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Xiujian Li · Zhengzheng Shao
Mengjun Zhu · Junbo Yang
Fundamentals
of Optical
Computing
Technology
Forward the Next Generation
Supercomputer
Fundamentals of Optical Computing Technology
Xiujian Li Zhengzheng Shao
•
Fundamentals of Optical
Computing Technology
Forward the Next Generation Supercomputer
123
Xiujian Li Mengjun Zhu
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
National University of Defense Technology National University of Defense Technology
Changsha Changsha
China China
The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the
print book from: National Defense Industry Press.
© National Defense Industry Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
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part of Springer Nature
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Singapore
Preface
As the advanced stage of the thriving information age, the first half of the
twenty-first century is destined to be a dramatic leap in the character of technology.
Obviously, the principle driving force behind this leap is the development of the
digital computer, especially the high-performance computers. While impressive, the
technological capabilities of electronic digital computers are impossible infinite.
Surely, the physical bottleneck limitation of the electronic computing technology
will slow down the development of electronic digital computer.
However, as the bottleneck of the electronic computers, the development process
is subjected to more and more restrictions. How to continuously push forward the
computer performance by effective but creative means is the bottleneck problem
that the supercomputer development faces at present. Particularly, how to solve the
bottleneck problem that the supercomputer development faces by multiple tech-
niques involved is an important challenge.
With the combining of the optical technique and other realm techniques mutu-
ally, new optics and optoelectronics components are matured day by day, which
bring bright applied prospects for the computer realm. Along with the rapid
development of new optics and optoelectronics components, the technical break-
through of optical switch, optical interconnect, optical storage pushed the
expanding of application realm of optical information technique and the corre-
sponding application realm largely.
Among of all, the ultra-fast optical switching technology makes the very short
period of optical information transmission and control possible, and the control time
is reduced greatly. The successful application of optical interconnection technology
in the super-performance computer such as Sunway TaihuLight will speed up the
peak performance of a single super-performance computer system up to beyond
thousands of PFlops in the near future. And the large capacity development of
optical storage makes possible the processing and storage of massive data.
Furthermore, as the rapid development of related technologies has caused our
infinite imagination, the integration of optical technology can be considered to
v
vi Preface
This book combines world wide scientific research achievements in recent years
and some part of the contents, some contents even directly quoted some parts of the
relevant literatures. Specially, we give thanks to Jiankun Yang, Ju Liu, Hui Jia,
Juncai Yang, Di Kong, Wenhua Hu, Rui Zhang, Jiannan Zhang, Xiaoguang Hou,
Yongming Nie, Wenchao Sun, Yuanda Zhang, Jiali Liao and SHishang Luo for
their significant and helpful research for this book. Anyway, the authors
acknowledge all the people and institutes sincerely.
ix
x Contents
To understand and grasp the technology of optical computing and its hardware
development present situation, development trend, and future, it is necessary to
understand the history of computing.
So far, the chronological division computing age went through the primal
computing age, handwrought computing age, mechanical computing age, elec-
tromechanical computing age, and the electronic computing age.
About 3 million years ago, the primitive people began to count by the knots in the
ropes, which gradually established the concept of number. With the gradual
abstraction of the number of concepts, the realization of conversion between the
“image” and “number,” the number calculations began to appear. Besides the rope
knots way, the primitive people also tried to achieve number calculations by fingers,
stones, and woods, as shown in Fig. 1.1. Among them, the man’s first calculation
tool is considered the human breaking fingers count which is still used today, which
also is regarded as the origin of the most familiar decimal today. However, these
computational methods are limited in the fields of number operations and statistics,
rather than truly computing tools.
The real special computing tools appear in the handwrought computing age, which
can realize more complicated calculation process to meet the requirements of civ-
ilization progress.
