The Violin: Some Account of That Leading Instrument and Its Most Eminent Professors, from Its Earliest Date to the Present Time; with Hints to Amateurs, Anecdotes, etc.Dubourg, George
History
The Violin: Some Account of That Leading Instrument and Its Most Eminent Professors, from Its Earliest Date to the Present Time; with Hints to Amateurs, Anecdotes, etc.
Dubourg, George
Violin; Violinists -- Biography
Thus expelled from the country which had evinced towards others so many
generous proofs of hospitality, Viotti passed over to Holland, and
subsequently fixed himself in the seclusion of a beautiful spot near
Hamburgh, named Schönfeld. Here he gave up his mind to the cares of
composition, as most likely to displace or diminish those more painful
ones which harassed his sensitive mind, on account of the treatment he
had been subjected to. Some of his best works were the product of this
retreat; including his celebrated _Six Duetts Concertante_, for two
violins; in the preface to which, he touches on the circumstance that
was still affecting him:—“Cet ouvrage est le fruit du loisir que le
malheur me procure. Quelques morçeaux ont été dictés par la peine,
d’autres par l’espoir;”—and indeed it has been justly remarked that it
would be difficult to find any musical work that should seem to have
proceeded more directly from a feeling heart, than these exquisite
Duetts.
In Hamburgh, he met with his former competitor, Giornovichi, who, like
himself, had been compelled to fly from Paris, the scene of his pristine
glories. The latter gave two concerts in this place, attended with the
meed of money, as well as that of praise; but the graver-minded Viotti
could not be persuaded to appear in public, and imitate his example.
In 1801, Viotti found himself at liberty to return to London. Having
determined to relinquish the musical profession, he devoted his
resources, like Carbonelli of foregone fame, to the ministry of
Bacchus, and associated himself with a respectable member of the
wine-trade. Disappointment was the issue, however, of this undertaking;
and, after years of endeavour, he discovered that his whole fortune was
gone. Thus reduced, he prevailed with his own struggling spirit to
solicit some appointment from the French Court, and received, from Louis
XVIII, the nomination to the management of the Grand Opera. Impelled
anew by what Byron calls
“The various joltings of life’s hackney coach,”
he proceeded to Paris, and entered upon the office; but neither his age,
nor his quiet character, was congenial with the temper of such a scene;
and he retired, unsuccessful, but with the grant of a pension. He then
came over to end his days in England, loving rather to be an _habitué_
of London, than a citizen of the world; for he had become closely
familiarized with the ways and habits of our metropolis, and seemed to
have cherished an almost Johnsonian attachment to it. His previous cares
and misfortunes, however, had left him little power to continue the race
of life, already a protracted one; and, after visibly declining for some
time, he died on the 3rd of March, 1824.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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