Eugène Ysaÿe

Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (French: [øʒɛn iza.i]; 16 July 1858 – 12 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor.

Day and night he was thinking of that wonderful new instrument that could express joy and sorrow and whose tones went straight to the human heart.

In 1867, Ysaÿe entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège to study with Désiré Heynberg, and in the process won a shared second prize with the Viotti 22nd Violin Concerto.

After his graduation from the Royal Conservatory of Liège, Ysaÿe was the principal violin of the Benjamin Bilse beer-hall orchestra, which later developed into the Berlin Philharmonic.

Among his notable pupils were Josef Gingold, the viola virtuoso William Primrose, the violin virtuoso Nathan Milstein (who primarily studied with Pyotr Stolyarsky), Oskar Back,[3] Ernest Bloch, Jascha Brodsky, Mathieu Crickboom, George Enescu,[3] Aldo Ferraresi, Jonny Heykens, Nellie A.

Hope,[4] Charles Houdret, Julia Klumpke, Louis Persinger, Oscar Shumsky, and Jacques Thibaud.

During his tenure as professor at the Conservatoire, Ysaÿe continued to tour ever more widely, visiting all of Europe, Russia, and the United States.

Despite health concerns, particularly regarding the condition of his hands, Ysaÿe was at his best when performing, and many prominent composers dedicated major works to him, including Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saëns, César Franck, and Ernest Chausson.

He arranged for violin and orchestra Saint-Saëns's Étude en forme de valse, which had originally been written for solo piano.

As his physical ailments grew more prohibitive, Ysaÿe turned more to teaching, conducting and an early love, composition.

Ysaÿe had been offered the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1898, but declined it due to his busy solo performance schedule.

Finally, in 1931, suffering from the extreme ravages of diabetes that had necessitated the amputation of his left foot, Eugène Ysaÿe died in his house in Forest, Belgium, 48 Avenue Brugmann, and was interred in the Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels.

Sir Henry Wood said, "Whenever he stole time from one note, he faithfully paid it back within four bars",[5] allowing his accompanist to maintain strict tempo under his free cantilena.

His first marriage, on 28 September 1886 in Arlon, was to Louise Bourdau (from Dendermonde), with whom he had three sons and two daughters: Gabriel (1887–1961), Carry (1889–1930), Thérèse called Thésy (1890–1956), Antoine (1894–1979) and Théodore (1898–1934).

César Franck presented his Violin Sonata in A to them as a gift on the morning of the wedding, and after a hurried rehearsal Ysaÿe performed the piece at the marriage celebration.

She was a violinist who in her teens had studied with prominent teachers such as Franz Kneisel, Leopold Auer, and Otakar Ševčík.

Eugène Ysaÿe was also close friends with Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, whom he taught violin despite her lack of talent.

His granddaughter, Nadine Ysaye Mosbaugh, was a noted concert pianist who toured Europe with José Iturbi before settling down in Canada.