Jean-Baptiste Accolay (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist akɔlɛ]; 17 April 1833 – 19 August 1900)[1] was a Belgian violin teacher, violinist, conductor, and composer of the romantic period.
He cofounded the concert series Séances de musique classique at Bruges in 1865 and the Maatschappij der Concerten van het Conservatorium in 1896.
[3] Most of Accolay's works are concertos, concertinos, or character pieces for violin with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
[4] The liner notes for Perlman's recording of "Concertos from My Childhood" indicate that there are at least "seven works by the long forgotten Belgian violinist and teacher Jean-Baptiste Accolay, whose concertos (including the one in question) were edited for publication by the Walloon virtuoso Mathieu Crickboom, a protégé of Eugène Ysaÿe, and professor at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels."
Though its executant demands are slight, this agreeably spontaneous piece highlights one of music's great paradoxes — that expressive power often derives from the simplest of technical means."