Willy Burmester plays Two Menuets

Willy Burmester (1869-1933) plays Dussek Menuet and Haendel Menuet that he edited them.
Recorded on 27 September 1909; Berlin

Willy Burmester (16 March 1869 - 16 January 1933) was a German violinist.

Burmester was born in Hamburg and was a pupil of Joseph Joachim, with whom he studied for many years in Berlin. In 1885, however, he seceded from the Joachim school, and commenced to develop his technique with a view to achieving virtuosity rather than a classic purity of style.

He was a well-developed artist, however, and his taste was broad enough to include all schools of composition in his repertoire. His was at his best, nevertheless, as an interpreter of the works of Paganini, and his rendering of the classics was said to be somewhat cold and devoid of feeling. On the continent his reputation was very high. He failed, however, to make a great impression on his first visit to England and America, though his audiences were compelled to admire his marvelous technical feats, especially his left hand pizzicato, and rapid runs in thirds and tenths. His faulty intonation, however, interfered with his success somewhat.

In his later years, this defect improved very considerably, and those who heard him play at his later concerts were much impressed with his sterling musical qualities. He was somewhat hampered in his career, and was a considerable sufferer from having worn the end of his first finger down to the nerve.

Jean Sibelius originally dedicated his Violin Concerto to Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki in 1903, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The premiere performance was a disaster.[1] Sibelius revised the work and the new version premiered in 1905. Willy Burmester was again asked to be the soloist, but he was again unavailable, so the performance went ahead without him, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's leader Karol Haliř stepping into the soloist's shoes. Burmester was so offended that he refused ever to play the concerto, and Sibelius re-dedicated it to the Hungarian "wunderkind" Ferenc von Vecsey.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• willy
• burmester
• haendel
• dussek
• menuet
• violin
• old
• recording
• berlin

[mikmik6612]

Thank you so much petrof4056! Willy Burmester was my great grandfather. Whilst we have a number of mementos (including letters to him from famous composers, and even some furniture he brought back from his many far eastern travels) we have almost no records of his plauing!

[petrof4056]

@mikmik6612 Your grandfather? really?! Know that I love very much your grandfather and was a pillar of romantic german violin. His playing is very sensitive, and that's a pity we do not have more about him

[MrGer2295]

MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you for sharing this Wonderful and Rare Performance of Great German Violinist WILLY BURMESTER (1869-1933).

[iltrgb123]

I like this piece very much. Is sheet music available for the Dussek minuet?I have looked for it but couldn't find it, Thanks

[merrihew]

Very 19th century playing. Nice tone and the intonation seems OK.

[papidou1934]

pour les amateurs de violon et des interprétations du passé,merci Petrof

[younglemeshevist]

Yes, this is beautiful. Thanks for the video

[joanabanyeres]

Really interesting and beautiful

[transformingArt]

I have this on 78s, and will post them later.

[callasdimitrova]

amazing!

really 5*****

thanks :-)