© National Defense Industry Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 1
X. Li et al., Fundamentals of Optical Computing Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3849-5_1
2 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
Fig. 1.1 Primal computing forms a records of ancient Egypt rope knot counting in 3000BC
b records of Mesopotamian clay tablet counting in 2000BC c finger counting record in Iran stamp
At about 2000 years ago, i.e., the Spring–Autumn and Warring States period,
Chinese invented the abacus which is one of the world’s earliest computing tools
still in use today, as shown in Fig. 1.2. Furthermore, the Chinese abacus is regarded
as the earliest digital computer, and the abacus formula is one of the earliest
systematic algorithms. The similar computing tools, i.e., the counting rod, the
abacus, and the slide rules, are shown in Fig. 1.2a, b, c.
Based on the decimal counting system of the counting rod, China’s famous
ancient mathematician Zu Chongzhi accurately calculated the value of pi to the
level between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. Some other Chinese ancient astronomers
also used the counting rod to sum up the precision of the astronomical calendar.
The abacuses were evolved from the China counting rod about six to seven
hundred years ago and are still in use so far. Long long ago at the end of the Han
Dynasty in the period of the Three Kingdoms, the book “Shu Shu Ji Yi” written by
Xu Yue said: “the abacus, control four, Jingwei God,” which is the earliest written
record of the abacus. It combines decimal counting method and a set of calculation
formulas, which is considered to be the first digital computer system, and the
corresponding algorithm is also the earliest.
In 1700s, the slide rule was invented, which created a precedent for analog
computing. The slide rule can perform more complicated calculation than the
China’s abacus and the counting rod, such as square root, index, logarithm, and
trigonometric functions. Up till to 1960s, the applications of the slide rules in the
engineering fields are replaced by the pocket electronic calculators. However, the
circle calculating rulers shown as Fig. 1.3 are still used in the aviation field.
Anyway, the main characteristics of the manual calculation tools is that, simple
and easy to realize the calculation function, which played a major role in daily work
and life, and the abacus and the calculating rule have been used till today.
1.1 Phylogeny and Trend of Computing 3
Though the manual calculation tools are simple and easy to be realized, they cannot
meet the needs of the development of natural science and engineering technology.
Especially, the Medieval Renaissance greatly promoted the development of natural
science and engineering technology, which needs the computing machines to
replace the manual computing tools. The Medieval Renaissance activated the
computing requirements and eventually led the computing age into mechanical and
electromechanical computing age.
The first mechanical computer design was appeared in Da Finch’s manuscripts,
and the first mechanical computer was implemented by the French mathematician,
physicist and philosopher Pascal in 1642, as shown in Fig. 1.4a. Pascal also
believed that the mechanical computer could be used to simulate human’s thinking
activities, which now appears to have a certain degree of parochialism, but is
helpful for the future development of the computer.
In 1671, Gottfried Leibniz, a German, firstly proposed the binary algorithm and
then designed and implemented the first multiplication machine, which is the first
4 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
Fig. 1.4 Typical computing tools of the mechanical and electromechanical computing age
a mechanical computer by Pascal b multiplication machine by Leibniz c Babbage machine
1.1 Phylogeny and Trend of Computing 5
computing machine to run the full four arithmetic operations, and the maximum
output value can be about 16, as shown in Fig. 1.4b. Till in 1822, Charles Babbage
(1792–1871), an English, designed a Difference Engine (also called Babbage
machine) and implemented it in 1832 (as shown in Fig. 1.4c). The Babbage
machine firstly could carry out 6-bit arithmetic operations and then was upgraded to
40-bit. The Babbage machine size was almost the same of a building.
The Babbage machine stored the program and data in the read-only memory
(i.e., punched card), which realized the basic idea of the control center (CPU) and
the stored program. Furthermore, the program can jump according to the condition,
which can make the addition operation in a few seconds, the multiplication and
division in a few minutes, and results in an output in the form of perforation.
Although completely based on mechanical design theory to achieve arithmetic
operations, the Babbage machine was based on advanced design theory, in which
the registers are used to store the data, which reflects the early beginning of program
design. Therefore, the Babbage machine has a prototype of the computer at present;
some structure design and design concept were still adopted by current computer
designs. Three devices with modern significance in the Babbage machine:
(1) Register for saving data (gear-type device), (2) device to read out data from the
register for arithmetic operations and to realize multiplication by repeated addition
operations, and (3) devices for controlling operation sequence, selecting data
required for processing and output the results.
