Carl Adolph Wilhelm “Willy” Burmester (16 March 186916 January 1933) was a German violinist.

Life and career

Willy Burmester was born in

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

and was a pupil of

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 ...

, with whom he studied for many years in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1885, however, he seceded from the Joachim school, and commenced to develop his technique with a view to achieving virtuosity rather than a classic purity of style. Burmester's rendering of the classics was said to be somewhat cold and devoid of feeling. Nonetheless, he was a well-developed artist: his taste was broad enough to include all schools of composition in his repertoire. His was at his best as an interpreter of the works of Paganini. On the continent his reputation was very high. He failed, however, to make a great impression on his first visit to England and America, though his audiences were compelled to admire his marvelous technical feats, especially his left hand pizzicato, and rapid runs in thirds and tenths. His less than impeccable intonation, however, somewhat limited his success; he also suffered from having worn the end of his first finger down to the nerve. In his later years, Burmester had remedied these defects, and those who heard him play at his later concerts were much impressed with his sterling musical qualities.

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

originally dedicated his

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

to Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in 1904, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Viktor Nováček, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The premiere performance was a disaster. Sibelius revised the work and the new version premiered in 1905. Willy Burmester was again asked to be the soloist, but he was again unavailable, so the performance went ahead without him, the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

's leader

Karel Halíř Karel Halíř (1 February 1859 – 21 December 1909) was a Czech violinist who lived mainly in Germany. "Karel" is also given as Karol, Karl or Carl; "Halíř" is also given as Halir or Haliř. Life Karel Halíř was born in Hohenelbe, Bohem ...

stepping into the soloist's shoes. Burmester was so offended that he refused ever to play the concerto, and Sibelius re-dedicated it to the Hungarian "wunderkind" Ferenc von Vecsey.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burmester, Willy German classical violinists Male classical violinists German male violinists 1869 births 1933 deaths