Ysaye at once recognised her immense ability, and advised her to enter the conservatoire at Brussels, which she did, with the result that in eight months she carried off the first prize, being then only fifteen years of age. She continued her studies for three more years, and was frequently employed as a substitute for Ysaye, as professor, to teach his classes while he was absent on concert tours.

In 1894 she appeared with him at a number of important concerts, and shortly afterwards made her first concert tour, visiting many of the principal towns of Germany. In November, 1895, she made her first appearance in London, where she was pronounced to be, with the exception of Lady Hallé, the most remarkable lady violinist who had ever appeared before the public in England, and where her excellent technique, perfect intonation, warmth of feeling, and musical insight were highly, almost extravagantly, praised.

In August, 1898, Mlle. Sethe married Doctor Saenger, a littérateur, and professor of philosophy at Berlin, but she continues her career as a violinist, and has made several tours of Europe. She has been compared to Rubinstein, inasmuch as her remarkable musical temperament and irresistible impulsiveness carry her at times almost beyond the limits of her instrument, but these are the very qualities by which she captivates and carries away her hearers.

Among other European ladies who have made their mark as violinists, and whose stars are in the ascendant, may be mentioned Sophie Jaffé, who has been called the greatest of all women violinists, and Frida Scotta.

Although many years behind the continent of Europe in musical life, and with a musical atmosphere not nearly as dense as that found in almost any village of Italy, France, or Germany, America has contributed to the musical world many shining lights during the past few years. Mlle. Urso has been claimed as an American violinist, though she was born in Europe and was a good violinist before she reached these shores, but in 1864, in New York, Anna Senkrah was born, who for a few years rivalled Teresina Tua.

The real name of Arma Senkrah was Harkness, which for professional purposes she "turned end for end," as the sailors would say, and dropped an "s." After Miss Harkness had been taught the elements of music by her mother, she went to Brussels to study under Wieniawski, and then to Paris, where she became a pupil of Massart She is said also to have taken lessons of Vieuxtemps and of Arno Hilf.

In 1881 she won the first prize at the Paris Conservatoire, a feat which always stamps the winner "artist." From 1877 to 1880 Arma Senkrah travelled a great deal throughout Europe, and in 1882 she played, under her proper name, at the Crystal Palace, London. She was created, at Weimar, a chamber virtuoso, by the grand duke. Here she met and shortly afterwards married a lawyer named Hoffman, and disappeared from the concert platform.

New York has contributed other stars to the violin firmament, for Nettie Carpenter and Geraldine Morgan are names which have become well known.

Miss Carpenter went abroad at an early age, though not until she had appeared in concerts in her native city, and created considerable interest.

On going to Paris, she was successful in passing the entrance examinations for the Conservatoire, and in 1884 won the first prize for violin playing. In 1882 she appeared in London at the promenade concerts, and again in 1884, when she confirmed the reputation which she had made two years previously, at the same concerts. From that time on she went through the usual routine of the concert violinist, with considerable success.

In 1894 she married Leo Stern, the violoncello player, but the union did not continue for long, Mr. Stern becoming about four years later the husband of Miss Suzanne Adams, the opera singer.

Miss Geraldine Morgan is the daughter of John P. Morgan, who was for some years organist of Old Trinity Church, New York. She studied in her native city under Leopold Damrosch, besides which she received much instruction from her father. Then she went to Leipzig, where she studied with Schradieck, after which she was the pupil in Berlin of Joachim, under whose guidance she remained eight years. She was the first American who ever gained the Mendelssohn prize.

Miss Morgan has made tours through the Continent and Great Britain, and had the honour of playing the Bach double concerto with Joachim at the Crystal Palace. In 1891 she appeared in New York under the auspices of Walter Damrosch.

A lady who holds a high position among the violinists of the world is Miss Maud Powell, who was born in Aurora, Ill., in 1868. Her father is American and her mother German. She began her musical education at the age of four, by taking piano lessons. At eight she took up the violin, and made such excellent progress that, when she was thirteen years old, she was taken to Leipzig, where she studied under Schradieck, and received her diploma in a year, playing also at one of the Gewandhaus concerts.

She next went to Paris, where she was the first selected out of eighty applicants for admission to the Conservatoire. In the following year she accepted an engagement for a tour in England, and had the honour of playing before the royal family. While in London Joachim heard her, and expressed his approval of her capabilities by inviting her to go to Berlin and become one of his pupils, which she accordingly did, and remained with him for two years.

In 1885 she made her début in Berlin at the Philharmonic concerts, when she played the Bruch concerto, which she also played in Philadelphia later in the same year. Her performance in America brought her much praise, and she was declared to be a marvellously gifted woman, one who in every feature of her playing disclosed the instincts and gifts of a born artist, though she had not yet reached the heights of her ability. Since that time she has gained in breadth, and has become a mature artist.

Miss Powell has appeared in the best concerts throughout America, and has gained a reputation second to no American violinist. By many she is declared to be the equal of Soldat and Wietrowitz in tone, technique, and interpretative power. She has an immense repertoire, and is also a student of literature. She also is said to have been the first to establish a female quartet in America.

The latest American lady violinist to gain honours abroad is Miss Leonora Jackson, who won the Mendelssohn state prize at Berlin, in 1898, and who has gained a great reputation by her performances before the most important musical organisations in Europe.

Miss Jackson was fortunate enough to attract the attention of Mrs. Grover Cleveland, who admired her talent, and, with Mr. George Vanderbilt, sent her abroad. For two years she studied in Paris, and then went to Berlin, where she became a pupil of Joachim. In Berlin she made her début in 1896, with the Philharmonic Orchestra, which was conducted by Joachim on that occasion. Shortly afterwards she was commanded by the Empress of Germany to play at the Royal Opera House, in Berlin, and she soon earned for herself a position amongst the best of the rising violinists of the day.

When she appeared in London, in 1898, she surprised and delighted the audience, displaying a fine tone, natural musical feeling, and complete technique. Few violinists can play with such quiet, intense sentiment. Miss Jackson, though but twenty years of age, is already a veteran concert player, for she has appeared in many cities of Europe, and was already known in America before she went to Berlin. She played in July, 1899, before the Queen of England at Windsor Castle, and again in August at Osborne House, in the Isle of Wight.

The time has long since gone by when mere showy technique would earn a reputation for any violinist, male or female, and she who expects to be numbered with the great violinists must be first of all a musician, capable of interpreting the greatest works. If in addition to this she has "the divine spark," she will be truly great.

CHAPTER XI

FAMOUS QUARTETS.

Quartet playing is at once the delight and the despair of the amateur, who finds no greater pleasure than an evening spent in endeavouring to unravel the intricacies of chamber music, nor any keener disappointment than the realisation that it is capable of far better interpretation.

For the professional there are many influences which cause him to hesitate before he launches forth upon the quicksands of public performance. The first necessity in professional quartet playing is the devotion of a large amount of time to the acquisition of a perfect ensemble. A quartet may be likened unto a family, in which the members learn to know one another by being brought up together, and few are the professionals who can sacrifice the time necessary for the acquisition of this perfect ensemble.

Apparently very little was done previous to the nineteenth century in the way of quartet concerts, but Baillot founded a series of quartet concerts in Paris, which were highly spoken of, and about the same time Schuppanzigh, an excellent violinist and teacher in Vienna, established a quartet which became famous. In this quartet Mayseder played, in his younger days, second violin. Mayseder was considered the foremost violinist in Vienna, but he never travelled as a virtuoso.

