Our next concerts on October 17th, 18th and 25th feature the viola sonata by Henri Vieuxtemps. If you do not play the violin, you probably had not heard the name “Vieuxtemps”. To all violinists and violists, however, we can say Henri Vieuxtemps is a “big deal” and worthy to be re-discovered by the larger public.

We can say “re-discovered” because Henri Vieuxtemps was a musical celebrity during his lifetime. Below is a picture of his funeral in 1881. His student Eugene Ysaye is carrying the 1741 “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesù violin. This violin is still played in 2026, by superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.

Henri Vieuxtemps: the child prodigy.

Born in Verviers, Belgium, on February 17, 1820, Henry Vieuxtemps proved to be a violin prodigy from the start. At age 6 he started performing publicly, playing the 5th Rode concerto and a Fontaine Melody with orchestra.

Henri Vieuxtemps : the Virtuoso

From age 7, he went on touring the whole of Europe and performing concerts. This is how he began his carreer, of over 40 years, as a virtuoso.

At 14, on March 16th 1834 in Vienna, Vieuxtemps was the first to play Beethoven violin concerto after the composer’s death. The critics were unanimous. Let’s listen to the words of the Director of the Vienna Music Conservatory:

« you will soon become the first violinist in Europe because you combine a strong stroke of the bow, with brilliant execution, spririt, insight and an exquisite sensitivity.. You will be the founder of a classical violin school that will be a model for all musicians. »

Henri Vieuxtemps: his passion for violins

All his life, Henri Vieuxtemps was looking for high quality instruments.
Vieuxtemps played the violins of the greatest Luthiers: Stradivarius, Guarnerius Del Gesù , Maggini, Amati, Vuillaume. He owned fifteen in total. Many of them were given to him by Russian nobility as a sign of recognition. However, his favorite violin was the Guarnerius Del Gesu given by the Baron Pereyra in Vienna in 1846.
As of today, some of his violins are still recognised as the best violins in the world and are played by great virtuosos.

Henri Vieuxtemps : composer and pedagogue

While he was touring the world, by train or steam boat, the virtuoso Henri Vieuxtemps kept writing pieces for the violin and orchestra as well as pieces of chamber music, very often with a high degree of virtuosity. He studied harmony with Sechter in Vienne in 1833/34, then composition with Raicha in Paris in 1835/36. From 1836 onwards (age 16) he performed his own compositions.
His 4th and 5th violin concertos were acclaimed by musicians and the public as veritable masterpieces. His repertoire includes about a hundred works, some of which have never been played.
As an instructor, Vieuxtemps taught the violin in St Petersburg at the music school for 6 years. He was the solo violinist of Tsar Nicolas and violinist at the imperial theaters. He had an immense influence on the practice of the violin in Russia. He was often considered a star in the country of the Tsar.
Later Vieuxtemps taught at the Bruxelles Conservatory of Music for 2 years, where among his students were Eugène Ysaÿe and Jenö Hubay.

The Ballade and Polonaise of Vieuxtemps would be one of the favorite tunes of Ysaÿe. Vieuxtemps’style, combining extraordinarily precise virtuosity with musicality, will endure. Vieuxtemps along with Charles de Bériot are seen as the founders of the ‘Franco-Belge’ school of violin, creating a new art form that would complement the work of Paganini.

Henri Vieuxtemps: a man of his time.

During his performances, Vieuxtemps galvanized his audience, he would enthrall the public, the critics and his peers.
Hector Berlioz perfectly expressed the way Vieuxtemps’s work was greeted with unanimous praise:

« Mister Vieuxtemps is a prodigious violinist in the strictest sense of the word. He does things I have never heard done by any other before. He posits frightening dangers to the listener, but he stays calm and unshaken, confident that he will succeed . Had Vieuxtemps not been recognised as such a great virtuoso, he would be acclaimed as a great composer! The future will do justice to his work of rare beauty, informed order, unwavering presence, majesty and impeccable taste. »
Robert Schuman also marvelled at his playing in Leipzig: « Just like a fragrance bewitches us, his playing is mesmerizing. We remain unwittingly captivated as if wrapped in a magical circle ».

Paganini himself exclaimed after having heard him play: « This little boy will become a great man! »
Eugène Ysaÿe admired his master’s work as: «an endless source of precious teaching. His work has the power to reach the highest artistic joys by guiding the hand of the violinist towards a previously unknown perfection. »
Victor Hugo, a great admirer, greeted the artist in these words: «I took such pleasure in applauding today what everyone will admire tomorrow».

Texts and pictures above are courtesy of the Association Henri Vieuxtemps