Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick (9 March 1847, in

Jupille-sur-Meuse Jupille or Jupille-sur-Meuse ( wa, Djoupeye) is a district of the city of Liège, Wallonia, located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. It was a municipality until 1977. Jupille is the location of the brewery Piedboeuf Brewery, ...

– 21 October 1924, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

), was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

player, composer and teacher. His violin was made by

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, '' Stradivarius'', as well as the collo ...

in 1705 and has since become known as the

Ex Marsick Stradivarius The Ex-Marsick Stradivarius of 1715 is a violin named after Belgium, Belgian violinist and teacher Martin Pierre Marsick (1847–1924), who owned the instrument made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. The instrument, valued at approximately $8 m ...

. It was the instrument of

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...

from 1966 to 1974. Marsick's nephew, Armand Marsick, the son of his brother Louis François, was a major violinist of the 20th century.

Biography

In 1854, seven-year-old Marsick was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège, to study violin with Désiré Heynberg (1831–1898). Graduating with the gold medal in 1864, he continued his studies in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

with

Hubert Léonard Hubert Léonard (7 April 1819 – 6 May 1890) was a famous Belgian violinist, born in Liège. His earliest preparatory training was given by a prominent teacher of the time, , after which he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1836. There he stu ...

and became the pupil of Joseph Massart at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

in 1868. In 1871, Marsick joined the newly established

Société Nationale de Musique Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

in Paris and also founded a string quartet. Between 1875 and 1895, he performed in concerts in collaboration with the leading conductors in Paris -

Charles Lamoureux Charles Lamoureux (; 28 September 1834 – 21 December 1899) was a French conductor and violinist. Life He was born in Bordeaux, where his father owned a café. He studied the violin with Narcisse Girard at the Paris Conservatoire, taking ...

Jules Pasdeloup Jules Étienne Pasdeloup (15 September 1819 – 13 August 1887) was a French conductor. Life Pasdeloup was born in Paris. His father was an assistant conductor at the Opéra Comique; he was educated in music at the Conservatoire de Paris, leav ...

, and

Édouard Colonne Édouard Juda Colonne (23 July 1838 – 28 March 1910) was a French conductor and violinist, who was a champion of the music of Berlioz and other eminent 19th-century composers. Life and career Colonne was born in Bordeaux, the son and gran ...

, while also touring the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He played additionally 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 t ...

and in a trio with the cellist

Anatoliy Brandukov Anatoly Andreyevich Brandukov (russian: Анато́лий Андре́евич Брандуко́в) ( – February 16, 1930) was a Russian cellist who premiered many cello pieces of prominent composers including Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei ...

and the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Vladimir von Pachmann. From 1892 until 1900, he was a professor at the

, where his students included

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of Mosonmagy ...

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...

Cécile Chaminade Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (8 August 1857 – 13 April 1944) was a French composer and pianist. In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer. Ambroise Thomas said, "This is not a woman who composes, but a ...

and

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

. In 1900, he deserted his wife Berthe Marsick née Mollot (1848–1923; married 1872; divorced 1910) and his pupils and fled abroad with a married woman. Although the woman later rejoined her husband and Marsick returned to Paris in 1903, his professional career never recovered from the scandal and he died in poverty.

Selected works

Marsick published a series of finger exercises entitled ''Eureka'' in 1906 and his ''La Grammaire du violon'' appeared in 1924. Besides these, he composed the

septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...

''Souvenir de Naples'' for strings, flute, and clarinet; a

piano quartet A piano quartet is a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments. Those other instruments are usually a string trio consisting of a violin, viola and cello. Piano quartets for ...

; and a lyric drama, ''Le Puits''. ;Stage * ''Le Puits'', Lyric Drama (c.1900); libretto by Auguste Dorchain ;Chamber music * ''Rêverie'' in B major for violin and piano, Op. 4 (1879) * ''2 Morceaux'' for violin and piano, Op. 6 (1879) :# Adagio :# Scherzando * ''Pater noster'', Prière for violin and piano with organ ad libitum, Op. 7 (1882) * ''3 Pièces'' for violin or cello and piano, Op. 8 (1882) :: 3. Capriccioso in A minor * ''Airs de Ballet de Françoise de Rimini de

Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas '' Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...

'', 2 Transcriptions for violin and piano (1883) :# Adagio et Capriccio :# Pastorale, Scherzo, Habanera * ''Rêverie No. 2'' for violin and piano or string quartet, Op. 15 (1885) * ''Songe'' for violin and piano, Op. 16 (1891) * ''Tarentelle'' for violin and piano, Op. 19 (1897) * ''Nocturne'' for violin and piano, Op. 20 (1897) * ''Poème d'été'' for violin and piano, Op. 24 (1900) :# Captivante :# Exaltation :# Attente :# Valse triomphe * ''Fleurs des cimes'' for violin and piano, Op. 25 * ''Valencia'' (au gré des flots) for violin and piano, Op. 26 * ''Les Hespérides'' for violin and piano, Op. 27 * ''Petites fleurs musicales de l'âme'' for violin and piano (1901) * ''Petite romance expressive'' for violin and piano, Op. 32 (1901) * ''Souvenir de Naples'' for 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute and clarinet, Op. 33 * Piano Quartet for violin, viola, cello and piano, Op. 43 * ''Au pays du soleil'', Poème for violin and piano ;Pedigogical * ''Eureka!, Mécanisme nouveau pour "se mettre en doigts" en quelques minutes'' (Eureka!, New Technical Exercises), Op. 34 (1905) * ''La Grammaire du violon'' (1924)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsick, Martin 1847 births 1924 deaths Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers Belgian classical violinists Male classical violinists Violin pedagogues Conservatoire de Paris alumni Conservatoire de Paris faculty Composers for violin Romantic composers Royal Conservatory of Liège alumni Musicians from Liège 20th-century Belgian male musicians 19th-century Belgian male musicians