Yehudi Menuhin | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Roger Dettmer The legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin was the eldest child of Russian-born Hebrew scholars who met in Palestine, emigrated to New York City, and moved to San Francisco soon after their son's birth. After just three years of violin study, Yehudi made a legendary debut at age seven with the local symphony. His Carnegie Hall debut three years later, in the Beethoven Violin Concerto, garnered praise that likened him to Mozart as a prodigy, whereupon the family (which now included sisters Hephzibah and Yaltah) lived gypsy-like in hotels wherever Yehudi was engaged at enormous fees. But the child's talent was instinctive. As Fritz Kreisler was to remark later on, "Because the young Menuhin had anticipated so early and so much of what nature had given him, I foresaw that he would have great difficulties." And he did. When an eminent elder colleague requested a scale after the boy had played Lalo's Symphonie espagnole flawlessly, Menuhin wrote in his autobiography, Unfinished Journey, "I groped all over the fingerboard like a blind mouse....

I played the violin without being prepared for violin playing." He began recording early on (playing among other works Elgar 's Violin Concerto at 16, with the composer conducting) and continued to concertize, making a world tour of 73 cities during his 19th year. At the end, however, he felt "tired, indifferent, and sad," and in 1936 began an 18-month sabbatical. Menuhin resumed playing in 1938, but never after with the sublime confidence of his preadolescent years. During World War II he gave more than 500 concerts for Allied and American troops, but stirred a hornet's nest of controversy as the first major Jewish artist to perform in postwar Germany. Likewise, after the Six Day War in the Middle East, he was vilified for performing charity concerts in Arab countries. Increasingly he devoted himself to the training of young artists, both near London (which became his home in 1952) and at Gstaad, Switzerland. Also in 1952 he went to India, became a disciple of yoga, and a colleague of sitarist Ravi Shankar .

He recorded with Shankar, as he did subsequently with jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. In the middle 1950s Menuhin took up conducting, but was no better schooled than he had been as a child violinist -- and he was conspicuously less successful despite having made a steady stream of recordings begninning in 1958. At age 82 he was guest conducting the Warsaw Symphony on tour when he suffered a fatal heart attack in Berlin. Menuhin was named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1948, to the British knighthood in 1965, and to a Lordship in 1993. For his work on behalf of peace worldwide, he was named ambassador of goodwill to UNESCO in 1992. His dedication to the "minds and hearts" of young musicians well may be remembered after his pre-adult celebrity has faded to black.

Menuhin married twice, fathered four children, and played frequent recitals with sisters Hephzibah (1920-1981), starting in 1930, and years later with Yaltah (1922-2001), notably at the Bath Festival he founded and directed in the 1960s. Yehudi Menuhin - Biography - IMDb Yehudi Menuhin Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (7) | Personal Quotes (1) Overview (2) 12 March 1999 , Berlin, Germany (heart failure) Mini Bio (1) Yehudi Menuhin was born on April 22, 1916 in New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Diana Menuhin and Nola Nicholas. He died on March 12, 1999 in Berlin, Germany.

Spouse (2) ( 19 October 1947 - 12 March 1999) (his death) (2 children) Nola Nicholas Child prodigy violinist, conductor, festival impresario, teacher and supporter of many good causes. Made his concert debut at the age of 7. Living in London until his death, he was knighted in 1993. Sir Yehudi founded an international school for gifted young musicians. His widow Diana (born 12 November 1912) outlived her husband by four years. She passed away herself on 25 January 2003. He was awarded the O.M. (Order of Merit) in 1987, crowned in 1993, and British citation in 1985 for his services to music. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6710 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Personal Quotes (1) Stéphane Grappelli is like one of those jugglers who send 10 plates into the air and recover them all.

See also Menuhin: 100 facts to celebrate his centenary | Music | The Guardian Music blog Menuhin: 100 facts to celebrate his centenary Friday 22 April is the centenary of Yehudi Menuhin’s birth. His biographer has compiled for us a list of 100 facts about the great musician and his musical legacy. American-born British violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin (1916 - 1999). Photograph: Erich Auerbach/Getty Images Thursday 21 April 2016 02.00 EDT Last modified on Thursday 21 April 2016 02.02 EDT Share on Messenger Close 1. Yehudi Menuhin, born in New York City on April 22, 1916, was a US violinist, later also a conductor, teacher, impresario and supporter of human rights. 2. For the first 22 years of his life, his father falsified his birth date by nine months, presumably with the intention of making him seem even younger and thus even more of a prodigy. 3.

