Eugène(-Auguste) Ysaÿe
Belgian Born 16 Jul 1858 Died 12 May 1931
Eugène Ysaÿe, violinist, conductor and composer, was born in Liège in Belgium in 1858. The son of a violinist and amateur conductor he began studying with Désiré Heynberg at the Liège Conservatory in 1865. However, his attendance was irregular resulting in his lessons being discontinued in 1869, to be recommenced in 1872 when he joined Rudolphe Massart's class. In 1874 he was unanimously judged joint winner of the Conservatory's silver medal and won a bursary, enabling him to take lessons with Henryk Wieniawski in Brussels, and Vieuxtemps in Paris. His time in Paris was spent attending lectures and concerts, making useful contacts in the process. In 1879 he took up the position of leader of the Blise Orchestra in Berlin, staying there for the next three years.
On leaving he toured Scandinavia and Russia with the pianist, Anton Rubinstein, returning to Paris in the autumn of 1883. Over the next three years he formed close ties with such composers as Franck, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy and Chausson , many of whom dedicated works to him. His increasing success led Gevaert to appoint Ysaÿ e as teacher of the prestigious violin class at the Brussels Conservatory, a post he continued to hold for the next 12 years. During this period he began composing, and initiated the Concerts Ysaÿe, devoted mainly to contemporary French and Belgian music. He went on to form a world renowned duo with Raoul Pugno, which continued until Pugno's death in 1914. In 1894 he made the first of a series of eight tours of the USA as a violinist. Towards the end of these his playing began to be badly affected by problems arising from neuritis and diabetes. It was probably this that led to acceptance of a four year tenure as conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1918.
Ysaÿe returned to Belgium in 1922, reviving the Concerts Ysaÿe and beginning to give private tuition. Despite failing health (his right foot was amputated in 1929) he resumed his concert tours, and finally gave his last concert in November 1930. Soon after he finished his opera Piére li houïeu, a piece that he was determined to conduct but whose premiere was performed without him, after he collapsed at the first rehearsal. He attended its second performance in Brussels on 25th April 1931, a few weeks before his death.
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