Arthur Grumiaux

Early life

Born in the Belgian town of Villers-Perwin, on 21 March 1921, Grumiaux was only three years old when his grandfather urged him to begin music studies. He entered the conservatoire in Charleroi at the age of six; the normal entry age was eleven. He studied violin and piano there until the age of eleven, when he graduated and moved to the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels to study violin.

Career

He variously has been described as having made his debut in Brussels at the age of 14, or in 1935, although his debut is more commonly said to have occurred in 1940. This performance was made in Belgium with the Brussels Philharmonic playing Mendelssohn's concerto.

Due to the German invasion of his homeland, he next played publicly after liberation in 1945 with the Allied military entertainment organisation, making his London debut later that year. In 1949 he was appointed professor of violin at the Brussels Conservatoire where he had once studied. He debuted in the United States in Boston, in 1951, and toured the United States in the following year.

In 1973 he was created a baron by King Baudouin of Belgium for his services to music.

Death

He died of a sudden stroke in Brussels in 1986 at the age of 65.

Recordings

Grumiaux had a long-standing relationship with Philips Records, lasting more than 20 years, and recordings are available from them of him performing works by Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Michael Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Henryk Wieniawski, and Johan Svendsen.

A recording of Grumiaux's performance of one movement from Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin, the "Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3, is included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft, as a sample of the culture of Earth.

His violins

He owned both a Guarneri, the "Rose", made by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1744, and a Stradivarius, the "General Dupont", made in 1727.

Violin Competition

The International Grumiaux Competition for Young Violinists is held annually and takes place at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium. It was first held in 2008 under the name of "Bravo", In 2015, the competition was renamed in honour of Arthur Grumiaux, and is now called Concours International Grumiaux pour Jeunes Violonistes (International Grumiaux Competition for Young Violinists).

History

The competition was created in 2008 by Igor Tkatchouk, a violin professor at the Institut Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie in Namur, originally under the name of "Bravo!" competition. It took place each year at the Institut and since 2017 in the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels. In 2015, the competition was supported by the foundation Baron Arthur Grumiaux and was renamed International Arthur Grumiaux Competition for Young Violinists. The same year, Princess Léa of Belgium rewarded the winners at the Royal Theater of Namur. The competition is international and was represented in 2016 by 27 different nationalities

Since 2016 edition, Musiq'3 became the official partner of the project and in the same year, the Belgian TV news RTBF show a spot on television

Prize winners

There are four categories of prizes, based on the age of the performer: category A : through 10 years old, category B ages 11–13, category C ages 14–17, and category D ages 18–21.

Further reading