Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher. He worked in many countries and was based in Hanover and Berlin. He worked closely with Johannes Brahms and is considered one of the most respected violinists of the 19th century.

Joachim began studying violin at age five in Buda, then later in Vienna and Leipzig. He performed his first concert in London in 1844, playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Felix Mendelssohn conducting. He returned to London many times during his life. After teaching at the Leipzig Conservatory and playing as principal violinist in the Gewandhausorchester, he moved to Weimar in 1848. There, Franz Liszt helped create a strong cultural scene. From 1852, Joachim worked at the court of Hanover, playing principal violin in the opera and conducting concerts. He had summer months free for concert tours. In 1853, he was invited to the Lower Rhine Music Festival by Robert Schumann, where he met Clara Schumann and Brahms. He performed with Brahms for many years. In 1879, he introduced Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Brahms conducting. He married Amalie, an opera singer, in 1863. She stopped her career to support the family, and they had six children.

Joachim left his position in Hanover in 1865, and the family moved to Berlin. There, he was asked to start and lead a new department at the Royal Conservatory for performing music. He formed a string quartet and continued playing chamber music on tours. His performances were recorded in 1903.

Life

Joachim was born in Köpcsény, Moson County, Kingdom of Hungary (now known as Kittsee in Burgenland, Austria). He was the seventh of eight children born to Julius, a wool merchant, and Fanny Joachim, who were of Hungarian-Jewish origin. He grew up as part of the Köpcsény Kehilla (a Jewish community), one of Hungary's important Siebengemeinden ('Seven Communities') under the protection of the Esterházy family. He was a first cousin of Fanny Wittgenstein, née Figdor, the mother of Karl Wittgenstein and the grandmother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein. His niece, Maud Joachim (through his brother Henry), was one of the first British suffragettes to go on hunger strike in prison to protest being treated as a political prisoner.

In 1833, his family moved to Pest, which in 1873 was joined with Buda and Óbuda to form Budapest. From 1836 (when he was 5 years old), he studied violin with Stanisław Serwaczyński, a Polish violinist who was the concertmaster at the opera in Pest and considered one of the best violinists there. Although Joachim's parents were not very wealthy, they chose a skilled teacher. His first public performance was on March 17, 1839, when he was 7 years old. Serwaczyński later returned to Lublin, Poland, where he taught Wieniawski. In 1839, Joachim continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory, briefly with Miska Hauser and Georg Hellmesberger, Sr., and finally with Joseph Böhm, who introduced him to chamber music. In 1843, Joachim moved to Leipzig with his cousin, Fanny Figdor, who later married a Leipzig merchant named Wittgenstein.

In 1843, Joachim became a student of Felix Mendelssohn, who arranged for him to study theory and composition with Moritz Hauptmann and violin with Ferdinand David. At his debut performance in the Gewandhaus, Joachim played the Otello Fantasy by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst.

On May 27, 1844, when Joachim was nearly 13 years old, he made his London debut with Mendelssohn conducting at a concert of the Philharmonic Society. He played the solo part in Beethoven's Violin Concerto. This performance was a success because the Philharmonic usually did not allow very young performers, but an exception was made after auditions showed Joachim had strong abilities. Before Joachim's performance, Beethoven's concerto was not widely respected. Ludwig Spohr had criticized it, and after a performance by Edward Eliason, a critic said it might have been written by a lesser-known composer. However, Joachim prepared well by writing his own cadenzas and memorizing the piece. The audience was very impressed, and the performance received loud applause. Reviewers praised Joachim's skill, calling his cadenzas "tremendous feats" and saying he played "like the most accomplished artist." A reviewer from The Illustrated London News wrote that Joachim was "perhaps the first violin player, not only of his age, but of his century." Joachim remained popular with the English public for the rest of his career, visiting England in 1858, 1859, 1862, and later years, often at the request of his friend William Sterndale Bennett.

