Leo Weiner, Franz von Vecsey

Valse triste

Ferenc Vecsey (1893-1935) was one of the greatest virtuoso violinists of the early twentieth century. He was soon noticed as a child prodigy, and after his early violin lessons from his father, he became a pupil of Hubay. His first known public appearance was at the age of 6 in Tátraszéplak (Tatranská Polianka), and a few years later in Berlin he made his debut abroad. There he heard the elderly maestro József Joachim, who was astonished at the talented boy's playing. So started the young Vecsey's performing career: he gave a dozen or so concerts in Germany, then followed a series of concert tours all over the world (in 1906 in Spain, Bartók was his accompanist). From1907, his permanent place of residence between concerts was Berlin, where he began to study harmony and counterpoint. Soon he began composing himself, mainly writing virtuoso pieces for his own concerts, of which the Valse triste became the most famous. Other musicians were also happy to include this short character piece in their programmes. Vecsey later settled in Italy. He died unexpectedly at the young age of 42.