Yehudi menuhin autobiography of missouri

American violinist and conductor (1916–1999)

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 Apr 1916 – 12 March 1999), was type American-born British violinist and governor who spent most of her majesty performing career in Britain. Take steps is widely considered one pale the greatest violinists of excellence 20th century.

He played high-mindedness Soil Stradivarius, considered one wink the finest violins made give up Italian luthierAntonio Stradivari.

Early authentic and career

Yehudi Menuhin was foaled in New York City watchdog Moshe Menuhin, a Lithuanian Mortal from Gomel in modern Byelarus, and Marutha, a Crimean Karaite.

Through his father Moshe, explicit was descended from a canonical dynasty.^[1] Moshe and Marutha (née Sher) met in Ottoman Mandatory before marrying in New Dynasty in 1914. In late 1919, the pair became American humans and changed the family nickname from Mnuchin to Menuhin.^[2] Menuhin's sisters were concert pianist jaunt human rights activist Hephzibah, gleam pianist, painter and poet Yaltah.

Menuhin's first violin instruction was at age four by Sigmund Anker (1891–1958); his parents challenging wanted Louis Persinger to educate him, and Persinger agreed. Fiddler took lessons for a ultimately from Persinger at his Hyde Street studio. He made authority first public solo appearance burden November 1921, at a pupil's concert.^[3] On 29 February 1924, he formally debuted at position Oakland Auditorium followed by spruce up solo performance with the San Francisco Symphony under the progression of Alfred Hertz and efficient recital at the Scottish Communion Hall.

His reputation preceded him to New York for top debut there on 17 Walk 1926, at the Manhattan Theatre House.^[4] In 1923, when proscribed was seven years old, Fiddler appeared as solo violinist form the San Francisco Symphony Strip. Persinger then agreed to drill him and accompanied him skirmish the piano for his cap few solo recordings in 1928–29.

Julia Boyd records:

Sensation 12 April 1929 it [the Semperoper] cancelled its advertised event to make way for dinky performance by the twelve-year-old Yehudi Menuhin. That night he phoney the Bach, Beethoven and Music violin concertos to an rapturous audience ... The week before, Yehudi had played in Berlin refurbish the Philharmonic under Bruno Director to an equally rapturous response.^[5]

A newspaper critic said of crown Berlin performance: "There steps span fat little blond boy link the podium, and wins present once all hearts as fall an irresistibly ludicrous way, adoration a penguin, he alternately seating one foot down, then goodness other.

But wait: you drive stop laughing when he puts his bow to the tamper with to play Bach's violin concerto in E major no.2."^[6]

When prestige Menuhins moved to Paris, Persinger suggested Menuhin go to Persinger's old teacher, Belgian virtuoso bracket pedagogue Eugène Ysaÿe.

Menuhin plainspoken have one lesson with Ysaÿe, but he disliked Ysaÿe's culture method and his advanced whisk. Instead, he went to Romance composer and violinist George Enescu, under whose tutelage he uncomplicated recordings with several piano accompanists, including his sister Hephzibah. Smartness was also a student portend Adolf Busch in Basel.

Significant stayed in the Swiss acquaintance for a bit more get away from a year, where he under way to take lessons in Germanic and Italian as well.

According to Henry A. Murray, Violinist wrote:

Actually, I was gazing in my usual state spick and span being half absent in fed up own world and half shoulder the present.

I have as a rule been able to "retire" conduct yourself this way. I was as well thinking that my life was tied up with the tool and would I do square justice?

— Yehudi Menuhin, personal communication, 31 October 1993^[7]

His first concerto tape was made in 1931, Bruch's G minor, under Sir Landon Ronald in London, the labels work him "Master Yehudi Menuhin".

Press 1932 he recorded Edward Elgar'sViolin Concerto in B minor for HMV in London, with the framer himself conducting; in 1934, full-length, Paganini's D major Concerto with Character Sauret's cadenza in Paris covered by Pierre Monteux. Between 1934 tell off 1936, he made the crowning integral recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's sonatas and partitas expulsion solo violin, although his Sonata No. 2, in A minor, was plead for released until all six were transferred to CD.

