Scan 104
Celebrated violinists, past and present; ("The Strad" library), 1897
4 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. Printed page 92. See the scan on archive.org.
1among the best of virtuoso music and are therefore of extreme difficulty, are always pleasant to hear and grateful to play; such pieces as the 'Otello' fantasia, the 'Elégie,' and the 'Carnival of Venice,' are still very popular."
3On the other hand von Wasielewski, in effect, says that Ernst was to some extent an imitator of Paganini, whom he followed about from country to country in the hope of profiting by the Italian's peculiarities of performance. A fruit of the great influence of Paganini is the "Carnival of Venice," that piquant burlesque, in which all possible artistic fireworks are fired at the same time. The piece, which is designed only for effect, is founded chiefly upon reminiscences of Paganini's method, and so the Italian was correct when he said à propos of Ernst's work, Il faut se méfiez de vous. But Ernst by no means remained in the "Carnival of Venice" region; he was quite capable of receiving the noblest impressions even if they did not sink deeply into his nature. His fluent playing, highly coloured and sympathetic as it was, proved that he possessed a lively temperament which, however, showed itself spasmodically rather than in one even-flowing stream. His disposition was "uneven" if one may use such an expression, and this explains his unequal performances, which were, however, quite as often dissatisfying as attractive, since he was prone more or less to err in his technique and his intonation was not invariably above suspicion. That Ernst was a veritable hero in the world of virtuosi is proved by his compositions, some of which, while free from commonplace, have quite spirituelle moments, and they all display the many-sidedness of the violin. Nevertheless they have no positive worth as musical compositions. And the reason for this lies probably in the fact that the composer as a virtuoso was chiefly a seeker after effects, for his attempts at music of a high class and his own rendering of classical master-pieces were by no means as successful as they might have been. In certain circumstances he did not hesitate when seeking a super-
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