetsten Ausführung geboten wird, muß ja jedem von vornherein als selbstverständlich gelten. Niemand von den Zuhörern würde im Augenblick die rechte Antwort gefunden haben. Jeder fühlte nur, daß sein Herz nach überquellender Dankesäußerung verlange. In dieser, vom Augenblick geborenen Huldigung liegt vielleicht die höchste Ehre, die einer Kunstleistung zu Teil werden kann. Es bedarf heutigen Tages keines Hinweises mehr, welche Stellung das Joachim’sche Quartett in Berlin, ja in der gesamten musikalischen Welt einnimmt. Wie es noch niemals einen mit blendendster Virtuosität ausgestatteten Künstler gegeben hat, der mit Verachtung jedweden äußeren Effektmittels sich während seines ganzen Lebens in so selbstloser Weise dem Dienst der Kunst geweiht hat, wie Joachim, ebenso wenig wird es auf der Welt eine zweite Künstlervereinigung geben, welche die bedeutendsten Schätze unserer Kammermusikliteratur in gleich vollkommener Stilreinheit, mit gleich pietät- und weihevoller Hingabe auszuführen im Stande ist, wie das Joachim’sche Quartett. Wie Joachim der erste war, der die musikalische Welt mit den Bach’schen Violinwerken bekannt machte, der es ferner wagte, das halbvergessene Beethoven’sche Violinconcert bei Gelegenheit des Düsseldorfer Musikfestes im Jahre 1853 zum ersten Mal öffentlich zu spielen, ebenso kannte er als Führer seiner Quartettvereinigung kein höheres Ziel, als das Verständnis des deutschen Volkes für die bisher gefürchteten und unausführbar geltenden letzten Beethoven’schen Streichquartette zu erschließen. Wie es seiner Anregung und thätigen Mithilfe erst zu danken war, daß in Bonn Beethoven’s Geburtshaus angekauft und zu einem künftigen Beethoven-Museum bestimmt wurde, so bildete seine Quartettvereinigung wiederum ein Mittelpunkt der musikalischen Aufführungen, als vor vier Jahren in Bonn das erste Beethoven-Kammer-Musikfest ins Leben gerufen wurde, um diesem Museum den ersten nennenswerten Beitrag als Stammfond zuzuführen. Wie Joachim niemals ein Tonstück zur Folie seiner außerordentlichen Kunstfertigkeit verwendet, sondern einzig und allein in möglichst abgeklärter Reproduktion desselben sein künstlerisches Genüge findet, ebenso ist man beim Anhören jeder seiner Quartettdarbietungen überzeugt, daß sich der Schöpfer so und nicht anders sein Werk gedacht haben mag. Nie hört man ein Hervordringen eines Instruments, jede Stimme scheint der anderen liebevoll
42
entgegen zu kommen, und so vereinigen sich alle vier zu einem harmonisch vollkommenen Ganzen. Es hat deshalb etwas wunderbares, mit welcher Deutlichkeit bei diesem Sichtergänzen und Ineinanderfügen der Stimmen doch die Fäden des Gewebes unserem Auge klargelegt, wie die geheimsten Gänge und Irrpfade unserem Geiste erschlossen werden. Man muß vor vier Jahren in Bonn Zeuge gewesen sein, wie mächtig, wie Offenbarungen gleich die beiden Riesenquartette von Beethoven in Cis-moll und B-dur auf die Zuhörer wirkten. Man stand unter dem Eindruck, daß Vollkommeneres nicht zu leisten, dem menschlichen Auge wenigstens nicht mehr erkennbar sei. So bilden seit Jahren die Joachimschen Quartettabende nicht nur den Brennpunkt des Berliner Musiklebens, sondern die denkbar vollkommenste Künstlervereinigung überhaupt. Während sich das Publikum sonst in den Concert- oder Theateraufführungen aus den verschiedensten Schichten des Volkes zusammensetzt, besteht die Zuhörerschaft der Joachim-Abende fast ausschließlich aus dem geistigen Adel der Residenz.
Wenn man einmal alle die Namen derjenigen in Erfahrung bringen könnte, welche die andächtige Gemeinde nur eines einzigen dieser Abende bilden, man würde über die große Zahl hervorragender, teils weltberühmter Kapacitäten erstaunt sein. Gleichviel welchem Zweig der Wissenschaft, der Kunst oder welchem Beruf er sonst angehören mag, jeder Zuhörer findet dort Anregung und Erbauung, jeder erlebt dort Stunden reinen, ungetrübten Glücks. Der Dank für diese Stunden und das Überströmen der Freude, daß der Meister, der sie uns geboten, als leuchtendes Vorbild noch in voller Manneskraft unter uns weilt, hatte plötzlich die Herzen an jenem Abend erglühen gemacht. So glänzende und rauschende Ovationen auch Joachim erlebt haben mag, vielleicht wird er auf keine mit größerem Stolz und innigerer Freude zurückblicken, als auf jene Huldigung am 25. Januar.
It was, on the 25th of January of this year, a memorable evening—one that proved uplifting for all who experienced it. Master Joachim and his distinguished colleagues, Professors Kruse, Wirth, and Hausmann—joined on this occasion for the performance of the second viola part by Concertmaster Eldering—had just concluded Beethoven’s C-major Quintet as the final number on the program, when suddenly the entire audience rose to its feet and burst into an ovation such as the halls of the Singakademie have scarcely ever heard in so demonstrative a form and with such immediate fervor, and which could not be subdued until Joachim, on the podium, had received the tribute of thanks from the enthusiastic audience several times over.
What, one might have asked, had occurred to unleash this extraordinary outburst of jubilation? Neither the work itself nor its performance could have been the cause; for it must be taken as self-evident that the Joachim Quartet always offers only the finest in the most perfect execution. No one among the listeners would, in that moment, have found the proper answer. Each felt only that his heart demanded an overflowing expression of gratitude. In such homage, born of the moment, perhaps lies the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an artistic achievement.
Nowadays, it needs no further explanation what position the Joachim Quartet occupies in Berlin, indeed in the entire musical world. Just as there has never been an artist endowed with the most dazzling virtuosity who, with disdain for every outward effect, devoted himself so selflessly throughout his life to the service of art as Joachim, so too there can scarcely exist another ensemble capable of performing the greatest treasures of our chamber music literature with equal purity of style and with such reverent and consecrated devotion as the Joachim Quartet. As Joachim was the first to acquaint the musical world with Bach’s works for violin, and further dared, on the occasion of the Düsseldorf Music Festival in 1853, to perform publicly for the first time the half-forgotten Beethoven Violin Concerto, so also, as leader of his quartet, he knew no higher aim than to open the understanding of the German people to the last Beethoven string quartets, hitherto feared and deemed unperformable.
