Achille Rivarde (31 October 186531 March 1940) was an American-born British violinist and teacher, who worked mainly in Europe and London.

Biography

Serge Achille Rivarde was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to a Spanish father and an American mother. He studied under Felix Simon,

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer, and pedagogue, who is regarded amongst the most distinguished violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew :pl:Adam Tadeusz Wien ...

and José White Lafitte.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vo. VII, pp. 185-6 At the age of eleven, he became a pupil of Charles Dancla at the Paris Conservatoire, sharing the first prize with František Ondříček in 1879. He returned to America for three years 1881-84. In 1885, aged only 19, he returned to Paris to become principal violinist with the Orchestre Lamoureux. He remained in that post till 1891. In 1893, in Paris, he and Harold Bauer premiered

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

's Violin Sonata in B major. He made his debut in London in 1894. In 1895 he gave

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that re ...

's '' Symphonie espagnole'' its UK premiere. His American debut came at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in November 1895 (where he was described as "a Spanish violinist". He was also said to have "just entered his 28th year", but he was in fact 30). The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic said he "combines artistic sensibility with a lovely, fluent, polished execution", and also noted a resemblance to

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish violinist, composer and Conducting, conductor of the Romantic music, Romantic period. His best known work ...

, both in his playing and his physical appearance. (A photograph of Rivarde can be see
here
) Some sources say he was also a pupil of Sarasate. In 1899 he became a professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. Apart from occasional appearances as a soloist in London and abroad (he shared the stage with

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of ...

referred to him as "an important violinist and pedagogue". His pupils there included Anthony Collins, Eugene Goossens, the violinist and instrument valuer Robert Lewin, and Margaret Harrison (sister of Beatrice Harrison; she was aged only 4 when she entered the RCM to study with Rivarde). Eugene Goossens wrote a piece for violin and piano called ''Old Chinese Folk Song 'To Achille Rivarde, Esq. Op. 4/1. Fritz Kreisler dedicated to Rivarde his transcription of Dvořák's 1st Slavonic Dance. In 1922 Rivarde published ''The Violin and Its Technique As a Means to the Interpretation of Music'', a small manual of his own method in which he advocated elasticity of movement in every bar. In 1924 he started a separate school of violin playing in London. He died in 1940 in London, aged 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivarde, Achille 1865 births 1940 deaths American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists British classical violinists British music educators Musicians from New York City Musicians from London Academics of the Royal College of Music American people of Spanish descent British people of Spanish descent Conservatoire de Paris alumni American emigrants to the United Kingdom Classical musicians from New York (state)