August Wilhelmj was born in 1845 at Usingen, in the Duchy of Nassau, and, showing his aptitude, was placed under Konrad Fischer, a violinist of Wiesbaden, at the age of six.  His progress was so rapid that when nine years old he played in a concert in Limburg and received great applause.  Wilhelmj’s father was a lawyer of distinction and a wealthy vine-grower, and, in spite of the boy’s progress, he did not favour the idea of allowing him to take to the violin as a profession, for he felt that the majority of infant prodigies fail as they reach manhood.  But the boy had received much encouragement, and persisted in his desire.  Henrietta Sontag, the celebrated singer, heard him play Spohr’s ninth concerto and “The Carnival of Venice,” and was so charmed that she said he would become the German Paganini.

In the course of time Wilhelmj succeeded in obtaining a concession from his father:—­he was to get the judgment of a musical authority on his capabilities, and, if favourable, no objection should be made to his becoming a virtuoso.  On the recommendation of Prince Emil of Wittgenstein, the young violinist went in 1861 to Liszt at Weimar, and after playing to him Spohr’s “Scena Cantante” and the Hungarian fantasia by Ernst, he was asked to play several pieces at sight.  At the end of this trial Liszt sprang from his seat, calling out in a loud voice, “Ay! indeed you are predestinated to become a violinist—­so much so that for you the violin must have been invented if it had not already existed.”  This judgment satisfied the father, and a few days later Liszt himself took the boy to Leipzig and introduced him to Ferdinand David, saying, “Let me present to you a future Paganini.  Look well to him!” For three years Wilhelm; was a pupil of David, and at the same time studied the theory of music with Richter and Hausmann.  In due course he passed his examinations at the Leipzig Conservatory, playing Joachim’s Hungarian concerto.

In 1865 he began his concert tours, travelling through Switzerland and Holland to England, and from this time he seems to have been almost continually travelling.  During 1869, 1870, and 1871 he made a long tour in England with Charles Santley, the great singer.  In 1876 he led the violins at the Nibelungen performance at Bayreuth, and the Wagner concerts in London, at the Albert Hall, in 1877, were due to his representations.  In 1882, after travelling all over the globe, he spent some time in Russia, but presently returned to Germany and established a violin school at Biberich, which, however, he abandoned after a time.

From time to time he continued to play in public, but gradually withdrew and lived in retirement at Blasewitz, near Dresden.  Eventually he went to London, where he was appointed professor at the Guildhall School of Music.  Unfortunately, his powers have been on the wane for some years past, but though the days of his public performances are past, he is known as a most patient and painstaking teacher.  The high esteem in which he has been held was quaintly expressed by an eminent musician, who referred to his decadence in these words:  “Ah, if Wilhelmj had not been what he is, Joachim would never have been what he is.”  By which one may infer that Wilhelmj was, in some respects, a greater man than Joachim.