Born: July 10, 1835, Lublin, Russian partition of Poland (presently Poland)
Died: March 31, 1880, Moscow, Russia
Summary. Wieniawski was appreciated as a virtuoso possessing phenomenal technique. Thank to him polonaise appeared in European violin literature. In particular often performed are Polonaise D-dur op. 4 and Polonaise A-dur op. 21. Popular are also his mazurkas Obertas and Dudziarz. Wieniawski�s Koncert skrzypcowy d-moll op. 22 is today performed most often second only to Paganini�s concerts.
Early days. His father, Tobiasz Rufe Pietruszka, converted from judaism to catholicism and changed his name to Tadeusz Wieniawski. He was a renowned surgeon, and his mother, Regina nee Wolff, was a proficient piano player. A true Lublin salon, the Wieniawski's house was frequented by leading artists and hosted concerts, literary meetings and discussions. This had a major influence on the later life of Henryk and his two brothers, Julian, becoming a writer and columnist, and Jozef pursuing the pianist's career. Initially Henryk was taught by his mother, then by Jan Hornziel, the violinist of the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, and Stanislaw Serwaczynski, the soloist and concertmaster of the Budapest Opera. In 1843, eight years old Wieniawski went to Paris to study with Lambert Massart at the Paris Conservatory, from which he graduated three years later, winning the first prize and a gold medal. He then continued to take lessons from Lambert Massart. Later he KONCERTOWAL in Petersburg, Vilnius, Riga and Warsaw. In 1849 he went back to Paris Conservatory where for two years he studied composition in the class of Hipolit Colleta which he finished next year with distinction.
Professional career. After graduation, Wieniawski toured extensively, giving many recitals on which he was often accompanied, till 1855, by his brother Jozef on piano. In 1847 Henryk Wieniawski published his first opus, a Grand Caprice Fantastique, the start of a modest but important catalog of 24 opus numbers. When his engagement to Isabella Hampton was opposed by her parents, Wieniawski wrote L�gende, Op. 17; this work helped the parents change their mind, and the couple married in 1860. At the invitation of Anton Rubinstein, Wieniawski moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived from 1860 to 1872, teaching many violin students and leading the orchestra and string quartet of the Russian Musical Society. From 1872 to 1874 Wieniawski toured, with Rubinstein, the United States where they gave 218 concerts in 8 months.. In 1875 Wieniawski replaced till 1877 ill Henri Vieuxtemps as violin professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. During his residence in Brussels, Wieniawski's health was in obvious decline, often stopping him in the middle of concerts. He gave a farewell concert in Odessa in April 1879 and died from a heart attack the following year in Moscow. He is interred in the Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw. In his funeral participated 40,000 people.
Works. Henryk Wieniawski was considered a violinist of genius and wrote some of the most important works in the violin repertoire, including two extremely difficult violin concertos, the second of which (D minor, 1862) is more often performed than the first (F# minor, 1853). His "L'Ecole Moderne, 10 Etudes-Caprices" is a very well-known and required work for aspiring violinists. His Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16 and L�gend, Op. 17 are also frequently performed works. He also wrote two popular mazurkas for solo violin and piano accompaniment (the second one, Obertass, in G Major), using techniques such as left-hand pizzicato, harmonics, large leaps, and many double stops. Wieniawski has been given a number of posthumous honors. His portrait appeared twice on Polish postage stamps: in 1952 and in 1957. A 100 Złoty coin was issued in 1979 bearing his image. What is sometimes called the "Russian bow grip" ought to be called the "Wieniawski bow grip": Wieniawski taught his students his own kind of very stiff bowing that allowed him to play a "devil's staccato" with ease. The first violin competition named after Wieniawski took place in Warsaw in 1935, and the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition has been held every five years since 1952. His daughter Irena Regina Wieniawska was also a composer. She married first Theodore Presser Poldowski and then Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, but she is known in the musical world as Madame Poldowski.
Source:
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Henryk Wieniawski" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
Wikipedia
with additions and modifications from:
USC Polish Music Center (Maria Pilatowicz)
cultuture.pl (includes a list of compositions)
Naxos
last.fn (audio+video of Scherzo Tarantelle and of Legenda
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