Henryk Wieniawski

Henryk Wieniawski

Henryk Wieniawski (born July 10, 1835 in Lublin , Congress Poland ; † March 31, 1880 in Moscow , Russian Empire ) was a Polish composer and violinist .

Life

Wieniawski was the son of Tadeusz Napoleon Wieniawski (1798-1884; born Wolf Helman), who had a degree in medicine, and his second wife, the trained pianist Regina Wieniawska (1811-1884; née Wolff). He received music lessons from his mother at an early age. At the age of five he received his first violin lessons, after a short time he moved to the Warsaw Conservatory , and at the age of eight he was accepted at the Paris Conservatory , where he was taught by Joseph Clavel. At 13 he received the gold medal of the conservatory, after which he continued his education with Lambert Joseph Massart . In his mother's salon he met the elite of Polish emigrants, including Frédéric Chopin and the poet Adam Mickiewicz . During this time he dealt with the design of simple works and studied composition with his brother Józef at the Conservatory. After this episode, at the age of 15, he went on concert tours with the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps . During this time he met Polish compatriots such as Karol Lipiński , Stanisław Moniuszko (who dedicated a sonata to him) as well as Robert Schumann and Anton Rubinstein .

On August 8, 1860, he married the Englishwoman Isabella Bessie Hampton (1838-1924) in Paris , with whom he was married until his death and with whom he had eight children. One of his daughters, Irene Regina Jessy Maria Wieniawski (1879–1932), born shortly before his death in Brussels , became a composer and pianist and published under various artist names , including Régine Wieniawski, Lady Dean Paul and Poldowski . Another daughter, Henrietta Claudine Wieniawski (1878–1962), married the American stockbroker Joseph Holland Loring, who died in 1912 in the sinking of the Titanic .

Between 1860 and 1872 he lived in Saint Petersburg. There he had a great influence on the development of the Russian violin school. After the termination of his last contract, he went on a two-year North American tour. In 1875 he took over a professorship at the Brussels Conservatory , but without interrupting his international concert tours. During this time his health deteriorated noticeably. Wieniawski had a heart condition; during a concert he collapsed on stage in the middle of a game. He died in Moscow on March 31, 1880 during a tour of Russia.

In memory of Wieniawski's 100th birthday and his work, the violin competition named after him was organized in Warsaw in 1935 . It has been held in Poznan every five years since 1952.

plant

His work was created exclusively for his own use. Wieniawski makes numerous concessions to the contemporary tastes of his audience. As a composer he was able to convincingly convey the Slavic influence of his Polish homeland. In addition to his numerous salon pieces, he composed three violin concertos.

• op. 1: Grand caprice fantastique sur un thème original, dedicated to Lambert Joseph Massart ; 1847
• op. 2: Sonata Allegro and Presto for violin and concertante piano, dedicated to Stanisław Moniuszko ;
• op. 3: Souvenir an Posen, Mazurka in D minor, dedicated to Jeanette de Niemojewska ; 1854
• op. 4: Première polonaise de concert in D major, dedicated to Karol Lipiński ; 1852
• op. 5: Adagio élégiaque in A major, dedicated to Adolf Haaren ; 1852
• op. 6: Souvenir à Moscou, transcription of 2 Russian romances and variations; 1853
• op. 7: Capriccio-Valse in E major; 1852
• op. 8: Grand duo polonais, for violin and concertante piano; 1852
• op. 9: Romance sans paroles et Rondo élégant, dedicated to Maximilian von Bayern ; 1852
• op. 10: L'école modern. Etudes-caprices for solo violin, dedicated to Ferdinand David ; 1854
• op. 11: Le Carnaval russe, improvisations and humorous variations dedicated to Tsar Nicholas I ; 1853
• op. 12: 2 Mazurkas, La champetre (1850?) et Chanson polonaise; 1853
• op. 13: Fantaisie pastorale; 1853 (lost)
• op. 14: 1st violin concerto in F sharp minor, dedicated to the King of Prussia ; 1852
• op. 15: Thème original varié; 1854
• op. 16: Scherzo tarantelle in G minor, dedicated to Lambert Massart ; 1855
• op. 17: Légende , dedicated to Isabel Hampton (his future wife); 1859
• op. 18: Etudes-Caprices, 2 violins; 1862
• op. 19: 2 Mazurkas caractéristiques; Obertass and le Menetrier; 1860
• op. 20: Fantaisie brillante about Faust, opera by Charles Gounod , dedicated to the King of Denmark ; 1865
• op. 21: Polonaise brilliant in A major, Karl XV. Dedicated to King of Norway and Sweden ; 1870
• op. 22: 2nd violin concerto in D minor, dedicated to Pablo de Sarasate ; 1870
• op. 23: Gigue in E minor
• op. 24: Fantasy orientale in A minor
• 3rd Violin Concerto in A minor, 1878 (whereabouts unknown)
• Cadenza to Concert No.7 by Rode , ca.1848
• Cadenza to Concert No.2 by Lipiński , ca.1850
• Cadenza to the Mendelssohn Concerto , 1853
• Cadenza to the Beethoven concert , ca.1854
• Cadenza to Concert No.5 by Vieuxtemps , ca.1864
• Cadenza to the concert by Ernst , ca.1860
• Fantasy on an operatic theme The Prophet von Meyerbeer , 1848
• Fantasy on an Opera Theme Richard the Lionheart , by Grétry , 1851
• Fantasy on an operatic theme La sonnambula , by Bellini , 1855

literature

• Xavier Jon Puslowski: Wieniawski and the hard-earned years . In: Ders .: Franz Liszt, his circle, and his elusive oratorio . Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md. 2014, ISBN 978-1-4422-3802-2 , pp. 137-146.

Web links

Commons : Henryk Wieniawski  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Wieniawski sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Works by and about Henryk Wieniawski in the catalog of the German National Library