Menuhin also had a Swiss passport, linked to his family’s 40 year residence in Gstaad. 4. In his late 60s Menuhin was also granted UK citizenship which enabled him to become Sir Yehudi. (He had been made an honorary KBE in 1965.) In 1993 he was named a life peer and took the title Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon, thus honouring the Surrey village where his international school for young musicians is situated. 5. His parents Moshe and Marutha were both born in Czarist Russia and came to the US separately after spending their childhoods in Palestine. 6. When he was four Yehudi was given a cheap violin made of tin but smashed the toy to the ground when he couldn’t make a beautiful sound on it. 7. His grandmother in Palestine sent sufficient cash for his father to buy an automobile for the family (a Chevrolet) and a real violin for Yehudi. 8. He and his sisters Hephzibah and Yaltah were educated at home by their parents and tutors.

The girls, four and five years younger respectively, were both fine pianists, prompting a French professor to the observation that Mrs Menuhin’s womb was “a veritable conservatoire”. Pinterest Menuhin aged 11. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images 9. Yehudi was an astonishing child prodigy. His family moved to California when he was an infant and he spent most of his first decade in San Francisco, where he studied first with the Austrian-born Sigmund Anker and then, aged seven, with Louis Persinger, a pupil of Eugene Ysaye. 10. On November 9, 1922, the six-year-old Yehudi played Accolay’s violin concerto in A minor at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. This was his first public appearance. 11. In February 1923, he performed Charles de Beriot’s Concerto No. 9 “with the poise and temperament of a veteran” - according to the San Francisco Journal. 12.

He gave his first full-length solo recital in 1925, aged eight at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, San Francisco, the programme included Mendelssohn’s violin concerto (with piano accompaniment). 13. The next year, aged nine, he made his New York recital debut, at the Manhattan Opera House. To the exasperation of his father, he exchanged a silver-tipped violin bow for a month’s supply of wild strawberries. 14. The Menuhin family moved to Europe so that Yehudi could continue his studies with two of the world’s finest musicians: the Romanian George Enesco in Paris and the German Adolf Busch in Basel. 15. He made his Paris debut in 1927 when he was 10, playing concertos by Lalo and Tchaikovsky under the conductor Paul Paray. 16. In the summer of 1927 the Menuhin family went to Romania at Enesco’s invitation. Yehudi heard gypsy music for the first time. To the exasperation of his father, he exchanged a valuable silver-tipped violin bow for a month’s supply of wild strawberries from the gypsies. 17.

He first played the Beethoven violin concerto at Carnegie Hall when he was 11; the orchestra was conducted by Fritz Busch. 18. In December 1928 he gave the world premiere of Abodah (“God’s Worship”) written especially for him by Ernest Bloch. This was the first of over 40 commissions and dedications; composers who wrote for him include Frank Martin, Andrzrej Panufnik and Malcolm Williamson. 19. In January 1929 he was given the $60,000 Stradivarius violin known as the Prince Khevenhueller (after its first owner). From the archive 21 November 1932: Yehudi Menuhin, the brilliant boy violinist Read more 20. At his Berlin debut in March 1929, aged 12, Yehudi performed a marathon concert consisting of three violin concertos: Bach’s in E Major and the Beethoven before the intermission and Brahms in the second half, with the final two movements of the Mendelssohn concerto played as an encore.

The conductor Bruno Walter remembered the boy wonder: “he was a child and yet he was already a man and a great artist.” 21. In the Berlin audience in March 1929 was the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein. His reaction after the performance, as recorded by Moshe Menuhin: “My dear Yehudi, tonight you have taught me my first new lesson in many years...I have made a new discovery. I see that the day of miracles is not over...Our dear old Jehovah is still on the job.” 22. Yehudi was a plump boy despite taking regular exercise. His favourite post-concert relaxation was to eat strawberry ice cream with whipped cream on top. 23. He made his first gramophone recordings in 1928 for the RCA Victor company. On one side of the ten-inch 78 rpm disk was J.-H. Fiocco’s Allegro. On the other was La Capricciosa by Franz Ries. As a reward after his first recording session Yehudi was taken to see The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, the very first talking picture. Einstein was in the Berlin audience in 1929.

