Martinus Sieveking (March 24, 1867 – November 26, 1950) was a Dutch virtuoso pianist, composer, teacher and inventor born in Amsterdam. Also known as Martin Sieveking,Dubal, David (2004). "The Art of the Piano: Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings, Volume 1, 3rd edition", pg. 335. Amadeus Press, New Jersey. . he performed as a soloist around Europe] and the United States during his active career and taught in France and the U.S. after he retired from performing. He is sometimes referred to as The Flying Dutchman due to his Dutch heritage and extremely flighty nature.Lahee 1913, pg. 251. At the peak of his career, he was pronounced by the New York and Boston critics as one of the four greatest living pianists of that time along with Ignace Paderewski, Moriz Rosenthal and Rafael Joseffy.
Sieveking was an advocate of The Dead-Weight Principle of playing. He devised his own variation of this system and wrote several articles about the subject for publication.Dennis, Pamela R. (2011). "An Index to Articles Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883-1957, Part 1", pg, 654. A-R Editions, Inc. He was also an inventor of both musical and non-musical devices that he had patented in various countries.Lahee 1918, pg. 253.
Early life Sieveking came from an old and aristocratic family, which dated its ancestry back to the fifteenth century.(1895-08). "Musical record and review, Issues 396-407 - Issue 403, August 1895", pg. 8. Oliver Ditson Company. He grew up in a musical atmosphere, as his mother Johanna De Jong was a well-known opera singer and his father, also named Martinus, was a trained musician, choral conductor and a composer with published works in the Netherlands.Sieveking, Martinus (1860). "Liederkransje: zangstukjes voor kinderstemmen: ten dienste van scholen en huisgezinnen (Song Album: vocal pieces for children's voices)". De Hoogh, Amsterdam.Sieveking, Martinus. "Liederkransje: vijf-en-twintig tweestemmige zangstukjes, ten dienste van scholen en huisgezinnen: eerste stukje (Song Album: five-and-twenty two vocal pieces,)". P.J. Milborn, Nijmegen.Sieveking, Martinus (1863). "Keur van liederen en kooren voor vier mannenstemmen: ten dienste van jongelings-vereenigingen en christelijke zanggezelschappen / I. (Variety of songs and choirs for four male voices)". H. de Hoogh, Amsterdam. He was the second in a family of four; his older sibling was named Johanna like his mother, and Martinus was followed by Charles, then Rosa."Martinus Sieveking". Family Search. Retrieved on 2012-08-21.
From his early childhood he showed characteristics indicative of being a great musician. His father gave Martinus his first piano lessons at an early age and continued to do so until he was ten."Martinus Sieveking (Composer, Arranger)". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved on 2012-08-29. In addition to playing piano Martinus also started composing at an early age and played the organ in a church by age twelve.Brower 1917, pg. 158 Eventually his family sent him to the Leipzig Conservatory. At the conservatory, he studied piano for eight years under Julius Röntgen, a famous German-Dutch pianist-composer, and spent six years of musical education in composition and orchestration, under Franz Coenen in the Netherlands.(1896_08). "Munsey's Magazine, Volume 15", pg. 607. Frank A Munsey, pub., NY."The Courier (Lincoln, Nebraska), September 22, 1894, Page 11, Image 11". Chronicling America. Retrieved on 2012-09-05.
Musical career
His first international appearance was in Paris in 1888 when, at the age of twenty-one, he heard his own composition, a suite for orchestra, played by the Lamoureux Orchestra."Martinus Sieveking". Grande Musica. Retrieved on 2012-08-22. He resided in Paris in 1889 and became one of the number of Dutch musicians that were based in the city.Comettant, Oscar (1891). "La hollande musicale à Paris: Histoire d'un Concert", pg. 87. Société de Bienfaisance Hollandaise, Paris.(1891-01-25). "Le Ménestrel, Volume 57, (1891)", pg. 30. Bureaux de Ménestrel, Paris.
He visited England in 1890 upon the suggestion of his uncle, Sir Edward Henry Sieveking, who was well known in London and was one of the physicians of Queen Victoria. He had success with two tours with Edward Lloyd, the British tenor, and David Popper, the cellist. He also made two tours as the accompanist to the Italian opera singer Adelina Patti during her tour of the United Kingdom between 1891 and 1892. He became one of the artists sponsored by the Mason & Hamlin piano manufacturer in 1892.Lahee 1913, pg. 252.(1894). "Music Magazine, Vol 6", pgs. 558 and 669. The Music Magazine Publishing Company, Chicago.Dodge, Alfred (1913). "Pianos and their Makers, Volume II", pg. 154. Covina Publishing Company, Covina, California.
Tour with Sandow, 1893
On June 6, 1893, he came to the United States aboard the SS Elbe."New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Record for Marlinas Sieveking". Ancestry.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-30. He arrived in New York City with his friend, the famous physical culturist and bodybuilder Eugen Sandow, as his accompanist for his stage performances. Sandow had met Sieveking years before during his tour of Belgium and the Netherlands. According to Sandow, Sieveking was a brilliant artist, but as a man he was a weakling. He had no powers of endurance, and it was difficult for him to remain at the piano for a long time. Upon Sandow's suggestion, Sieveking became a pupil and his guest while in America.Sandow 1897, pg. 119. Martinus wrote music and conducted for Sandow's vaudeville acts, when he toured New York City, Boston, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.Sandow 1897, pg. 130.
