Henry Holst

Henry Holst (born July 25, 1899 in Sæby , † October 19, 1991 ) was a Danish violinist and music teacher.

Holst took his first violin lessons from his father, a teacher and organist, and from 1913 studied violin with Axel Gade and piano and harmony with Carl Nielsen at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen . He made his violin debut in 1919 with Henri Vieuxtemps ' First Violin Concerto in Copenhagen, then continued his training with Emil Telmanyi and then studied with Willy Hess in Berlin. From 193 to 1931 he was concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler .

From 1931 to 1945 Holst was a professor at the Royal Manchester Conservatory of Music . There he founded the Henry Holst String Quartet , which existed until 1941, and performed as a soloist. He gave the European premiere of William Walton's Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , and his interpretation of Sibelius ' Violin Concerto under Thomas Beecham was considered one of the best of his time.

In 1945 Holst became a professor at the Royal College of Music in London, where he taught until 1954. With the Philharmonia String Quartet, which he founded in 1941 (with Ernest Element , Herbert Downes and Anthony Pini ), he played recordings for Columbia Records , among which the recording of Beethoven's Archduke Trio became particularly popular.

In 1954 Holst returned to Denmark and taught there at the Royal Conservatory of Music . He was active as a musician well into old age. On his eightieth birthday he was still playing Sibelius' violin concerto, and on his 90th birthday he was planning a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violist Herbert Downes, who declined for reasons of age.

swell

• Margaret Campbell: "The Great Violinists" , Faber & Faber, 2011, ISBN 9780571277452
• Prone to Violins - Henry Holst