| Today in Music History A Daily Look at Music History For Violin Students A Look at What Happened on Today's Date Long, Long Ago . . . Or Maybe Just Last Year |
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| TODAY IS February 17 |
| Can You Guess? Richard Wagner's work Also Sprach Zarathustra is mentioned just below. It was played in the opening moments of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey which involved a trip to another planet. Can You Guess which planet? Look at the Bottom of the Page for the Answer. |
| What Else Happened Today? |
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| 1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer, was born in Fusignano near Milan. 1792 - Premiere of F. J. Haydn's Symphony No. 93. Haydn conducted in London. 1889 - Premiere of Cesar Franck's d minor symphony, in Paris. 1893 - Andres Segovia, Spanish guitarist, was born. 1901 - Premiere of Mahler's Das Klagende Lied, in Vienna. 1904 - The opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini premiered at La Scala in Milan. 1948 - Premiere of David Diamond's Violin Sonata No. 1. Joseph Szigeti, violin and Josef Lhevinne, piano at Carnegie Hall. 1955 - Little Richard sent his first audition tape to Specialty Records. 1960 - The Everly Brothers signed with Warner Bros. Records in a 10-year contract worth $1 million. 1964 - The first Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass concert was held, in Los Angeles, CA. 1966 - Brian Wilson began recording the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations. 1970 - Alfred Newman, US composer and film conductor, died. 1973 - Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001), Deodato's cover of Richard Wagner's work, was released. |
| Henri Vieuxtemps 1774-1830 |
| Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto d Minor played by Jascha Heifetz |
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| Brotherhood of the Bow Shirt |
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| Henri Vieuxtemps was born February 17, 1820 in Verviers, not far from Ličge, Belgium. His father was an amateur violin maker and his first teacher. Henri went on to study under Lecloux-Dejonc People realized he was a prodigy very early, and he made his public violin debut when he was just 6, playing a concerto written by Rode. When he was 7 Henri went on a concert tour of nearby cities. When he was 8 he becane a student of Charles de Bčriot in Brussels. |
| After de Bčriot's death, Henri continued to work on his technique. He broadened his musical tastes through study with his teacher’s sister-in-law, Pauline Garcia, who studied with Liszt. Henri became very popular with his concerts across Germany and in Vienna. When Robert Schumann heard Henri in Leipzig in 1833, Schumann compared him to Paganini. Henri also met Spohr that year, and Paganini in 1834.
In 1836 Henri wrote Violin Concerto No. 2 in F sharp minor, published as Opus 19. He had some technical instruction in composition from Simon Sechter in Vienna and Anton Reicha in Paris. Vieuxtemps travelled to Russia in 1837, returning in the following years. Here he wrote the Concerto No. 1 in E major, published as Opus 10. He introduced this work i Paris in 1841, and received critical acclaim, as well as that of Wagner and Berlioz. Henri toured the US In 1843 and 1844, and wrote his Concerto No. 3 in A major, Opus 25. Ysa˙e described this work as a great poem rather than a concerto, influenced by Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, which Vieuxtemps revived in 1834. From 1846 to 1852 he was in St Petersburg as court violinist, soloist in the Imperial Theatres. Here he wrote his Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Opus 31, a work described by Berlioz, as a symphony with a violin solo. Henri settled in Dreieichenain, Germany, for a time. In 1858, he began work on his fifth violin concerto at the request of Hubert Leonard, a professor at Brussels Conservatory, as a competition piece. Vieuxtemps said his goal was to "combine the pure form of the Viotti concerto with the technical demands of modern times," Henri continued to tour and perform as well as compose. He spent time in Paris, then returned to Brussels in 1871 as a Professor of Violin in the Conservatory there. Vieuxtemps's virtuoso career ended in 1873, when he suffered a stroke that affected is bow arm. He was replaced by Wieniawski, but resumed teaching and conducting in 1877. In 1879, Vieuxtemps resigned and joined his daughter and son-in-law in Mustapha in Algeria. Here he continued to compose, completing his Concerto No. 6 in G Major, Opus 47, and soon thereafter Concerto No. 7 in A minor, Opus 49. He died in Algiers June 6, 1881, and was buried in his hometown of Verviers, Belgium. |
| Irish Fiddle at Amazon St. Pat's is Coming! |
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| Keylin plays
Vieuxtemps Concertos . A Very Good Recording! |
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| The Soundtrack. An Excellent Addition to any Collection! |
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| Did You Guess? 2001: A Space Odyssey involved a trip to the planet Jupiter. Did you see the color clues? |