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1893–95 Following his stint with Sandow in 1893, he stayed and established himself in Chicago as a private piano teacher, but the city was overrun with piano teachers. Around this time Willard Kimball, the former head of the Iowa Conservatory of Music (now Grinell College), was about to open a music conservatory in Lincoln, Nebraska in connection with the University of Nebraska. He was in search of a first-class piano teacher and was referred to Sieveking. Coincidentally Sieveking was low in funds and generally "down on his luck." Kimball offered him $6,000 a year, with various perquisites, and the desperate young man recklessly signed a three-year contract without even stopping to investigate the position.(1897-01-09). "The Courier, Lincoln, Nebraska", pg. 5. Chronicling America. Sieveking started teaching in the latter part of 1893 at the university's School of Music in Lincoln, Nebraska, which then became the Conservatory of Music in 1894.Hammond, Marilyn and Haggh, Raymond (1991-01-01). "Willard Kimball: Music Educator on The Great Plains", pp. 254-255. DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The practical, bustling west proved a prison of the dreariest description to the artist. Only the women there have time to study music, he thought. Of these, he found that few had any talent, and the eccentric, temperamental pianist frankly told them so whenever he felt inclined to do so. His nerves began to break down. His activities in Lincoln began attracting the bemused attention of the local press. In the spring of 1895, Sieveking was booked for a concert tour of the principal cities of the east and left Lincoln on April 16, but not leaving the town quietly. It was reported that at the morning of his departure his dog, named Tad, got into trouble with a policeman. Sieveking laid the policeman flat on his back, and when the two officers fell upon him, he handled them in exactly the same way. Consequently, he rode to his train in a patrol wagon.
After his departure from Lincoln, he made his successful debut in Boston with the Boston Festival Orchestra. He also appeared with this orchestra conducted by Emil Mollenhauer at the "Second May Festival Concert" of the University Musical Society at the University Hall of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 18, 1895, where he played the Piano Concerto in G Minor by Camille Saint-Saëns."UMS Concert Program, May 17th And 18th, 1895: 2d Annual Man Festival". University Musical Society. Retrieved on 2012-09-08.
He was scheduled to return to Lincoln on September 1 of that year to resume his duties in connection with the conservatory,(1895-04-20). "The Courier, Lincoln, Nebraska", pg. 5. Chronicling America. Retrieved on 2012-09-08. but Sieveking never returned to the school and returned to Europe instead, breaking his contract.
American tour, 1895 and 1896–97
He returned to the United States for a brief concert tour in the winter of 1895, arriving in New York City on October 21, 1895, aboard the La Champagne departing from Havre, Norway."New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," Martinne Sieveking, 1895". Family Search. Retrieved on 2012-08-30. He gave a celebrated concert in Boston with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 7, 1895, where he played again Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2.Boston Symphony Orchestra (1917). "Programme, Vol. 1917-1918", pg. 1120. C.A. Ellis, Boston. His reception amounted to an ovation. Enthusiasm run to such a height that at the first concert, the pianist had seven recalls, and at the second, eight.(1896-12-05). "The Perrysberg Journal, Perryburg, Ohio". Chronicling America.
Following this success he returned in the fall of 1896 with four consecutive performances on October 21, 23, 24 and 28 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.(1896-10). "The Etude and Musical World Volume 14 (No. 10)", pg. 245. The Etude, Philadelphia. Among the other cities he performed in was Cumberland, Maryland on November 11, 1896, at the Saints Peter and Paul Church.(1898). "Fifty years of SS. Peter and Paul's Church at Cumberland, Md. 1848-1898", pg. 123. Cumberland Freie Presse Print, Cumberland. He gave a solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on December 8, 1896,(1897-02). "Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 16 (No. 5)", pg. 630. Frank A. Munsey, New York.(1896_1212). "The Critic, Volume 27", pg. 394. The Critic Company, New York. followed by a performance in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Grand Opera House on December 17 with violinist Maud Powell.
On February 8, 1897, he performed in Columbus, Ohio, at the newly built Southern Fireproof Theater with local soprano Lillian Miller.(1897-02-04). "The Hocking Sentinel, Logan, Ohio", Image 1. Chronicling America. He gave a solo piano recital at the Academy of Music in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 1897, and again on November 18, 1897."Bands - Concerts - Recitals". DeSales University. Retrieved on 2012-09-04. He was managed for his American tour by music impresario Victor Thrane of Chicago.International Arcade Museum, The Music Trade Review, New York, June 8, 1897, pg. 5. Retrieved 2012-09-09.Marquis, Albert Nelson (1911). "The Book of Chicagoans", pg. 671. A.N. Marquis & Company, Chicago.
Vienna, 1898 After completing his tour of the U.S. Sieveking felt unsatisfied with his latest performances and felt that he still needed to improve. He traveled to Vienna, Austria, the following year and sought the help of Theodor Leschetizky regarding his repertoire.Nussbaum, Anna May Loewenstein (1937). "Mirth, music and memory", pg. 43. B. Humphries, Boston. The professor took a great interest in him and out of a class of ninety, he became one of his six favorites. The other five were Mark Hambourg, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Katharine Goodson, Artur Schnabel and Ethel Newcomb. Leschetizky preferred pianists with large hands and strong muscles at the piano, which Sieveking had. According to Leschetizky, playing the piano was similar to playing a percussion instrument.