Music/Folklore paper by Eshbach, Robert W.
Edouard Reményi: Fiddler, Patriot, Spy (?)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
The violinist Edouard Reményi was one of the most colorful figures in 19th-century music. A significant virtuoso best known as the man who “discovered” the young Johannes Brahms, Reményi has gone down in history as somewhat of a charlatan: flamboyant, opportunistic, and deceitful — a characterization propagated by his contemporary Joseph Joachim, and, to a large degree, by Johannes Brahms. Joachim’s picture of Reményi entered the Brahms biographies, and has persisted to the present day. But is it true? In this talk, I will examine Reményi’s venturesome personality and adventurous life in the turbulent years before he met Brahms, including his life as a Hungarian revolutionary and his sojourn in America in 1850.
Concurrently, I will tell the story of Reményi’s involvement with a group of Hungarian exiles led by Count László Újházi, who sailed to America and, with President Zachary Taylor’s personal support, established the colony of New Buda in Decatur County, Iowa. Reményi accompanied the exiled patriots, who had fought against the Austrians and were hailed in America as heroes of democracy. Arriving in Boston, Remény gave a high-profile concert tour, beginning in New York and ending in New Orleans, to raise money for the exiles. Returning to Europe, he was listed as a “politically dangerous” member of the Hungarian "Umsturzpartei," and wanted by the police. It was then that he met the young Johannes Brahms, who accompanied him on a famous journey to visit his Hungarian compatriots Joachim and Liszt.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Robert Whitehouse Eshbach
Violinist, conductor, and historian Robert W. Eshbach is an honors graduate of Yale University (BA). He studied violin at the Vienna Conservatory, and holds a Master of Music degree in violin at New England Conservatory. His recent publications and invited papers have focused on nineteenth-century musicians: Joachim, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Reinecke, and Wilhelmine Norman-Neruda. His article, “Joachim’s Youth — Joachim’s Jewishness,” was published in The Musical Quarterly. He has presented papers in London, Oxford, Cardiff, Southampton, Meiningen, Leipzig, Weimar, New York, Boston, New Haven, Nashville and elsewhere. Eshbach is associate professor of music at the University of New Hampshire. robeshbach@aol.com