August Wilhelmj

August Wilhelmj ( born September 21, 1845 in Usingen, † January 22, 1908 in London ) was a German violinist.

Wilhelmj was the son of the vineyard owner Wilhelmj August Wilhelm (1813-1910) and his wife Charlotte Friederieke Emilie Petry. After the first lesson in Wiesbaden, Germany, he studied at the recommendation of Franz Liszt with Ferdinand David at the Leipzig Conservatory, and with Moritz Hauptmann and Ernst Friedrich Richter. From 1864 he studied composition with Joachim Raff in Frankfurt am Main. First concert tours have taken him in 1865 in Switzerland and the Netherlands in 1866 to London. On 29 May 1866 he married Sophie of Liphart that he had met in the home of the Gewandhaus concert master Ferdinand David in Leipzig. In the following ten years he gave concerts in all major European cities. In the period 1878-1882 he undertook with great success toured North and South America, Asia and Australia.

His play attracted attention because of its powerful tone, which he achieved by frequent change of bow. By this he is at the beginning of the late Romantic Interpretationsart and reached a major orchestras and concert halls customized sound. An example of this effort is by him under the title Air on the G string machined Air from Suite BWV 1068 by Johann Sebastian Bach for violin and piano (especially in the English-speaking world, the Air has since mostly as Air on the G String known ).

In 1894 he was appointed professor of violin at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he wrote in 1903 with colleagues the 12 issues comprehensive Modern School for the Violin. His work as editor is documented in editions of classical and romantic violin literature, he set up for practice.

His final resting place he found on the North Cemetery in Wiesbaden.

Family

He was married twice. His first wife was born on May 29, 1866 by Sophie Liphart, daughter of art patron Karl Eduard von Liphart and niece Ferdinand David. The couple had had a son ( born March 31, 1872), who later became professor of violin at the Conservatoire was Belfast. In 1895 he married the pianist Mariella Mausch - jerret.

Papers

Letters from August Wilhelmj are in stock at the Leipzig music publisher CF Peters in Leipzig State Archives.

Honors

His hometown Usingen honored him with the naming of the Wilhelmj Street and the Wilhelmj Memorial.