Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (8 June 18128 October 1865) was a
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
n-
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
violinist,
violist
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
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, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
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*Violin family ...
and composer. He was seen as the outstanding violinist of his time and one of
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...
's greatest successors. He contributed to
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
playing and discovered new ways to compose polyphonic violin music. His most famous, and technically difficult, compositions include the sixth of his ''Polyphonic Studies'' "Die letzte Rose", and
''Grand Caprice'' on Schubert's "Erlkönig".
Biography
Ernst was born in
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
,
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
on 8 June 1812.
[Most articles concerning Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst say he was born on 6 May 1814. Mark W. Rowe, in his 2008 work, concluded that this date could not be correct. The pressure, as a prodigy, to be young, coupled with the absence of a birth certificate and unreliability of the marriage certificate, makes Rowe think that Ernst was actually born on 8 June 1812, and was therefore nearly two years older than is normally thought.] He began playing violin at the age of 9, and attended the
Vienna Conservatory of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (), also known as the Wiener Musikverein (German for 'Viennese Music Association'), is an Austrian music organization that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theat ...
from 1825, studying violin under
Joseph Böhm
Joseph Böhm ( hu, Böhm József; 4 April 1795 – 28 March 1876) was a Hungarian violinist and a director of the Vienna Conservatory.
Life
He was born in Pest, to a Jewish family. He was taught by his father and by Pierre Rode. His brother F ...
and
Joseph Mayseder
Joseph Mayseder (27 October 1789 – 21 November 1863) was an Austrian violin virtuoso and composer.
Biography
Mayseder showed musical promise from an early age, and was a student of Joseph Suche (1797), Paul Wranitzky (1798) and Ignaz Schupp ...
, and composition under
Ignaz von Seyfried
Ignaz Xaver, Ritter von Seyfried (15 August 1776 – 27 August 1841) was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer. He was born and died in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus M ...
.
In 1828,
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...
visited Vienna. Ernst heard him and was deeply impressed by his violin playing. It's said that Ernst then played for Paganini who predicted a brilliant career for him. Paganini gave 14 concerts in Vienna, and Ernst attended many of these to observe the master. In April 1829, Ernst left Vienna for Munich for an employment in the royal orchestra, but Paganini advised him to aim for something higher. After that, Ernst played concerts in the same cities as Paganini. These concerts were appreciated, but he still stood in Paganini's shadow. This depressed him to the degree that he locked himself into his room for five days. Later in Frankfurt in the spring of 1830, Ernst met Paganini again. There, Ernst gave a concert where he played Paganini's ''Nel cor pìù non mi sento'' with an accuracy that stunned both the audience and Paganini himself. This work, as with most of Paganini's compositions, was unpublished at that time, which meant that Ernst must have learned it by ear at Paganini's concerts. Some days after, Ernst visited Paganini, who was sitting composing on his guitar. Paganini immediately rose up, threw the manuscript under the bed sheet, and said that he had to protect his composition not only from Ernst's ears, but also his eyes.
In the following years, Ernst made several tours through France. When he heard that Paganini was to play concerts in Marseille in January 1837, he went there to hear his master again. Ernst was determined to learn the secrets of Paganini's complex technique. With help from relatives of his secretary, he rented a room next to Paganini's. He hid there day and night, listening to Paganini rehearse and writing down what he heard. That must have been difficult, because Paganini did not practice much during his tours, and when he did, he used a mute.
Ernst also managed, secretly, to attend all of Paganini's rehearsals in Marseille in pursuit of his goal. He too played concerts in Marseille and managed to get these and the concerts Paganini played to become some sort of competition between the two. He tried to organize two concerts before Paganini arrived, and these concerts were well appreciated by the audience. Then, when Paganini was about to play his first concert, the demands on him were greater because of the comparison to Ernst's playing. Paganini couldn't meet the demands of the audience who thought that Ernst's playing had spoken more to the heart. Paganini then organized another concert and challenged the audience by playing his ''Moïses,'' variations on the G string, moving some to tears. After that concert, opinions were divided. Some said Paganini mastered the difficulties better, but Ernst played with more sentiment. Ernst learned this composition through the wall from his room next to Paganini.
Perhaps out of respect for Paganini, Ernst later composed his own set of variations on the theme ''Carnaval de Venise,'' which he often played at the end of his concert. He also used ''
scordatura
Scordatura (; literally, Italian for "discord", or "mistuning") is a tuning of a string instrument that is different from the normal, standard tuning. It typically attempts to allow special effects or unusual chords or timbre, or to make certain pa ...
'' in the same manner as Paganini's variations. This piece was popular among Ernst's audiences, and became his signature.
Ernst also played the
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
. He performed the viola solo of
Berlioz's ''
Harold en Italie
''Harold en Italie,'' ''symphonie avec un alto principal'' (English: ''Harold in Italy,'' ''symphony with viola obbligato''), as the manuscript calls and describes it, is a four-movement orchestral work by Hector Berlioz, his Opus 16, H. 68, w ...
'' many times, including under the direction of the composer in 1842.
Ernst moved to England in 1844, where joined London's
Beethoven Quartet Society and played
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
String quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
s with
Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...
,
Henryk Wieniawski
Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...
and
Carlo Alfredo Piatti
Carlo Alfredo Piatti (8 January 182218 July 1901) was an Italian cellist, teacher and composer.
Biography
Piatti was born at via Borgo Canale, in Bergamo and died in Mozzo, 4 miles from Bergamo.
The son of a violinist, Antonio Piatti, he orig ...
. He spent the last seven years of his life in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
, composing works including ''Polyphonic Studies'', ''Othello-Fantasie'' and ''Concerto pathétique''.
Severe
neuralgia
Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia.
Classification
Under the general heading of neuralg ...
in 1862 left Ernst unable to play. He died in Nice on 8 October 1865.
Compositions
Notes
References
*
Sources
* Fan Elun, ''The life and works of Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1814–1865) with emphasis on his reception as violinist and composer'', (Cornell University 1993).
* Amely Heller, ''H. W. Ernst – As Seen By His Contemporaries''
Linthicum Heights
Linthicum is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,324 at the 2010 census. It is located directly north of Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood ...
, Maryland 1986.
* J. Pěčka, ''Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. Paganini z Brna'' (Brno, Archív města Brna, 2007). .
* Mark W. Rowe, ''Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: Virtuoso violinist''
Ashgate Publishing
Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham ( Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office i ...
, England 2008.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernst, Heinrich Wilhelm
1812 births
1865 deaths
Musicians from Brno
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Austrian musicians
Austrian male classical composers
Austrian classical violinists
Austrian classical violists
Jewish classical musicians
Jewish classical violinists
Austrian Romantic composers
19th-century classical violinists
Male classical violinists
19th-century Austrian male musicians
Moravian Jews
20th-century violists