The Violoncello and Its HistoryWasielewski, Wilhelm Joseph von
History
The Violoncello and Its History
Wasielewski, Wilhelm Joseph von
Cellists; Cello -- History
him for the Dresden Hofkapelle, after he had undertaken its direction.
This happened in 1860, and in the same year Grützmacher was summoned
to Dresden as Kummer’s successor. From this time he travelled through
Germany, Holland, England, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Sweden,
and Russia, and was received everywhere with triumph; but he was also
distinguished in many ways at the place of his work. In course of time
he received from the King of Saxony the title of Chamber Virtuoso, later
he was appointed Royal Concert leader, and on his twenty-fifth jubilee
of service he was honoured far and wide in manifold ways.
In Grützmacher’s playing were happily united the endowments of a
finished mastery of complex technical difficulties and delicate manner
of expression, more especially in the rendering of _Cantilena_. He is
not only a virtuoso of the first rank, but also an excellent interpreter
of classical chamber music. For this latter qualification the foundation
had already been laid by a careful musical education under his father’s
roof, to which Friedrich Schneider had substantially contributed. He
pursued his theoretical studies under the direction of this master.
Grützmacher published a great number of compositions. Those which have
had the widest circulation are the two Concertos, Op. 10 (A minor) and
Op. 46 (E minor); the Hungarian Fantasia (Op. 7), the Nocturne (Op.
32), the Scherzo (Op. 30), the Transcriptions of Classical Music (Op.
60), the “Daily Studies,” the Twenty-four Studies (Op. 38), as well as
three Songs with Violoncello obbligato (Op. 50). He added considerably
to the enrichment of violoncello literature by his transcriptions of
Haydn’s, Mozart’s, Beethoven’s, and Schumann’s Sonatas, as well as of
two of Beethoven’s Violin Romances, and of Schumann’s “Kinderscenen.”
He further arranged for the Violoncello the Thirty-six “Songs without
Words” of Mendelssohn, about twelve selected Piano pieces by Schumann
and Chopin, the Violin Sonata (Op. 19) and the Romance (Op. 44) by
Rubinstein, the “Pensées fugitives” by Steph. Heller and Ernst, and
many other pieces of music. Grützmacher also brought out new editions
of classical and modern compositions, with the addition of careful
annotations. We must here mention the two Gamba Sonatas of Joh. Seb.
Bach, as well as his six Violoncello Suites; a Gamba Sonata by Handel
and by Phil. Em. Bach, six Boccherini Sonatas with the addition of a
piano accompaniment, a Sonata by Bonifazio Asioli, some Violoncello
Compositions of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin; a “Thème
Russe varié” by Ferd. Ries, the ten Concertos and six easy Instruction
Pieces for Violoncello by Bernhard Romberg, as well as twelve Exercises
by Dotzauer (Op. 107), with the addition of a second violoncello part.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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