In 1848, UK mathematician George Boole created the system of binary math,
which paved the way for modern development of binary computer. The case also
indicates that the development of the computer is not independent; it is based on the
development of other basic subjects such as mathematics and physics.
Fortunately, with the development of pure mechanical computer, the electric
machinery technology had been rapidly developed, which provided the possibility
for some electric mechanical actions in the mechanical computer to form an elec-
tromechanical computing machine, which also laid a foundation for the design and
realization of the electromechanical computers. As shown in Fig. 1.5, in 1888,
American Hermann Horace invented the first tabulating machine, which design was
regarded as drawing reference from the Babbage machine. In the tabulating
machine, the electrical control technologies (devices such as relay) were used
instead of the purely mechanical devices, which achieved qualitative changes for
the first time in the development of the computer, and the performance was also
achieved a leap.
In the 1850s, the electromechanical computers were developed to their peaks.
American Howard H. Aiken and German K. Zuse made outstanding contributions
for the development of the electromechanical computers. In 1944, under the help of
IBM, Aiken finished the design of electromechanical computer “Mark I,” which
could perform complex operations such as solving the linear equations and played a
role in the Manhattan Plans of USA.
Above all, the electromechanical computer is a necessary scientific attempt on
the road of computer development. However, as there are still mechanical actions in
the operations, the operation speed is still relatively slow. In the peak period of the
6 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
Fig. 1.5 American Hermann Horace and the invented tabulating machine
In 1904, British Fleming invented the first electronic vacuum diode as shown in
Fig. 1.6a. However, the diode was not enough for a complete electronic computer.
In 1906, American Lee De Forest invented the first electronic transistor as shown in
Fig. 1.6b. More importantly, the transistors can greatly increase the amplification
factor by cascade, which makes the practical value of the transistor be greatly
improved, also contribute to the rapid development of the radio communication
technology. Therefore, the transistor acts as the basis of the electronic computer.
About 40 years after the invention of electronic vacuum diode (tube), until 1943,
UK scientists used the electron tubes as the main elements to develop the first
programmable computer “giant,” which was designed to crack the German code.
Practically, the computer “giant” preliminary demonstrated powerful performance
of the electronic computer.
And then in 1946, IBM implemented a computer “ENIAC,” which can be
considered as first full electronic computer in the world, as shown in Fig. 1.7.
Remarkably, the operation speed of ENIAC was about 1000 times faster than that
of the electromechanical computer at that time, which shew great potential in
developing the Hydrogen bomb and calculating the missile trajectories.
Due to the large volume, the vacuum tube computers have the remarkable
disadvantages such as high energy consumption, poor stability, high price, and so
on, which greatly restricted their applications. The emergence of semiconductor
transistors boosted the electronic computer development faster and further, which
made the electronic computers frantically developed to so high current state.
In 1947, the researchers in Bell Labs, William B. Shockley, John Bardeen, and
Walter H. Brattain, invented the first semiconductor transistor in the world, as
shown in Fig. 1.8.
Then, in 1954, the electronic computer based on 800 pieces of semiconductor
transistors, i.e., computer “TRADIC” (as shown in Fig. 1.9), was invented by Bell
Labs, which was the first electronic semiconductor computer in the world. The
computer “TRADIC” had laid a good foundation for the development of
high-performance electronic computers.
Fig. 1.6 First vacuum tube a vacuum electronic diode b vacuum electronic transistor
8 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
(a) Overview
In 1958, Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuits (IC) based
on Si and Ge, respectively, which are the basics for the CPU. Due to outstanding
contributions on IC, Jack Kilby won the 2000s Nobel Prize in Physics. And further
in 1964, IBM developed the world’s small semiconductor computer with integrated
circuits, i.e., IBM 360 as shown in Fig. 1.10. The development of IBM 360 can be
regarded as the beginning of the promoting of the integrated circuit technology to
the fast development of computer technology.
