The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-16

special Cd0Ie Despdfch 10 1--WE NUN.
BERLIN. Aug. l5.-Joseph Joachim. the
noted violinist, died to-day.
Joseph Joachim. the Nestor OF violinists,
was 70 years old on June 20 last. His debut
as a v~iolinist wa made at Budapest In the
Adels-C Casino on March II. 1889. Although
born in Hungary and commonly called q
Hungarian, Joachim was a German by
descent. He was born in Keepsceny,
south Of Pressburg. the old coronation
town OF Hungary. None OF his family
except his sister Regina had talent for
music. but It was his sisters voice h a
awakened in Joachim his great natural
gifts. At the age of 5 he surprised the
family by picking out on q toy fiddle the
songs he had heard his sister sing.
Stanislaus Serwaczynski was Joachim's
first teacher. but later he was placed under
the care of Friedrich Boehm. teacher OF
Rohde. Ernst. Hauser and other famous
v~iolinists. Boehm at once recognized that
his pupil was a genius. At Leipsic. when
he was IS years old. Mendelssohn heard
him and said he was enchanted. Early in
1914 he made his debut in London. playing
the Ernst -Othello" fantasy, q ~virtuos0
piece. His greatest London success was
III LD6 SAME ySuT, Wien uIlueT tu6 ulIeCtIOn
Of Mendelssohn he played the Beethoven
concerto.
In 1880, at the invitation of Franz Liszt,
Joachim became o0ncertmaster at Weimsr,
where he came into touch with Richard
Wagner, Bulow. Rubinstein. Cornelius and
Brahms and others destined to play inn
portant PARTS upon the worlds musical
stage. From 1854 until 1899 Joachim wa
oonoertmaster at Hanover, where King
George became one OF his best friends and
a devoted patron. One Of the ~violinist's
characteristics was that he would never
ings. He would appear only as an equal.
In 1859 Joachim formed with Schiever.
De Alma and Muller a famous string
quartet. In March, 1899. his jubilee
was celebrated in Berlin. one OF the
notable features OF which was a string
orchestra OF more than 30 members, COM
posed exclusively Of Joachim's pupils rast
and present. On March p. 1905. he cele-
brated in London the sixtieth anniversary
Of his appearance there as a child rer-
former.
After the death Of Manuel Garcia the
title Of the grand old man of music de-
scended on Joachim. He saw most Of his
noted rivals rise to fame and then go TO
their graves; saw Henry Wieniawski reach
his prime and die. Nieuxtemps died a
quarter Of a century ago.. but he was an
almost unknown struggler when Joachim
ilhuc Hb iibt dppcaiuhto. bai dbdNc, Wiz
is now an old man. was probably the most
famous living violinist lex TO Joachim.
and he was born long after Joachim had
made his place in the world OF music.
Joachim, who had heard the famousv io-
linists Of half a century. held that Ernst
was superior to all Of them. A story told
of Joachim concerns q concert at Braden-
burg. A new platform had been 80 care
lessly built that when Joachim was stepping
toward the footlights he fell through a big
hole that the carpenters had left. Nothing
was visible OF the performer except his
hands holding aloft his fiddle and bow.
Then he was heard exclaiming:
Violin and bow not damaged. | nave
got OF with a few scratches and bruises"
Joachim was always gentle with his pupils.
executed the finale OF Mendelssohn's CON
certo he remarked:
The next time. | beg. remember that the
elves do not come in cavalry boots