Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: Virtuoso Violinist Book

From 1840-57, Heinrich Ernst was one of the most important and famous European musicians, and performed on stage, often many times, with Liszt, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Alkan, Clara Schumann, Berlioz, Joachim and Wagner. It's a sign of his importance that, in 1863, Brahms gave two public performances in Vienna of his own and Ernst's music to raise money for the now mortally ill violinist.Ernst's music had a decisive impact on Liszt, and through the latter on nineteenth-century music in general. It is universally acknowledged that the most important forerunner of Liszt's B minor sonata (his most influential masterpiece) is a work called the "Grosses Konzertsolo" of 1849-50. This was Liszt's first extended single-movement work, in altered sonata form, using thematic transformation. Liszt wrote this immediately after conducting "Ernst" playing his "Concerto Pathetique" in 1849 - a substantial single-movement work, in altered sonata form, using thematic transformation. Liszt finished the B minor sonata in 1853, and three years later issued a two piano version of the "Konzertsolo" entitled, in acknowledgement of its origin, "Concerto Pathetique".Berlioz described Ernst as the 'man and artist with whom I am most sympathetique. ..he uses his violin to discourse poetry in the language of music, of which language he is a complete master'. Joachim described Ernst as 'the greatest violinist I have ever heard'. But not only was Ernst a great virtuoso, he was also an accomplished composer. He wrote two of the most popular pieces of the nineteenth century: the "Elegy" and "The Carnival of Venice", and he is today known for two other pieces which represent the non plus ultra of technical difficulty: his transcription of Schubert's Erlking for solo violin, and the sixth of his "Polyphonic Studies", the variations on "The Last Rose of Summer". He also tirelessly promoted chamber music, in particular Beethoven's late quartets. Dr Mark Rowe provides a much-needed portrayal of this important man's life and work.Read More