When Spohr went first to Leipzig and was unknown, he had to find a way by which he could attract attention to himself,—in those days the advertising agent was not much in evidence,—so that he might give a concert with a reasonable prospect of success. The rich merchants, to whom he had brought letters of introduction, knew nothing of him and received him coldly. "I was very anxious to be invited to play at one of their music parties in order to draw attention to myself," Spohr says in his autobiography, "and my wish was fulfilled, for I was invited to a grand party and asked to play something. I chose one of the loveliest of the six new quartets of Beethoven, with which I had often charmed my hearers in Brunswick. But after a few bars I already noticed that my accompanists knew not the music and were quite incapable of playing it. This disturbed me, and my dismay increased when I observed that the assembled company paid little attention to my playing. Conversation became general, and ultimately so loud as almost to drown the music. I rose in the midst of the music, hurried to my violin case without saying a word, and was on the point of putting my instrument away. This made quite a sensation in the company, and the host approached me questioningly. I met him with the remark,—which could be heard everywhere,—'I have always been accustomed to be listened to with attention. As it has been otherwise here, I thought the company would prefer that I should stop.' The host did not know at first how to reply, and retired somewhat discomfited. As I made preparations for leaving, after having excused myself to the other musicians, the host came up and said, quite amicably: 'If you could but play something else, something more suitable to the taste and capacity of the company, you would find them an attentive and grateful audience.' It was clear to me before that I had chosen the wrong music in the first instance for such a company, and I was glad enough now to have an opportunity to change it. So I took up my violin again and played Rode's E flat quartet, which the musicians already knew and accompanied well enough. This time there was perfect silence, and the enthusiasm for my playing increased with each movement. At the end of the quartet so much flattery was heaped upon me that I trotted out my hobby-horse,—the G variations of Rode. With this piece I made quite a sensation, and for the remainder of the evening I was the object of the most flattering attention."

This little episode shows that Beethoven was not fully appreciated, and it also shows that quartet playing was regarded at that time in an entirely different light from that in which we are accustomed to think of it to-day. We do not consider the first violinist a soloist and the rest merely his accompaniment, but each member of the quartet is practically of equal importance.

Lambert Joseph Massart, the eminent teacher of Paris, is said to have been an excellent quartet player, and often, with his wife, an admirable pianist, he gave delightful chamber concerts.

Few violinists have been more closely associated with quartet playing than Ferdinand David, in his way one of the most celebrated violinists. Little is known of his early youth except that he was born at Hamburg in 1810, and was there at the time of the French occupation. It has been said that he played in a concert at ten years of age and at thirteen became a pupil of Spohr at Cassel. He made a concert tour with his sister, Madame Dulcken, and in 1827 entered the orchestra of the Königstadt Theatre at Berlin. Here he became acquainted with Mendelssohn, with whom he was from that time on terms of the greatest intimacy. While in Berlin he was heard by a wealthy musical amateur named Liphart, who lived at Dorpat, and who maintained a private quartet. He engaged David, who eventually married his daughter, to lead this quartet, and for several years the young violinist remained in Dorpat, though he found opportunity to make some concert tours through the north of Europe.

When Mendelssohn was appointed conductor of the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipzig, he sent for David and made him concert master, which post he occupied from 1836. Seven years later the conservatory was founded by Mendelssohn, and David became professor of violin, in which position his influence became great and beneficial.

In Leipzig David established a quartet, which was one of the best, if not the very best, in its day, though it may have been surpassed later by the Florentine Quartet and those of Joachim, in London and Berlin, and possibly by Brodsky's later Leipzig quartet.

David died in 1873, beloved and respected, and will be remembered as one of the most refined musicians and admirable teachers of the century.

Josef Hellmesberger, one of the most brilliant violinists and noted teachers of Vienna, founded, in 1849, a quartet which achieved an immense reputation. His associates were Heissler, Durst, and Schlesinger. Hellmesberger made a point of finding works of merit which had sunk into oblivion, but which were worthy of a hearing. Hellmesberger spent the whole of his life in Vienna, with the exception of a tour in 1847, and he held the highest musical office in the Austrian Empire, that of director of the Imperial Band.

A story which is told of him bears testimony to his remarkable musical instinct. Teresa Milanollo, in 1840, took a new manuscript by De Bériot to Vienna. She wished to keep it for her own use, and did not show it to anybody. Hellmesberger heard it played at two rehearsals, and then went home and wrote out the whole work from memory.

No small portion of the immense influence which Joachim has wielded in the musical world has been directed toward quartet playing, and he has established a quartet in London and another one at Berlin, which both bear an enviable reputation. His chamber music classes, too, at the Berlin High School, tend to develop admirable quartet players; thus we find Marie Soldat organising a ladies' quartet which had a good career, and Gabrielle Wietrowitz taking the place of first violin in the excellent ladies' quartet formed in England by Miss Emily Shinner.[1] Miss Shinner, whose efforts in the artistic world have been of great value, and whose quartet has an immense reputation in England, was also a pupil of Joachim.

