In 1555 the Italian musician Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx moved to Paris, where he became a servant at the court of Catherine de' Medici. At the time the violin was played in Italy but not in France. He became the first famous violinist when he introduced the instrument to the French court. Such was its popularity, the violin supplanted the lute as the stringed instrument of choice.
Roller-skates made their first recorded appearance at Carlisle House, London in 1760. Belgian inventor Joseph Merlin rolled into a party being held there while playing the violin wearing these first roller skates. It was not a successful introduction as the violinist crashed into a large mirror causing nearly a thousand dollars' worth of damage.
Mozart was a very fine violinist, though he often took the viola part when playing quartets. He composed five violin concertos for his own use.
Niccolo Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840), regarded by many people to be the greatest violin virtuoso ever, was so good that he was thought to be the son of the Devil or to have sold his soul for his talent. As a result, he was forced to publish his mother's letters to him in order to prove that he had human parents.
Paganini was the fastest violinist ever. He was once recorded playing 12 notes per second.
When Franz Liszt attended a concert by Paganini in Paris, he was so awestruck by the violin virtuoso's skill, he became motivated to become the greatest pianist of his time.
In 1929 Otto E. Funk walked from New York City to San Francisco playing the violin for the whole journey.
An accomplished violinist, Albert Einstein played Bach and Mozart with feeling and insight and with an excellent sense of rhythm.
Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a US comedian whose act featured him playing the violin badly for laughs. He'd learned the instrument as a child and when Benny performed his first serious concert, a critic wrote: "Last night Jack Benny played Mendelssohn, and Mendelssohn lost."
Larry Fine of the Three Stooges burned his arm with acid as a child. His parents gave him violin lessons to strengthen the damaged nerves. Fine became so proficient on the violin that his parents planned to send him to a European music conservatory but the plan was thwarted by World War I.
Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) was an American-born violinist, who adopted British nationality. He made his concerto debut in Berlin aged 13. Albert Einstein, who was in the audience, said with tears in his eyes: "The day of miracles is not over."
Leading concert violinist Joshua Bell, played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a subway station on January 12, 2007. Of the 1,097 people who passed by Bell, only seven stopped to listen him play, including a 3-year old boy, and only one person recognized him. The experiment was initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten.
Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. T
The Guinness World Record for the fastest violinist is currently held by Ben Lee, who took 58. 515 seconds to perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee" at Norwood productions London, UK, on December 13, 2011. Ben Lee, one half of electric string duo Fuse, has held the Guinness world record for fastest violinist several times.
Indian violinist M.S. Viswanath is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest violin marathon by an individual. His record attempt lasted for 36:00:20 hours, and was achieved from September 1-2 2018, in Kochi, India. Viswanath played a very diverse set list, ranging from Indian folk tunes to remixes of Luis Fonsi's "Despacito."
Roller-skates made their first recorded appearance at Carlisle House, London in 1760. Belgian inventor Joseph Merlin rolled into a party being held there while playing the violin wearing these first roller skates. It was not a successful introduction as the violinist crashed into a large mirror causing nearly a thousand dollars' worth of damage.
Mozart was a very fine violinist, though he often took the viola part when playing quartets. He composed five violin concertos for his own use.
Niccolo Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840), regarded by many people to be the greatest violin virtuoso ever, was so good that he was thought to be the son of the Devil or to have sold his soul for his talent. As a result, he was forced to publish his mother's letters to him in order to prove that he had human parents.
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| Portrait of young Paganini |
Paganini was the fastest violinist ever. He was once recorded playing 12 notes per second.
When Franz Liszt attended a concert by Paganini in Paris, he was so awestruck by the violin virtuoso's skill, he became motivated to become the greatest pianist of his time.
In 1929 Otto E. Funk walked from New York City to San Francisco playing the violin for the whole journey.
An accomplished violinist, Albert Einstein played Bach and Mozart with feeling and insight and with an excellent sense of rhythm.
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| Einstein playing violin |
Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a US comedian whose act featured him playing the violin badly for laughs. He'd learned the instrument as a child and when Benny performed his first serious concert, a critic wrote: "Last night Jack Benny played Mendelssohn, and Mendelssohn lost."
Larry Fine of the Three Stooges burned his arm with acid as a child. His parents gave him violin lessons to strengthen the damaged nerves. Fine became so proficient on the violin that his parents planned to send him to a European music conservatory but the plan was thwarted by World War I.
Leading concert violinist Joshua Bell, played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a subway station on January 12, 2007. Of the 1,097 people who passed by Bell, only seven stopped to listen him play, including a 3-year old boy, and only one person recognized him. The experiment was initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten.
Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. T
The Guinness World Record for the fastest violinist is currently held by Ben Lee, who took 58. 515 seconds to perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee" at Norwood productions London, UK, on December 13, 2011. Ben Lee, one half of electric string duo Fuse, has held the Guinness world record for fastest violinist several times.
Indian violinist M.S. Viswanath is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest violin marathon by an individual. His record attempt lasted for 36:00:20 hours, and was achieved from September 1-2 2018, in Kochi, India. Viswanath played a very diverse set list, ranging from Indian folk tunes to remixes of Luis Fonsi's "Despacito."
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