Moser wrote that after Beethoven's six String Quartets (Op. 18), he had full control over chamber music, though his later quartets were more challenging for string players. At the time of Beethoven's death, some musicians like Spohr and Hauptmann did not value the later quartets as highly as the earlier ones. In Vienna, the public was not fond of the later quartets. However, Joachim's teacher, Böhm, appreciated the later quartets and taught Joachim about them. At 18, Joachim was considered the best violinist in Germany for playing Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn's concertos, and he was also skilled in quartet playing.

After Mendelssohn's death in 1847, Joachim briefly stayed in Leipzig, teaching at the Conservatorium and playing in the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Ferdinand David, whom Mendelssohn had appointed concertmaster in 1835.

In 1848, the pianist and composer Franz Liszt moved to Weimar, where Goethe and Schiller had lived. Liszt aimed to restore Weimar's reputation as the "Athens of Germany." He gathered young musicians who supported new musical ideas, opposing the traditional views of the Leipzig circle. Joachim was among the first to join Liszt's group. He served as concertmaster and embraced the new "psychological music" style. In 1852, Joachim moved to Hanover and distanced himself from the "New German School" (Liszt, Wagner, Berlioz, and their followers). He found Wagner's music too extreme and unacceptable. Joachim's final break with Liszt

Repertoire

Joachim is known for bringing back to life several important musical works. These include Beethoven's violin concerto, Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006), especially the Chaconne from Partita No. 2 (BWV 1004), and Beethoven's late string quartets. Joachim was the second violinist, after Ferdinand David, to perform Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, which he studied with the composer. He played an important role in the career of Brahms and continued to support Brahms's music throughout their friendship, even during difficult times. Joachim conducted the first performance of Brahms's Symphony No. 1 in C minor in Cambridge on 8 March 1877, the same day he received a D.Mus. degree there (Brahms had refused to travel to England for this event).

Several composers, including Schumann, Brahms, Bruch, and Dvořák, wrote concertos specifically for Joachim, many of which became commonly performed pieces. However, Joachim's solo performances were limited in variety. He did not perform Schumann's Violin Concerto in D minor, which Schumann composed for him, nor did he perform Dvořák's Violin Concerto in A minor, even though Dvořák had asked for his advice on the piece, dedicated it to him, and wanted him to premiere it. The most unique work written for Joachim was the F-A-E Sonata, a joint effort by Schumann, Brahms, and Albert Dietrich. This piece was based on Joachim's personal motto, "Frei aber Einsam" (which means "free but lonely" or "free but solitary"). While the full sonata is rarely performed, the third movement, the Scherzo in C minor by Brahms, is still often played today.

Compositions

Joachim's own compositions are less well known. He assigned opus numbers to 14 compositions and created about the same number of pieces without opus numbers. His works include various violin pieces (including three concertos) and overtures to Shakespeare's Hamlet and Henry IV. He also wrote cadenzas for concertos by other composers, such as Beethoven and Brahms. His most highly regarded composition is his Hungarian concerto, Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 11.

Fuller-Maitland, page 56, lists the 14 pieces with opus numbers, which may have different details than those shown here. On page 57, he lists 6 of the 14 pieces here as WoO, along with the orchestration of Schubert's Grand Duo and the cadenzas for the Beethoven and Brahms concertos.