I see that the day of miracles is not over, he said, after the concert. 24. During the Depression years Yehudi, now a teenager, switched his recording contract to His Master’s Voice; he stayed with that company for over 50 years. 25. In his teens, Menuhin was the world’s highest-paid musician and a friend of some of its greatest musicians including the conductor Arturo Toscanini and the composer Edward Elgar, whose violin concerto he recorded in 1932. 26. In 1938 all three Menuhin children got married within the space of three months. Yehudi, 22, married a beautiful Australian redhead, Nola Nicholson. Hephzibah married Nola’s sheep-farming brother Lindsay and went to live in Australia. Yaltah, only 16, married an American lawyer who turned out to be a homosexual; she was home again within six months. 27. Yehudi and Nola had two children, Zamira and Krov. Their marriage broke down during the second world war. 28. Pressured by Nola’s father the couple attempted a reconciliation when peace returned but they had irreconcilable personality differences.

29. In 1947 Yehudi Menuhin married Diana Gould, a former ballet dancer who had worked with Nijinkska, Massine and Ashton. They had two sons, Gerard and Jeremy. Like their father, the four children all had failed first marriages. 30. During the war Menuhin played for US troops all over North America including a tour of the Aleutian Islands and in Hawaii a series of concerts for wounded marines and for other combatants about to participate in the Battle of Guam. Pinterest Yehudin Menuhin at a concert at Albert Hall/London. Photograph. November 29th 1931. Photograph: Imagno/Getty Images 31. During the war, Menuhin flew to Britain twice to play for British and French troops and factory workers. Within days of their liberation in 1944 he gave concerts in Antwerp, Brussels and Paris, where he had lived during his teens while studying with Enesco. 32. On his way back to England from Paris his plane crash-landed in a Kent field and he hitch-hiked to London to fulfil a BBC radio broadcast later that day. 33.

In November 1944, in New York, he gave the world premiere of the Sonata for solo violin which he had commissioned from Bela Bartók. 34. In April 1945 he played for the inauguration of the United Nations General Assembly in San Francisco. 35. In June 1945 he screen-tested for the role of Niccolo Paganini in a British feature film entitled The Magic Bow. The part eventually went to Stewart Granger, but Menuhin recorded the film’s soundtrack. 36. Soon after the end of the war Menuhin travelled to the Belsen concentration camp to play for survivors of the holocaust and also for German civilians. His pianist was Benjamin Britten. 37. His tour of destroyed Germany concluded with a broadcast performance from Hamburg of the Mendelssohn violin concerto, the first time Germans had heard it since the banning of Mendelssohn’s music in 1933. 38. In November 1945 he flew to Moscow and forged a friendship with the great violinist David Oistrakh. He also visited Moscow’s Central School for gifted musical children which inspired the creation two decades later of his own international school in England. 39.

In 1946-47 he actively campaigned for Wilhelm Furtwängler to be de-Nazified, giving concerts with him at the Salzburg and Lucerne festivals and later in Berlin. 40. In Berlin his recital for Jewish displaced persons was boycotted because of his support for Furtwängler. Next day he visited the nearby DP camp and made a compelling argument for reconciliation between victors and vanquished. Pinterest Menuhin and his second wife Diana, in 1958. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images 41. Within an hour of marrying Diana Gould at the Chelsea Registry Office in London on October 18 1947, Menuhin was at a concert rehearsal at the Royal Albert Hall, playing Paganini’s B Minor concerto. 42. In December 1947 Menuhin travelled to Hollywood to film a complete recital entitled Concert Magic. The worthy project of disseminating classical music in cinemas was doomed to commercial failure by the advent of television. Only two months later, in February 1948, Yehudi appeared in the first classical concert ever to be televised on the West Coast. 43.

A film of Menuhin playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto dates from the same studio sessions. The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra was conducted by his Hungarian friend Antal Dorati. 44. In 1949, in Zurich, he gave the premiere of the Sonata for violin and piano which he had commissioned from William Walton. The pianist was Louis Kentner and the work was dedicated to the wives of the two musicians, Diana Menuhin and Grizelda Kentner, who were sisters. 45. In 1950 he made his first visit to Israel. He was greeted by bomb threats but went ahead with a series of public recitals partnered by his sister Hephzibah. 46. In 1950 he visited South Africa and spoke out against segregation. He insisted on playing for black audiences as well as white. He made a second visit in 1956 to appear at the Johannesburg Festival but did not return thereafter until the end of apartheid. In 1996 he conducted Handel’s Messiah with a black choir in a township outside Johannesburg. In 1950 he visited South Africa and insisted on playing for black audiences as well as white. 47.

