Joseph Joachim

Liszt, Mendelssohn and Brahms all at different times became close friends — Brahms for life. As a 12-year-old, he bacame Mendelssohn’s protégé, playing Beethoven with Mendelssohn conducting. In Weimar, he joined Liszt’s orchestra and Liszt became his mentor, though Joachim later wrote severing all relations (when he took up with Brahms and the Schumanns.) He often performed with Brahms and with Clara Schumann. Bruch and Dvořák, composer colleagues, both wrote concertos for him as soloist, while his friend Alma-Tadema painted him (as did Sargent). Dickens hosted him, calling him “a noble fellow”. Spohr described his playing as masterful.