César Thomson

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César Thomson, photo by István Goszleth

César Thomson (born March 18, 1857 in Liège ; † August 21, 1931 in Bissone , Switzerland) was a Belgian violinist , violin teacher and composer.

Live and act

At the age of seven, César Thomson joined Désiré Heynberg (1831–1897) at the Royal Conservatory in Liège, where he received further violin lessons from Rodolphe Massart , Jacques Dupuis (1830–1870) and Hubert Léonard . His college friends included Eugène Ysaÿe , Martin Marsick and Ovide Musin , with whom he played under the direction of Nicolas Ysaÿe, Eugène's father, in the orchestra of the Pavillon de Flore, a vaudeville theater.

At the age of 16 Thomson was certified as having an exceptional violin technique. At the Brussels Conservatory he received further lessons from Hubert Léonard, Henryk Wieniawski and Henri Vieuxtemps . In 1875 he traveled to Italy and in Lugano became a member of the private orchestra of the Russian banker and railway magnate , Baron Paul von Derwies . In 1877 he married Louisa Riva in Lugano, the daughter of a local noble family.

From 1879 Thomson was concertmaster of the Bilseschen Kapelle in Berlin, two years later he took over the violin class at the Liège Conservatory. In 1897 he followed Eugène Ysaÿe in the same position at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1898 Thomson founded a string quartet in Brussels, which he led as first violinist.

Thomson, who was considered an outstanding Paganini interpreter, gave concerts in most European countries and was considered one of the most important violin virtuosos of his time, especially in Leipzig, Brussels and Latin America he celebrated solo successes, while he performed less successfully in England and the United States. He taught from 1924 to 1927 at Ithaca College , originally a music school, and at the Juilliard School in New York.

Thomson worked as arranger and editor of the then little-known works of the Italian Baroque (Corelli, Handel, Tartini, Vitali, Nardini, Paganini but also works by Bach).

The city of Liège honored him by naming a street, the "Boulevard César Thomson" and placing a bust on the Boulevard Piercot, in front of the Philharmonie building, a work by the Liège sculptor Louis Dupont (1896-1967).

student

His important students include Hugo Alfvén , Johan Halvorsen , Eduardo Fabini , Paul Kochanski , Alma Moodie , Guillermo Uribe Holguín , Haydn Wood , Augusto Brandt , Demetrius Constantine Dounis (1893–1954) and three members of the Flonzaley Quartet .

Works (selection)

  • Gypsy Rhapsody for violin and orchestra

literature

  • Carlo Schmidl: Dizionario Universale dei Musicisti. II, Milano 1929, p. 595.
  • G. Foglia: Césare Thomson. In: L'Adula. 6 IX 1931.
  • Riemann: music lexicon. II, Mainz 1961, p. 792.
  • Mario Agliati: Il Teatro Apollo di Lugano. Lugano 1967, passim.

Web links

Commons : César Thomson  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Riemann Music Lexicon (1961)
  2. ^ Grove's dictionary of music and musicians (1954)
  3. ↑ CV on the Ricercare Musica website
personal data
SURNAME Thomson, César
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian violinist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Liege , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1931
Place of death Bissone , Switzerland