Albert Edward Sammons was an English violinist, teacher, and composer born on February 23, 1886 (Brahms was 53 years old.) As had Alfredo Campoli, Vasa Prihoda, Grigoras Dinicu, Louis Krasner, Jacques Thibaud, and Geza Legocky, he was not above playing in hotels and dance halls in his early days. He also premiered no fewer than 6 string quartets, 9 violin sonatas, and 4 violin concertos. He first began violin lessons with his father at age 7. As a young teenager, he studied briefly with Alfredo Fernandez, an obscure Spanish violinist who had studied with Ysaye. Other than that, he taught himself to play. By age 12, he was already playing professionally in a band. He also left school at that time. He made his solo debut with orchestra in 1906 playing the Mendelssohn Concerto. He was twenty years old. He was playing popular music with Ernesto Bucalossi’s orchestra at the Waldorf when he was discovered by conductor Thomas Beecham who invited him to join his orchestra as concertmaster. He formed the London String Quartet in 1910. In 1921, he founded the Chamber Music Players with cellist Lauri Kennedy, Nigel Kennedy’s grandfather. During the formation of the BBC Symphony (1929), he heard, along with Lionel Tertis (violist), over 1000 string auditions. Sammons made the first complete recording of the Elgar Concerto in 1929. He later said he played the concerto at least a hundred times during his career, the last time on February 23, 1946. From 1939 onward, he taught at the Royal College of Music. He also published books of exercises and studies which are now largely forgotten. Due to an illness which made it impossible for him to play, he retired in 1948. He was 62 years old. He died on August 24, 1957, at age 71.
Showing posts with label Alfredo Campoli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alfredo Campoli. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Albert Sammons
Albert Edward Sammons was an English violinist, teacher, and composer born on February 23, 1886 (Brahms was 53 years old.) As had Alfredo Campoli, Vasa Prihoda, Grigoras Dinicu, Louis Krasner, Jacques Thibaud, and Geza Legocky, he was not above playing in hotels and dance halls in his early days. He also premiered no fewer than 6 string quartets, 9 violin sonatas, and 4 violin concertos. He first began violin lessons with his father at age 7. As a young teenager, he studied briefly with Alfredo Fernandez, an obscure Spanish violinist who had studied with Ysaye. Other than that, he taught himself to play. By age 12, he was already playing professionally in a band. He also left school at that time. He made his solo debut with orchestra in 1906 playing the Mendelssohn Concerto. He was twenty years old. He was playing popular music with Ernesto Bucalossi’s orchestra at the Waldorf when he was discovered by conductor Thomas Beecham who invited him to join his orchestra as concertmaster. He formed the London String Quartet in 1910. In 1921, he founded the Chamber Music Players with cellist Lauri Kennedy, Nigel Kennedy’s grandfather. During the formation of the BBC Symphony (1929), he heard, along with Lionel Tertis (violist), over 1000 string auditions. Sammons made the first complete recording of the Elgar Concerto in 1929. He later said he played the concerto at least a hundred times during his career, the last time on February 23, 1946. From 1939 onward, he taught at the Royal College of Music. He also published books of exercises and studies which are now largely forgotten. Due to an illness which made it impossible for him to play, he retired in 1948. He was 62 years old. He died on August 24, 1957, at age 71. 
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Alfredo Campoli
Alfredo Campoli (also known as Campoli) was an Italian (some would say English) violinist born on October 20, 1906 (Heifetz was 5 years old.) He is remembered for the exquisite, sensuous tone he drew from the violin as well as the span of his repertoire. He began violin lessons with his father, a teacher at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, at age 5 (some sources say age 6.) His family moved to England in 1917. He made his London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1923, though he had already played publicly in London - and entered several competitions - from age 13 and had been playing professionally since then. In the 1930s, he formed the Salon Orchestra and the Welbeck Light Quartet in order to make a living during the Depression, playing in restaurants, hotels, and small halls. He concertized only sporadically during this period. After the war, he re-established his concert career. His U.S. debut came in New York in 1953. On that occasion, he played Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol with the New York Philharmonic under George Szell. He toured Russia in 1956 and continued touring the world until his retirement. During his 55-year career, he played in over 1000 radio broadcasts and made more than 100 recordings. He also appeared in several films. Arthur Bliss wrote his violin concerto for him and he premiered it in 1955. There are many soundtracks of his playing – no videos yet - on YouTube. Campoli played an 1843 Rocca and the Dragonneti Stradivarius (1700). He died on March 27, 1991, at age 84. Sunday, June 21, 2009
Louis Krasner
Louis Krasner was a Russian (Ukrainian) violinist, teacher, and composer born on June 21, 1903 (Heifetz was 2 years old.) He is remembered for having commissioned and premiered Alban Berg’s violin concerto. Krasner asked for the concerto in 1934 - Berg completed it in 1935 and Krasner premiered it in 1936 in Spain. He also premiered the Schoenberg violin concerto (in 1940) among other modern works. Krasner’s live recordings of each concerto date from 1938 and 1954, respectively. Krasner came to the U.S. from Russia as a 5 year-old boy. After the usual course of study at Boston English High School, he attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory. As had Alfredo Campoli, Geza Legocky, Albert Sammons, Vasa Prihoda, Jacques Thibaud, and Grigoras Dinicu, he played popular music in clubs in order to support himself while he studied. He also studied violin in Europe with Lucien Capet, Otakar Sevcik, and Carl Flesch. In the U.S., he studied with Eugene Gruenberg (of the Boston Symphony), among others. He played his New England Conservatory graduation recital in 1922 though he graduated in 1923. After concertizing for two decades, he became concertmaster of the Minneapolis Symphony (1944-1949.) He then moved to Syracuse, New York to teach at Syracuse University. Krasner retired from concertizing in 1973 but dedicated the rest of his life to teaching - he taught at the New England Conservatory from 1976 until the year he died. Krasner died on May 4, 1995.
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