In the electronic computing age, along with the semiconductor lithography
process technology, ultra-large-scale integrated circuit and microprocessor tech-
nology develop rapidly and stably by Moore’s law, which boosts the pure electronic
computer technology to the peak period of development. All kinds of personal
computer, industrial computer and the giant computing machine, minicomputers are
constantly emerging. And next-generation higher performance computer tech-
nologies are also generated during the peak development period of the electronic
computer technology.
1.1 Phylogeny and Trend of Computing 9
Fig. 1.8 a Experimental prototype, b packaging devices and c inventors of the first semiconductor
transistor
In modern dates fulfilled of information, the super parallel computers can fully
reflect the status and trend of the development of computing technology, which are
at the forefront of the computer age. Furthermore, the development of super parallel
computer has gone beyond the scope of computer technology to reflect the com-
prehensive strength of a country’s science and technology.
As an organization of statistical organization for high-performance computers,
the TOP500 (site at http://www.TOP500.org) release the data list twice every year,
at June and November. In June 2017, the top-ranked supercomputer of TOP500 was
still the Sunway TaihuLight system developed by China National Research Centre
of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology, as shown in Fig. 1.11, which is
located in National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, China. The HPL Benchmark
of the Sunway TaihuLight system went up to 93PFLOPS, which is equipped by 1.
3 PB memory and more than 10 million cores.
10 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
At the same time, some inherent characteristics of electronic circuits also bring
difficulties to the development of electronic computer, which is mainly manifested
in the limitation of the RC time constant of the electronic circuits. The electronic
circuit of the constant RC time limit makes the current processor speed be limited
around the copper wire transmission below 10 Gbps, which makes the optical
interconnect as the backbone data connection for super parallel optical computers.
1.1 Phylogeny and Trend of Computing 13
Furthermore, the restriction of energy consumption and other factors have become
the bottleneck of the development of electronic computers.
According to the successful applications of optical switching technology in the
supercomputer data system, the future development of high-performance computer
will need to have the following characteristics, which also indicates the develop-
ment trend of optical computing technology.
(1) High parallelism;
(2) Large capacity storage;
(3) High operation speed;
(4) Real-time self-reconfiguration of hardware and performance;
(5) Large-scale scalability.
As the title words suggest, the optical computing systems will be based on optical
elements, in which the photons work as the carriers of information transmission
(instead of electronic or electric current) so as to realize the information or data
14 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
Fig. 1.13 TOP500 super parallel computer performance development trend chart [15]
Fig. 1.14 Computing speed development of the first ranked supercomputers of TOP500 in recent
years [15]
Fig. 1.15 Computing cores number development of the first ranked supercomputers of TOP500
in recent years [15]
1.2 Concept of Optical Computing 15
Fig. 1.16 Memory capacity development of the first ranked supercomputers of TOP500 in recent
years [15]
As a result of the difference in the basic properties of the photon as a boson and the
electron as a fermion, respectively, the basic realization of optical operation will be
very different from the electronic operation. Some optical processes can perform
basic operations and thus have the capability to act as the core of the optical
16 1 Summary of Optical Computing Technology
(b) OR operation
computer. As shown in Fig. 1.18, the basic operation functions such as “and” and
“or” can be realized through the reasonable optical structures. And on this basis,
through reasonable optical design, the “and” and “nor” and other logical operations
can also be achieved [2–5].
Fig. 1.19 Two types of optical computer architecture. a Architecture with core of processors and
b architecture with parallel optical interconnection network as the main body
interconnection network as the main body to realize the main operations, and the
data storage units are contained in the interconnection network.
Because of the characteristics of optical transmission, in addition to the localized
optical line (such as optical fiber, optical transmission), the photons can also be
transmitted in free space, so the light form of computers will become more diverse
and more plasticity. As shown in Fig. 1.20, the optical computation operations can
be realized not only by the combination of optical elements in the free space, but
also by the integrated optical modules [6].