In May 1951 Menuhin and his sister were entrusted with the first recital to be given in London’s new Royal Festival Hall. 48. While touring in New Zealand later in 1951 he read an article about yoga and decided to apply its relaxation method to his own violin playing. 49. He visited India for the first time in 1952, raising money for famine relief. He advertised for a yoga teacher and chose Mr B.K.S. Iyengar from Puna, who became a lifelong friend. 50. While in India he dined with the prime minister Pandit Nehru and demonstrated his newly acquired skill at yoga by standing on his head at the pre-dinner cocktail party. Mr Nehru responded in kind. 51. For eight years, from 1952 to 1960, he and his wife travelled by land and sea but not by air. This followed the deaths in air crashes of the noted violinists Jacques Thibaud and Ginette Neveu. 52. He was the first musician to play a solo concert in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to an audience that included the Queen Mother. 53.

He coached violin for the first time in 1954 when he was the guest professor at Nadia Boulanger’s summer school in Fontainebleau. 54. In 1957 he established his own festival in the Swiss resort town of Gstaad. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears were the only guest artists. 55. The Menuhin family chalet, entitled “Chankly Bore” (a reference to the Jumblies by one of Diana’s favourite poets, Edward Lear), was ready for occupancy in 1960. Mr Iyengar was a regular visitor. 56. Having definitively quit California the Menuhins made their winter base for two winters in a villino (cottage) on the estate of the American art historian and dealer Bernard Berenson outside Florence. 57. In 1959 he assumed the artistic direction of the Bath Festival, which he ran for a decade, making many successful recordings with the Bath Festival Orchestra, later re-named the Menuhin Festival Orchestra. 58. The Menuhins moved to England in 1960, settling in a fine house in The Grove, Highgate. 59.

For the last four decades of his life, Yehudi Menuhin became part of the English scene. He wrote many letters to The Times, appeared on the BBC Third Programme’s Brains Trust series and helped to found an organic food shop in central London. He was one of the first Londoners to acquire an electrically-powered car. 60. Menuhin was an early supporter of green causes. He was one of the first Londoners to acquire an electrically-powered car. Passengers in the back seats had to get out and push when it was driven up Highgate Hill. 61. In 1962 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society. 62. In June 1963, at his Bath Festival, he played Bartók’s solo sonata for a new ballet, Serenade, by Kenneth Macmillan featuring Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. 63. In September 1963 the Yehudi Menuhin International Music School opened in a former hotel in Kensington. The school moved the following year to its present premises in Stoke d’Abernon near Cobham, Surrey. 64.

In 1965 the Queen bestowed an honorary knighthood (KBE) on Yehudi; because he was an American citizen he could not use the title. 65. April 1966: Menuhin celebrated his 50th birthday with a concert at the Royal Festival Hall. His son Jeremy, then 14, made his public debut playing Mozart’s concerto for three pianos with his aunts Hephzibah and Yaltah. 66. In June 1966, at the Bath Festival, he conducted his first Mozart opera, Cosi fan tutte. 67. December 1967: Menuhin’s love of Indian music reached its apogee. The great sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar joined him to perform their West meets East programme at the General Assembly of the United Nations, marking the 20th anniversary of the declaration of universal human rights. 68. Partnered by his manager, Sir Ian Hunter, he inaugurated the Windsor Festival in 1969, appearing there for the next four years. 69. Between 1969-75 he served as President of the International Music Council, UNESCO. 70.

1972: A speech delivered at the IMC Congress in Moscow criticised the Russian government for its treatment of dissidents, including Mstislav Rostropovitch and Alexander Solzhenitsin. Pravda ignored the speech but the text, translated into Russian, was circulated clandestinely. Pinterest A 1949 portrait. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images 71. December 1971: Menuhin’s celebrated partnership with jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli was inaugurated on BBC TV with Jealousy . They recorded six LPs over the next decade. 72. In 1972 Menuhin published Theme and Variations, a collection of his speeches and essays. 73. In the early 70s he made two television programmes for ITV’s Aquarius in which his wife narrated verse by Edward Lear and EE Cummings to music by Edwin Roxburgh. 74. He made his conducting debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1975, later becoming its life president. 75. Yehudi’s 60th birthday party was televised by BBC2. The host for the evening was David Attenborough. 76.

