George Bridgetower

George Augustus Polgreen Bridge Tower (aka Geronimo Hyppolito de Augusto, baptized October 11, 1778 in Biała Podlaska at Brest, † February 29, 1860 in Peckham, London Borough of Southwark, London ) was an English composer and violinist African- European descent.

Life

Tower Bridge was originally named Hieronimo Hyppolito de Augusto, only later did his father laid last name Bridge Tower to. According to this baptismal certificate comes from Ethiopia and served at the time of the birth of his son in the then 19 -year-old prince Hieronim Wincenty Radziwill ( 1759-1786 ) on the family castle in Biała Podlaska. According to other sources it originates from Barbados and directed his later surnames from the capital, Bridgetown. 1779-1785 was the father Chamber Page of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy I Joseph de Galantha in Esterháza where the boy enjoyed the teaching of Joseph Haydn. On April 13, 1789, he came to Paris for the first time to the public, with the placard announcing him as follows: " Beginning of Mr. Georges Bridge Tower, né aux colonies anglaises, âgé de 9 ans. " In November 1789 with a view to a concert in Bath, will he the son of an African prince ( "African Prince " ) referred. His father is described as an elegant appearance and very educated man, "who is one of the most accomplished men in Europe, conversing with fluency and charming address in its several languages ​​. "

In 1790 he moved to London and in 1795 a member of the orchestra of George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of Great Britain and Hanover. He also met with many distinguished musicians. A highpoint of the concert he gave on June 2nd 1790 along with the only 9 -year-old prodigy Franz Clement designed. Among the audience was the composer Georg Joseph Vogler, who reported about it:

" I have Verwichenen Wednesday the 2nd June a concert beigewohnet here in Hanover Square, where two young heroes competed on the violin with each other, and knew how to give to all the lovers and art critics for three hours the most pleasant conversation. Mutually they allowed themselves to listen to concerts, and each was always the warmest applause added claps. But the quartet, which was played by a loud young virtuosos who together had no 40 years, surpassed by the merit of a fine launigten, witty, and this same unified presentation all expectations that can ever satisfy the greatest virtuosos elderly. The first violin played Clement from Vienna eight and a half years, the second Tower Bridge from Africa [! ] Ten years old. "

On June 14, 1790 Bridge Tower also entered in Clements studbook. In addition, he played on 28 May 1792 Violin Concerto by Giovanni Battista Viotti, accompanied by his teacher, Joseph Haydn on the piano. 1802, a longer holiday was granted to him, which he used to a greater journey that took him first to Dresden, where his mother lived at the time. There, he performed on July 24, 1802 Bohemian Hall and on 18 March 1803 in another concert. He then traveled to the Bohemian spas Teplitz and Karlsbad.

Around 16 April, he arrived in Vienna, and immediately attracted great attention, including at the Prince Joseph Lobkowitz. In this way he got to know Beethoven and asked this a work in itself. Beethoven composed for Bridge Tower then the Violin Sonata in A major, Op 47 The premiere took place on 24 May 1803 Beethoven on the piano instead of in a concert in Vienna Augarten. The Vienna correspondent of the magazine The frank commented on the concert:

" H. Tower Bridge, in the service of the Prince of Wales, had a full house, even he is really a very strong violin player, the great difficulties with happy boldness and ease overcomes. Only was the composition of the concerto itself, also driven as far as possible by H. Bridge Tower, garish, and the pursuit of strangeness and originality [! ]: A fashion which, if they are generally the same by the example of several great masters drohet, will never satisfy the unprejudiced listener. "

However, the first edition Beethoven dedicated the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. The background of this reclassification are unclear. A friend Bridge Towers said later that there had been between the violinist and Beethoven dispute because of a " girl ". It is more likely that Beethoven actually a performance by Kreutzer hoped, especially since he was planning a trip to Paris in 1804 /05. However, the plan did not get to run, and Kreutzer, the factory has reportedly never played.

In later years, he appeared only rarely. Most recently, he lived in the London suburb of Peckham (8, Norfolk Street ) and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

Family

Bridge Towers mother Maria Anna Ursula Bridge Tower née Schmidt (1762-1807) was a German and lived most recently in Bautzen, where she died on September 17, 1807. She had a younger son, Frederick Joseph Bridge Tower, who lived as a cellist in London and to have died in Ireland.

Discount

Tower Bridge set on September 10, 1859 a will in which he made ​​a sister of his deceased wife, nee Drake for sole heiress. She left the estate on June 30, 1860, the auction company Puttick & Simpson sell. According to Samuel Appleby, a friend and executor, the sale yielded less than 1000 pounds sterling. Appleby had to buy parts of the estate, which were later used by Alexander Wheelock Thayer for his Beethoven biography. Among them was an album that was sold at Sotheby's in 2003. It contained 75 autographs, including concert programs, letters of patrons, friends and fellow musicians and Bridge Towers passport issued on July 20, 1803 by the British legation in Vienna.