My name is Deryn Riggs. Some of you know me already. For those who do not, I am David’s daughter’s partner. I have been assisting along with Laura with several aspects of the post-production process of “From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall.”
A new voice
As David has been concentrating on other aspects of his life recently, I have volunteered to at least temporarily assist with this blog. Due to the large number of world-class musicians and music aficionados existing amongst David’s contact list, I would love for this new incarnation of the blog to involve more audience engagement. In short, I would love to enlist your opinions and knowledge to further flesh out anything I present here today. I will be more specific with my requests further along in this week’s blog, when my requests (should) all make more sense. Thank you for your patience.
Ignorance is not bliss
I do myself have some history as a classical musician and I was blessed to have been raised with some modest musical knowledge by two (now retired) fantastic influences in the form of my parents. I however dropped out of the classical music scene in college and instead focused on other areas. Because of this choice, I find that when reading David’s autobiography I only have a vague familiarity with some of the world-class musicians that he refers to. I have improved my own education with a little historical digging on the Internet and further with some pointed questions to David himself at various times – all of which have helped me better appreciate the stories in his book as I deepen my own understanding. I thought I might pass on my newfound knowledge to those few of you reading this blog who, like me, may not have a complete grasp of all the players.
My goals (at least for now)
My intention, for at least a few blog entries, is to focus on the musicians and conductors. We have a comments section below this blog and I would be truly honored if those of you who have greater knowledge would consider sharing a personal story or two of your own – or perhaps just correct or improve my understanding of a detail I might have overlooked or misrepresented. If I receive a strong enough response, I intend to take these additional tidbits and formulate an additional follow-up blog for each personage detailed here to collectively improve everyone’s understanding and remembrance of these paragons of our musical memories.
Part 1 of 2 – Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin (Lord Menuhin, Baron of Stoke d’Abernon, 22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999) is popularly hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Although born in New York City, he spent the majority of his musical career performing in Britain.
Smuggled into greatness
Young Yehudi was”smuggled” by his parents to concerts in San Francisco beginning at age two, where he heard the concertmaster and first violinist of the San Francisco Symphony at the Curran Theater, Louis Persinger, play solo passages that left little Yehudi enchanted. In his autobiography “Unfinished Journey,” Menuhin writes that he asked for a violin for his fourth birthday, along with personal lessons from Persinger.
On Menuhin’s fourth birthday, he was indeed gifted a violin by a family friend – a toy made of tin. Shortly after attempting to play it, he threw it to the ground in a fury, proclaiming “it doesn’t sing!” Not long thereafter, he was sent a monetary gift by his grandmother from Palestine/Land of Israel, half of which he used to buy his first real “half-size violin” (the other half of the money went to a Chevrolet convertible, a parental choice although Menuhin himself was a lifelong automotive enthusiast). Later in his fourth year, Yehudi began formal violin instruction with his first teacher, Sigmund Anker, whom Menuhin described as more of a drill sergeant than a classical stylist. His parents had asked Louis Persinger to teach their son, but at the time Persinger’s schedule was far too full to add an unproven four-year old, no matter how many praises his parents sang of his nascent talent. Menuhin remained under the tutelage of Ankher until his first quasi-competition at the Fairmont Hotel in 1921, where he was somewhat disappointed with a second place finish.
Playing with Persinger
It was this performance, per Menuhin, that led his mother Marutha to contact Louis Persinger on his behalf for the second time and this time Persinger agreed to become the precocious five-year-old’s new teacher. Yehudi and his mother began streetcar journeys to Persinger’s Hyde Street studio twice a week (which later blossomed to three, four, then five lessons each week) and Persinger, who was not an experienced teacher of little boys, taught common sense and improvised practice techniques to maintain a five-year old’s attention. Menuhin continued to be a frequent attendee of classical concerts in his early years, fascinated by the great musicians of the day.
Louis Persinger with his student, young Yehudi Menuhin
First performance
In 1924 at age seven, Yehudi Menuhin had his first formal debut, performing de Bériot’s “Scène de Ballet,” inserted into a longer program at the Oakland Auditorium. He experienced his first appearance with a full orchestra a year later, in a performance of Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole,” then the next month performed his first full recital at the Scottish Rite Hall in San Francisco. By age nine, Menuhin was well-known and acclaimed in the Bay Area. He credits his parents, Moshe and Marutha, for their refusal to exploit this newfound fame. He was raised humbly with focus on family life, studies and learning. His parents avoided any possibility of newspaper interviews, private performances for rich socialites, or other such foolishness, strictly maintaining a normal childhood for their young virtuoso.
New York and Paris
In fall of 1925, Yehudi, his mother Marutha and Louis Persinger moved with Persinger’s performing quartet to New York City, marking Yehudi’s first long separation from his father, who was forced to remain in California to keep his very important career active as superintendent of all seven of the Hebrew schools in the Bay Area. Yehudi began classes at the Institute of Musical Art (later renamed Julliard) amongst far older classmates. At this same time, he was also presented his first Italian violin in dramatic fashion by Fritz Kreisler in Carnegie Hall. Less than a year later, tireless promotions instituted by his father brought Yehudi and his teacher both back to Califonia, then allowed the family to make the long Atlantic crossing to France, where Menuhin persuaded Georges Enesco to give him private lessons. Enesco, a Romanian composer, violinist and pianist, gave Menuhin lessons whenever his concert schedule allowed. Through him, Yehudi learned a delight for music beyond just the classical realm, and grew to be fascinated by the wildness and chaotic nature of Gypsy melodies.
-To be continued-
In the next blog, I intend to discuss the culmination of Yehudi Menuhin’s youthful success, his prolific recording career, and then his advancement to become the great conductor and teacher that he personified later in life. I hope these first details have been entertaining to read. I have researched and compared many sources across the Internet, but if you enjoyed this story, I highly recommend you read his autobiography “Unfinished Journey,” published in 1976, revised in 1996 and available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and wherever else quality books might be found.
Thanks for reading!
Deryn
David Singer, Grammy Award-Winning Professional Musician for 55 years
Author of “From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall“
www.singerclarinet.com
Blog updated frequently
Click here to see Taxiing Toward Success – Chapter 4
This is an interesting and enjoyable summary of Yehudi Menuhin’s life. I thought it might bear noting that (according to http://www.menuhin.org/the-man) the given names of Yehudi’s parents were actually Moshe and Marutha (nee Sher). It’s not surprising that Yehudi should have referred to his parents as “Abba” and “Imma” (which are Hebrew for “Father” and “Mother,” respectively). Mentioning this near the beginning might make this clearer.
Thank you so much for this clarification. I will edit the blog to reflect these corrections.
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