Apollinaire de Kontski
Compositions for: Violin
Grande fantaisie sur 'Lucia di Lammermoor', Op.2Jean Sobieski, Op.7La Cascade, Op.3Le Départ du chevalier, Op.11Le Diable, Op.9Le rêve d'une jeune châtelaine, Op.6Mazourka champêtre, Op.4ProstotaTristesse et gaîté, Op.15Wanda, Op.10Wielkopolanin, Op.8Arrangements for: Violin
Grande fantaisie sur 'Lucia di Lammermoor', Op.2La Cascade, Op.3WikipediaApollinaire de Kontski (23 October 1825 – 29 June 1879) was a Polish violinist, teacher and composer.
He was born in Warsaw (some sources say Kraków) as Apolinary Kątski, the youngest of five musical siblings who all used the name de Kontski professionally, and the only one who was not a pianist. Their father tried to have them all recognised as "wunderkinder".
He studied with his elder brother Charles de Kontski and appeared in public at the age of four, playing a concerto by
Pierre Rode. He appeared in St Petersburg, France, Germany and England, making an extraordinary impression. He was praised by the likes of
Hector Berlioz and
Giacomo Meyerbeer. De Kontski was befriended by
Niccolò Paganini in Paris, had some lessons with him, and it was said that he was even bequeathed Paganini's violins and manuscripts. This last claim appears to be without foundation, however, Paganini did give him a signed testimonial, which was published in the Musical World of 21 June 1838:
Having heard M. de Kontski, aged eleven years, perform several pieces of music on the violin, and having found him worthy of being ranked among the most celebrated artists of the present day, permit me to say, that if he continues his studies in this fine art, he will, in course of time, surpass the most distinguished performers of the age.(Signed) PAGANINI."
Apollinaire de Kontski had a flair for showmanship like his brother
Anton de Kontski (1817-1899) - and several other virtuosos among his contemporaries. At one concert in France in 1850, he combined pizzicato and arco in the same piece, then removed all but one string of his violin to play an aria from Meyerbeer's
Robert le diable... He also wrote some pieces for violin with only one string, and with five strings (which he called "pentakords").
In 1878 he performed at the Paris International Exhibition along with
Henryk Wieniawski.
Apollinaire de Kontski composed a violin concerto, a quartet for four violins, 24 Études-Caprices for violin and flute, transcriptions, variations, opera fantaisies (his "Fantasia on Motives from
Lucia di Lammermoor" was famous in his day) and numerous other virtuoso pieces, all now forgotten. He died in his home city in 1879, aged 53.