• Op. 1, Andantino and Allegro scherzoso, for violin and piano (1848): dedicated to Joseph Böhm
• Op. 2, Drei Stücke (3 Pieces), for violin or viola and piano (circa 1848–1852): Romanze, Fantasiestück, Eine Frühlingsfantasie; dedicated to Moritz Hauptmann
• Op. 3, Violin Concerto in One Movement, in G minor (1851); dedicated to Franz Liszt
• Op. 4, Hamlet Overture (1853); dedicated to the Weimar Kapelle
• Op. 5, Three Pieces for Violin and Piano: Lindenrauschen, Abendglocken, Ballade; dedicated to Gisela von Arnim
• Op. 6, Demetrius Overture (1853, to a play by Herman Friedrich Grimm; overture dedicated to Franz Liszt)
• Op. 7, Henry IV Overture (1854)
• Op. 8, Overture to a Comedy by Gozzi (1854); dedicated to Fritz Steinbach
• Op. 9, Hebräische Melodien, nach Eindrücken der Byron'schen Gesänge (Hebrew Melodies, after Impressions of Byron's Songs), for viola and piano (1854–1855)
• Op. 10, Variationen über ein eigenes Thema (Variations on an Original Theme) in E major, for viola and piano (1854); dedicated to Hermann Grimm
• Op. 11, Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor "in the Hungarian Manner" (1857, published in 1861); dedicated to Johannes Brahms. It is said that the solo violin part of the Hungarian Concerto is very difficult to play.
• Op. 12, Notturno for Violin and Small Orchestra in A major (1858)
• WoO, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major (1875)
• Op. 13, Elegiac Overture "In Memoriam Heinrich von Kleist" (ca. 1877)
• Op. 14, Szene der Marfa from Friedrich Schiller's unfinished drama Demetrius (ca. 1869)
• WoO, Haidenröslein Lied for high voice and piano; published by Verlag des Ungar, 1846
• WoO, Ich hab' im Traum geweinet for voice and piano, published by Wigand, 1854
• WoO, Scene from Schiller's Demetrius (1878)
• WoO, Rain, rain and sun, Merlin's Song (Tennyson), published by C. Kegan & Co., 1880
• WoO, Melodrama zu einer Schillergedenkfeier (unpublished, autograph in Hamburg Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek)
• WoO, Overture in C major (Konzertouvertüre zum Geburtstag des Kaisers) (1896)
• WoO, Fantasie über ungarische Motive; WoO, Fantasie über irische Motive
• WoO, Romance in B-flat major
• WoO, Romance in C major
• WoO, Hebrew Melodies, Op. 9
• WoO, Variations for Violin and Orchestra in e minor
• WoO, String Quartet Movement (Quartettsatz) in c minor

In 1853, Joachim orchestrated Schubert's Grand Duo for two pianos. He also wrote cadenzas for concertos by other composers, including:
• Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19
• Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
• Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83
• Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
• Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
• Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
• Mussorgsky's Piano Concerto in B-flat minor, Op. 11
• **Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op.

Joachim's own discography

• J. S. Bach: Partita for Violin No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: 7th movement, Tempo di Bourrée, available on Pearl Catalog number 9851 (also on Testament (749677132323)).
• Brahms: Hungarian Dances (21) for Piano 4 hands, WoO 1: No. 1 in G minor (arranged by Joachim), Opal Recordings (also on Testament (749677132323)).
• Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 2 in D minor (arranged by Joachim), Grammophon Catalogue number 047905; HMV, D88.
• Joachim: Romance in C major, Op. 20, available on Pearl Catalog number 9851.

Original recordings are single-sided and have a flat red G&T label. Later versions have a black G&T label (or, from 1909, a label from the "His Master's Voice" record company), and recordings made for the German market are double-sided.

A letter kept in the EMI archives describes the strict conditions Joachim required for advertising his recordings: attention-grabbing ads were not allowed, and no comparisons were to be made between his performances and those of other violinists. The letter also stated that "Professor Joachim agreed to play only after much effort."