His memoirs, Unfinished Journey were published in 1977. An extended edition appeared for his 80th birthday in 1996. 77. 1977 saw the foundation of Live Music Now , the organisation that sends young professional musicians to perform in hospices, prisons and other venues off the beaten track. Similar organisations have spring up in many other countries, notably Germany and Austria. 78. He co-wrote and hosted The Music of Man, an eight-part TV series made by CBC in 1978. 79. He visited China for the first time in 1979 and was appointed honorary professor of violin at Beijing Conservatory. 80. In 1980 Menuhin played at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, US, performing Bartók duets with his protégé Edna Michell. 81. On January 1, 1981, his sister Hephzibah died from throat cancer. 82. His father Moshe, died aged 88 in 1982. Menuhin played at Carnegie Hall a few hours after learning the news, saying his father would have wanted it that way.

83. The same year he takes the Menuhin School Orchestra on its first concert tour of China. 84. In 1983 he conducted a concert for the (Polish) Pope with the Polish Chamber Orchestra, which was later re-named the Sinfonia Varsovia. In 1994 and 1997 he recorded with them complete sets of the symphonies of Beethoven and Schubert. 85. 1984: He conducts La Clemenza di Tito at the Bonn Opera. The only mature Mozart opera he didn’t ever conduct was Figaro. My mentor Yehudi Menuhin: 'I can still hear his beautiful sound' Read more 86. Life Class, (edited by Christopher Hope, father of one of his favourite pupils Daniel Hope ) is published in 1987, containing ‘thoughts, exercises, reflections of an itinerant violinist”. 87. He receives the Order of Merit from the British Queen at a private ceremony in 1987. 88. 1989: he attends the World Economic Council in Davos for the first time. 89.

In May 1991 he addressed the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem, lecturing the Israelis on the need to live peacefully with their Arab neighbours. The Jewish destiny, he said, was to heal and help. 90. 1994 Brussels: the launch of MUS-E “bringing singing and dancing to [EU] schools ridden by violence”. 91. Yehudi returned to Romania in 1995 and performed the music of his great teacher George Enesco. 92. The same year he addressed the cultural delegates of the 15 countries of the European Parliament. Pinterest Conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images 93. 1995: From the Sitar to the Guitar – a live telecast from the Cirque Royale in Brussels - a history in music and dance of the great trek of the Romanies (the gypsies) from India to Spain, hosted by Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin. 94. Prince Charles leads Menuhin’s 80th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace.

The entertainment includes scenes from Bruno Monsaingeon’s wide-ranging and affectionate new documentary, The Violin of the Century . 95. A concert in New York marks Menuhin’s 80th birthday with 14 works dedicated to Menuhin. Composers included Steve Reich, John Tavener and Lukas Foss. 96. October 1996 Menuhin conducts a concert for peace in war-torn Sarajevo. 97. 1997 First meeting, in Brussels, of the Assembly of Cultures, another of his international projects. 98. In Autumn 1998 he embarked on a new documentary for the BBC entitled Menuhin’s Children. He wanted to show how a dozen ordinary children at a Surrey primary school could learn to play the violin from scratch. He died before the experiment was completed, but it was deemed a success. 99. March 7 1999: In Dusseldorf Menuhin conducted what proved to be his last concert. The Sinfonia Varsovia was on a fortnight’s tour of Germany; violinist Daniel Hope was the violin soloist.

As his encore, Hope played the soulful Kaddisch by Ravel , a work Menuhin had recorded in his teens. 100. Taken ill a few days later (having meanwhile flown home at the weekend to visit his sick wife Diana) Menuhin was admitted to a West Berlin hospital where he died of a heart attack on 12 March 1999. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies | UK news | The Guardian Violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies "The last thing he did was dictate a letter to Gordon Brown congratulating him on his Budget." From PA News Close World famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin died today in Berlin, his German concert promoter said. He was 82. Lord Menuhin, who adopted British nationality in 1985, cancelled a concert in Berlin on Tuesday because of his health and died at a hospital in the city, said promoter Jutta Adler. The violinist was regarded as a citizen of the world who travelled the globe playing his music, right up until his death. Born in New York of Russian parents, he was a child prodigy whose early virtuosity blossomed into genius, unmatched throughout his life by any of his contemporaries.

