Jean-Baptiste Accolay
Jean-Baptiste Accolay was born in Brussels, Belgium on April 17, 1833 and died in Bruge, Belgium August 19, 1900.
Early Life and Musical Education
Belgian violinist and composer Auguste-Joseph Accolay studied violin at the Brussels Conservatory under Lambert Joseph Meerts and Nicolas Lambert Wéry.
Teaching Career in Bruges
After his studies, Accolay moved to Bruges and initially played trumpet in a cuirassier regiment. However, he soon joined the city's music conservatory as an assistant violin teacher and later became the director of the viola class (1864), ensemble class (1865), and harmony class (1874).
Musical Director and Performer
Accolay served as principal violinist for the Bruges City Theater and Music Society. He also led a piano trio (1865-1872) and founded the Bruges Symphony Orchestra in 1896. Additionally, he directed the brass band of the local Boy Scouts organization, the "Chasseurs-Éclaireurs."
Compositions
Accolay composed a musical drama, "The Templars," and numerous chamber and orchestral works. However, he is primarily known for his single-movement violin concertos for young and beginner violinists. His concertos No. 1 in A minor (1868) and No. 2 in D minor (1875) have been recorded by renowned violinists such as Wanda Wilkomirska and Itzhak Perlman.
Forgotten Legacy
Despite his popularity during his lifetime, Accolay's music was largely forgotten for a period, leading to a legend that he never existed and that his student concertos were actually written by Henri Vieuxtemps, who used the pseudonym to avoid compromising his reputation.
This biography is from https://biographs.org/jean-baptiste-accolay, which I accesssed January 15, 2025. No specific author is credited on this site. Other sites I used for information include the following, which I accessed the same date:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Accolay
https://www.tonebase.co/composer-biographies/jeanbaptisteaccolay
https://sheetmusicinternational.com/home/profile_details/49
https://mobile.theviolinchannel.com/violinist-composer-accolay-died-on-this-day/
Early Life and Musical Education
Belgian violinist and composer Auguste-Joseph Accolay studied violin at the Brussels Conservatory under Lambert Joseph Meerts and Nicolas Lambert Wéry.
Teaching Career in Bruges
After his studies, Accolay moved to Bruges and initially played trumpet in a cuirassier regiment. However, he soon joined the city's music conservatory as an assistant violin teacher and later became the director of the viola class (1864), ensemble class (1865), and harmony class (1874).
Musical Director and Performer
Accolay served as principal violinist for the Bruges City Theater and Music Society. He also led a piano trio (1865-1872) and founded the Bruges Symphony Orchestra in 1896. Additionally, he directed the brass band of the local Boy Scouts organization, the "Chasseurs-Éclaireurs."
Compositions
Accolay composed a musical drama, "The Templars," and numerous chamber and orchestral works. However, he is primarily known for his single-movement violin concertos for young and beginner violinists. His concertos No. 1 in A minor (1868) and No. 2 in D minor (1875) have been recorded by renowned violinists such as Wanda Wilkomirska and Itzhak Perlman.
Forgotten Legacy
Despite his popularity during his lifetime, Accolay's music was largely forgotten for a period, leading to a legend that he never existed and that his student concertos were actually written by Henri Vieuxtemps, who used the pseudonym to avoid compromising his reputation.
This biography is from https://biographs.org/jean-baptiste-accolay, which I accesssed January 15, 2025. No specific author is credited on this site. Other sites I used for information include the following, which I accessed the same date:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Accolay
https://www.tonebase.co/composer-biographies/jeanbaptisteaccolay
https://sheetmusicinternational.com/home/profile_details/49
https://mobile.theviolinchannel.com/violinist-composer-accolay-died-on-this-day/
Concerto in a minor for violin
Orchestra: The Juilliard Orchestra Violin: Itzhak Perlman Conductor: Lawrence Foster |
Concerto in a minor for violin
Jia-Yun Wang(Age 10) Chi-Hsuan Tseng class Conductor: Yoichi Hattori Taiwan Suzuki Orchestra |