Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday Part 15

h.e.l.lmesberger spent the whole of his life in Vienna, with the exception of a tour in 1847, and he held the highest musical office in the Austrian Empire, that of director of the Imperial Band.

A story which is told of him bears testimony to his remarkable musical instinct. Teresa Milanollo, in 1840, took a new ma.n.u.script by De Beriot to Vienna. She wished to keep it for her own use, and did not show it to anybody. h.e.l.lmesberger heard it played at two rehearsals, and then went home and wrote out the whole work from memory.

No small portion of the immense influence which Joachim has wielded in the musical world has been directed toward quartet playing, and he has established a quartet in London and another one at Berlin, which both bear an enviable reputation. His chamber music cla.s.ses, too, at the Berlin High School, tend to develop admirable quartet players; thus we find Marie Soldat organising a ladies' quartet which had a good career, and Gabrielle Wietrowitz taking the place of first violin in the excellent ladies' quartet formed in England by Miss Emily Shinner.[1]

Miss Shinner, whose efforts in the artistic world have been of great value, and whose quartet has an immense reputation in England, was also a pupil of Joachim.

[Footnote 1: The Shinner Quartet consisted of Miss Emily Shinner (Mrs. F.

Liddell), first violin, Miss Lucy H. Stone, second violin, Miss Cecilia Gates, viola, and Miss Florence Hemmings, violoncello.]

The "Florentine Quartet" was founded by Jean Becker, a violinist of excellent ability, who made his mark in Europe about the middle of the nineteenth century. Becker was travelling in Italy in 1865, and settled in Florence for a time, during which he organised the above-mentioned quartet, with Masi, second violin, Chiostri, viola, and Hilpert, violoncello. In Florence there existed a society for the performance of chamber music, which had been established by a wealthy professor named Bazzini, a violinist and composer who travelled much, and whose influence in Italy, in the cause of German music, was of great value.

Bazzini was born in 1818 and died in 1897.

From time to time this society gave subscription concerts, and Becker was invited to lead ten such concerts during the winter of 1865-66. He consented to do so, but found the quartet in a state of dissolution. He brought Hilpert with him, and engaged Masi as second violin, Chiostro being the only member of the original quartet. Masi was not accustomed to chamber music, but Becker took him in hand and he improved rapidly.

In order to still enhance his value in the quartet, Becker presented him with a Stradivarius violin. They remained in Florence until their ensemble was absolutely perfect, and then began a series of tours which took them all over Europe. In Vienna the quartet was subjected to comparison with those of h.e.l.lmesberger and of Joachim, for the former had just given six chamber concerts, and the latter three. The first concert given by the Florentine Quartet was thinly attended, but the report of its excellence brought an overflowing audience to the second concert, and in all ten were given during the remainder of the season.

About 1875 Hilpert withdrew, and his place was filled by Hegyesi, who remained with the quartet until it was disbanded in 1880.

An excellent series of quartet concerts was founded in Stuttgart by Edmund Singer, who was appointed professor of violin in the Conservatorium, leader of the court music, and chamber musician, in 1861, after a distinguished career of some ten or more years as a virtuoso. These concerts met with triumphant success.

Georg J.R. Heckmann founded a quartet at Cologne and travelled through Europe, but it was surpa.s.sed by the Florentine Quartet, and did not gain the highest reputation.

A quartet which has been p.r.o.nounced to be one of the best in existence is that which is led by Jeno Hubay, in Pesth, and in which Hegyesi, formerly of the Florentine Quartet, is the 'cellist.

Adolf Brodsky, who for a time resided in New York, founded a string quartet at Leipzig, with Hans Becker, son of the founder of the Florentine Quartet, Hans Sitt, and Julius Klengel, the 'cellist, and this quartet was said to have no superior in Europe, and not more than one equal,--the Joachim Quartet of Berlin. In 1891 Brodsky went to New York, where he also established a quartet, but with little success. The organisation was received with respect, owing to Mr. Brodsky's European reputation, but it was admitted on all hands that superior organisations existed in America. Before Mr. Brodsky had time to bring his quartet to a high degree of proficiency, he returned to Europe, and, after a brief stay in Germany, accepted a position in England, where he has established another quartet.

He was succeeded in the quartet at Leipzig and at the conservatory by Arno Hilf, a distinguished violinist with an enormous technique, who was born in 1858 and was taught by David, Rontgen, and Schradieck.

Quartet playing in public was established in England in 1835, when the admirers of Joseph Dando, an excellent violinist, opened a subscription for the purpose of giving some concerts in which the chamber music, and especially the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, etc., should be performed. The first concert was given at the Horn Tavern, Doctors'-Commons, in London, on September 23d of that year, and being highly successful, a second was given on October 12th, and a third on the 26th, each proving more attractive than its predecessor. These concerts lasted for two seasons, when a new quartet was formed, with H.G. Blagrove and Henry Gattie as first and second violins, Mr. Dando, viola, and Mr. Lucas, 'cello, for the more perfect study and presentation of quartets and other chamber music. These concerts were given at the Hanover Square rooms, and on account of the care bestowed upon the rehearsals (of which they held seven or eight for each concert), they threw all previous performances into the shade.

