Adila Fachiri (26 February 188615 December 1962) was a Hungarian violinist who had an international career but made her home in England. She was the sister of the violinist

Jelly d'Arányi Jelly d'Aranyi, fully Jelly Aranyi de Hunyadvár ( (30 May 189330 March 1966) was a Hungarian violinist who made her home in London. She was born in Budapest, the great-niece of Joseph Joachim and sister of the violinist Adila Fachiri, with whom ...

, with whom she often played duets.British Library Sound & Vision.
Jelly d’Arányi - The recorded legacy and career of a virtuoso violinist in the roaring twenties
', 24 February 2023 Born Adila Arányi de Hunyadvár in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, her early musical education was at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in Budapest. She began to study violin under

Jenő Hubay Jenő Hubay von Szalatna ( ; 15 September 185812 March 1937), also known by his German name Eugen Huber (), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher. Early life Hubay was born into a German family of musicians in Pest, Hungary ...

when she was ten years old. At the age of 17, she won the artists' diploma, the highest musical distinction in Hungary. She was a great-niece of

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

, and she studied with him in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

until his death, being possibly the only private pupil he ever accepted. He bequeathed to her one of his

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

violins. She first went to England in 1909, and in 1915, she married Alexander Fachiri, an English barrister living in London. By 1924, she had played in public in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands, as well as appearing regularly at London concerts. One of her preferred accompanists was the pianist Julie Lasdun, mother of architect

Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his b ...

. Adila Fachiri made a recording of the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

10th violin sonata with

Donald Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (17 July 187510 July 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist. He had been best known for his '' Essays in Musical Analysis'' and his editions of works by Bac ...

National Gramophonic Society {{No footnotes, date=January 2024 The National Gramophonic Society (NGS) was founded in England in 1923 by the novelist Compton Mackenzie to produce recordings of music which was ignored by commercial record companies. The Society was proposed short ...

, 78rpm record nos. 114-117. She was the dedicatee of the two violin sonatas of

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

, and of the 1930

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

by Sir

Arthur Somervell Sir Arthur Somervell (5 June 18632 May 1937) was an English composer and educationalist. After Hubert Parry, he was one of the most successful and influential writers of art song in the English music renaissance of the 1890s–1900s. According t ...

. On 3 April 1930 she and her sister gave the first performance of the '' Concerto for Two Violins'' of

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

, at a

Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

concert at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

, under the direction of Oskar Fried. Holst wrote the concerto for them. In March 1933, the sisters were involved in a spiritualistic séance in London, at which the existence of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

's Violin Concerto in D minor was revealed to them through the 'voices' of Schumann himself and of their late grand-uncle, Joachim. She died in 1962, aged 73.

Notes

Sources

* A. Eaglefield-Hull, ''A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians'' (Dent, London 1924) * R. Elkin, ''Royal Philharmonic'' (Rider & co., London 1946). * J. MacLeod, ''The Sisters d'Aranyi'' (Allen & Unwin, London 1969). * R. Magidoff, ''Yehudi Menuhin, The Story of the Man and the Musician'' (Robert Hale, London 1956) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fachiri, Adila 1886 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Hungarian people Hungarian nobility Musicians from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian classical violinists Hungarian women classical violinists 20th-century Hungarian women musicians Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United Kingdom Joseph Joachim