Wieniawski

Henry Wieniawski, renowned Polish violinist and composer, was born in Lublin in 1835 and died in Moscow in 1880. The great Paganini exerted a strong influence on his life. The youngest student ever to enter the Paris Conservatoire (he was only eight!), Wieniawski studied under Lambert Massart, and in 1846, at the age of 11, was awarded first prize in violin. During the years 1851 to 1853, Wieniawski gave some 200 concerts in Russia with his younger brother. By 1853 he had composed and published 14 opus numbers, including the Polonaise no. 1, the "Souvenir de Moscou," several mazurkas, and the Violin Concerto no. 1 in F-sharp minor. Anton Rubinstein said of him that he was "without doubt, the greatest violinist of his day." Certainly, among the violinists of the generation after Paganini, Wieniawski must be ranked very near the top. This book is the only biography in English of the great Polish virtuoso, and contains hundreds of rare photos and other materials, some of which have never been published before. - Back cover.