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The Irish People: Ernst and Joachim (1864)

05 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Letters, Uncategorized

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The Irish People (Dublin, Ireland), June 11, 1864, p. 12.

Ernst

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (with Wieniawski and Joachim, center)

ERNST AND JOACHIM.— The following touching letter has been written by a great artiste, Joseph Joachim, to another great artiste, Heinrich Ernst, on the occasion of the latter’s concert, which is to take place in June, in London, and in which, unfortunately, the state of Ernst’s health will not make it possible for him to play his own compositions. The fact is in every respect worthy of notice:— “Dear and honoured friend, — However sorry I am that, after you were beginning to get better, your patience should be again subjected to so hard a trial, the confidence expressed by your physician affords me consolation. I certainly had hoped, from the account my brother has from time to time given me of you, that on the occasion of our meeting again this spring, I should have once more enjoyed the pleasure of hearing the magnificent tones of your violin. Providence decrees otherwise. I am not destined, dear master, to hear you, and thus to me, thanks to your confidence, is intrusted the noble task of making the musical world of London acquainted with your newest creation. I need scarcely say with what deep love I shall devote myself to the service of your muse. Command me as you will, and let me soon know on what day your concert is to take place. I am exceedingly anxious to see your etudes, though I am really afraid of your fingering [in allusion, we presume, to the uncommon grasp of Herr Ernst’s left hand.], but what comes from your pen I will at all events practise, even though I may not succeed in doing justice.— Your truly devoted friend, JOSEPH JOACHIM.”

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Ernst’s reply (Joachim/BRIEFE II, pp. 337-338)

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Concert: London Philharmonic Debut, 1844 Illustrated London News

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Concert Reviews & Criticism, Pages

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The Illustrated London News, vol. 4, No. 109 (June 1, 1844), p. 354.

…now we come to the dictu mirabile monstrum, in the shape of a little boy of thirteen, who perhaps is the first violin player, not only of his age, but of his siècle. Of late years we have heard some prodigies, in the form of grown persons, as performers on that splendid instrument; but without severally enumerating them, or their merits, we can safely say that little Joachim is equal to any, or all of them, put together. His tone is of the purest cantabile character — his execution is most marvellous, and at the same time unembarrassed — his style is chaste, but deeply impassioned at moments; and his deportment is that of a conscious, but modest genius! He performed Beethoven’s solitary concerto, which we have heard all the great performers of the last twenty years attempt, and invariably fail in. On Monday last its performance was an eloquent vindication of the master-spirit who imagined it, and we might fearlessly add, that in the cadences, composed by the youth himself, there was as much genius exhibited as in the subject which gave birth to them. Joachim plays from memory, which is more agreeable to the eye of the auditor than to see anything read from a music-stand; it seems more like extemporaneous performance, and admits a greater degree of enthusiasm on the part of the instrumentalist. We never heard or witnessed such unequivocal delight as was expressed by both band and auditory.