Creative Worlds of Joseph Joachim

This collection of essays explores Joseph Joachim's life and art, examining his Jewish background, assimilation into Christian society, Mendelssohn's mentorship, and the influence of Hungarian vernacular music. It also focuses on his personal and creative responses to the cultural milieu, including his choice of instruments, performances, British career, quartet player, pedagogical legacy, and influence on the establishment of the musical canon.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2021
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) was a renowned violinist, composer, teacher, and founding director of Berlin's Royal Academy of Music. Born in a small Jewish community on the Austro-Hungarian border, he rose to unparalleled prominence in European cultural life. This timely collection of essays delves into significant yet overlooked aspects of Joachim's life and art. Studies of his Jewish background, early assimilation into Christian society, mentorship by Felix Mendelssohn, and the influence of Hungarian vernacular music on his musical style shed light on the roots of Joachim's identity. The later chapters explore his personal and creative responses to the contentious and rapidly evolving cultural milieu in which he lived. His choice of instruments as his musical voice, his performances as sites of (re)enchantment in the modern age, his groundbreaking British career, his role as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions are examined.

This collection employs a diverse range of approaches, including analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical, to provide enlightening insights for scholars, performers, and enthusiasts interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.

Weight: 690g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781783276547