George Haddock (musician)

George Haddock
George Haddock
Background information
Birth name	Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
Born	(1823-08-07)7 August 1823
Origin	Killingbeck, Leeds
Died	12 September 1907(1907-09-12) (aged 84) Leeds
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Violin

George Haddock (7 August 1823 – 12 September 1907) was an English violinist born in Killingbeck, Leeds. He was involved extensively in the music scene of Leeds and Bradford during the mid to late 19th century.

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst

Biography

Early Life

George was brought up in a musical family with most members playing instruments. His brother Thomas Haddock, a violincellist taught by Robert Lindley, played in quartets with Paganini, de Bériot, Mendelssohn, J.W. Thirlwell, John David Loder, and Joseph Rudersdorff. These along with other visitors to the household including Ole Bull greatly influenced the young George eventually taking up the violin.

Henri Vieuxtemps

George first met Henri Vieuxtemps in 1846 when Henri came to Leeds. George enlisted the aid of friends to contact Vieuxtemps in order to play for him during his visit to Leeds. Subsequent to this meeting Vieuxtemps gave George violin lessons. They became close friends with George escorting his wife to all of his London concerts in 1846. Over the years the friendship grew and whenever Vieuxtemps visited Leeds he would stay with George.

George named one of his sons, Vieuxtemps Haddock (1853-1854), after the composer and dedicated both the book and a chapter to him.

Collection

George had an extensive collection of musical instruments including many violins and bows. In the collection there were two Stradavarius violins, one of which was the ’Emperor’ violin.

Publications

A year prior to his death the book ‘Some Early Musical Recollections of G.Haddock’ was published detailing much of his life. The dedication in the book reads “To the memory of my dear old friend, Henri Vieuxtemps.”