Joachim, Joseph

VIOLINIST, PEDAGOGUE (AUSTRIA)
BORN 28 Jun 1831, Kittsee, Burgenland - DIED 15 Aug 1907, Berlin
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Friedhof der Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirchengemeinde, Fürstenbrunnerweg 69-79 (Feld D-G2 Gitter (Ehrengrab))

Joseph Joachim already performed as a child and started his studies at the Conservatory in Vienna in 1838. He finished his studies when he was twelve and moved on to Leipzig, where Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was his teacher.

In 1849 he became concertmaster at Franz Liszt's orchestra in Weimar. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Liszt and Johannes Brahms were all close friends. Musically he slowly moved away from Liszt and towards Brahms. In 1849 he started an affair with Gisela von Arnim that lasted until she married Hermann Grimm in 1859.

From 1853 until 1866 he was concertmaster in Hanover. There he met the singer Amalie Weiss, whom he married in 1863. They had six children, but his jealousy resulted in a divorce in 1884.

In 1868 he became the director of the Hochschule in Berlin and in 1869 he started the Joachim-quartet, which existed until his death in 1907. From 1882 until 1887 he was conductor at the Berlin Philharmonic.

He was also famous as a teacher. Joachim often travelled abroad and received many titles and awards. He was seen by many as the greatest violinist of his time and he performed many times together with Clara Schumann.

Family
• Wife: Joachim, Amalie (1863-1882, Hannover: Schlosskirche) (divorce or separation)

Related persons
• had a relationship with Arnim, Gisela von
• was a friend of Brahms, Johannes
• visited Dirichlet, Peter Gustave Lejeune
• performed with Ernst, Heinrich Wilhelm
• was a friend of Liszt, Franz
• cooperated with Marsick, Martin-Pierre
• was pupil of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix
• knew Radecke, Robert
• cooperated with Schumann, Clara
• knew Schumann, Felix
• was teacher of Soldat-Röger, Marie
• knew Thackeray Ritchie, Anne

Events
18/2/1865Joseph Joachim and Julie von Asten perform together in Hamburg. They played pieces by Schumann, Mozart and Schubert. 
26/6/1870Premiere of Wagner's "Die Walküre" at the Hoftheater in Munich. Wagner wanted to stage it in 1871, but Ludwig II of Bavaria was the legal owner of the piece and didn't want to wait. Wüllner was the conductor and Joachim, Brahms, Saint-Saëns and Liszt were in the audience. Wagner wasn't there and Ludwig also stayed away. He had decided to wait for the second performance so that he would be able to see "Das Rheingold", that would be staged again during the summer, and "Die Walküre" in the right order. [Bausewein, Kaspar][Brahms, Johannes][Liszt, Franz][Possart-Deinet, Anna von][Saint-Saëns, Camille][Vogl, Heinrich][Vogl, Therese][Wagner, Richard]
17/8/1873Commemoration of Robert Schumann in Bonn to raise funds for a memorial. The music festival took place on 17-19 August. Funds were raised to replace Schumann's tombstone for a more worthy monument. The performances were conducted by Wilhelm von Wasielewski and Joseph Joachim. Clara Schumann herself was a performer. Others were Marie Wilt, Amalie Joachim, Marie Sartorius, Franz Diener, Julius Stockhausen, Adolph Schulze and Ernst Rudorff. [Joachim, Amalie][Schumann, Clara][Schumann, Robert][Stockhausen, Julius][Wilt, Marie]
26/11/1937First performance of Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto. It was performed by Georg Kulenkampff and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Karl Böhm was the conductor. The manuscript had been given by Clara Schumann to Joseph Joachim. Joachim had stated in his will that it should not be performed until 1956, 100 years after Schumann's death. This was because he thought that the piece showed signs of Schumann's mental illness. Joachim's heirs gave permission for an earlier performance. [Böhm, Karl][Schumann, Clara][Schumann, Robert]

Images

The grave of Joseph and Amalie Joachim at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Friedhof, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (29 Mar 2007)

 

Sources
• Blunt, Wilfrid, The Dream King, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1973
• Prahacs, Margit, Franz Liszt, Briefe aus Ungarischen Sammlungen 1835-1886, Bärenreiter, Kassel, 1966
Georg Kulenkampff – Wikipedia
Joseph Joachim - Wikipedia


Jodl, Friedrich

Published: 21 Jul 2007
Last update: 20 Sep 2023