The tide of public favour had now set in, and other quartets were formed, but none reached such excellence as that headed by Blagrove, which was invited to play at the Philharmonic concerts, where it produced a great sensation.

About the end of the seventh season Blagrove withdrew, but the quartet continued in existence for many years, Mr. Dando playing first violin, and Mr. Loder, the viola, and the concerts were given at Crosby Hall in the city, instead of the Hanover Square rooms.

At St. Petersburg a quartet was formed by Leopold Auer, an excellent violinist, who at the death of Wieniawski was appointed professor of violin at the Conservatoire. Auer was born in Hungary, and became a pupil of Dont at Vienna, after which he had a brilliant career as a virtuoso in Europe. His St. Petersburg quartet was founded in 1868, and became one of the leading musical organisations of the Russian capital, until the death of Davidoff, the violoncellist, who was one of its members, in 1890.

Auer has been very active in the musical life of St. Petersburg, and is very highly esteemed both as a man and as a musician, teacher, and performer.

A quartet which has gained a great reputation in Europe during recent years is the Bohemian Quartet, consisting of Carl Hoffmann, first violin, Joseph Suk, second violin, Oscar Nedbal, viola, and Ha.n.u.s Wihom, violoncello. They play with a great deal of vim and abandon, and the ensemble is remarkable.

At Hanover Richard Sahla has established a quartet, with Meneke, Kugler, and Loeleberg, and Arnold Rose's quartet, of Vienna, has travelled in Hungary, Italy, and other countries, gaining a good reputation.

In the United States there have been well meant efforts to found good quartets, and these have all had a beneficial influence. In Boston Mr.

Bernhard Listemann, some twenty years ago, established a quartet which gave some very delightful concerts, but the past decade has witnessed the rise of an organisation which is able to bear comparison with any quartet in the world.

The Kneisel Quartet was organised in 1885, the year in which Mr. Franz Kneisel accepted the position of concert-master to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Henry L. Higginson invited him at the same time to organise a quartet, and a series of concerts was given that season in Chickering Hall. While the excellence of the quartet was apparent from the start, there were comparatively few people in Boston who took much interest in chamber music, and the audiences were, as a rule, small.

Year by year they have increased, and for the past few years it has been necessary to give the concerts in a.s.sociation Hall, which has a seating capacity about twice as large as that of the original hall.

The second violin is Mr. Otto Roth,[2] a native of Vienna, who played for three years under the baton of Hans Richter, and came to Boston to play first violin in the Symphony Orchestra.

[Footnote 2: Mr. Roth retired from the quartet in 1899 and his place was filled by Mr. Karl Ondricek.]

Mr. Louis Svecenski, an excellent artist, who studied in the Vienna Conservatory, under h.e.l.lmesberger and Grun, plays the viola, and the 'cellist is Alwyn Schroeder, an artist, who had achieved a high reputation as a 'cello virtuoso, before he came to America.

After a few years the Kneisel Quartet began to appear in other cities, and now gives regular series of subscription concerts in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Hartford, and Worcester, also Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Universities, besides occasional performances in more remote cities. In 1896 the quartet had given over eight hundred concerts since its formation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRANZ KNEISEL]

At the end of the Symphony season in Boston, in 1896, the Kneisel Quartet made a visit to London and gave several concerts. In London it was obliged to stand comparison with the finest quartets in existence.

The Joachim Quartet and the Bohemian Quartet gave concerts the same season, but the unanimous verdict was to the effect that none could equal the Kneisel Quartet in absolute ensemble and perfection of detail.

While the Bohemian Quartet played with a great deal of abandon and enthusiasm, and the Joachim Quartet contained players of a greater reputation in Europe, yet the Kneisel Quartet simply confirmed the reputation it had acquired in America. "It would, indeed, be impossible to conceive greater perfection in the matter of ensemble, precision, delicacy, and all the qualities requisite for the proper interpretation of chamber music."

In the spring of 1899 the Kneisel Quartet made an extended tour in America, and found the musical condition of the great cities in the United States, as evidenced by the appreciation of music, fully equal to that of the European centres. Brahms and Beethoven were played in Denver and in San Francisco to audiences who were fully equal to the enjoyment of the highest cla.s.s of music, and everywhere the quartet was greeted with enthusiasm.

The success of the Kneisel Quartet is due to the long and arduous practice which the members have enjoyed together, for perfection in quartet playing is only possible through long a.s.sociation.

While virtuosity is not essential for quartet playing, good musicianship is very necessary. Patient and self-denying practice are absolute requisites.

The love of chamber music is apparently growing in the United States, for in many of the large cities quartets have been established by good musicians, and the opportunities for hearing fine interpretations of the best chamber music are increasing each year. It is a branch of musical art which appeals only to cultivated taste, for it is necessarily free from sensationalism and individual display. Therefore, the love of quartet playing may be considered to be a true index of the growth of musical culture.

THE END.