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Pierre Rode (1774-1830) was the greatest of the players of this
period. He was for two years a pupil of Viotti, and when he made his
initial public appearance in 1790 at the Théâtre de Monsieur he
played Viotti’s thirteenth concerto in such a way as to win instantly
the admiration of all musical Paris. Considering that he was then but
a boy of sixteen, and that Paris was accustomed to the playing of
Kreutzer, Viotti, Gaviniés and other violinists of undisputed
greatness, one can have little doubt that Rode had the power of true
genius. This is further borne out by the fact that when he passed
through Brunswick on a concert tour to Poland in 1803, Spohr heard
him and was so struck with admiration for his style that he
determined to train himself with the ideal of Rode in his mind. Later
his playing fell off sadly and even in Paris he finally ceased to hold
the favor of the public.
II
The French school of classic violin music, represented by Rode and
Baillot, may be said to have come to an end at least partly by the
influence of Paganini. This greatest of all virtuosos made his first
appearance in Paris on March 9, 1831, after having astonished
Austria and Germany. His success was here as elsewhere
instantaneous and practically unbounded; and the examples his
playing offered of extraordinary technical effects became the model
for subsequent French violinists.
There are three virtuosos of the violin whose names stand out
conspicuously in the history of violin music: Locatelli, Lolli, and
Paganini. Each of these men is noted for special and in many ways
overstretched efforts to bring out of the instrument sounds and
combinations of sounds which, in that they can have little true
musical significance and are indeed often of questionable beauty,
are considered rather a sign of charlatanism than of true genius. This
really means that the men are not geniuses as musicians, but as
performers. Their intelligence is concentrated upon a discovery of
the unusual. They adopt any means to the end of astonishing the
multitude, such as altering the conventional tuning of the instrument,
and employing kinds of strings which are serviceable only in the
production of certain effects.
Paganini’s early life in Italy (1784-1828) was at first not free from
hardship, but after 1805, at least, it was brilliantly successful. The
only lessons of importance in his training were received from
Alessandro Rolla (1757-1804). His prodigious skill was almost wholly
due to his own ingenuity, and to his indefatigable industry. There is
every reason to believe that he practiced hour after hour until he was
so exhausted that he fell upon the ground.
After his extended tour over Europe (1827-1834), which brought him
a fame and a fortune hardly achieved since by any performer, he
retired into a semi-private life at his Villa Gaiona, not far from Parma.
From time to time he came again before the public. The more or less
scandalous affair of the ‘Casino Paganini’ in Paris (1836) took a slice
out of his fortune and perhaps seriously impaired his health. He died
on May 27, 1840.
Spohr was born in the same year as Paganini (1784). His training on
the violin was received from Franz Eck, a descendant of the famous
Mannheim school. But according to his own account, the example of
Rode, whom he heard in 1803, was of great importance in finally
determining his style of playing. His numerous activities took him
considerably beyond the field of playing and composing for the violin.
He was famous as a conductor in Vienna, in Dresden and Berlin,
and in London, whither he was frequently called to undertake the
conducting of his own works. As a composer he was famous for his
symphonies, his oratorios, and his operas. Yet he was not, in a
sense, a great musician; and the only part of his great number of
works which now seems at all likely to endure much longer in
anything but name is made up of the compositions, chiefly the
concertos, for violin.
Among his other works for violin the duets have enjoyed a wide
popularity, greater probably than that once enjoyed by Viotti’s. His
Violinschule, published in 1831, has remained one of the standard
books on violin playing. Its remarks and historical comments are,
however, now of greater significance than the exercises and
examples for practice. These, indeed, are like everything Spohr
touched, only a reflection of his own personality; so much so that the
entire series hardly serves as more than a preparation for playing
Spohr’s own works.
Spohr was typically German in his fondness for conducting, and for
the string quartet. As quite a young man he was the very first to bring
out Beethoven’s quartets opus 18, in Leipzig and Berlin. Paganini is
said to have made a favorite of Beethoven’s quartet in F, the first of
opus 59; but Spohr was positively dissatisfied with Beethoven’s work
of this period. Yet Paganini was in no way a great quartet player, and
Spohr was. We cannot but wonder which of these two great fiddlers
will in fifty years be judged the more significant in the history of the
art.
