Vol. 2: Regarding Rust
The only surviving portrait of Friedrich Wilhelm Rust
Friedrich Wilhelm Rust (1739 - 1796) was a multitalented German violinist, composer, keyboardist, and music impresario. I could talk about him all day, and I do.
But what matters most for this post is that Rust was very well-connected to important musical figures, including the Bach family, with whom he studied. He was an immense fan of J.S. Bach and memorized much of his music at a young age; he would continue to collect Bach manuscripts for his entire life.
Dessau as it appeared in the late 17th century
For most of his career, Rust dedicated himself to improving musical life in his home town of Dessau, Germany. He married, had children, took on students, and singlehandedly put Dessau on the map as a musical city. He reliably churned out his own works in a style not so distant from Mozart or Haydn.
In 1794, Rust’s 18-year-old eldest son drowned in an accident. The touching letters Rust recieved from friends and colleagues allude to his devastation. Less than a year later, Rust’s musical output took an uncharacteristic turn; he wrote a piece for unaccompanied violin, the Sonata a Violino Solo Senza Basso No. 1 (1795). His earlier works for solo violin were lighthearted and entertaining, but this Sonata, in the mournful key of D minor, is much more serious, dense, and challenging; its forms, techniques, and styles clearly and explicitly draw from J.S. Bach’s iconic solo violin works of 1720, which Rust knew well.
The next month, Rust wrote another substantial Sonata a Violino Solo, again showing clear signs of homage to Bach. A third Sonata followed, dated February 1796. This was to be Rust’s final piece, on the title page his inscription can be translated as “written during my last illness;” he died at the end of that month.
Griefstricken and ill, in his final years Rust had chosen to return to the violin and to his earliest musical influence, J.S. Bach. Not only are these Sonatas a kind of tribute to Bach, but Rust also left indications that they are to be used as teaching works: a final accounting of his knowledge as an artist, violinist, and teacher.
As a violinist myself, one critical element of my research is to try to closely hear and physically experience what Rust the teacher is trying to tell us through these works. Upcoming blog posts will explore how I’m going about that, and why it might be important; along the way, we’ll take some side journeys to Dessau, visit an immense scandal triggered by Rust’s grandson, and much more.
—-
My time as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, with additional research funding from the Mitacs Globalink Research Award. The upcoming European component of my research is supported by the American Bach Society's William H. Scheide Research Grant.