Just as it was due to his initiative and active assistance that Beethoven’s birthplace in Bonn was purchased and designated as a future Beethoven museum, so too his quartet formed a central focus of musical performances when, four years ago in Bonn, the first Beethoven Chamber Music Festival was established in order to provide this museum with its first substantial endowment. As Joachim never uses a musical work as a mere foil for his extraordinary technical skill, but finds his artistic fulfillment solely in its most purified reproduction, so one is convinced, in hearing each of his quartet performances, that the composer must have conceived the work precisely thus and not otherwise. One never hears any instrument thrust itself forward; each voice seems to meet the others with loving consideration, and thus all four unite into a harmoniously perfect whole.
It is therefore something remarkable how clearly, in this mutual complementing and interweaving of the voices, the threads of the texture are laid bare to the eye, how the most hidden pathways and byways are revealed to the mind. One must have witnessed, four years ago in Bonn, how powerfully—like revelations—the two gigantic quartets of Beethoven in C-sharp minor and B-flat major affected the listeners. One stood under the impression that nothing more perfect could be achieved, at least nothing further perceptible to the human eye. Thus for years the Joachim Quartet evenings have formed not only the focal point of Berlin’s musical life, but the most perfect ensemble of artists imaginable.
Whereas audiences at concerts or theatrical performances are otherwise drawn from the most varied strata of society, the listeners at Joachim’s evenings consist almost exclusively of the intellectual aristocracy of the capital. If one could ascertain all the names of those who form the devout congregation of even a single such evening, one would be astonished at the great number of eminent—some world-renowned—figures. Whatever branch of science, art, or profession they may belong to, every listener finds there stimulation and edification; each experiences hours of pure, unclouded happiness. Gratitude for these hours, and the overflowing joy that the master who has granted them to us still dwells among us in the full vigor of manhood as a shining example—this it was that suddenly set hearts aflame on that evening. However brilliant and resounding the ovations Joachim may have experienced, he may look back on none with greater pride and more heartfelt joy than on that tribute of January 25.
Seit zwei Jahre Ihre freundliche Einladung bey der unvergessliche Bettina, Hannover unter Ihren Auspicien zu besuchen, gedenkend, nehme Ihr Wohlwollen in Anspruch um anzufragen ob die [K. l. ?] Theater- -direktion mir die Erlaubniß geben werde im Theater ein Concert zu geben. Die Bedingungen werden Sie selbst bestimmen, ich gebe Ihnen ganz carte blanche, da ich sicher bin meine Interesse in die besten Hände gelegt zu haben. In der Hoffnung Sie wieder zu sehen und einmal hören zu konnen verbleibt
Mit größter Hochachtung Ihr Ole Bull
S— Herrn Concertmeister J. Joachim
English Translation
Hamburg, November 30th 1860 Victoria Hotel
Most Honored Sir!
Recalling for two years now your kind invitation—extended at the unforgettable Bettina’s house—to visit Hannover under your auspices, I now appeal to your goodwill to inquire whether the theater management would grant me permission to give a concert in the theater. You may determine the conditions yourself; I give you complete carte blanche, as I am certain that I have placed my interests in the best possible hands. In the hope of seeing you again and being able to hear you play sometime, I remain
N. B.: The following partial listing of Joseph Joachim’s students is based originally upon a list given in Andreas Moser’s Joseph Joachim. A Biography, London: Philip Wellby, 1901, pp. 242-244 [M], as well as information given in Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski’s Die Violine und ihre Meister, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1904 [W], and profiles from Musik und Gender im Internet.[MUGI]. Names marked [P] come from Dr Sanna Pederson’s blog Chamber Music in Berlin, 1870-1910: An Empire for Absolute Music , and names marked [KJ] have been garnered from the program of Joachim’s “60-jährigen Künstler-Jubliäum,” Berlin, 22 April 1899, for which the orchestra strings were drawn “exclusively from current or former students of the honoree, as well as participants in his quartet classes.” Other names have been culled from diverse sources. The Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO articles, while interesting and helpful, are not 100% accurate, particularly as regards birth dates. Where possible, I have provided correct dates and sources. This list is in the process of verification and elaboration, and is subject to recurring emendation. At this point, I do not completely vouch for its accuracy.
Finally, it should be noted that Joachim very seldom gave private lessons, preferring to teach in masterclass format; he also made extensive use of teaching assistants, who were responsible for most of the students’ technical training.
JOACHIM AND DISCIPLES
Left to right, standing: Theodore Hemberger, Theodore Spiering, Rudolph Lenz, Mary Cardew, Sol Marcosson, Josef Hösl, Carl Bemmer, Rosa Schindler, Bernard Sinsheimer; seated, Joseph Joachim, Emmanuel Wirth.
[photo probably ca. 1892]
Thanks to John Maltese.
Joseph Joachim’s Students
Ackroyd, W. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Violinist and conductor. Studied with Monasterio in Madrid, Vieuxtemps in Brussels, and Joachim in Berlin. 1894-1915 Professor of Violin at Royal College of Music (London). Conductor, Madrid Symphony Orchestra. 1932 conducted first Spanish performance of Stravinsky’s Sacre du Printemps. [Arthur Jacobs and Tully Potter. “Arbós, Enrique Fernández.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 29, 2014.]. Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO (1918) gives his birth date as December 25.
Auer, Leopold (Lipot) (*June 7, 1845 — †July 15, 1930)
From 1853, studied at Budapest Conservatory with Ridley Kohne; 1855 Vienna Conservatory with Dont and Hellmesberger (Diploma 1858); with Joachim in Hanover 1863-65. 1863 Concertmaster in Düsseldorf; 1866 in Hamburg. 1868 followed Wieniawski as professor the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Solo violinist, concertmaster and and chamber musician. 1911 moved to Dresden; 1914 returned to St. Petersburg. 1917 moved to Oslo, and 1918 to New York. Teacher of Achron, Elman, Milstein, Heifetz, Seidel and Zimbalist. Author (Graded Course of Violin Playing, Violin Playing as I Teach It, My Long Life in Music), editor.
Graduated from Prague Conservatory, 1889. Studied with Joachim until 1896. Played in a quartet with Gustav Holländer, and taught at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. Subsequently First Concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Also a distinguished violist.
Brother of Carl Louis B. Pupil of Spohr and Joachim. Court musician in Detmold (1859-61), and Münster (1861-66). From 1866 until his death concertmaster and professor of music in Basel.
Bargheer, Carl Louis (*December 31, 1831 — †May 19, 1902) Possible student of Joachim — may be mistaken for his brother. Links: BW, FL, WIKI Portrait: Hoyer, Göttingen, ca. 1855
Brother of Adolf B. Studies with Spohr (1849), David (1851), and possibly Joachim (in Hanover). Kapellmeister in Detmold from 1863-76. 1876-88 concertmaster in Hamburg; 1876-87 teacher at the Hamburg Conservatorium.
Barmas, Issay (*1872 — †1946) [KJ] Links: EJ, KJ Photo credit: Goethe Universität. Issay Barmas, “violinist and teacher. Born in Odessa, Barmas studied with I. Grzimali in Moscow and with J. Joachim in Berlin. He made his debut as a soloist in Berlin in 1899 and toured Europe. He also formed his own quartet in 1919. From 1900 to 1929 he taught in Berlin (Stern Conservatoire, 1900–05; Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatoire, 1905–29) and later moved to London. Among his publications are Die Lösung des geigentechnischen Problems (1913), Tonleiter-Spezialstudien, Doppelgriff-Spezialstudien, redactions, and editions of classical works.” [“Barmas, Issay.” Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (November 17, 2014)].
