Henri Marteau
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Henri Marteau (March 31, 1874 – October 3, 1934) was a French violinist and composer.
He was born in Reims, France. He was of German-French mixture. His father (a Frenchman) was a well known amateur violinist of that city, and took a great interest in musical affairs. His mother (a Berlin woman) was an excellent pianist, who had studied under Clara Schumann. Through the influence of Sivori, Marteau's parents were easily persuaded to allow their son to adopt a musical career, and he showed remarkable aptitude in his studies, first under Bunzl, later under Hubert Léonard and from 1891 entered Jules Garcin's class at the Paris Conservatoire.
Henri was remarkable both for his individuality and for his development.
His debut was made when only ten years old, at a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Society, conducted by Richter. A tour through Switzerland and Germany followed. A year later Gounod selected this young violinist to play the obbligato of a piece composed for the Joan of Arc Centenary Celebration at Reims.
Marteau made his professional debut in London in 1888, at a Richter concert. In 1892 he gained the first place prize at the Paris Conservatory, and Massenet wrote a violin concerto especially for his benefit. A further series of tours followed. Twice he visited America, once in 1893, and once in 1898, and he visited Russia 1897-1899.
He was then engaged in teaching, and for a time was professor of the violin at Geneva Conservatoire. On the death of Joachim, Marteau was called to the Hochschule of Berlin, where he became head of the violin department. During World War I he was expelled from Germany and instead moved to Sweden, where he became a citizen.
His was the composer of a cantata for soprano, chorus and orchestra, entitled "La voix de Jeanne d'Arc".
He died in Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany.
[edit] Sources
- Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 11].
- The Memoirs of Carl Flesch 1957
- An Encyclopedia of the Violin - Alberto Bachmann 1875
- Violin Virtuosos - Henry Roth 1997
[edit] External links
This article is based on a text from the Etude magazine, prior to 1923, that is in the public domain.
