The Belgium composer and violinist Eugene Auguste Ysaye was Born on the 16th of July 1858 in Liege. He started playing the violin under the guidance of his father, and later in his life claimed that his father taught him everything he knew with regard to the instrument. At the age of seven, he was admitted at the Liege conservatory but was denied the continuation of his study in 1869. At the age of twelve, Ysaye, who learned most of the repertoire by himself, was taken by the famous Henri Vieuxtemps as a student, after hearing him studying.

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After Ysaye's studies, he became the principal violinist in the orchestra that later became the Berlin Philharmonic. There he was recognized by many famous musicians who helped him with his career as a soloist. At the age of twenty-eight, he started teaching at the Brussels Conservatory, a position that he kept for nearly the rest of his life.

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As a composer, Ysaye became most famous for his six solo-violin sonatas. There are many more works that he composed, for solo violin, violin with piano and the accompaniment of the orchestra. There are also works for other instruments, like his sonata for solo-cello. What is less known is that Ysaye was an arranger of violin sonatas from the Baroque period. The most famous one being the sonata in F minor by Locatelli 'Au Tombeau'. He considered the baroque violin sonata as an important factor in his concert program. It is also known that he was often in search of old scores in second-hand book stores to find unknown works from the Baroque period.