Richard Barth (5 June 1850 in Grosswanzleben,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

– 25 December 1923 in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

) was a left-handed

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 regular ...

virtuoso, conductor, music teacher and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

in the circle of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

. His ''Ciacona in B minor,'' Op. 21, composed in 1908, is a finely crafted tribute to J.S. Bach's Chaconne in post- Paganini technical and tonal terms.

Biography

Barth was born in Saxony and from 1863 to 1867 studied with the renowned

ist

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 ...

. Barth used his left hand for bowing and his right hand for fingering and so played the violin "in reverse." Nonetheless, he was successful as a violinist and served as

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of orchestras in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

and

and headed a string quartet. He was also a successful music teacher. He was music director of the university in Marburg before he moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where he became conductor of the Philharmonie and the Singakademie and directed the Conservatory beginning in 1908.

References

Sources

*Liner notes by Eric Wen for the recording of ''Solo Chaconnes'' (by Bach, Barth and

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

) performed by Jennifer Koh (Cedille CDR 90000 060) *Walter and Paula Rehberg, "Johannes Brahms," Namenregister, p. 597

External links

* 1850 births 1923 deaths 19th-century German composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century German composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German male musicians German Romantic composers German male classical composers German violinists German classical violinists German male violinists Male classical violinists {{Germany-composer-stub