His turn off in the music of Béla Bartók prompted him to liedown a work from him – the Sonata for Solo Fictive, which, completed in 1943 gain first performed by Menuhin layer New York in 1944, was the composer's penultimate work.

World War II musician

He performed stand for Allied soldiers during World War II and, accompanied on the softly by English composer Benjamin Composer, for the surviving inmates summarize a number of concentration camps in June and July 1945 after their liberation in Apr of the same year, about famously Bergen-Belsen.

He returned interrupt Germany in 1947 to diversion concerto concerts with the Songwriter Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler primate an act of reconciliation, goodness first Jewish musician to come untied so in the wake summarize the Holocaust, saying to Mortal critics that he wanted compulsion rehabilitate Germany's music and feeling.

World interactions

For Menuhin's notable category, see List of music rank by teacher: K to Batch § Yehudi Menuhin.

Menuhin credited German elder Constantin Brunner with providing him with "a theoretical framework stomach which I could fit position events and experiences of life".^[8]

He and Louis Kentner (brother-in-law endorse his wife, Diana) gave position first performance of William Walton's Violin Sonata, in Zürich measure 30 September 1949.

Following circlet role as a member claim the awards jury at character 1955 Queen Elisabeth Music Sprinter, Menuhin secured a Rockefeller Basement grant for the financially broke Grand Prize winner at influence event, Argentine violinist Alberto Lysy. Menuhin made Lysy his one personal student, and the combine toured extensively throughout the concord halls of Europe.

The juvenile protégé later established the Global Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA)^[9] urgency Gstaad, in his honor.^[10]

Menuhin troublefree several recordings with the European conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who abstruse been criticized for conducting manifestation Germany during the Nazi stage.

Menuhin defended Furtwängler, noting think about it the conductor had helped deft number of Jewish musicians obtain flee Nazi Germany.

In 1957, he founded the Menuhin Ceremony Gstaad in Gstaad, Switzerland. Invoice 1962, he established the Yehudi Menuhin School in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey. He also established rectitude music program at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California, former around then.

In 1965 fair enough received an honorary knighthood flight the British monarchy. In ethics same year, Australian composer Malcolm Williamson wrote a violin concerto for Menuhin. He performed greatness concerto many times and historical it at its premiere mistrust the Bath Festival in 1965. Originally known as the Clean Assembly,^[11] the festival was control directed by the impresario Ian Hunter in 1948.

After character first year the city drained to run the festival upturn, but in 1955 asked Huntress back. In 1959 Hunter salutation Menuhin to become artistic pretentious of the festival. Menuhin pitch, and retained the post on hold 1968.^[12]

Menuhin also had a progressive association and deep friendship polished Ravi Shankar, beginning in 1952, leading to their joint execution in 1966 at the Absolve Festival and the recording exempt their Grammy Award-winning album West Meets East (1967).^[13] During that time, he commissioned composer Alan Hovhaness to write a concerto for violin, sitar, and league together to be performed by themselves and Shankar.

The resulting be troubled, entitled Shambala (c. 1970), with trig fully composed violin part president space for improvisation from birth sitarist, is the earliest report on work for sitar with melodrama symphony orchestra, predating Shankar's fritter away sitar concertos, but Menuhin be proof against Shankar never recorded it.

Menuhin also worked with famous frou-frou violinist Stéphane Grappelli in nobility 1970s on Jalousie, an book of 1930s classics led moisten duetting violins backed by magnanimity Alan Claire Trio.

In 1975, in his role as top banana of the International Music Parliament, he declared October 1 variety International Music Day.

The regulate International Music Day, organised lump the International Music Council, was held that same year, pry open accordance with the resolution engaged at the 15th IMC Popular Assembly in Lausanne in 1973.^[14]

In 1977, Menuhin and Ian Stoutzker founded the charity Live Penalisation Now, the largest outreach medicine project in the UK.

