Henry Holst

Henry Holst was a Danish violinist and teacher born (in Saeby, Denmark) on July 25, 1899.  He spent quite a bit of time in England but is not related – as far as I know – to the other Holst.  He was probably the first violinist to play (in 1921 with the Berlin Philharmonic) three concertos in the same concert program – before Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Szymon Goldberg, and Raymond Cohen did it.  (See comment below.)  Holst must have begun his violin studies while still very young but I don’t know how young nor with whom.  In 1913, he was admitted into the Royal Danish Academy of Music.  He was 14 years old.  His teachers there were Axel Gade (son of Niels Gade) and violinist/composer Carl Nielsen.  At age 18, he made his debut playing Henri Vieuxtemps’ first violin concerto, the longest violin concerto Vieuxtemps ever wrote.  He then studied further with Hungarian violinist Emil Telmanyi.  After that, he traveled to Berlin to study with Willy Hess, a German violinist who played far and wide during his career, including the U.S.  In 1923, Holst became concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic.  He was 24 years old.  He quit that post in 1931 and went to live in England where he taught at the Royal Manchester College of Music.  There, he founded the Henry Holst String Quartet which he disbanded in 1941 to start the Philharmonia Quartet which itself was disbanded in 1952.  He was also active as a soloist.  Holst gave the European Premiere of the Walton violin concerto, a work which had been championed by Jascha Heifetz for a time, in 1941.  Holst also gave the world premiere of the revised version of the concerto in 1944.  The Walton concerto is very seldom played now.  In 1945, Holst moved to London to teach at the Royal College of Music.  He was 46 years old.  Holst moved back to Denmark in 1954 where he taught at the Royal Danish College of Music.  I don’t know how many years he was there but it must have been quite a few.  Henry Holst died on October 19, 1991 at age 92, largely forgotten. 

Carl Nielsen

Carl Nielsen (Carl August Nielsen) was a Danish violinist, composer, conductor, writer, and teacher born (in Norre Lyndelse, on the island of Funen) on June 9, 1865.  Although now remembered almost exclusively as a composer – in fact, Denmark’s greatest composer - he spent many years earning his livelihood as a violinist as well as an Army bugler.  His parents were most likely his very first teachers, although it was not their intention that he become a professional musician.  In late 1879, he became a bugler and trombonist for the army.  He was 14 years old.  Nevertheless, he continued to study the violin, sometimes performing at barn dances.  In 1881, he began studying privately with Carl Larsen, a custodian at the Odense Cathedral.  After receiving a release from his army job, he entered the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 1884 - one source calls this the Copenhagen Conservatory.  His violin teacher there was Valdemar Tofte, a very obscure violinist and teacher.  He left (or graduated) from the conservatory in late 1886.  He was 22 years old.  In 1887, he joined the second violin section of the Royal Danish Orchestra and remained there for about 16 years – one source says this happened in 1889.  Later on, he was also hired to conduct the orchestra every once in a while.  In 1910, he was officially appointed assistant conductor.  However, he had to give up this post in May of 1914.  All the while, he had been giving private violin and piano lessons simply to improve his income.  His opus 1 was premiered when he was 23 years old – September of 1888.  In 1916, he took a teaching post at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.  He was 50 years old.  He continued to teach there until he died.  Outside of Denmark, among the works that continue to be very popular are his symphony number 4, the violin concerto, the Aladdin Suite, the Helios overture, and his string quartet number 4.  He produced well over 100 works during his lifetime.  He also wrote - aside from voluminous correspondence - a set of short essays in 1925 and a memoir of his youth in 1927, both available in English translations.  Nielsen died on October 3, 1931, at age 66.  

Adele Anthony

Adele Anthony is an Australian violinist and teacher born (in Tasmania) on October 1, 1970.  She is known for having won first prize in the (fifth) Carl Nielsen violin competition in 1996 (at age 25) and for being the wife of Gil Shaham, with whom she frequently performs.  Twelve years before that, at age 13, she had won the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Instrumental Competition – she played the Sibelius concerto on that occasion.  Soon afterward, she played the Tchaikovsky concerto in a concert sponsored by the same organization.  That concert in 1983 is considered her Australian public debut.  Anthony began her violin studies at age 3.  She studied at the University of Adelaide with Beryl Kimber.  In 1987, she came to the U.S. to pursue further study at Juilliard (New York City) where her main teachers were Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir, and Dorothy Delay.  According to one source, she studied at Juilliard for eight years, having received funding from several benefactors, including the Starling Foundation.  However, she was an active concert artist even while she was still at Juilliard and still maintains a very active solo concert career.  Her repertoire is very extensive and includes all of the standard violin literature in addition to many contemporary works less frequently heard by audiences.  As do almost all concert violinists nowadays, Anthony also plays chamber music at various festivals throughout the world, but especially in New York, where she resides.  She has recorded for various labels and among her notable recordings are those featuring violin concertos by Carl Nielsen, Ross Edwards, and Nicolo Paganini.  Anthony plays a Stradivarius violin constructed in 1728.  Here is one of her YouTube audio files featuring the work of Ross Edwards – a refreshing and unusual new work for the violin.  A few Stradivarius violins (perhaps one hundred or so) have been given names which have remained attached to the instruments for many years but – as far as I know – this one has no specific name.  I have heard it up close a number of times and it has a wonderful sound.  Perhaps later on, it will be known as the Anthony Stradivarius.