Vieuxtemps
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
HENRI, a Belgian composer; born in Verviers, Belgium, Feb. 20, 1820; began to give concerts in his 13th year, and after completing his studies at Vienna and Paris spent most of his time in traveling from place to place as a performer till in 1870 he became a teacher in the Brussels conservatoire. He retired in 1873. His works comprise concertos, fantasies, and lied June 6, dances for the violin. He died 1881. VIGFÚSSON, GUDBRAND, a Scandinavian scholar; born in Frakkanes, Iceland, March 13, 1827. He was educated Reikiavik, first at the high school of Reikiav afterward at Copenhagen University. He lived in Copenhagen from 1849 till 1864, having devoted himself to the study of old Icelandic literature. His first work, "Timatal," on the chronology of the Sagas, was published in 1855, and revealed the hand of a master. In 1858 he brought out the "Biskupa Sögur, or Lives of the Icelandic Bishops," and in 1864 the "Eyrbyggja Saga." In the latter year he came to England na to undertake the Icelandic-English lexicon, begun by Cleasby, and in 1866 began at Oxford this work, which kept him engaged for seven years, the result being the excellent dictionary issued from the Clarendon Press. In 1878 the Clarendon Press published his "Sturlunga- Saga," to which he prefixed "Prolegomena" containing a complete history of the classic literature of Iceland. This was followed by several minor works and essays by by the "Orkneyinga Saga" and "Hakonar Saga" and by the "Corpus Poeticum Boreale" (in conjunccollection of the ancient Icelandic tion with F. York Powell), a collection with thelatanciente Icelandic terly engaged upon a work entitled "Origines Islandiæ," but died before its completion. In 1884 he was appointed lecturer in Icelandic and kindred subjects at the University of Oxford. He died in Oxford, England, Jan. 31, 1889.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's account of 1921 still stands in outline, though modern reference works give Vieuxtemps's birth as 17 February 1820 rather than 20 February, and he died not in Belgium but at Mustapha, near Algiers, where he had gone for his health after the stroke that ended his playing. Where Collier's lists his output vaguely as concertos, fantasies and dances, today his reputation rests almost entirely on two of his seven violin concertos, the Fourth and Fifth, which remain standard concert and competition pieces; most of the salon fantasies have dropped out of use. His brief Brussels teaching, which Collier's mentions in passing, is now remembered chiefly because his pupil there was Eugene Ysaye, and recordings have made the concertos far better known than the man. The page also runs on into an entry for the Icelandic scholar Gudbrand Vigfusson, whose Cleasby-Vigfusson Icelandic-English dictionary of 1874 is still consulted by students of Old Norse.
Written for this edition, 2026.