Barth, Richard (*June 5, 1850 — †December 25, 1923) [W] [KJ] Links: BMLO, KJ, W
(Left-handed) violinist, composer, educator. Studied with Joachim in Hanover, 1863-67. Concertmaster in Münster and Krefeld. 1887-94 Director of Music at the Marburg University. 1895 Director of the Philharmonic concerts and the Singakademie in Hamburg; 1908 Director of the Hamburg Konservatorium. Author: Johannes Brahms und seine Musik (1904); Johannes Brahms im Briefwechsel mit J.O. Grimm (1908). Ref: Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO
Bauerkeller, Rudolph (*May 23, 1879 — †) [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ Ref: Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO
His father was a first violinist in the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Studied at Paris Conservatory, and Berlin Hochschule with Joachim and Wirth.
(Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO, 1918)
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, April 11, 1902: “… a very interesting concert… The solos were all chosen with taste, and were not made the vehicle for a vain-glorious display of technique. A Prelude and Fugue in G minor by Bach, Tartini’s celebrated “Devil’s trill” Sonata, and an Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens were the works in which Mr. Bauerkeller displayed his highly-cultivated style, and a breadth and purity of tone, such as might be looked for in a pupil of Joachim.”
Baumann, Joseph W (*October 29, 1847 — †April 3, 1905) Ref: CE
“Joseph W. Baumann. Violinist, teacher, b Berlin (Kitchener), Ont, 29 Oct 1847, d Hamilton, Ont, 3 Apr 1905. He was self-taught until at 21 he departed for Vienna to study with Adolf Brodsky. Two years later he went to Berlin for private study with Joseph Joachim. Returning to Canada, he taught in a succession of Ontario towns – Walkerton, Berlin, Toronto – before settling in Hamilton in 1882. About 1888 he appeared frequently in recital with the pianist D.J. O’Brien, founder of the Hamilton Musical Institute (see Royal Hamilton College of Music). Baumann’s playing was noted for its full tone and robust technique, both of which were imparted to his pupils, including George Fox and Nora Clench.” (Canadian Encyclopedia, CE)
Becker, Dora Valesca (*1870 — †1958) [M] (The first female violinist on record: 1898) Recording, Links: M
Born in Berlin, she studied violin at the Berlin Hochschule from 1892 to 1896 under Karl Markees, concluding her final year of instruction under Joseph Joachim. She made her public debut on March 15, 1899, at the Berliner Singakademie, where music critics praised her “fresh and bright tone” and exceptional musicality. In 1896, she married the composer, organist, and university professor Otto Becker, with whom she had three children. The family relocated to Potsdam in 1910 upon her husband’s appointment to the Garrison Church (Garnisonkirche). There, she became a vital pillar of the local cultural scene, co-founding the “Becker Trio” and organizing the highly successful Garrison Church Concerts, which regularly drew premier musical talent from nearby Berlin until her death in Potsdam in 1925.
Born in Oakland CA, Sigmund Beel was concertmaster in Los Angeles.
(Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO, 1918)
Békei (Békey), Józsa (*January 17, 1877 — †?) Links: A Hegedű. Studied with Hubay and Joachim. She was a noted Hungarian violinist and became one of the early certified female violin teachers in Hungary. Ref: Vajda, p. 275.
The Carolyn Belcher Quartet (Carolyn Belcher and Anna Eichhorn, violins, Sara Corbett, viola, and Charlotte White, cello) was resident in Boston. Ref: CB
Besserer, Erika (*July 31, 1887 — †February 7, 1951) [MUGI] Links: MUGI. Born in Dorpat (Tartu), Estonia. Studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music (Königliche Hochschule für Musik) in Berlin under Emanuel Wirth and Joseph Joachim, beginning her studies with Joachim in 1901 MUGI, Joseph Joachim Students Registry. She established herself in German musical life as a soloist and chamber musician, notably debuting in New York alongside cellist Henry Brahmsen in 1905.
Bild, Max (*March 2, 1869 — †September 5, 1942) [M] [KJ] Tonkünstler. Paris. Links: KJ, M
“A new conductor, Mr. Alexander Z Birnbaum, a native of Warsaw, who directs the Philharmonic Orchestras at Lausanne and Geneva, also made his first appearance in that rôle in London, taking charge of our Queen’s Hall Orchestra […] Mr. Birnbaum is a conductor who employs almost a super-abundance of gesture, and never spares himself in the matter of energy. At the same time, he is one who carries his forces along with him, and admirably the bandsmen answered to his virile beat.” Musical News (London: July-December, 1907), 33:3.
“Still another former Joachim pupil Zózislaw Alex. Birnbaum played recently. He made his début last winter, and since then he has studied with Ysaye. Birnbaum has a glowing temperament, such as I have never seen in a Hochschule pupil before. He has, too, a great technical talent and a beautiful sensuous tone. Unfortunately his temperament runs away with him. He hurries the tempi, and his technic is in consequence often faulty. He is flighty, but he has the genuine violin nature and always arouses his audience to demonstrative applause.” The Musical Courier (New York: January 10, 1900), 13.
Blancke, Georg Heinrich Adolf (*June 24, 1862 — † June 15, 1937) [KJ] Mitglied des Philharm. Orchesters. Berlin. Links: KJ
Blankensee, Julius (*April 4, 1858 — †November 3, 1941) [M] [W] Studied 1873-77 (W) Links: BMLO, M, W
Bleuer, Ludwig (*1863 — †1897) [M] Links: Baker’s, M
Bligh, Eldina (*Geneva 1867 — †March 5, 1953)
Mus. ed. at Brussels Cons., and the Berlin Hochschule; stud with Joachim. London debut at St. James’ Hall. Appeared by Royal command before Queen Victoria in Dublin. Ref: Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO
Bögner, Eugen (Eugene Boegner) (*March 3, 1870 — †March 23, 1947) [M] Links: STOK, M
Studied with Rudolf Rösel in Weimar, Hans Rosenmeyer in Erfurt. 1898 at Berlin Hochschule: two years with Emanuel Wirth. 1900-1901 with Joachim, Wirth, and Moser, and 1901-1902 with Joachim and Gabriele Wietrowetz. Second violinist with the Erfurter Tonkünstlerquartett. After her marriage to the architect W. Stietzel, mostly active as a teacher.
Studied with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule 1881-1885.
Butler, Herbert Dalton (*February 2, 1873 — †October 6, 1946) [KJ] Links: ETUDE, KJ, MB, MUSIC
Analysis of Tartini’s G minor Sonata. Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. From Omaha, Nebraska. Also studied with Gustav Hollaender at the Stern’sche Konservatorium der Musik. Extensive web-page by James Radomsky, Professor of Music History, California State University San Bernardino here.
