 |
Showcasing the Legacy of the Violin at Juilliard By JANE GOTTLIEB
Visitors to the fifth floor of the Juilliard building will notice a series of photographs of violinists near Room 530, the current teaching studio of Itzhak Perlman and former teaching studio of his renowned teacher, the late Dorothy DeLay. Titled "The Legacy of the Violin at Juilliard," these photographs represent the first of a series of "Legacy" exhibits prepared by the library and archives in advance of the School's 2005-06 centennial celebrations.
 |
| A section of the exhibit. (Photo by Lisa Yelon) |
|
The story of Juilliard's violin legacy begins with Franz Kneisel, founder of the Kneisel String Quartet and member of the Institute of Musical Art violin faculty from 1905 until his death in 1926. Romanian-born Kneisel emigrated to America in 1885 to assume the position of concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While in Boston he presented the American premiere of the Brahms Violin Concerto, and founded the Kneisel String Quartet with his fellow B.S.O. players violinist Emanuel Fiedler, violist Louis Svecenski, and cellist Fritz Giese. The quartet quickly established its reputation as one of the leading American chamber ensembles, and the players resigned from the B.S.O. in 1903 to devote more time to chamber music activities. Frank Damrosch invited the group—which then included Kneisel, Svecenski, second violinist Julius Theodorowicz, and cellist Alwyn Schroeder—to join the I.M.A. faculty at the time of the School's founding in 1905. Second violinist Theodorowicz was succeeded by Julius Roentgen, and later by Hans Letz. Willem Willeke succeeded Alwyn Schroeder as cellist. The quartet disbanded in 1917.Among Kneisel's violin and chamber music students were Louis J. Bostelmann, Joseph and Lillian Fuchs, Samuel Gardner, Sascha Jacobsen, Louis Kaufman, and Karl Kraueter. Kneisel also established the Kneisel Festival in Blue Hill, Me., which is now directed by Juilliard piano faculty member Seymour Lipkin.The I.M.A. community was quite shaken by Kneisel's death in 1926, and Damrosch sought to appoint a violin teacher of similar stature. He engaged the then 80-year-old Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer, who had established a reputation as a renowned pedagogue in Europe and America. Damrosch wrote in his history of The Institute of Musical Art, 1905-1926: "Professor Auer told me on several occasions that he had never known a school in which the violin students were so well grounded in the fundamentals of good violin playing and showed such qualities for artistic development." Auer taught and coached I.M.A. violinists until his death in 1930.Kneisel's student Joseph Fuchs began his studies at the Institute of Musical Art in 1906, when he was 6 years old. He was concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1926 to 1940, and in 1943 launched his career as a soloist with recital and concerto performances worldwide. He returned to his alma mater to teach in 1946 and remained on the School's faculty until his death in 1997. Fuchs is pictured in the exhibit in two photos: one from 1960 in rehearsal for a performance of Juilliard President William Schuman's Violin Concerto with Schuman and conductor Jean Morel in attendance, and one with Dorothy DeLay on the occasion of his 95th birthday celebration in 1995.
 |
| The Kneisel Quartet, c. 1917. (Photo by Aimé Dupont) |
|
Another Juilliard violin legacy line may be traced to Louis Persinger, faculty member from 1930 to 1966. Persinger had studied with the renowned Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in Brussels, and donated the manuscripts of three of Ysaÿe's solo sonatas (nos. 2, 3, and 6) to Juilliard's library. Prior to joining Juilliard's faculty, Persinger had established his teaching credentials as the primary teacher of Yehudi Menuhin. Among his other students were Isaac Stern, Ruggiero Ricci, Guila Bustabo, Louise Behrens, Dorothy Minty, and Camilla Wicks.Also featured in the exhibit is a photo of Édouard Déthier, faculty member from 1906 to 1962 and teacher of Robert Mann, founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet. There is a photo of Ivan Galamian, teacher of Perlman, Jaime Laredo, Michael Rabin, Pinchas Zuckerman, and Kyung-Wha Chung, and author of the text Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching (1962; 2nd edition, 1985). There are several photos of the Juilliard String Quartet over the years in the exhibit, as well as several photos of Dean Stephen Clapp, who was a student of Ms. DeLay.Situated closest to the door of Ms. DeLay's legendary studio is a photo of Itzhak Perlman performing with Samuel Sanders and a proud photo of Ms. DeLay herself standing with her student Juliette Kang and Maestro James DePreist, following a performance by Ms. Kang in November 1992. One of the most prominent violin pedagogues of the century, Dorothy DeLay (1917-2002) studied at Oberlin College with Raymond Cerf, a student of Ysaÿe's, and later at Juilliard with Persinger. She joined Juilliard's faculty in 1948, working first as Galamian's assistant before establishing her own studio. In addition to Juilliard, she taught at the Aspen Music School, Sarah Lawrence College, New England Conservatory, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory. Her roster of students includes many of the world's most successful violinists, among them Mr. Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Sarah Chang, Robert McDuffie, Shlomo Mintz, Gil Shaham, Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg, and Midori.It is difficult if not impossible to depict the rich legacy of Juilliard's violin faculty in an exhibit of 16 images or an article of several hundred words. Archivist Jeni Dahmus has compiled a chronological listing of Juilliard violin faculty from 1905 to the present, which is available upon request. This list reads like a "who's who" of 20th-century violinists, and we regret that the exhibit could not feature them all. And, still missing from the exhibit as of this writing is a forthcoming photo of the current violin faculty: Earl Carlyss, Stephen Clapp, Ronald Copes, Glenn Dicterow, Hyo Kang, Lewis Kaplan, Masao Kawasaki, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert Mann, Margaret Pardee, Itzhak Perlman, Joel Smirnoff, Naoko Tanaka, and Donald Weilerstein. They and their students represent the continuation of the Juilliard legacy.Within Juilliard's violin history there are countless associations that can be traced from teachers to students, and many opportunities for explorations of pedagogical lineage. Can one hear the influence of Ysaÿe in students of Persinger or DeLay, or the influence of Kneisel in students of Joseph Fuchs? We are privileged to house the papers and memorabilia of Joseph Fuchs, Dorothy DeLay, Tossy Spivakovsky, and Kneisel Hall in Juilliard's library and archives. We also house hundreds of biographical files with materials on the School's faculty and students. There is an abundance of material for future research, and we welcome all who are interested in exploring this rich legacy."The Legacy of the Violin" exhibit was prepared by Jane Gottlieb and Jeni Dahmus, and designed by Bill Beirne.Jane Gottlieb is vice president for library and information resources.
|
