Josef Gingold
Encyclopedia
Josef Gingold was a Russian-Jewish
-born classical violin
ist and teacher, who lived most of his life in the United States
. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin teachers in the United States.
(now Brest, Belarus
), and emigrated in 1920 to the United States where he studied violin with Vladimir Graffman in New York City
. He then moved to Belgium for several years to study with master violinist Eugène Ysaÿe
. He gave the first performance of Ysaÿe's 3rd Sonata for Solo Violin. In 1937, Gingold won a spot in the NBC Symphony Orchestra
, with Arturo Toscanini
as its conductor; he then served as the concertmaster
(and occasional soloist) of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
, and later was the Cleveland Orchestra
's concertmaster under conductor George Szell
.
Gingold edited numerous violin technique books and orchestral excerpt collections. He taught at the Indiana University
Jacobs School of Music
for more than thirty years, until his death in 1995. His pupils included Joshua Bell
, Shony Alex Braun
, Andrés Cárdenes
, Corey Cerovsek
, Cyrus Forough
, Miriam Fried, Endre Granat
, Herbert Greenberg, Ulf Hoelscher
, Hu Nai-yuan
, Jacques Israelievitch
, Leonidas Kavakos
, Chin Kim
, Jaime Laredo
, William Preucil, Joseph Silverstein
, Gwen Thompson
, and Yuval Yaron.
Gingold was a founder of the quadrennial Indianapolis Violin Competition. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron
, an international professional music fraternity.
A detailed literary portrait of Josef Gingold is included in the book, Quintet, Five Journeys toward Musical Fulfillment, by David Blum (Cornell University Press
, 1999). It originally appeared as an article in the 4 February 1991 issue of The New Yorker
.
Gingold died in Bloomington, Indiana
in 1995.
's works was nominated for a Grammy Award
. Some of the numerous honors he received during his lifetime include the American String Teachers Association
Teacher of the Year; the Fredrick Bachman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching at Indiana University
; the Chamber Music America National Service Award; Baylor University
's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers; and the American Symphony Orchestra League's Golden Baton Award.
History of the Jews in Belarus
The Jews in Belarus were the third largest ethnic group in the country in the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, Jews were the third among the ethnic groups in Belarus, and in cities and towns comprised more than 40% of the population. The population of cities such as Minsk,...
-born classical violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and teacher, who lived most of his life in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin teachers in the United States.
Biography
Gingold was born in Brest-Litovsk, Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Brest, Belarus
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
), and emigrated in 1920 to the United States where he studied violin with Vladimir Graffman in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He then moved to Belgium for several years to study with master violinist Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar"...
. He gave the first performance of Ysaÿe's 3rd Sonata for Solo Violin. In 1937, Gingold won a spot in the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
, with Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
as its conductor; he then served as the concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
(and occasional soloist) of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, and later was the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
's concertmaster under conductor George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
.
Gingold edited numerous violin technique books and orchestral excerpt collections. He taught at the Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
for more than thirty years, until his death in 1995. His pupils included Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
, Shony Alex Braun
Shony Alex Braun
Shony Alex Braun was a Romanian born violinist, Holocaust survivor, classical composer and actor. He wrote over 200 compositions including classic, Romanian and Gypsy music....
, Andrés Cárdenes
Andrés Cárdenes
Andrés Cárdenes is a Cuban-born violinist, violist, teacher, conductor, and concertmaster. He has performed and taught in a number of prominent positions, including his current distinguished professorship in violin at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music where he holds the Dorothy Richard...
, Corey Cerovsek
Corey Cerovsek
Corey Cerovsek is a violinist, pianist, and mathematician. At age 12, he was the youngest student to receive a gold medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music. In 1992, Cerovsek was the recipient of the Virginia-Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts...
, Cyrus Forough
Cyrus Forough
Violinist Cyrus Forough began violin studies at age five with his mother, a graduate of the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music. At nine, Forough was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Music, Brussels as a pupil of Arthur Grumiaux. Later studies were with the legendary David Oistrakh at the...
, Miriam Fried, Endre Granat
Endre Granat
Endre Granat,former Asst. Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra ,Concertmaster of the Goteborg Symphony.Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth International Competition,Recipient of the Ysaye Medal.Frequent participant of the Marlboro Festival and the Casals Festival.The former Fulbright scholar taught...
, Herbert Greenberg, Ulf Hoelscher
Ulf Hoelscher
Ulf Hoelscher is a violinist born in Germany in 1943. Soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Symphoniker, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra...