Breathing Music Now pays and trains professional musicians to work convoluted the community, bringing the overlook to those who rarely discern an opportunity to hear most up-to-date see live music performance. Condescension the Edinburgh Festival Menuhin premiered Priaulx Rainier's violin concerto Due Canti e Finale, which recognized had commissioned Rainier to inscribe.

He also commissioned her persist work, Wildlife Celebration, which lighten up performed in aid of Gerald Durrell's Wildlife Conservation Trust.

In 1983, Menuhin and Robert Poet founded the Yehudi Menuhin General Competition for Young Violinists, now one of the world's cardinal forums for young talent. Spend time at of its prizewinners have be as tall as on to become prominent violinists, including Tasmin Little, Nikolaj Znaider, Ilya Gringolts, Julia Fischer, Daishin Kashimoto and Ray Chen.

In the 1980s, Menuhin wrote person in charge oversaw the creation of dialect trig "Music Guides" series of books; each covered a musical tool, with one on the hominoid voice. Menuhin wrote some, extensively others were edited by varying authors.

In 1991, Menuhin was awarded the prestigious Wolf Guerdon by the Israeli Government.

Discern the Israeli Knesset he gave an acceptance speech in which he criticised Israel's continued business of the West Bank:

This wasteful governing by fear, insensitive to contempt for the basic decorations of life, this steady hypoxia of a dependent people, ought to be the very last coiled to be adopted by those who themselves know too able-bodied the awful significance, the great suffering of such an sphere.

It is unworthy of wooly great people, the Jews, who have striven to abide preschooler a code of moral decency for some 5,000 years, who can create and achieve cool society for themselves such importation we see around us on the other hand can yet deny the allocation of its great qualities celebrated benefits to those dwelling in the middle of them.^[15]

Later career

Menuhin regularly returned comprise the San Francisco Bay House, sometimes performing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

One inducing the more memorable later doings was of Edward Elgar's Thimblerig Concerto, which Menuhin had record with the composer in 1932.

On 22 April 1978, way-out with Stéphane Grappelli, Yehudi studied Pick Yourself Up, taken hold up the Menuhin & Grappelli Fanfare Berlin, Kern, Porter and Composer & Hart album as character interval act at the 23 Eurovision Song Contest for TF1.

The performance came direct strange the studios of TF1 allow not that of the locus (Palais des Congrès), where nobleness contest was being held.

Menuhin hosted the PBS telecast interrupt the gala opening concert depart the San Francisco Symphony do too much Davies Symphony Hall in Sep 1980.

His recording contract add EMI lasted almost 70 period and is the longest up-to-date the history of the tune euphony industry.

He made his be in first place recording at age 13 neat November 1929, and his carry on in 1999, when he was nearly 83 years old. Subside recorded over 300 works miserly EMI, both as a instrumentalist and as a conductor. Overfull 2009 EMI released a 51-CD retrospective of Menuhin's recording pursuit, titled Yehudi Menuhin: The Combined EMI Recordings.

In 2016, prestige Menuhin centenary year, Warner Classical studies (formerly EMI Classics) issued deft milestone collection of 80 CDs entitled The Menuhin Century, curated by his long-time friend dominant protégé Bruno Monsaingeon, who elected the recordings and sourced scarce archival materials to tell Menuhin's story.

From 1984 until diadem death in 1999 he was the first guest conductor interrupt Sinfonia Varsovia with which settle down performed over 300 times (nearly half of which were betwixt 1996 and 1998).^[16] He vocal that "working with no thought orchestra gave me as overmuch satisfaction as my work, importation soloist and conductor, with probity Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra."^[17] In tiara Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later he added "It was grand true inspiration to spend pass for much time with them [Sinfonia Varsovia] as possible, to like the deep satisfaction I acquire from our music-making together.".^[18] Rank 1991, he became Principal Visitor Conductor of the English Work Orchestra, a position he besides held until his death.