Studied with Richard Gompertz and Emile Sauret at the RAM (London), and with Gabriele Wietrowetz and Joseph Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. Solos with Berlin Philharmonic, Richter Concerts in London, New York Philharmonic. Daughter of an English clergyman; after her marriage, she settled in Los Angeles, where she was active as a teacher. Soloist with Berlin Philharmonic 1903, 1905. [P]
“Margaret Eleanor was born 19 October 1874 in Nottingham [England]. She is living with her parents, William and Charlotte, in the 1881 and 1891 censuses. She attended Nottingham High School from 1886 to 1891, specialising in music and the violin. After leaving high school she attended the Berlin Conservatoire from September 1892 a became an accomplished violinist. In 1901 she is a Teacher of Violin in Middlesbrough. There is a marriage for Margaret Eleanor Clark in Nottingham in Jun 1906 (7b/647) to Henry Stanley PROUDLOCK. In 1911, the family are living in Castleton, Yorkshire, a small village on the banks of the Esk River, and inland from Whitby. Henry’s occupation was consulting mechanical engineer. He probably found work at the numerous quarries and mines in the district. In 1911, Margaret is recorded as a violinist. They had one daughter, Margaret Ursula, aged 5.5 months. There is also a birth recorded for John PROUDLOCK in Newcastle on Tyne in Dec 1916, mother’s maiden name CLARK.”
“Corinne Coryn, violinist, played Bach’s A major sonata and the Joachim variations. She plays with great earnestness of purpose and with exceeding care, and has a neat technic and a pretty, smooth tone. She is a little lacking in temperament, and quite so in individuality of style, but there is plenty of time for improvement in these respects, Miss Coryn being apparently still very young, and there is considerable promise for higher attainments in the future.” [The Musical Courier, Vol. 54, No. 2 (January 9, 1907), p. 6.]
“Eine reife Künstlerin in Bezug auf Auffassung ist Fräulein Corinne Coryn; sie schöpfte den geistigen Gehalt des Brahmsschen Konzerts und der Bachschen Ciacona voll aus. Wenn ihr bei Brahms technisch manches, so namentlich die Oktaven, nicht gelang, so lag dies wohl mehr an ihrer Befangenheit, als an nicht gefestigter Technik; ihr prächtiger warmer Ton kam besonders im Adagio des D-moll-Konzerts von Vieuxtemps zu schönster Geltung. Wir dürfen noch viel von ihr erwarten.” [Die Musik, I Februarheft 1902, p. 833.]
Courvoisier, Karl (*1846 — †1908) [M] Studied 1869-70 (Baker’s). Links: BMLO, Baker’s, M, Worldcat
(Saerchinger/WHO’S WHO, 1918)
Croner, Helene (*February 27, 1885 — † after 1943) [MUGI] Links: MUGI
Violinist and violist. Studied 1902-1906 with Markees and Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. In June, 1943, Helene Croner was deported from Berlin to Auschwitz, where she was murdered. [MUGI]
Ellenberger, Georg (George) [KJ] [M] Tonkünstler. Nottingham. Links: KJ, M
Violinist and violist, teacher of Eric Coates. Advertisement in Sheffield Daily Telegraph, December 13, 1902: “MR. GEORG ELLENBERGER (Solo Violinist), pupil of Dr. Joachim receives Pupils at Messrs. Wilson, Peck, and Co.’s where terms and particulars may be obtained.”
Studied with Böhm in Vienna and later with Joachim. A proponent of the works of Wagner, he was the first music critic for La revue blanche, founded in 1891. [Brigitte Massin. “Ernst, Alfred.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 29, 2014.]
Ferchland, Helene (*August 5, 1879 or 1880 — †) [KJ] [MUGI] Links: KJ, MUGI
Studied with Joachim in Berlin and Thibaud in Paris. 1905 recipient of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship. Solo with Berlin Philharmonic. Member (with Gertrud Schuster-Woldan and Eugenie Stoltz) of Gabriele Wietrowetz’s string quartet, to which she belonged until it disbanded in 1917. Joachim praised her playing as “secure, accomplished, and musically intelligent. Unusually talented…” [MUGI]
Student of Joachim in the early 1850s. Further studies with Ferdinand Laub. Member of Weimar Kapelle; 1860 Soloist in Aachen; 1864 until his death Hofkonzertmeister Meiningen.
Francke, H. [KJ] Concertmaster. Laussnitz b. Königsbrück. Links:KJ
Advertisement in Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, October 16, 1903: “VIOLIN LESSONS GIVEN BY Miss SIBYL FRENCH, PUPIL OF DR. JOACHIM, BERLIN. For Terms apply Mrs. SMITH, Music Warehouse, Queen-street, Exeter.”
Freund, M. [KJ] [M] Concertmaster, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Links: KJ, M
Son of Niels Wilhelm Gade. 1879-1881 studied at Royal Danish Conservatory with Valdemar Tofte. Further studies with Joachim. 1884 violinist with Det Kongelige Kapel; 1910 concertmaster. 1885 violin teacher at the conservatory. Composer of violin works, and several operas.
Gerhardt, Oskar (*1856 – 1929) [KJ] Mitgl. d. Philharm. Orch. Berlin. Links: KJ
Gompertz, Richard (*1859 – †1921) [KJ] [M] Links: IMSLP, KJ, M
Studied with Joachim in Berlin, 1875-1878. Moved to England in 1880. First violinist with Cambridge SQ. 1883, taught at Royal College of Music, London; from 1895 Professor of Violin.
de Graan, Jean (*1852 — †1874), den Haag.
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, January 19, 1874: “Intelligence has just reached us of the death of this young Dutch violinist, a pupil of Joachim and known from his earliest days at Amsterdam as one of the most promising artistes in Europe. On his debut in London at the Musical Union, in 1870, he at once created a favourable impression, evincing a rare degree of musical intelligence and considerable executive power. During his visit to London he was the guest of Professor Ella, the director of the Musical Union, and won the esteem of many of our local professors and amateurs. After a lingering illness in Italy, he died last week, at the Hague, of consumption, at the age of 21.”
Gregorowitsch, Charles (Karol Gregorowicz) (*October 25, 1867 — †March 25, 1921) [M] [Groves] Berlin. Links: M, BI, Recording
Studied with Vassily Bezekirsky, Jacob Dont, and Joachim, who said to Bezekirsky: “You have sent me a finished violinist. There is nothing to teach him.” 1886 Berlin debut. Recipient of Mendelssohn prize. Taught Bronislaw Hubermann, who claimed he taught him “everything that could be learned from a teacher.” [Tully Potter. “Gregorowicz, Karol.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed December 10, 2014].
Grimson, R. [KJ] Lehrer am Royal College. London. Links: KJ
Gumprecht, G. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Hänflein, Georg (*March 17, 1848 — †ca. 1909) [KJ] [M] [W] Links: KJ, M, W
1862-65 studied with Ferdinand David; three years’ study with Joachim. Member of the Italian Opera in St. Petersburg. 1874 Concertmaster, Royal Theater Hanover.