Menuhin was a giant in his field and a man who worked tirelessly for the advancement of music world-wide as well as for humanitarian causes. His genius was recognised and hailed wherever he went, and he had honours bestowed upon him by scores of countries. He was knighted in 1965 and ennobled in 1993. Lord Menuhin and his second wife Diana had a home in Belgravia, central London, and one in Gstaad. He was one of the greatest violinists of the century, but was generous with his talents and his time. He founded a music school in his name in Surrey and a foundation in Brussels. Only just before Christmas, Lord Menuhin was promoting music teaching in British schools because he believed it could play a vital role in civilising society. "Art reflects the refinement of a civilisation," he said. "Music goes both ways. You make yourself heard and listen to others." Earlier this year he put his name to a letter deploring Hilary And Jackie, the controversial film portrait of the late cellist Jacqueline du Pre, who had been a friend of his daughters. Prime Minister Tony Blair paid his own tribute to Lord Menuhin.

"Yehudi Menuhin's unique talent brought joy to millions," said Mr Blair. "He will be remembered the world over as one of the greatest musicians of his age, but also as someone who worked tirelessly to ensure that young people had the opportunity to share his love of music." Composer Lord Lloyd-Webber said in a statement: "I am very sad to hear of Yehudi's death. "I met him on a number of occasions and he conducted my Requiem Mass at the Festival Hall. "He was one of the great gentlemen of classical music. His work for young people through the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music was extraordinary." Former head of music for BBC television Humphrey Burton, who is writing a biography of Lord Menuhin, had known the musician for nearly 40 years and described him as "the world's greatest violinist". He went on: "He was not only a violinist but also a remarkable conductor and musicians loved working with him. The music flowed through him.

We are going to miss him greatly "The last thing he did was dictate letters from his hospital bed on Tuesday and the last was to Gordon Brown congratulating him on his Budget." South Bank Show presenter Lord Bragg said: "Yehudi Menuhin was a prodigy who then became a celebrity and one of the master musicians of the 20th century. "He made it a richer and happier place for millions of people and will be greatly missed." Yehudi Menuhin | Hollywood Walk of Fame Caucasian Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985. He is commonly considered one of the twentieth century's greatest violin virtuosi. Yehudi Menuhin was born in New York City, New York, to Bielorussian Jewish parents from what is now Belarus. His sisters were the 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 four under violinist Sigmund Anker; his parents had wanted Louis Persinger to be his teacher, but Persinger refused. 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. Persinger then agreed to take Menuhin as a student. When the Menuhins went to Paris, Persinger suggested Yehudi go to his own teacher, Eugène Ysaÿe. He did have one lesson with Ysaÿe, but did not like his method or the fact that he was very old. Instead, he went to the Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu, after which he made several recordings with his sister Hephzibah. He was also a student of Adolf Busch. In 1929 he played in Berlin, under Bruno Walter's baton, three concerti by Bach, Brahms and Beethoven.

In 1932, he recorded Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor for HMV in London, with the composer himself conducting, and between 1934 and 1936 he made the first integral recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. 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 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler as an act of reconciliation, becoming the first Jewish musician to do so following the Holocaust. He said to critics within the Jewish community that he wanted to rehabilitate Germany's music and spirit. After building early success on richly romantic and tonally opulent performances, he experienced considerable physical and artistic difficulties caused by overwork during the war as well as unfocused and unstructured early training. Careful practice and study combined with meditation and yoga helped him overcome many of these problems. His profound and considered musical interpretations are nearly universally acclaimed.

When he finally resumed recording, he was known for practising by deconstructing music phrases one note at a time. Yehudi Menuhin - IMDb IMDb Yehudi Menuhin was born on April 22, 1916 in New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Diana Menuhin and Nola Nicholas. He died on March 12, 1999 in Berlin, Germany. See full bio » Born: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

Ravi Shankar’s only opera ‘Sukanya’ to tour UK in world premiere 22 September 2016 3:00 AM, -08:00 | Bollyspice a list of 211 people created 18 Jul 2012 a list of 275 people created 07 Oct 2012 a list of 2346 people created 02 Jan 2016 a list of 5865 people created 11 months ago a list of 200 people created 8 months ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Yehudi Menuhin's work have you seen? User Polls Soundtrack (13 credits) 2015 Marguerite & Julien (performer: "The Four Seasons: Concerto No 3 in F, RV 293 Autumn (Op. 8 No. 3 ) - II. Adagio Molto") 2014 Pencilmation (TV Series short) (performer - 1 episode) - Catson Pawlick (2014) ...