Certainly Spohr was hard and fast conservative, in spite of the fact
that he recognized the greatness of Wagner, and brought out the
‘Flying Dutchman’ and Tannhäuser at the court of Cassel. And what
can we point to now that has sprung from him? On the other hand,
Paganini was a wizard in his day, half-charlatan, perhaps, but never
found out. With the exception of Corelli and Vivaldi he is the only
violinist who, specialist as he was, exerted a powerful influence upon
the whole course of music. For he was like a charge of dynamite set
off under an art that was in need of expanding, and his influence ran
like a flame across the prairie, kindling on every hand. Look at
Schumann and Liszt, at Chopin and even at Brahms. Stop for a
moment to think of what Berlioz demanded of the orchestra, and
then of what Liszt and Wagner demanded. All of music became
virtuoso music, in a sense. It all sprang into life with a new glory of
color. And who but Paganini let loose the foxes to run in the corn of
the Philistines?
David has also won a place for himself in the esteem and gratitude
of future generations by his painstaking editing of the works of the
old Italian masters. Few of the great works for the violin but have
passed through his discriminating touch for the benefit of the student
and the public. And as a teacher his fame will live long in that of his
two most famous pupils: Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and August
Wilhelmj (1845-1908).
IV
How great an influence the group of French violinists exercised upon
violin music and playing in the first quarter of the nineteenth century
is revealed in the training and the characteristics of the famous
Viennese players of the time. Vienna had always proved fertile
ground for the growth of Italian ideas, and the French style
recommended itself to the Viennese not only by the prevalence of
French ideas in the city, owing to political conditions, but also
because this style was in no small measure a continuance of the
Italian style of Viotti.
V
The most brilliant offshoots of the French school, to the formation of
whose style the influence of Paganini contributed, were the Belgians
de Bériot and Henri Vieuxtemps, who stand together as
representative of a Belgian school of violin playing. But before
considering them a few names in the long and distinguished list of
the pupils of Kreutzer, Rode, and Baillot may be touched upon.
Among those of Kreutzer Joseph Massart was perhaps the most
influential. He was born in Belgium in 1811, but went early in life to
Paris to complete with Kreutzer the work begun with his countryman
Lambert. Here he remained, and from 1843 was a professor of the
violin at the Conservatoire. At least one of his pupils, Henri
Wieniawski, won a world-wide fame as a virtuoso.
Among his pupils the most famous was Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-
1881), one of the few great virtuosos of the violin whose fame as a
player has not outlasted in memory his compositions. Vieuxtemps’
five concertos, his Ballade et Polonaise, and even his Fantaisie-
Caprice are still in the repertory of most violinists and have not yet
lost their favor with the public.
VI
Excepting Spohr, there are few of the violinist-composers of the
second half of the century with whom fate has dealt so kindly as with
Vieuxtemps. Most have been forgotten as composers, a fact which
may be taken to prove that their compositions had little musical
vitality except that which their own playing infused into them. Those
few who have been remembered in fact as well as in name owe the
permanence of their reputations to one or two pieces in the nature of
successful salon music. Among these should be mentioned Henri
Wieniawski (1835-1880), undoubtedly one of the finest players of the
century. In the early part of his life he wandered from land to land,
coming in company with his friend Anton Rubinstein, the great
pianist, even as far as the United States. He was after this (1874) for
a few years professor of the violin at the Conservatory in Brussels,
filling the place left vacant by Vieuxtemps; and then once more
resumed his life of wandering. His compositions were numerous,
including two concertos as well as a number of studies and
transcriptions, or fantasias, of opera airs. Now perhaps only the
Légende is still familiar to a general public, though the Fantasia on
airs from ‘Faust,’ empty as it is of all save brilliance, holds a place on
the programs of the virtuosi of the present day.