Hagemeister, [M] Richard Kammermusiker, Berlin. Links: BMLO, M
Halíř, Karel (*February 1, 1859 — †December 21, 1909) [KJ] [M] Concertmaster, Professor, Hochschule für ausübende Tonkunst, Berlin. Links: BMLO, KJ, M
Violinist and conductor. Studied with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule beginning 1898. After 1900 concertmaster in Lübeck; 1905 Hofkonzertmeister in Darmstadt and Hamburg. 1911 teacher at the Leipzig Konservatorium. 1915-1921 concertmaster of the Dresden Hofoper. 1920s, primarius of the Havemann String Quartet, noted for its performances of modern music. Author: “Was ein Geiger wissen muss“ (1921), “Die Violintechnik bis zur Vollendung.“ (1928) Havemann was a committed anti-Semite, and a member of the Nazi party. Eventually ran afoul of Goebbels and the Nazis over his support for Hindemith. Havemann’s 1719 Stradivari was, ‘acquired’ when the Russian army entered Berlin in 1945 and was passed to the state collection in 1946. The instrument was loaned to David Oistrakh in 1947, and he used it for several years.
Herner, Carl (*January 23, 1836 — †July 16, 1906)
Educated at the Prague Conservatory, he gained his first experience in Hamburg, Kiel, and Copenhagen, and played solo violin in Brussels. He studied with Joachim in Hanover. On 1. February 1858 he became a member of the Hoftheaterorchester Hannover. Herner was a member (together with N.N. Bach and Waldemar Bargiel) of one of Joachim’s quartets that became very popular in the early 1860s. He worked as first violinist, Solo-Repititor, choir director, conductor, and finally as Kapellmeister until his retirement 1900. Herner worked 42 years in the Hanover orchestra. He composed 20 pieces for ballet, opera, choir and orchestra. [Thanks to Jürgen D. Müller of Hanover, Germany, for this information]
Studied with his father, a pupil of Spohr. 1865 moved to USA, touring with the Theodore Thomas orchestra at the age of nine. 1876-78 studied with Joachim in Berlin. 1878-86 concertmaster in Frankfurt am Main; 1886-88 concertmaster in Rotterdam. 1888 sojourn in England; leader of Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. 1895 returned to Germany and became Professor of Violin at the Cologne Conservatorium. 1900 successor of Saurret at the Royal Academy of Music in London. 1904-1910 concertmaster of Boston Symphony Orchestra. 1910 returned to Berlin and taught at the Hochschule für Musik until 1928. [Watson Forbes. “Hess, Willy (i).” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 27, 2014.]
Hille, Gustav (*1849 or 1851 — †after 1926) Links: UM, IMSLP, UM
1870 Pupil of Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. 1879 member of the Mendelssohn Quartet, Boston; 1880 teacher at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia. Composer of various works for violin, piano, songs.
Himmelstoss Richard (*June 17, 1843 — †) [M] Links: M
1871 Concertmaster, Breslau.
Hollaender, Gustav (*February 15, 1855 — †1915) [KJ] [M] [W] Professor, Berlin. Links: BMLO, KJ, M, W
1892-96 Studied under Joachim (primarily with Markees) in Berlin. Also studied with Charles Gregorovitch (whom he said “taught him everything that could be learned from a teacher”), Hugo Heermann and Martin Marsick. His performance of the Brahms violin concerto was admired by the composer. Founder of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, later the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Author: Aus der Werkstatt des Virtuosen (1912). [Boris Schwarz and Margaret Campbell. “Huberman, Bronisław.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 27, 2014.]
Studied with Joachim, Rudorff, and Spitta at the Berlin Hochschule. Though a singer and pianist, Joachim claimed: “Sie war und (Rudorff, Spitta und mir) immer eine sehr liebe Schülerin, und ist uns lieb und wert geblieben.” (Schumann Briefedition Serie II, Band 2,2, p. 1334) Hundoegger was one of the founders of the tonic-sol-fa system, and an influential innovator in music education.
Lenora Jackson owned a 1714 Stradivari violin that had previously belonged to Joachim
Jacobsen Heinrich (*January 10, 1851 — †ca. 1901) [M] [W] Professor, Hochschule für ausübende Tonkunst, Berlin. Links: M
Student of Ferdinand David. 1869 member of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 1873 studied with Joachim. 1876 until his death instructor of violin at the Berlin Hochschule.
Upon graduation from the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, he toured as a concert violinist and then was appointed Professor of violin at the Hochschule. Jacobson taught many of Joachim’s pupils and or taught the pupils who aspired to be Joachim’s students. When Maude Powell came to Berlin, Jacobson was her initial Professor. Other Jacobson pupils included Will Marion Cook, Emily Shinner-Liddell, Lilian Shattuck, and Helene Ferchland. Jacobson later became Chairman of the Orchestral Instruments Department at the Hochschule. Occasional participant with the Joachim Quartet. On November 9, 1879, Jacobson took part in the World Premier of the Dvorak String Sextet with the Joachim Quartet.
Jäger, H. [KJ] Königlicher Kammer-Musiker. München. Links: KJ
Jahn, Karl (*August 29, 1846 — †) [M] [W] Concertmaster, Bern. Links: M, W
Born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied first at the National Music Hall and then in Berlin as Joachim’s pupil. In 1890 he was appointed teacher at the Königsberg Conservatory and in 1897 director. In the autumn of 1898 he returned to Budapest to teach violin at the Music Academy. He was a member of the Hubay-Popper String Quartet, and later founded the Kemény-Schiffer String Quartet Society, which was dissolved in 1910.
Kess (or Kes), Willem (*February 16, 1856 —†) [M] Kapellmeister, Moscow. Leader at Amsterdam, and Kapellmeister at Dordrecht. After 1883 conductor in Amsterdam. Links: M
Ketèlbey, Harold (Brother of composer Albert Ketèlbey). Ref: Morning Post (London) 13 October 1905, p. 8.
Violinist, conductor, and teacher, studied with Johann Kruse, and one year with Joseph Joachim (1889 — 1890) at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Concertmistress of the York Symphony Orchestra, which she founded together with T. Tertius Noble. Author: The Making of a Violinist (1921), Violinist’s Vade Mecum (appeared posthumously, 1952), and translator of Leopold Mozart’s Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (orig. 1756; trans. 1948).
Koch, Oskar (*November 12, 1862 — †March 22, 1919) [KJ] [M] Links: GENI, GN, KJ, M, NG
Concertmaster, Magdeburg (23 years). [Magdeburger Zeitung, March 25, 1919.]
König, E. [KJ] Königlicher Kammer-Musiker. Dresden. Links: KJ
Kornfeld, J.
