Eduard Remenyi

Eduard Remenyi (Eduard Hoffmann) was a Hungarian violinist and composer born on January 17, 1828 (Beethoven was already dead but Paganini was 45 years old.) He studied under Joseph Bohm (Joachim's teacher) at the Vienna Conservatory from 1842 to 1845. His specialty was playing for private audiences. He participated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (on the losing side) and was subsequently evicted from Austria. In 1851, he came to the U.S. and worked as a free-lance violinist for a couple of years. He returned to Europe in 1853, befriended Franz Liszt for a time, and ended up in England in 1854 where he was appointed solo violinist to Queen Victoria. In 1860, he returned to Hungary where he was then made violin soloist to Emperor Franz Joseph. In 1865, he undertook a tour of Europe. He lived in Paris for six years (1871-1877) then in London and finally crossed the ocean again in 1881 and played in the U.S. and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. From 1886, he concertized throughout the world, by then having established himself and his family in New York City. On the afternoon of May 15, 1898, he was playing a vaudeville show (with orchestra) at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco when, after playing three pieces, he fell over dead on stage. He was 70 years old.

Joseph Achron

Joseph Achron was a Russian (Lithuanian) violinist and composer born on May 13, 1886 (Pablo Sarasate was already 42 years old and Joseph Joachim was 55.) He first studied with his father at age five. He later studied with Leopold Auer at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Achron toured Europe and Russia from 1918 until about 1924. In 1925, he came to the U.S. and taught, played many concerts, and wrote music for films and for the concert stage. His best known work is probably Hebrew Melody, written early in his composing career (1911). Heifetz was one of his benefactors, commissioning a violin concerto in 1938 or 1939. I don’t think Heifetz ever recorded it. Achron was the brother of the pianist and composer Isidor Achron, who became Jascha Heifetz's accompanist. Joseph Achron died in Hollywood, California in 1943.

Otto Joachim

Otto Joachim was a Canadian violist, violinist, composer, teacher, conductor, and instrument maker, born in Dusseldorf, Germany, on October 13, 1910. He studied violin from 1916 until 1931. I have no idea what he did between 1931 and 1934, but I do know that in 1934, he taught in Singapore and China. In 1949, intending to settle in Brazil, he traveled by way of Canada and within a very short time opted to stay there. He was Principal violist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for some time and taught at the Montreal Conservatory and at other music schools as well. He also conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra, among many other ensembles. Joachim, understandably, was not a prolific composer, but he managed to write more than thirty works of some variety. His specialty was electronic and twelve-tone music. I have never heard any of it nor do I intend to - I dislike that sort of noise. Joachim died on July 30, 2010, at age 99.