Joachim's students

• Leopold Auer, violinist and teacher; studied under Joachim in Hanover. His notable students included Mischa Elman, Jascha Heifetz, and Nathan Milstein.
• Dora Valesca Becker (born 1870, died 1958)
• Henri Berény (born 1871, died 1932), composer and violinist
• Hugo Leichtentritt
• Aylmer Buesst
• Willy Burmester
• Carl Courvoisier (born 1846, died 1908), author of Technics of Violin Playing on Joachim's Method, London: The Strad Library, No. I, 1894.
• Bram Eldering (born 1865, died 1943), Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic under Hans von Bülow; Concertmaster of the Meininger Hofkapelle
• Adila Fachiri, Joachim's great-niece
• F. Fleischhauer (born 1834), Hofconcertmeister in Meiningen
• Sam Franko
• Richard Gompertz (born 1859), professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London
• Jakob Grün, born in Pest in 1837. Joachim resigned a position to protest Grün's non-advancement due to his Jewish heritage.
• Karel (Carl) Halíř (born 1859, died 1909), Bohemian violinist, member of the Joachim Quartet
• Willy Hess
• Gustav Hille
• Richard Himmelstoß (born 1843), Concertmaster in Breslau
• Theodore Holland (born 1878, died 1947), British composer and teacher
• Gustav Holländer (born 1855), solo violinist
• Rebecca Wilder Holmes (born 1871, died 1953), American violinist and music professor at Smith College
• Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist and composer
• Bronisław Huberman
• Karl Klingler, violinist of the Klingler Quartet and Joachim's successor at the Berlin Hochschule; Klingler was the teacher of Shinichi Suzuki
• Iosif Kotek (born 1855, died 1885), Russian violinist
• Hans Letz, Concertmaster of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra
• Bernhard Listemann, Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Karl Markees (born 1865, died 1926), Swiss violinist who once owned the Markees Stradivarius
• Charles Martin Loeffler (born 1861, died 1935)
• Martin Marsick
• Pietro Melani
• Waldemar J. Meyer (born 1853, died 1940)
• Bernardo V. Moreira de Sá (born 1853, died 1924), Portuguese violinist and teacher; director of the "Conservatório de Música do Porto"; director and founder of the "Orpheon Portuense"; studied with Joachim in Berlin
• Andreas Moser (born 1859, died 1925), violinist and assistant to Joachim; Moser wrote the first biography of Joachim, Moser (1901), covering Joachim's life up to 1899. He helped recover original scores of J.S. Bach's Sonate e Partite per violino solo and collaborated with Joachim on numerous editions
• Tivadar Nachéz (born 1859, died 1930)
• Johannes Palaschko (born 1877, died 1932)
• Henri Petri, Concertmaster in Leipzig
• Lili Petschnikoff (born 1874, died 1957), American violinist
• Maximilian Pilzer, Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic (1915–1917)
• Enrico Polo (born 1868, died 1953), Italian

Joachim's instruments

Most, but not all, of the many violins (and two violas) Joachim is said to have had during his career are shown on the website of Tarisio Auctions, cozio.com. More details, written in German, can be found in an article by Kamlah from 2013.

• His first (full-size) violin was a Guarneri Filius Andreae from 1703. He gave this instrument to Felix Schumann after he acquired his first Stradivarius.
• A violin known as the ex-Joachim Stradivarius from 1715 is currently held by the Collezione Civica del Comune di Cremona. It was given to Joachim during his Jubilee celebration in 1889.
• The Ex Joachim Joseph Vieland viola, made by Gasparo da Salò in Brescia before 1609, is held by the Shrine to Music No. 3368.
• A 1678 ‘Joachim’ Nicolo Amati violin was later reclassified by Bein & Fushi in 1988 as a Francesco Rugeri.
• A Johannes Theodorus Cuypers violin from 1807 was purchased by Joachim in the mid-19th century and taken on tour across Europe. Evidence shows Joachim played this instrument in a Paris recital fifty years later, in 1895. The same instrument was also played by Fritz Kreisler in a 1955 Carnegie Hall concert.

Cultural references

The English poet Robert Bridges wrote a sonnet about Joachim in his first important poetry collection, The Growth of Love. A monument to Joachim, created by Adolf von Hildebrand, was placed in the Great Hall of the Royal Academy of Music.