Advertisement in Kent & Sussex Courier, December 20, 1882: “VIOLIN AND ACCOMPANIMENT LESSONS GIVEN TO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN BY HERR J. KORNFELD, PUPIL OF HERR JOACHIM. Pupils Prepared for the Local Examinations of the ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. For particulars apply (personally or by letter) to Herr J. KORNFELD, Bishop’s Down Spa; COLBRAN’S Royal Library, High-street, Tunbridge Wells; and at CHAPPELL and Co.s, New Bond-street London.”
Kotek, Josef (or Iosif) (*October 25, 1855 — †January 4, 1885) [M] [W] Instructor at Hochschule für ausübende Tonkunst, Berlin. Links: M, W
Born in Devon, England. Studied with Joachim pupil Joseph Ludwig and with Wilhelmj. 1893 Debut at Crystal Palace under Manns (Bruch Concerto No. 1). Studied 1903-1906 with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. Retired from concertizing ca. 1920 due to arthritis. [MUGI]
Advertisement in North Devon Journal, September 28, 1905: “Miss Marjory Langley (A Pupil of Professor Joachim from the Royal Hochschule, Berlin), gives Lessons in Violin and Viola Playing and Chamber Music At Barnstaple and Bideford. — Terms, apply, J. T. White’s Music Warerooms, Barnstaple.
László, Akós (*February 10, 1871 — †1946) Links: DTA
Composer and music critic with Otto Kreßmann’s “Allgemeine Musikzeitung.” Studied violin Emanuel Wirth, and perhaps with JJ at the Berlin Hochschule.
Works: Aus meiner Heimat (Ernſte u. heitere En. aus Ungarn, eingeleitet von Jul. Stettenheim), 1898. Neue Folge as: Ungarische Skizzen (Ernste u. heitere En.), 1900.
Lefkowitz, J. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Studied with Ferdinand David, Joachim, and Vieuxtemps. First violin in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at age 15. Court Kammervirtuose in Rudolstadt. 1867 moved to New York; debut in Steinway Hall. Next year made his Boston debut with Joachim’s Hungarian Concerto. 1871-1874 concertmaster of Theodore Thomas orchestra. Member of Mendelssohn Quintette Club. 1881 first concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 1893 taught at the Chicago College of Music. [Leonard Burkat and John C. Schmidt. “Listemann, Bernhard.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed December 10, 2014.]
Loeffler, Charles Martin (*January 30, 1861 — †May 19, 1935)
Studied with Joachim and Eduard Rappoldi; theory with Kiel and Bargiel at Berlin Hoschschule. Furthered his violin studies with Massart, and composition with Guiraud in Paris. 1881 departed for USA. Briefly returned to Paris to study with Léonard in 1884. 1887 became American citizen. Second concertmaster of Boston Symphony Orchestra (21 years). Gave American premieres of works by Bruch, Saint-Saëns and Lalo. Retired from BSO 1903. Major activity as a composer. [Ellen Knight. “Loeffler, Charles Martin.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed December 12, 2014.]
Ludwig, Joseph (*April 6, 1844 — †) [M] [W] London Academy of Music (1870). Links, M, W
Studied with Joachim winters 1864 and 1865 [W]. Teacher of Beatrice Langley [MUGI: Beatrice Langley].
Notice in Kent & Sussex Courier, February 18, 1881 for a performance by “Herr Emil Mahr, Pupil of Joachim” playing Bach Chaconne.
Marcosson, Sol (*June 10, 1869 — †January 10, 1940) Concertmaster, Cleveland Orchestra (1918) Links: DFG, ECH, COS
Born in Louisville, Ky. Studied at the Berlin Hochschule under Joseph Joachim. Member of Boston Mendelssohn Quintet and quartet of the New York Philharmonic Club. Concertmaster, Chicago Symphony, and inaugural season of the Cleveland Orchestra (1918-1919).
Marienhagen, O. [KJ] Mitgl. d. Philharm. Orch. Berlin. Links: KJ
Markees, Karl (*February 10, 1865 — †1926) [KJ] [M] Links: AL, AP, KJ, M
Studied with Wirth and Joachim. Member of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and also Kruse Quartet and Halir Quartet. Instructor at Hochschule für ausübende Tonkunst, Berlin.
Marsick, Martin Pierre Joseph (*March 9, 1847 — †October 21, 1924) [M] Links: M, Oxford
1865-1867 studied with Léonard in Brussels; 1868-1869 with Massart in Paris; 1870-1871 with Joachim in Berlin. In 1892, he succeeded Sauzay as violin professor at the Paris Conservatory. Composer of various violin works.
v. d. Marwitz, (Miss) M. [KJ] Tonkünstlerin. Berlin. Links: KJ
Studied with Joachim pupils Max Brode and Ernst Wendel. 1900 – 1904 studied at the Berlin Hochschule, first year with Moser, second with Wietrowetz, and after 1902 with Joachim. [MUGI]
Studied at the Berlin Hochschule with Markees (1898) and Joachim (1899-1903). Debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. After 1911, lived in Munich as a performer and pedagogue. Leader of the Michaelis String Quartet and the Kammerorchester für altklassische Musik. Michaelis became a noted advocate for contemporary music. [MUGI]
Morgan, Geraldine (*1867 — †1918) [M] [MUGI] New York. Links: ETUDE, M, MH
Studied engineering and music history; violin studies with Joseph Joachim in Berlin. 1883 Concertmaster in Mannheim. After 1888 taught violin at the Royal Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. With Joachim published the Violinschule (3 vols.), numerous editions. Author: Joseph Joachim. Ein Lebensbild, and Geschichte des Violinspiels.
Muddock, (Miss) E. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Müller, [M] Leeds, England. Links: M [Possibly the same as G. Müller, West Dulwich, England — Ref: Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, November 21, 1902: p. 4]:
Studied with Tullio Ramacciotti and Joachim in Hannover (1864). Taught at Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome. 1874 founder of Società Orchestrale Romana, which he directed for 25 years.
Polo, Enrico (*November 18, 1868 — †December 3, 1953) [KJ] Professor, Turin. Links: KJ, SANPowell, Maud (*August 22, 1867 — †January 8, 1920) [M] [MUGI] Studied 1884-85. Links: M, MUGI, SL Recordings: LOCPrill, Karl (*1864 — †August 15, 1931) Leader at Pavlovsk, then at Magdeburg. After 1891 in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig. [M] Links: BMLO, M, Mason, Payne & Ehrlich
Studied from October 1903 until Easter 1907 at the Berlin Hochschule — at first with Joachim and Wirth, and in the last year exclusively with Joachim. In 1925 became second violinist in an all-female quartet in Berlin led by Charlotte Rosen.
Ritter, Hermann (*September 16, 1849 — †?) Links: DTA
Studied with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. Member, Hoftheaterkapelle in Schwerin. Music Director in Heidelberg. Played under Wagner in Bayreuth. 1879 Professor for Music History and Aesthetics at the Royal Music School in Würzburg.
Alfred Ross was a pupil of Joseph Joachim at the Royal School of Music in Berlin, Germany between 1891 and 1896. In 1907, in New York, he married fellow student and American-born Marguerite Stilwell (a pianist taught by Ukrainian-born Vladimir de Pachmann). Alfred and Marguerite Ross returned to the UK after their wedding. Both were acclaimed concert performers, and teachers of music in Liverpool. Ross played in a quartet with Ernst Schiever.