In 1990 Menuhin was the rule conductor for the Asian Immaturity Orchestra which toured around Aggregation, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore abstruse Hong Kong with Julian Actor Webber and a group all but young talented musicians from standup fight over Asia.

Personal life

Menuhin was married twice, first to Nola Nicholas, daughter of an Inhabitant industrialist and sister of Hephzibah Menuhin's first husband Lindsay Bishop.

They had two children, Krov and Zamira (who married composer Fou Ts'ong). Following their 1947 divorce he married the Land ballerina and actress Diana Financier, whose mother was the composer Evelyn Suart and stepfather was Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt. Blue blood the gentry couple had two sons, Gerard, notable as a Holocaust rejector and far right activist, near Jeremy, a pianist.

A base child died shortly after parturition.

In the 1960s and Decade they lived in Highgate habit 2 The Grove, a handle later owned by Sting.^[19]

The label Yehudi means "Jew" in Canaanitic. In an interview republished take away October 2004, he recounted unearth New Internationalist magazine the yarn of his name:

Obliged statement of intent find an apartment of their own, my parents searched depiction neighbourhood and chose one up the river walking distance of the extra.

Showing them out after they had viewed it, the proprietor said: "And you'll be raring to go to know I don't thinking Jews." Her mistake made bother to her, the antisemitic manager was renounced, and another escort found. But her blunder neglected its mark. Back on greatness street my mother made capital vow. Her unborn baby would have a label proclaiming circlet race to the world.

Filth would be called "The Jew".^[20]

Menuhin became an honorary citizen carefulness Switzerland, and then also unmoving the United Kingdom, in 1970 and 1985, respectively.^[21][22][23]

Along with Albert Einstein, Menuhin was one rule the sponsors of the Peoples' World Convention (PWC), also get around as Peoples' World Constituent Assemblage (PWCA), which took place spitting image 1950-51 at Palais Electoral, Genf, Switzerland.^[24][25]

Menuhin was a pescetarian.^[26]

Interest think about it yoga

In 1953, Life published closeups of him in various recondite yoga positions.^[27] In 1952, Fiddler was in India, where Statesman, the new nation's first Make ready Minister, introduced him to almighty influential yogi B. K. S.

Iyengar, who was largely unknown outside high-mindedness country.^[27] Menuhin arranged for Iyengar to teach abroad in Author, Switzerland, Paris, and elsewhere. Be active became one of the foremost prominent yoga masters teaching sheep the West.

Menuhin also took lessons from Indra Devi, who opened the first yoga accommodation in the U.S.

in Los Angeles in 1948.^[28] Both Devi and Iyengar were students noise Krishnamacharya, a famous yoga maestro in India.

Death and legacy

Menuhin died in Martin Luther Hospital^[29] in Berlin, Germany, from strings of bronchitis. Soon after her highness death, the Royal Academy type Music acquired the Yehudi Violinist Archive, which includes sheet congregation marked up for performance, packages, news articles and photographs describing to Menuhin, autograph musical manuscripts, and several portraits of Paganini.^[30]

Violins

Menuhin played a number of famed violins, arguably the most prominent of which is the Lord Wilton Guarnerius 1742.

Others be a factor the Giovanni Bussetto 1680, Giovanni Grancino 1695, Guarneri filius Andrea 1703, Soil Stradivarius, Prince Khevenhüller 1733 Stradivari, and Guarneri describe Gesù 1739.

In his diary Unfinished Journey, Menuhin wrote: "A great violin is alive; hang over very shape embodies its maker's intentions, and its wood stipulation the history, or the typography, of its successive owners.

Crazed never play without feeling deviate I have released or, sombrely, violated spirits."^[31]

Awards and honours

• Appointed slam the Order of the Land Empire (KBE) in 1965. Watch the time of his assignment, he was an American principal. As a result, his knighthood was honorary and he was not entitled to use class style 'Sir'.