(performer: "Hungarian Dance No. 5") 2004 The Ninth (TV Movie documentary) (performer: "9th Symphony") 2004 Grande école (performer: "Concerto pour Violon, Hautbois et Orchestre en Ré mineur - BWV 1060") 2001 The Last Kiss (performer: "Symphony No 7 in C Minor, op 74") 1999 Me Myself I (performer: "Violin Concerto No 5 K.219 in A Major, Rondeau (tempo di Menuetto)" (1775)) 1999 Beautiful People (performer: "Pomp and Circumstance March No.

4") 1984 Fresh Fields (TV Series) (performer: "Pick Yourself Up" (Main Theme)) 1967 Masterworks (TV Series) (performer - 4 episodes) Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d'Abernon | American violinist and conductor | Britannica.com Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon American violinist and conductor Alternative Titles: Abernon, Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’, Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d'Abernon American violinist and conductor Abernon, Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’ Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon born Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon, (born April 22, 1916, New York , New York, U.S.—died March 12, 1999, Berlin , Germany ), one of the leading violin virtuosos of the 20th century. Menuhin.

Courtesy of Columbia Artists Management Inc. Menuhin grew up in San Francisco , where he studied violin from age four and where his performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto at age seven caused a sensation. He studied in Paris under the violinist and composer Georges Enesco , who deeply influenced his playing style and who remained a lifelong friend. As a teenager he toured widely, winning admiration both for his technical proficiency and for his musical interpretation. (Later in Menuhin’s concert career, critics complained of technical problems with his playing; even so, he was always regarded as being a highly interpretive musician who played with great feeling.) In 1936 he retired from performing for 18 months of study, then resumed concert activity. During World War II Menuhin performed some 500 concerts for Allied troops, and in 1945 he and composer Benjamin Britten went to Germany to perform a series of concerts, including several concerts given at Bergen-Belsen for recently liberated inmates of that concentration camp. Menuhin gained note for introducing into his concerts rarely performed and new music , such as that by composer Béla Bartók . He commissioned Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin.

He moved to London in 1959 and in 1963 opened the Yehudi Menuhin School for musically gifted children at Stoke d’Abernon, Surrey. Also during the 1960s, Menuhin widened his musical scope and began conducting, going on to conduct most of the major world orchestras. In addition, he presided over the annual music festivals at Gstaad , Switzerland (from 1957); and Bath (1959–68) and Windsor (1969–72), England. In 1966 at Bath and in 1967 at the United Nations , Menuhin performed duets with the noted Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar , who composed the solo piece Prabhati for him. He also ventured into the jazz genre with recordings made with jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli . By the 1990s Menuhin had retired from playing violin and was conducting exclusively. In 1965 Menuhin was granted knighthood, but he did not receive the title until 1985, when he became a British citizen.

He received the Order of Merit in 1987 and was made a life peer in 1993. He was involved with numerous causes promoting environmental issues and social justice , in addition to being a prolific writer. His publications include a collection of essays, Theme and Variations (1972); works for musical instruction, Violin: Six Lessons (1972) and Violin and Viola (1976; with William Primrose and Denis Stevens); The Music of Man (1979; with Curtis W. Davis); and an autobiography, Unfinished Journey (1977; released with four additional chapters in 1997 as Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later). Learn More in these related articles: Menuhin and Shankar: Duet of East and West Menuhin and Shankar: Duet of East and West Ben Argeband At the 1966 Bath Festival in England sitar player Ravi Shankar and violinist Yehudi Menuhin took to the stage to play a set composed entirely of Indian Classical Music. The performance was the first of its kind.

No western musician had ever played a classical raga on stage with Indian musicians before and it marked the beginning of a collaboration that would ultimately bring Indian music to a western audience. Ravi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin – Menuhin meets Shankar (1966) | EMI Yehudi Menuhin was born in New York City to Russian Jewish parents in 1917. He first picked up the violin at the age of 4 and, displaying precocious talent for his age, performed his first solo piece with the San Francisco Symphony at the age of seven. From then on he embarked on an illustrious musical career which saw him become one of the most revered violin players and conductors of the 20th century. In contrast, Ravi Shankar decided to dedicated his time to studying the sitar and the tradition of Indian Classical Music only at the age of 18. From 1938 to 1944 he studied under court musician Allauddin Khan . He then worked as a composer and travelling performer building up a reputation as one of India’s most famous musicians to date.