The "Florentine Quartet" was founded by Jean Becker, a violinist of excellent ability, who made his mark in Europe about the middle of the nineteenth century. Becker was travelling in Italy in 1865, and settled in Florence for a time, during which he organised the above-mentioned quartet, with Masi, second violin, Chiostri, viola, and Hilpert, violoncello. In Florence there existed a society for the performance of chamber music, which had been established by a wealthy professor named Bazzini, a violinist and composer who travelled much, and whose influence in Italy, in the cause of German music, was of great value. Bazzini was born in 1818 and died in 1897.

From time to time this society gave subscription concerts, and Becker was invited to lead ten such concerts during the winter of 1865-66. He consented to do so, but found the quartet in a state of dissolution. He brought Hilpert with him, and engaged Masi as second violin, Chiostro being the only member of the original quartet. Masi was not accustomed to chamber music, but Becker took him in hand and he improved rapidly. In order to still enhance his value in the quartet, Becker presented him with a Stradivarius violin. They remained in Florence until their ensemble was absolutely perfect, and then began a series of tours which took them all over Europe. In Vienna the quartet was subjected to comparison with those of Hellmesberger and of Joachim, for the former had just given six chamber concerts, and the latter three. The first concert given by the Florentine Quartet was thinly attended, but the report of its excellence brought an overflowing audience to the second concert, and in all ten were given during the remainder of the season.

About 1875 Hilpert withdrew, and his place was filled by Hegyesi, who remained with the quartet until it was disbanded in 1880.

An excellent series of quartet concerts was founded in Stuttgart by Edmund Singer, who was appointed professor of violin in the Conservatorium, leader of the court music, and chamber musician, in 1861, after a distinguished career of some ten or more years as a virtuoso. These concerts met with triumphant success.

Georg J.R. Heckmann founded a quartet at Cologne and travelled through Europe, but it was surpassed by the Florentine Quartet, and did not gain the highest reputation.

A quartet which has been pronounced to be one of the best in existence is that which is led by Jeno Hubay, in Pesth, and in which Hegyesi, formerly of the Florentine Quartet, is the 'cellist.

Adolf Brodsky, who for a time resided in New York, founded a string quartet at Leipzig, with Hans Becker, son of the founder of the Florentine Quartet, Hans Sitt, and Julius Klengel, the 'cellist, and this quartet was said to have no superior in Europe, and not more than one equal,—the Joachim Quartet of Berlin. In 1891 Brodsky went to New York, where he also established a quartet, but with little success. The organisation was received with respect, owing to Mr. Brodsky's European reputation, but it was admitted on all hands that superior organisations existed in America. Before Mr. Brodsky had time to bring his quartet to a high degree of proficiency, he returned to Europe, and, after a brief stay in Germany, accepted a position in England, where he has established another quartet.

He was succeeded in the quartet at Leipzig and at the conservatory by Arno Hilf, a distinguished violinist with an enormous technique, who was born in 1858 and was taught by David, Röntgen, and Schradieck.

Quartet playing in public was established in England in 1835, when the admirers of Joseph Dando, an excellent violinist, opened a subscription for the purpose of giving some concerts in which the chamber music, and especially the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, etc., should be performed. The first concert was given at the Horn Tavern, Doctors'-Commons, in London, on September 23d of that year, and being highly successful, a second was given on October 12th, and a third on the 26th, each proving more attractive than its predecessor. These concerts lasted for two seasons, when a new quartet was formed, with H.G. Blagrove and Henry Gattie as first and second violins, Mr. Dando, viola, and Mr. Lucas, 'cello, for the more perfect study and presentation of quartets and other chamber music. These concerts were given at the Hanover Square rooms, and on account of the care bestowed upon the rehearsals (of which they held seven or eight for each concert), they threw all previous performances into the shade.

The tide of public favour had now set in, and other quartets were formed, but none reached such excellence as that headed by Blagrove, which was invited to play at the Philharmonic concerts, where it produced a great sensation.

About the end of the seventh season Blagrove withdrew, but the quartet continued in existence for many years, Mr. Dando playing first violin, and Mr. Loder, the viola, and the concerts were given at Crosby Hall in the city, instead of the Hanover Square rooms.

