SIR YEHUDI MENUHIN
Name: Yehudi Menuhin
Born: 22 April 1916 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died: 12 March 1999 Berlin, Germany
Genre: Classical
Occupation(s): Conductor, pedagogue, violinist, writer
Instrument: Violin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE (April 22, 1916 - March 12, 1999) was an
American-born violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in
the United Kingdom. Though born in New York City, New York, he later became a
citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and in 1985, of the United Kingdom.
Born to Russian Jewish parents, his sisters were concert pianist and human
rights worker Hephzibah Menuhin and the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah
Menuhin. Through his father Moshe Menuhin, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist
writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty. Menuhin
began violin instruction at age three under violinist Sigmund Anker. He
displayed extraordinary talents at an early age. His first solo violin
performance was at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in 1923.
Menuhin later studied under the Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu,
after which he made several recordings with his sister Hephzibah. He was also a
student of Louis Persinger and Adolf Busch.
Yehudi Menuhin performed for allied soldiers during World War II, and went with
the composer Benjamin Britten to perform for inmates of Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp, after its liberation in April 1945. He returned to Germany
in 1947 to perform under the baton of conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler as an act of
reconciliation, becoming the first Jewish musician to do so following the
Holocaust. After building early success on richly romantic and tonally opulent
performances, he experienced considerable physical and artistic difficulties
caused by overwork during World War II as well as unfocused and unstructured
early training. Careful practice and study combined with meditation and yoga (the
latter he mostly learned from B.K.S. Iyengar) helped him overcome many of these
problems. His profound and considered musical interpretations are nearly
universally acclaimed. When he finally started recording, he was known for
practicing by deconstructing music phrases one note at a time.
Menuhin continued to perform to an advanced age, becoming known for profound
interpretations of an austere quality, as well as for his explorations of music
outside the classical realm.
Name: Yehudi Menuhin
Born: 22 April 1916 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died: 12 March 1999 Berlin, Germany
Genre: Classical
Occupation(s): Conductor, pedagogue, violinist, writer
Instrument: Violin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE (April 22, 1916 - March 12, 1999) was an
American-born violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in
the United Kingdom. Though born in New York City, New York, he later became a
citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and in 1985, of the United Kingdom.
Born to Russian Jewish parents, his sisters were concert pianist and human
rights worker Hephzibah Menuhin and the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah
Menuhin. Through his father Moshe Menuhin, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist
writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty. Menuhin
began violin instruction at age three under violinist Sigmund Anker. He
displayed extraordinary talents at an early age. His first solo violin
performance was at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in 1923.
Menuhin later studied under the Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu,
after which he made several recordings with his sister Hephzibah. He was also a
student of Louis Persinger and Adolf Busch.
Yehudi Menuhin performed for allied soldiers during World War II, and went with
the composer Benjamin Britten to perform for inmates of Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp, after its liberation in April 1945. He returned to Germany
in 1947 to perform under the baton of conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler as an act of
reconciliation, becoming the first Jewish musician to do so following the
Holocaust. After building early success on richly romantic and tonally opulent
performances, he experienced considerable physical and artistic difficulties
caused by overwork during World War II as well as unfocused and unstructured
early training. Careful practice and study combined with meditation and yoga (the
latter he mostly learned from B.K.S. Iyengar) helped him overcome many of these
problems. His profound and considered musical interpretations are nearly
universally acclaimed. When he finally started recording, he was known for
practicing by deconstructing music phrases one note at a time.
Menuhin continued to perform to an advanced age, becoming known for profound
interpretations of an austere quality, as well as for his explorations of music
outside the classical realm.