The pair first met in New Delhi in 1951 when Menuhin went to India to play a number of concerts. It was at that meeting that Menuhin first heard Shankar play. He was astonished at the improvisational freedom, rhythmic and melodic subtleties that he heard in the music and instantly formed a particular attachment to it. Shankar reports saying, ‘I had never before seen a western classical musician respond so emotionally to our music, not just show interest in its technical aspects. This reaction of Yehudi’s to our music and my own reaction to his personality were the beginning of a beautiful friendship between us.’ After returning from India, Menuhin soon became the western champion of its music. He expressed his opinion that, ‘Indian music long ago achieved a complex sophistication which only in the twentieth century, with the work of Bartok and Stravinsky, has Western music begun to adumbrate.’ Shankar, encouraged by his success, soon left India with the new philosophy of trying to educate western ears. He toured Britain , Germany and the United States and recorded his first long playing records, Three Ragas and The Sounds of India.

Watch Menuhin and Shankar perform together: Founded in their mutual commitment to music, over the next decade and a half, the two did enjoy a ‘beautiful friendship’ often playing at the same concerts but never sharing the stage. Only in 1966, fourteen years after their first meeting, did they finally combined their talents to perform and record with one another. Menuhin was in charge of the Bath Festival and he decided that they should perform at the festival together. He was unfamiliar with Indian scales and unaccustomed to improvisation. Nonetheless, he played impeccably, becoming the first Western musician to perform a classical raga on stage with Indian musicians. The performance was such a success that EMI offered to record the pair. These recordings would become the first of the trilogy entitled West Meets East and would set a high standard for cross cultural playing. The eloquent sitar and violin duet forms the centre piece of the album and undoubtedly went a long way to winning them a Grammy in the chamber music category. That year, 1967, was the first and only year since, where award-winning albums in all three categories of rock, jazz, and classical music were influenced in some degree by Indian music.

The other winners were The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite . Shankar and Menuhin again performed together at the end of 1967. This time, bringing Indian music to the whole world via its television screens, they played at the United Nations in New York City in celebration of Human Rights Day . According to musicologist Peter Lavezzoli, ‘The significance of 1967 cannot be overstated in terms of Indian classical music being made increasingly accessible to a Western audience’, and Menuhin and Shankar were ‘chief architects of this development.’ Menuhin and Shankar would continue to have a profound effect on music. At an international level they achieved many great things individually as well as with other musicians. Those few years of rich collaboration at the end of the sixties, however, were instrumental in bringing Indian music to the west. Lord Menuhin | Article about Lord Menuhin by The Free Dictionary Lord Menuhin | Article about Lord Menuhin by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia .

Menuhin, Yehudi (yəho͞o`dē mĕn`yo͞oĭn), 1916–99, British violinist and conductor, b. New York City. Menuhin, an extraordinary prodigy, began playing the violin at four. He made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at seven, then studied in Europe with Adolf Busch Busch, Adolf , 1891–1952, German-Swiss violinist. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory. From 1919 to 1935 he headed outstanding chamber music groups, including the Busch Quartet, one of the greatest of the early 20th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. and Georges Enesco Enesco, Georges , Rom. George Enescu, 1881–1955, Romanian violinist, composer, and conductor; studied at the Vienna Conservatory and in Paris with Massenet, Fauré, and others. ..... Click the link for more information. . After a world tour (1934–35) of unprecedented success, he retired to study for two years.

During World War II he performed hundreds of concerts for Allied troops and relief efforts. He was the founder of Switzerland's Gstaad Festival (1957). Menuhin introduced little-known works and promoted Eastern music in lectures and performances, such as his collaboration with Ravi Shankar Shankar, Ravi (Robindra Shankar Chowdhury), 1920–2012, Indian sitarist and composer, b. Varanasi. He was the first Indian instrumentalist to attain an international reputation and is credited with introducing traditional Indian music to the West. ..... Click the link for more information. , East Meets West. Bartók Bartók, Béla , 1881–1945, Hungarian composer and collector of folk music. He studied (1899–1903) and later taught piano at the Royal Academy, Budapest. ..... Click the link for more information. 's Sonata for Solo Violin was written for Menuhin. He became a British subject and was knighted (1985); in 1993 he was created Baron Menuhin of Stoke D'Abernon.

Bibliography See his Theme and Variations (1972) and Unfinished Journey (1977); biographies by R. Magidoff (1955) and N. Wymer (1961). His sister, the pianist Hepzibah Menuhin, 1920–81, b. San Francisco, also a prodigy, often appeared in recital with him. Yaltah Menuhin, 1921–2001, b. San Francisco, their sister and the youngest of the three, was also a classical pianist. Menuhin, Yehudi

Question: Violinist Yehudi Menuhin was born in which City?
Answer: New York