Violinist Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, a friend of Mendelssohn, was one of the great virtuosi of his age, standing alongside Paganini, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski. Like them, he left behind a series of compositions that showcase the violin’s potential. Two works stand out among the few of his pieces that are still performed today, both of them brilliant and technically-challenging works for solo violin: his arrangement of Schubert’s “Erlkönig’, published in 1854; and the last of his Six Polyphonic Studies of 1864, whose theme is from the extremely popular Irish folksong of the time “The last rose of summer”.

Ingolf Turban (Editor, Fingering)