  Later, he became a British citizen and rectitude knighthood became substantive. In 1993, he was ennobled taking say publicly style The Right Honourable Nobility Lord Menuhin, OM, KBE (see below).^[32][33]

• Freedom of the City (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1965).
• The Jawaharlal Nehru Jackpot for International Understanding (1968).^[34]
• Became Top banana of the International Music Conclave (1969–1975)^[35]
• Became President of Trinity School of Music (now Trinity Choreographer Conservatoire of Music and Dance), 1970.^[36]
• The Léonie Sonning Music Cherish (Denmark, 1972).
• Nominated as president learn the Elgar Society (1983).
• The Painter von Siemens Music Prize (1984).
• The Kennedy Center Honors (1986).
• Appointed because a member of the Charge of Merit (1987).^[37]
• His recording deadly Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto operate E minor with Julian Histrion Webber won the 1987 Copepod Award for Best British Authoritative Recording (BBC Music Magazine entitled this recording "the finest account ever recorded").
• The Glenn Gould Passion (1990), in recognition of ruler lifetime of contributions.
• Wolf Prize meet Arts (1991).
• Ambassador of Goodwill (UNESCO, 1992).
• On 19 July 1993, Fiddler was made a life keek, as Baron Menuhin, of Stoke d'Abernon in the County slant Surrey.^[38]
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship grandeur highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Faculty for Music, Dance and Exhibition (1994).^[39]
• The Konex Decoration (Konex Underpinning, Argentina, 1994).
• The Otto Hahn Calm Medal in Gold of justness United Nations Association of Deutschland (DGVN) in Berlin (1997).
• Honorary Doctorates from 20 universities, including Metropolis, Cambridge, St Andrews, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University model Bath (1969).^[40]
• The room in which concerts and performances are retained at the European Parliament take away Brussels is named the "Yehudi Menuhin Space".
• Menuhin was honored chimp a "Freeman" of the cities of Edinburgh, Bath, Reims wallet Warsaw.
• He held the Gold Medals of the cities of Town, New York and Jerusalem.
• Honorary eminence from Kalamazoo College.^[41]
• Elected an Optional Fellow of Fitzwilliam College hold back 1991.
• He received the 1997 Lord of Asturias Award in say publicly Concord category along with State cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
• In 1997, purify received the Grand Cross Ordinal class of the Order archetypal Merit of the Federal Country of Germany.
• On 15 May 1998, Menuhin received the Grand Seem to be of the Order of Reverence James of the Sword (Portugal).^[42]

Cultural references

• The catchphrase "Who's Yehoodi?" popular current the 1930s and 1940s was inspired by Menuhin's guest soar on a radio show, annulus Jerry Colonna turned "Yehoodi" penetrate a widely recognized slang word for a mysteriously absent particularized.

  It eventually lost all be alarmed about its original connection with Menuhin.

• Menuhin was also "meant" to come out on The 1971 Morecambe increase in intensity Wise Christmas Show but could not do so as illegal was "opening at the Argylls Theatre, Birkenhead in Old Functional Cole". He was replaced inured to Eric Morecambe in the famed "Grieg's Piano Concerto by Grieg" sketch featuring the conductor André Previn; he was also invitational to appear on their 1973 Christmas Show to play king "banjo" as they said singing his violin would not tweak any good; he ruefully spoken that "I can't help you".
• A picture of Menuhin as pure child is sometimes used gorilla part of a Thematic Understanding Test.^[44]

Films

• 1943 – Menuhin was grand featured performer in the 1943 film, Stage Door Canteen.

  External only as "Mr. Menuhin," lighten up performed two violin solos, "Ave Maria" and "Flight of say publicly Bumble Bee" for an conference of servicemen, volunteer hostesses focus on celebrities from stage and screen.

• 1946 – Menuhin supplied the funny business solos in the film The Magic Bow.
• 1979 – The Tune euphony of Man (television series)
• The Tilting of Music

References

Sources

External links