, Hu Nai-yuan
Hu Nai-yuan
Hu Nai-yuan is a Taiwanese violinist. He was the first prize winner of the 1985 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition.Nai-Yuan has recorded the Goldmark Violin Concerto and Bruch Violin Concerto #2. He plays the Ex-Hubay Stradivarius....
, Jacques Israelievitch
Jacques Israelievitch
Jacques Israelievitch is a French violinist, and one of Canada's foremost chamber musicians.At 11 years old he was the youngest graduate in the history of the Le Mans Conservatory. He went on to study at the Conservatoire de Paris with Henryk Szeryng and René Benedetti, receiving three first...
, Leonidas Kavakos
Leonidas Kavakos
Leonidas Kavakos is a Greek virtuoso violinist .-Beginnings:Born in Athens into a musical family, Kavakos began studying violin at five years old and continued his studies at the Hellenic Conservatory with Stelios Kafantaris. An Onassis Foundation scholarship enabled him to attend master classes...
, Chin Kim
Chin kim
Chin Kim is a Korean-born American classical violinist, largely educated in the United States through the Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute of Music.-Activities:...
, Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo is a violinist and conductor. Currently the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, he began his musical career when he was five years old. In 1948 he came to North America and took lessons from Antonio DeGrass...
, William Preucil, Joseph Silverstein
Joseph Silverstein
Joseph Silverstein is an American violinist and conductor.As a youth, Silverstein studied with his father, Bernard Silverstein, who was a public school music teacher...
, Gwen Thompson
Gwen Thompson
Gwendoline Linda Louise Thompson is a Canadian violinist and music educator. She has been a member of two notable chamber music ensembles with whom she has made several commercial recordings: the Masterpiece Trio and Viveza, the latter of which she formed in 1989 with Lee Duckles , Wilmer Fawcett...
, and Yuval Yaron.
Gingold was a founder of the quadrennial Indianapolis Violin Competition. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international professional music fraternity.
A detailed literary portrait of Josef Gingold is included in the book, Quintet, Five Journeys toward Musical Fulfillment, by David Blum (Cornell University Press
Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press, established in 1869 but inactive from 1884 to 1930, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States.A division of Cornell University, it is housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage....
, 1999). It originally appeared as an article in the 4 February 1991 issue of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Gingold died in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
in 1995.
Honors and awards
Gingold's recording of Fritz KreislerFritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
's works was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. Some of the numerous honors he received during his lifetime include the American String Teachers Association
American String Teachers Association
The American String Teacher's Association is a professional organization based in the United States for music teachers. It is the largest such national organization in the US for string teachers. It promotes learning to play string instruments in the next generation of American students, and...
Teacher of the Year; the Fredrick Bachman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
; the Chamber Music America National Service Award; Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers; and the American Symphony Orchestra League's Golden Baton Award.
Discography
The discography of Josef Gingold is limited.- The Primrose Quartet CD (Biddulph Recordings LAB052-53) reissue of the 1940-1941 78 rpm recordings, with Josef Gingold, William Primrose, Harvey Shapiro, Oscar Shumsky, and Jesus Maria Sanroma of Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra, performing works of Haydn, Schumann, Brahms, Smetana, and Tchaikovsky.
- "Joseph Gingold Seventyfive", recordings from 1942–1968, including Walton's Sonata for VIolin and Piano, 1984 vinyl LP (Red Bud RB-1017).
- Josef Gingold Plays Fritz Kreisler, a 1976 vinyl LP record.
- Gingold's 1973 recording of Kodaly's Duo with cellist Janos Starker, originally released on the LP (Fidelio F-003), reissued in 1992 on the CD Starker Plays Kodaly, and in 2007 on SACD (TM-SACD 9002.2) and on vinyl LP by Hong Kong label TopMusic International.
- Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D385, and Liszt's Rapsodie Espagnole, with Gyorgy Sebok (piano) on LP (IND-722, Indiana University School of Music).
- The Art of Josef Gingold, a transfer to CD of the 1976 recording and a 1966 recording, by Music and Arts in 1989, and reissued in 2007 by Pristine Classical.
- The Artistry of Josef Gingold, a two-CD set on Enharmonic ENCD03-015 contains otherwise unavailable performances of music by Bloch, Arensky, Beethoven (a live recording of the Concerto from Ohio State), Francaix, Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Ysaye.
Sources
- "Joseph Gingold" - International Violin Competition of Indianapolis http://www.violin.org/ivci/gingold.html