Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst

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Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1842 with personal dedication
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, photography by Ludwig Angerer
Crypt in Nice (state 2013).

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (born May 6, 1814 in Brno , Austrian Empire , † October 8, 1865 in Nice ) was an Austrian violinist and composer . He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century.

Life

As a composer, not only of virtuoso violin music, he found his own, unmistakable style in the spirit of Romanticism , which points beyond his great role model Nicolò Paganini . Groundbreaking for Ernst, who had made his first appearances as a violin child prodigy in 1823 and had studied at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna as a student of Joseph Böhm , was an encounter with Paganini in Vienna in 1828. Paganini recognized the talent in Ernst , while the latter was so impressed by Paganini's game that from then on he sought obsessively to get beyond Paganini. In the period that followed, there were repeated encounters between the two. 1834 Ernst played in Brussels , Vienna, St. Petersburg and London with Berlioz whose Harold in Italy as principal violist what Paganini had previously rejected due to lack of profiling options. A performance by Ernst in Marseille in 1837, where Paganini gave a concert at the same time , became famous . In his concert, Ernst played Paganini's fearfully guarded works from the ear.

The two violinists had very different natures. While Paganini surrounded himself with the aura of the demonic and tragic, Ernst was a humorous, amiable, and approachable person. This was also reflected in the choice of concert instruments. While Paganini gave his concerts mainly on a violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù , Ernst gave concerts on violins by Antonio Stradivari . He owned an instrument from 1726 (today called "Ernst / Plotenyi") and one from 1709 ("Lady Hallé / Ernst"), which he played until 1865.

The fact that Ernst was not only an instrumental showman but also a profound musician is evident not only in his compositions, but also in his involvement in the London Beethoven Quartet Society , in which he worked with important virtuosos of the time, Joseph Joachim , Henryk Wieniawski and Alfredo Piatti , when Primarius performed Beethoven's string quartets in public.
Later on, Ernst was also an admirer of Franz Schubert's music . Ernst wrote transcriptions for some of Schubert's works so that they could also be performed in small concert halls.

In 1862 he had to retire from the concert podium due to a serious illness and moved his residence from London to Nice, where he died impoverished in 1865. Johann Strauss (father) dedicated the piece Memory of Ernst, or The Carnival of Venice, to him.

Works

There are 26 numbered operas by Ernst, mainly for the violin. The most famous work is probably the Grand Caprice for violin alone op. 26 "Der Erlkönig" (based on Goethe's famous ballad (1782) and Franz Schubert's setting) , which is unique in the unaccompanied violin literature in its great drama. In terms of compositions for solo violin , mention should also be made of the 6 polyphonic etudes dedicated to all the famous violinists of the time (No. 1 Laub , No. 2 Sainton , No. 3 Joachim , No. 4 Vieuxtemps , No. 5 Hellmesberger , No. . 6 Bazzini ) and of which the no. 6, Introduction, theme and variations on the Irish folk song "the last Rose" ( the last rose of summer , has become best known). This piece is dedicated to Bazzini, but is close to Paganini's works of variations. The technical difficulty does not follow these works, but it expresses another ideal of beauty, shaped by the spirit of Romanticism. Pieces for violin and orchestra should also be mentioned, some of which are virtuoso, such as B. the Fantasia brillante sur la Marche et la Romance d'Otello de G. Rossini op. 11 or the Rondo Papageno op. 21, but sometimes also melodious and elegiac, such as B. the Elegy op. 10,3 or the Notturno op. 25,2. In addition, a violin concerto op. 23 in F sharp minor, which is hardly played today, has survived. In this work, similar to Paganini's violin concertos, melodious and virtuoso passages alternate, but in the style of Romanticism. In contrast to Paganini's concerts, the work is technically so hair-raising that hardly any violinist dares to go public with it. At the moment only three commercial recordings of the concert are available (with Aaron Rosand , Ruggiero Ricci and Ilya Grubert ). Chamber music, for example for a string quartet, has also come down to us from Ernst's compositions.

Quote

“I've never heard anything like it again; how Ernst was the violinist who stood towering above all others I have met in life. "( Joseph Joachim 1864 on E.)

family

His brother was the journalist Moritz Ernst, who was married to the actress Josefine Kaiser . Their son Heinrich Ernst (* 1848) was thus his nephew.

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Verlag von Paul List , Leipzig 1903, p. 240, ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
personal data
SURNAME Ernst, Heinrich Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian violinist
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1814
PLACE OF BIRTH Brno
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1865
Place of death Nice