At St. Petersburg a quartet was formed by Leopold Auer, an excellent violinist, who at the death of Wieniawski was appointed professor of violin at the Conservatoire. Auer was born in Hungary, and became a pupil of Dont at Vienna, after which he had a brilliant career as a virtuoso in Europe. His St. Petersburg quartet was founded in 1868, and became one of the leading musical organisations of the Russian capital, until the death of Davidoff, the violoncellist, who was one of its members, in 1890.

Auer has been very active in the musical life of St. Petersburg, and is very highly esteemed both as a man and as a musician, teacher, and performer.

A quartet which has gained a great reputation in Europe during recent years is the Bohemian Quartet, consisting of Carl Hoffmann, first violin, Joseph Suk, second violin, Oscar Nedbal, viola, and Hanus Wihom, violoncello. They play with a great deal of vim and abandon, and the ensemble is remarkable.

At Hanover Richard Sahla has established a quartet, with Meneke, Kugler, and Loeleberg, and Arnold Rosé's quartet, of Vienna, has travelled in Hungary, Italy, and other countries, gaining a good reputation.

In the United States there have been well meant efforts to found good quartets, and these have all had a beneficial influence. In Boston Mr. Bernhard Listemann, some twenty years ago, established a quartet which gave some very delightful concerts, but the past decade has witnessed the rise of an organisation which is able to bear comparison with any quartet in the world.

The Kneisel Quartet was organised in 1885, the year in which Mr. Franz Kneisel accepted the position of concert-master to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Henry L. Higginson invited him at the same time to organise a quartet, and a series of concerts was given that season in Chickering Hall. While the excellence of the quartet was apparent from the start, there were comparatively few people in Boston who took much interest in chamber music, and the audiences were, as a rule, small. Year by year they have increased, and for the past few years it has been necessary to give the concerts in Association Hall, which has a seating capacity about twice as large as that of the original hall.

The second violin is Mr. Otto Roth,[2] a native of Vienna, who played for three years under the baton of Hans Richter, and came to Boston to play first violin in the Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Louis Svecenski, an excellent artist, who studied in the Vienna Conservatory, under Hellmesberger and Grün, plays the viola, and the 'cellist is Alwyn Schroeder, an artist, who had achieved a high reputation as a 'cello virtuoso, before he came to America.

After a few years the Kneisel Quartet began to appear in other cities, and now gives regular series of subscription concerts in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Hartford, and Worcester, also Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Universities, besides occasional

performances in more remote cities. In 1896 the quartet had given over eight hundred concerts since its formation.

At the end of the Symphony season in Boston, in 1896, the Kneisel Quartet made a visit to London and gave several concerts. In London it was obliged to stand comparison with the finest quartets in existence. The Joachim Quartet and the Bohemian Quartet gave concerts the same season, but the unanimous verdict was to the effect that none could equal the Kneisel Quartet in absolute ensemble and perfection of detail. While the Bohemian Quartet played with a great deal of abandon and enthusiasm, and the Joachim Quartet contained players of a greater reputation in Europe, yet the Kneisel Quartet simply confirmed the reputation it had acquired in America. "It would, indeed, be impossible to conceive greater perfection in the matter of ensemble, precision, delicacy, and all the qual ities requisite for the proper interpretation of chamber music."

In the spring of 1899 the Kneisel Quartet made an extended tour in America, and found the musical condition of the great cities in the United States, as evidenced by the appreciation of music, fully equal to that of the European centres. Brahms and Beethoven were played in Denver and in San Francisco to audiences who were fully equal to the enjoyment of the highest class of music, and everywhere the quartet was greeted with enthusiasm.

The success of the Kneisel Quartet is due to the long and arduous practice which the members have enjoyed together, for perfection in quartet playing is only possible through long association.

While virtuosity is not essential for quartet playing, good musicianship is very necessary. Patient and self-denying practice are absolute requisites.

The love of chamber music is apparently growing in the United States, for in many of the large cities quartets have been established by good musicians, and the opportunities for hearing fine interpretations of the best chamber music are increasing each year. It is a branch of musical art which appeals only to cultivated taste, for it is necessarily free from sensationalism and individual display. Therefore, the love of quartet playing may be considered to be a true index of the growth of musical culture.

THE END.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF FAMOUS VIOLINISTS