204
VIII. JOACHIM 244
IX. VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY 261
X. WOMEN AS VIOLINISTS 300
XI. FAMOUS QUARTETS 345

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
OLE BULL _Frontispiece_
ARCANGELO CORELLI 30
NICOLO PAGANINI 104
CAMILLO SIVORI 154
MARTIN PIERRE JOSEPH MARSICK 238
JOSEPH JOACHIM 244
EMIL SAURET 264
MAUD POWELL 340
FRANZ KNEISEL 362

FAMOUS VIOLINISTS OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

There is no instrument of music made by the hands of man that holds such
a powerful sway over the emotions of every living thing capable of
hearing, as the violin. The singular powers of this beautiful instrument
have been eloquently eulogised by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the
following words:

"Violins, too. The sweet old Amati! the divine Stradivari! played on by
ancient maestros until the bow hand lost its power, and the flying
fingers stiffened. Bequeathed to the passionate young enthusiast, who
made it whisper his hidden love, and cry his inarticulate longings, and
scream his untold agonies, and wail his monotonous despair. Passed from
his dying hand to the cold virtuoso, who let it slumber in its case for
a generation, till, when his hoard was broken up, it came forth once
more, and rode the stormy symphonies of royal orchestras, beneath the
rushing bow of their lord and leader. Into lonely prisons with
improvident artists; into convents from which arose, day and night, the
holy hymns with which its tones were blended; and back again to orgies,
in which it learned to howl and laugh as if a legion of devils were shut
up in it; then, again, to the gentle _dilettante_, who calmed it down
with easy melodies until it answered him softly as in the days of the
old maestros; and so given into our hands, its pores all full of music,
stained like the meerschaum through and through with the concentrated
hue and sweetness of all the harmonies which have kindled and faded on
its strings."

Such, indeed, has been the history of many a noble instrument fashioned
years and years ago, in the days when violin playing did not hold the
same respect and admiration th