The Channel of Henri Vieuxtemps on YouTube

June 30, 2013 at 9:12 PM

The Channel of Henri Vieuxtemps on YouTube
Leontien Akkerman

If I advice students who are working on a piece to consider listening to a version for violin with orchestra or piano I encounter regularly on the You Tube channel of a certain Henri Vieuxtemps. Here are a lot of known and unknown, easy and difficult violin concertos to listen and you can read along while listening to the violin or the score that synchronously with the music slides past in the image. A very good way to get to get to know the piece with the guidance.
Because I often use the site and because we would make an ARCO on applications of internet I took the plunge and I have made a reaction on this channel. I was curious about the person who was behind the pseudonym Henri Vieuxtemps, and what drives him.

"Dear Henri,
We make a ARCO about internet, I would like to get in touch with you to ask questions about all those useful videos you post on YouTube? Is that possible?
Kind regards, Leontien Akkerman. "

Within an hour I had a reply from Henri Vieuxtemps, who in everyday life turned out to be called Bram Heemskerk, and I could fire my questions to him.

Violin Concerts saver. (other people save stamps)
Bram appears to be an avid amateur violinist with a special passion for discovering and also perform much (as an orchestral violinist) of unknown violin concertos.
He says of himself that he violin concertos 'save' and it strikes him that many professional violinists and violin teachers are so poorly known the vast repertoire of violin concertos that are available. (I must admit that I had never before heard numerous violin concertos of his channel). Through his YouTube channel he wants to help people discover new violin concertos. Lowering the barrier are also websites like IMSLP (see elsewhere in this ARCO) where many sheet music violin concertos are free to download. Previously violinists or conductors had to search in many music libraries if they wanted to play something original.
Bram says that every time you hear the same violin concerts in concert halls, the iron repertoire that everyone already knows like the first of Bruch, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart. Why do you sometimes hear Paganini concert 1 and 2, while he has written six and never hear Paganini 3,4,5 or 6? In addition to the violin concertos he puts also study concerts for students on You Tube, and it appears that they are very much viewed.
It is not always easy to get audio from the unknown violin concerts and study concerts. In his blogs include violonist.com Bram ask violinists on to record unknown works on CD (Beriot 6 + 10 has never been recorded) Or maybe there is a ESTA member that wishes to contact a pianist make an audio for this You Tube channel! (he could get no audio of Rieding op.7, L.J.Beer op.81, P.Essek op.4, L.Portnoff op.13 so perhaps someone likes to make an audio)

Play in amateur orchestra’s
Besides violin concertos and save to YouTube and listen to special violin concerts in concert halls, he also try to play as 1st or 2nd violin in amateur orchestras as much violin concerto’s as possible. In total he played in total 44 different violin concertos. For this he is often several evenings a week from home and he travels through South Holland, and sometimes to other parts of the country. Sometimes even from Waddinxveen to Groningen or Brabant, purely for the fun he has it playing a rare violin concerto, he can check off his list again.

Why the name Henri Vieuxtemps?
Bram says he is a big fan of this composer, who wrote sweet romantic music including eight violin concertos. He likes to hear those 8 concerto’s in concerthalls. Fortunately they played during the final of the last Oskar Back National violin competition in The Netherlands four times the 5th Vieuxtemps violin concerto. He visited once the Vieux Temps violin Competition in Verviers, the birthplace of the composer in Belgium http://www.prixvieuxtemps.be/index.htm. Once he almost came back from China not to miss the fourth concert of Vieuxtemps duing athat competition in Verviers. With a violin friend he went to Verviers, where they visited his grave, drunk a Vieux Temps (Old Times)-beer near his statue in Verviers and visited Rue Vieux Temps. He also made a Vieuxtemps T-shirt. In the past he copied 10 CDs with unknown violin concerts he liked and gave it, along with this Vieux Temps-beer as a joke, to prominent soloists. The aim was to stimulate them to play something different than a traditional repertoire. He now sees that maybe it was a bit pushy, it had little effect in any case, and with his You Tube channel he could reach more people. He always has enough Vieux Temps beer in his house, for which he regularly travels to Belgium.
On the grave of Henry Vieuxtemps the name of Henry is written with a y instead of i . Sometimes they also write it wrong on cd’s of Vieuxtemps, and with this “i” he distinguishes from the real composer.

You Tube channel.
There are now 660 movies on his channel, mainly of violin concertos. Every day there are 5,000 viewers from all over the world. He gets a lot of positive and rewarding responses to the loaded movies and he has 3700 subscribers. Each day there are an average of five new ones, besides Europe many people from Asia, South America, the United States and sometimes Africa and the Middle East. These subscribers receive weekly an email with a link to new movies. Especially the study concerts are frequently viewed.
It is also possible ask for requests. I asked for Küchler opus 15, because I want to perform with my pupils as soloists and orchestramembers. I supply the music and a day later Küchler is on YouTube and 175 people have been looked at the movie!
Another urgent request to readers: Bram is looking for the sheet music for the violin solo’s of Karol Lipinski (the fourth violin concerto), Joseph White and Ole Bull.
The video’s can be found at www.youtube.com/user/HenriVieuxtemps/videos. Here you can see an overview (Show popular / newest or oldest addition), or at the very example Rieding opus 35 typing and then choose the video with music. Here you can also subscribe for free.

STUDENT CONCERTS ON THE CANAL:
ACCOLAY, Jean Baptiste (1833-1900) first violin concerto in A minor for violin + piano
ACCOLAY, Jean Baptiste (1833-1900) first violin concerto in A minor for violin + orchestra
KÜCHLER, F op.11 violin + piano
KÜCHLER, F op.12 violin + piano
KÜCHLER, F op.15 violin + piano
KÜCHLER, F op.15 violin orchestra +
SEITZ, F op.13 violin + piano
SEITZ, F op.13 violin orchestra +
SEITZ, F op.15 violin + piano
SEITZ, F op.22 violin + piano
Millies, Hans violin + piano
MOLLENHAUER, Edward (1827-1914)
Rieding, Oskar opus 21 for violin + piano Rieding, Oskar opus 24 for violin + piano
Rieding, Oskar opus 25 for violin + piano
Rieding, Oskar opus 34 for violin + piano
Rieding, Oskar opus 35 for violin + piano
Rieding, Oskar opus 35 for violin + orchestra
Rieding, Oskar opus 36 for violin + piano

(After the article was also added Jardanyi and 3 concerto’s of George Perlman)

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