작품 상세

YSAYE, EUGENE. (1858-1931). Belgian violinist, conductor and composer. SP. (“E. Ysaye”). 1p. Folio. (10½” x 14¼”). Boston, 1898. An extremely large photograph by Dupont of New York, inscribed in French to his “friend and colleague with affection and admiration,” Romanian-born, American violinist FRANZ KNEISEL (1865-1926). Beloved for his tone and unique technical abilities, Ysaye counted among his admirers Joseph Joachim, Anton Rubinstein, Franz Liszt, Pablo Casals, and Clara Schumann as well as those who composed works for him like Claude Debussy, Camille Saint Saens and Caesar Frank, whose Violin Sonata in A was his wedding gift to the violinist. While health problems curtailed his performing career, Ysaye taught at the Brussels Conservatoire where his students included Ernest Bloch, Nathan Milstein and George Enescu, to name but a few. He also composed numerous works for violin, chamber and symphony orchestras and perhaps the only opera ever composed in the Walloon language. Ysaye used his 1734 “Hercules” Stradivarius violin for practice, preferring his Guarneri for performing. In 1928 Ysaye had a label inserted in his Guarneri stating, “Ce Del Jesus fut le fiddle compagnone de ma vie’”- “This fiddle was the faithful companion of my life.” Subsequent owners were Charles Munch and violinist, Isaac Stern. The Nippon Music Foundation currently owns the instrument. Ysaye’s Stradivarius was stolen from him while performing in Russia in 1908. It was recovered in 1947, in Berlin, and Henryk Szerying owned it before giving it to the Israeli Philharmonic. In 1898, Ysaye was offered the position of musical director of the New York Philharmonic, but turned it down. Kneisel succeeded Ysaye as concertmaster of Berlin’s Bilsesche Kapelle orchestra and was later recruited by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. There, in 1885, he co-founded the Kneisel Quartet, the first professional string quartet in America, with which he remained until 1917. Kneisel’s students include Joseph and Lillian Fuchs. Traces from prior mounting to a mat along the edges. The image and inscription are in excellent condition.