Joachim

Joachim, JOSEPH, violinist, was born at Kittsee, near Presburg, on 28th June 1831, and received his musical instruction at Vienna and Leipzig. He first appeared in London in 1844. His performances at Vienna, Pesth, Paris, and London have established for him the position of one of the first violinists of the day. In power and brilliancy of execution, and in the mechanical qualities of playing, he is little if at all inferior to Paganini. His works, which include overtures, Hebrew melodies, and other songs, and compositions for the violin, are pervaded by the same tenderness and depth of musical feeling that characterise his playing. From 1850 he was appointed concert director in Weimar, and from 1854 in Hanover; and in 1869 he became a member of the senate of the Berlin Academy, and director and professor in the Conservatory of Music. He is a Mus. Doc. of Cambridge and a D.C.L. of Oxford; and on 17th March 1889, his jubilee, was presented with a magnificent violin, and by the German emperor with the Gold Medal for Art.