Roy, (Miss) G. [KJ] Tonkünstlerin. Berlin. Links: KJ
Ruthström, Julius (*December 30, 1877 — †April 2, 1944)
Studied 1901-03 at the Berlin Musikhochschule under Burmester, Moser and Joachim. Awarded the Joachim Prize. 1904 gave the premiere performance of Reger’s solo violin sonata op. 42, no. 1. 1928-35 director of Mellersta Sveriges Kammarmusikförening (Sweden). “Ruthström was a persuasive advocate of Swedish music and an influential teacher. His repertory was unusually large, and he was famed for his performances of Reger, Sibelius’s concerto and a variety of contemporary music. He wrote a number of technical studies for the violin.” [Robert Layton. “Ruthström, Julius.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 27, 2014.]
Salzwedel, [KJ] [M] Kammermusiker, Berlin. Links: KJ, M
Sanders, W. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Schäffer, E. [KJ] [M] Stud. a. d. Königl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ, M
Schering, A. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Schiever, Ernst (*March 23, 1844 — †1915) Links: Oxford
Studied with Joachim in Hannover from 1860-1864. 1868 – 1869 replaced Auer as first violinist of the Müller Quartet. 1869 Founding member (second violinist) of the Joachim Quartet, and violin teacher at the Berlin Hochschule. 1878 settled in Liverpool as concertmaster of the Richter Orchestra. For three decades, primarius of the Schiever Quartet (with Alfred Ross, Carl Courvoisier, and Walter Hatton). [Groves]
Schindler, Rosa (*September 2, 1874 — †) [MUGI] Links: MUGI
Studied with Hans Hasse, Kruse and Joachim. Debut with Berlin Philharmonic. Seldom concertized after her marriage.
Schleicher, [KJ] [M] Concertmaster, Bremen. Links: KJ, M
Studied four years in Budapest with Jenö Hubay; 1900 to 1902 continued her studies at the Berlin Hochschule, the first year with Wirth, Jacobsen and Joachim, the second year with Wirth and Joachim. Recipient of the Mendelssohn Scholarship; debut under Joachim’s leadership in the Berlin Singakademie; member of the Wietrowetz Quartet. Settled in London ca. 1912. Joachim’s assessment of her playing: “An outstanding achievement, masterful in every respect. A rare artist; conception, brilliant technique, everything there.” [MUGI]
Schumann, Frida (née Quehl. See: Quehl, Frida)
Schuster, Heinrich [KJ] [M] Concertmaster, Strassburg. Links: KJ, M
Studied with Gustav Hollaender. Matriculated at the Berlin Hochschule in 1888. Studied one year with Kruse, and from 1889 to 1892 with Kruse and Joachim. 1892-1893 exclusively with Joachim. Debut with Berlin Philharmonic under Joachim (Joachim G Major concerto, Vieuxtemps Ballade and Polonaise, op. 38, Mendelssohn e minor concerto, op. 64). Played Beethoven concerto under Nikisch. 1898 married Alfred Francken, and retired from public performance. Murdered in the Sobibor concentration camp, July 16, 1943. [MUGI]
Seibert, Willy (*1870 — †) [KJ] [M] Concertmeister, Köln. Study: four years. Links: WWC, KJ, M
Seligmann, J. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Soldat-Röger, Marie Ernestine (*March 25, 1863 — †September 30, 1955) [KJ] [M] [MUGI] Links: M, MUGI, Sophie Drinker Institut, KJ
Spence, Bessie
Notice in The Violin Times, November 15, 1899: Glasgow: Miss Bessie H. Spence, the young violinist, who has often delighted Glasgow audiences, has been accepted by Dr. Joachim as a pupil in the Hochschule, Berlin, after a keenly-contested competitive examination. Miss Spence is a daughter of Mr. William Spence, schoolmaster, Cleland, and studied in this city under Mr. Elkan Kosman.” Notice in Aberdeen Journal, January 9, 1901 of a performance by “Miss Bessie Spence (a pupil of Joachim’s, Berlin).” Bessie Spence performed often in concert and on the radio, as a soloist, chamber musician, and as second violinist of the Fellowes String Quartet, at least into the 1930s in Scotland.
Studied 1898-92. St. Louis, Chicago, CM NY Philharmonic under Mahler.
Stiehle, Ludwig Maximilian Adolph (*August 19, 1850 †July 6, 1896) [M] [W] Muhlhausen, Alsace. Links: M
Studied with Vieuxtemps; 1863-67 with Hugo Heermann. Studied with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule 1869-70, and again 1871-72. Member of Alard’s Quartet, Paris, 1872. 1876 Director of the Musikverein Concordia, Mühlhausen.
Stietzel, Elli (née von Broen. See: von Broen, Elli)
Such, Henry (*March 31, 1872 — †November 4, 1929) [KJ][M] London. Links: KJ, M, MUSIC, OM, YM
Studied from 1885-1892 with Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. 1892 Berlin debut. 1895-1896 further studies with Wilhelmj. Professor at the Guildhall School of Music. Played a Stradivari violin formerly owned by Paganini. [Bakers]
Sussmann, (or Süssmann) Jascha [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: ETUDE, KJ
Tennenbaum, Betty — Sanna Pederson lists Betty Tennenbaum as having studied with Joachim from 1905-1906. I have found no other verification of this, though she is cited in a favorable 1911 review (of Saint-Saens’ violin concerto) as having studied with Emil Sauret, and performing according to the French school. Wilhelm Altmann wrote in Die Musikof her appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic that it “lacked justification for a public performance in so formidable a setting.”
Tofte, Lars Valdemar (*October 21, 1832 — †May 281907) [M] [W] Links: M, Mason, W
Studied with C. Petersen and J. Selmer; in Germany with Spohr, and 1853-1856 with Joachim. 1856 Copenhagen debut. 1868-1892 first violinist with Copenhagen Court Orchestra; 1866-1904 professor of violin at Copenhagen Conservatory.
Treichler, (Hans?) [M] Concertmaster, Zürich. Links: BMLO, M
Isidore Troostwyk (1862-1923) was born in Zwolle in the Netherlands. He began studying the violin at the age of ten, and when he was sixteen, patrons funded lessons with Joseph Joachim in Berlin. (Joachim later sent him to the United States with a letter of recommendation.) In 1883 Troostwyk was appointed professor of the violin at the Academy of Music in Amsterdam, and was appointed concertmaster of the Concertgebouw orchestra. Troostwyk emigrated to the United States in 1888. He was co-founder of the Dessauer-Troostwyk School of Music, at 781 Chapel Street in New Haven, incorporated in 1893. In 1895, Troostwyk was appointed as the first Instructor of Violin at the newly established Yale School of Music, where he was later promoted to Assistant Professor, and performed as a member of the Faculty Trio. Troostwyk became the concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony at the time of its organization in 1894. He was the founding conductor of two orchestras: the New Haven String Orchestra (1907) and the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Helsinki. Studied with Adolf Niemann, Anton Sitt; in Berlin with Wirth and Joachim. 1887 played second violin in a quartet headed by Marie Soldat. 1889 – 1890 traveled in England. 1891 returned to Scandinavia. Composed works for violin and songs.
