As a native Hungarian who left his homeland at an early age, a Jew who converted to Christianity, and a musician who flirted with the music of Liszt but in the end professed allegiance to a more conservative aesthetic and identified with Beethoven and Brahms, Joachim confronted several identity issues during his career. To understand and disentangle them is a complex challenge. Our approach in this chapter will draw primarily upon two compositions that are surely equal in relevance but unequal in musical scope and significance: the Hungarian Concerto (1857–59, bolstered by a comparison with the early Hungarian Fantasy of 1848–50) and Hebrew Melodys Op. 9 for viola and piano (1854). Because the concerto outweighs Hebrew Melodys in size, complexity, and reception history, and because Joachim's letters yield far more about his understanding of Hungarian nationalism, politics, and culture than of his Jewish heritage, the primary sources entail an imbalance vis-à-vis identity questions. Whereas primarily biographical accounts can investigate more thoroughly Joachim's place in culture, society, and politics as a Hungarian-born Jew who spoke German, a monograph dedicated to his music necessitates some difficult choices of coverage. But those readers who wish to explore Joachim's self-identification further are recommended to read two further works that look in detail at his Jewishness: Styra Avins’s ‘Joseph Joachim and the Haskalah: The Dilemma of German Jews’ and the long-awaited, full-length Joachim biography by Robert Eshbach.

Returning to the Style Hongrois: Joachim's ‘Hungarianness’ Reconsidered

On 6 April 1903, Esther Bright, a dear friend of Joachim and amateur violinist, was on a train with the 71-year-old Joachim, who as it happened was in a talkative mood. Bright recorded the following conversation in her diary: