Wieniawski, Henryk

Henryk Wieniawski – First Violin Concerto in F-sharp Minor op. 14 (1852)

(b. Lublin, 10 July 1835 – d. Moscow, 31 March 1880)

First movement p.1
Second movement „Preghiera“ p.46
Third movement „Rondo“ p. 51

Composed in 1852; first performance: 27.10.1853 in Leipzig, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
under Ferdinand David, soloist: Henryk Wieniawski, violin
Printed by Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig 1853,
with a dedication to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

Preface
Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Poland, in 1835 and was taught the violin at a very early age by his mother, a trained pianist. His first teacher was Jan Hornziel, a pupil of Louis Spohr, but he left Lublin after only 2 years. Then he came to Stanisław Serwaczyński, whom his pupil Joseph Joachim always mentioned with great respect. At the age of 8, Wieniawski went to Paris, where he was accepted into the class of Joseph Lambert Massart, a pupil of Rodolphe Kreutzer. Even Fritz Kreisler, who was Massart’s pupil 40 years later, emphasised that Massart placed the greatest value on expression and feeling and less on technique.1 In 1848 Wieniawski won the final competition as the youngest candidate ever and two years later he went on concert tours that took him all over Europe. On his departure from Paris, Hector Berlioz, who later held him in high esteem as soloist in his symphony Harold en Italie, for example, wrote about the young musician: “Speaking of young violinists, we are going to lose one of the most remarkable ones to come out of the Paris Conservatoire: Henri Wieniawski is leaving for Russia. This young man, who for too long has been treated as a child prodigy, now possesses a talent of the first order, a serious and complete talent. He also writes very pretty things for his instrument, which would still sound pretty if performed by anyone other than the author.”2 In 1860, Wieniawski succeeded Henri Vieuxtemps, whom he held in the highest esteem, as court musician to the Tsar and as soloist at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. He was to work there for nine years. From 1862, after the foundation of the conservatory by Anton Rubinstein, he also led the violin class there. He left St. Petersburg in 1869 and began a two-year tour of America, then taking up a professorship in Brussels. In 1880 Wieniawski died during a concert tour in Moscow, after having been ill with a heart condition for some time. …

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