Warburg, (Miss) S. [KJ] Tonkünstlerin. Manchester. KJ
Wasner, (Miss) K. [KJ] Stud. a. d. Kgl. Hochsch. f. Mus. Berlin. Links: KJ
Weintraub, J. [KJ] Fürstlicher Concertmeister. Gera. Links: KJ
Wendel, Ernst [MUGI] see: MUGI article on Else Mendel-Oberüber.
Wendheim, Gabriele von (Hoffmann, Hofmann von Wendheim, Hoffmann von Wendheim
Cited in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik as a student of Moritz Mildner in Prague (NZfM 1858 I, p. 84). Pupil of Joachim in Hanover, ca. Winter 1858. Dedicatee of Joachim’s Notturno for violin and orchestra, op. 12. Links: SDI
Wendling, Carl (*August 10, 1875 — †March 27, 1962) Studied in Strasbourg with Heinrich Schuster and Florián Zajic, and in Berlin with Halir and Joachim. Links: ETUDE
1908: “Mr. CARL WENDLING was born in Strassburg in 1875. He studied the violin at the Conservatory of Music in his birthplace, and afterward went to Berlin, where he pursued his studies under Joachim for three years and a half. Returning to Strassburg, he taught for a year at the Conservatory. In 1899 he went to Meiningen, where he was concert-master of the Meiningen Orchestra, then led by Mr. Fritz Steinbach, for four years. From Meiningen he went to Stuttgart as concert-master of the Royal Court Theatre of that city and of the regularly established concerts of the Court Orchestra. He was also leader of the Chamber Musicians’ String Quartet, with Messrs. Künzel, Presuhn, and Seitz as associates. He still holds his official positions in Stuttgart, for he was granted leave of absence for one year to be the first concert-master of the Boston Symphony for this season. Mr. Wendling has been concert-master of the Wagner Festival performances at Bayreuth since 1903, and in 1903, 1904, 1905 he was concert-master for Hans Richter at Covent Garden in performances of German opera. Mr. Wendling made his first appearance in America as a soloist on October 26, 1907, at a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston, when he played Brahms’s Concerto in D major.” [BSO] Wending became director of the Royal Stuttgart Conservatory in 1929. He died in Stuttgart in 1962. See also here.
Werner, Theodore [KJ] [M] London. Paris. Links: KJ, M
Edinburgh Evening News, March 16, 1887: “A NEW MUSICAL GENIUS. A great deal of curiosity has been recently expressed in musical circles concerning the new and phenomenal fiddle player, the great merit of whom was instantly recognized not long since by the Prince of Wales… The other night… Mr. Theodore Werner, the new violinist, played at the Lyric Club before a very representative and brilliant assembly of prominent artistic personages, and (according to a London correspondent) he created a remarkable and profound sensation. He is a pupil of Joachim, and his bowing is worthy of the great master himself; the quality of tone he produces is very fine indeed, and as a rule more rich than that of Sarasate; while his fingering is simply perfect in finish, and absolutely faultless in rapidity and determination. Mr Werner is altogether a very marvelous musician.
Wickham, Madge Soloist with Berlin Philharmonic 1887.
Left to right, standing: Theodore Hemberger, Theodore Spiering, Rudolph Lenz, Mary Cardew, Sol Marcosson, [Josef] Hösl, [Carl] Bemmer, Rosa Schindler, Bernard Sinsheimer; seated, Joseph Joachim, Emmanuel Wirth.
[photo probably ca. 1892]
Thanks to John Maltese.
From Musical Courier, May 6, 1914, page 27:
Theodore Spiering Writes
The picture you reproduced in your Cleveland article, lent to you by Sol Marcosson and showing Joachim and Wirth with a group of pupils, took me back twenty-two years. Joseph Hösl (for years third concertmaster in the Munich Opera Orchestra) and Carl Bemmer (cello professor at the largest conservatory in Athens, Greece) seem to have dropped from Mr. Marcosson’s memory. They have been my good friends in all these years. The picture was taken after the Joachim quartet class, at which, if I remember correctly, I had prepared a string quartet of Eugene d’Harcourt—a Frenchman who has since played quite an important role in the local Parisian field—my colleagues being Hösl, Lenz and Bremmer. The regular string quartet, which for three seasons I held together, consisted, beside myself, of Marcosson, C. Rawdon Briggs (now concertmaster in Manchester, with the Hallé Orchestra) and Paul Morgan, of New York. Those times seem ages ago.
Joseph Joachim: Romanze aus dem Concert in Ungarischer Weise, Berlin, 9 January 1893
Cardiff, March, 1894 AMusQS. (“Joseph Joachim”). 1½ pp. Oblong 8vo. On a single sheet of folded paper. Five measures from the second movement of Giuseppe Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata marked “Tempo giusto” and inscribed in German “In memory of the concert in Cardiff and of Joseph Joachim.” Sold by Lion Heart Autographs.
Joseph Joachim: Album Leaf for Elisabeth Joachim, Spring 1897
“Zur Erinnerung an den letzten Kammermusikabend 1896-97. Möge, liebes Kind, Brahms Musik dir ein treuer Schatz für’s Leben bleiben, wie mir!
Joseph Joachim
Frühling 1897.”
“In remembrance of the last chamber music evening 1896-97. May Brahms’s music remain for you a true treasure, dear child, as for me!
Joseph Joachim
Spring 1897.
Berlin, June 5, 1897 Incipit. Bach, Fugue in C Major from Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005. [In English] “In remembrance of Joseph Joachim / Berlin / June 5th 1897”
Bern, March 14, 1900 Incipit. Joachim, Romanze in B flat Major, from Drei Stücke, op. 2. [In English] “With many thanks for your nice little letter, and for telling me that your mamma liked the piece. / Joseph Joachim / Berne / March 14th 1900”
spirit of modern, open-access scholarship. For copyright reasons related to the source material, some information remains password-protected and unavailable to the public. The WordPress blog format does not allow me to organize posts as I wish: it organizes posts by date, which is to say, randomly. I am, however, presenting the Biographical Posts in sequence, and organizing all of the material in the INDEX. Content is also searchable using the “search” function, though in recent years that has become cumbersome. The detailed Biographical Posts begin here (“Kittsee, 1831”), and continue as a series of linked articles. There are some gaps in the links — this is, as I say, an ongoing project.
Robert W. Eshbach
1) I am trying to locate the correspondence between Joseph Joachim and Bettina von Arnim that was sold by Henrici auction house in 1929. [Karl Ernst Henrici, Versteigerungskatalog 155, Berlin: am 5. Juli 1929.] I would be very grateful for any information leading to its whereabouts.
