I recently learned of a composer whom I had never heard of before named Eugène Ysaÿe. A Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor, who lived from 1858 to 1931, he was called “The King of the Violin” because of his virtuosity on the instrument.

According to Wikipedia:

As a performer, Ysaÿe was compelling and highly original. Pablo Casals claimed never to have heard a violinist play in tune before Ysaÿe, and Carl Flesch called him “the most outstanding and individual violinist I have ever heard in my life.”

Ysaÿe possessed a large and flexible tone, influenced by a considerable variety of vibrato — from no vibrato at all to very intense. He said, “Don’t always vibrate, but always be vibrating”. His modus operandi was, in his own words: “Nothing which wouldn’t have for goal emotion, poetry, heart.” The conductor Sir Henry Wood said, “The quality of tone was ravishingly beautiful…. He seemed to get more colour out of a violin than any of his contemporaries.”

Possibly the most distinctive feature of Ysaÿe’s interpretations was his masterful rubato (in English: “stolen”). Sir Henry Wood said, “Whenever he stole time from one note, he faithfully paid it back within four bars”, allowing his accompanist to maintain strict tempo under his free cantilena. Incidentally, this kind of rubato fits the description of Frédéric Chopin’s rubato.

It’s his Poème élégiaque in D minor, Op. 12 for violin and piano that brought him to my attention. It uses the device of the scordatura, in which the violin’s lowest string is tuned down to give it a darker, warmer timbre. It was inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and its lush harmonies are reminiscent of Wagner. It’s also available in an orchestral version.