Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Chuck Greif, Leonard Johnson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. [Illustration: OLE BULL] Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday By Henry C. Lahee _ILLUSTRATED_ Boston The Page Company Publishers 1899 L.C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED) Ninth Impression, February, 1912 Tenth Impression, January, 1916 THE COLONIAL PRESS C.H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U.S.A. PREFACE. In "Famous Violinists" the writer has endeavoured to follow the same general plan as in "Famous Singers," viz., to give a "bird's-eye view" of the most celebrated violinists from the earliest times to the present day rather than a detailed account of a very few. Necessarily, those who have been prominently before the public as performers are selected in preference to those who have been more celebrated as teachers. It was at first intended to arrange the chapters according to "schools," but it soon became evident that such a plan would lead to inextricable confusion, and it was found best to follow the chronological order of birth. The "Chronological Table" is compiled from the best existing authorities, and is not an effort to bring together a large number of names. If such were the desire, there would be no difficulty in filling up a large volume with names of the violinists of good capabilities, who are well known in their own cities. HENRY C. LAHEE. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE ix I. INTRODUCTORY 11 II. 1650 TO 1750 30 III. 1750 TO 1800 60 IV. PAGANINI 104 V. 1800 TO 1830 135 VI. OLE BULL 172 VII. 1830 TO 1850 204 VIII. JOACHIM 244 IX. VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY 261 X. WOMEN AS VIOLINISTS 300 XI. FAMOUS QUARTETS 345 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE OLE BULL _Frontispiece_ ARCANGELO CORELLI 30 NICOLO PAGANINI 104 CAMILLO SIVORI 154 MARTIN PIERRE JOSEPH MARSICK 238 JOSEPH JOACHIM 244 EMIL SAURET 264 MAUD POWELL 340 FRANZ KNEISEL 362 FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. There is no instrument of music made by the hands of man that holds such a powerful sway over the emotions of every living thing capable of hearing, as the violin. The singular powers of this beautiful instrument have been eloquently eulogised by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the following words: