Guide to the Yehudi Menuhin Collection ARS-0040 (original) (raw)

Description

The collection contains primarily sound recordings of performances of Yehudi Menuhin as violin soloist, with piano accompaniment by Hephzibah Menuhin, or with orchestral accompaniment. Most of the recordings are test pressings made between 1938 and 1950. The first box also contains one folder with three record labels that were removed from three Menuhin discs which are not included in this collection.

Background

Yehudi Menuhin, an American violinist, conductor, and teacher of Russian descent, was born in New York on April 22, 1916. His early violin studies were with Sigmund Anker and Louis Persinger, and he completed his training with Adolf Busch and George Enescu. As a child prodigy, he gave his earliest professional concerts in San Francisco in 1924 and followed those performances with highly successful debut concerts in New York, Paris, Berlin and London. As a prolific recording artist, Menuhin became known for his performances of Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto, which he recorded in 1932 with the composer conducting. His interest in new music produced more than 40 commissions from such noted composers as Béla Bartók (Sonata for Solo Violin) and William Walton (Sonata for Violin and Piano). Menuhin also championed lesser known works of the past such as Mendelssohn's early Concerto in D Minor and Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto. During the Second World War Menuhin gave more than 500 concerts, and in 1945 he was the first Jewish musical artist to perform in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. In the late 1940s Menuhin became more active as a conductor and teacher. In 1959 he founded the Bath Festival Orchestra, and in 1963 he founded the Menuhin Music School, both in the U.K. As a teacher, he also published books on violin playing and wrote an autobiography. Menuhin remained an active performer throughout his life and died in Berlin on March 12, 1999 during a concert tour of Germany.

Extent

1.1 linear feet, 2 boxes

Restrictions

Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.

Availability

Collection is open for research. Listening appointments may require 24 hours notice. Contact the Archive Operations Manager.