Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin was married twice. He first married Nola Nicholas, daughter of an Australian industrialist, and sister of Hephzibah Menuhin's first husband Lindsay Nicholas. They had two children, Krov and Zamira. Following their divorce, he married the British ballerina and actress Diana Gould, with whom he had two sons, Gerard and Jeremy, a pianist.
The name Yehudi means 'Jew' in Hebrew. In an interview published in October 2004, he recounted to New Internationalist magazine the story of his name:
Obliged to find an apartment of their own, my parents searched the neighbourhood and chose one within walking distance of the park. Showing them out after they had viewed it, the landlady said: "And you'll be glad to know I don't take Jews." Her mistake made clear to her, the antisemitic landlady was renounced, and another apartment found. But her blunder left its mark. Back on the street my mother made a vow. Her unborn baby would have a label proclaiming his race to the world. He would be called "The Jew."[1]
Ironically, in November 2005 his son Gerard was forced to resign from his post as chairman of the Yehudi-Menuhin-Stiftung for expressing his alleged neo-Nazi, and surely anti-Zionist, opinion suggesting that "Germany was being blackmailed by an international Jewish conspiracy preying on the country’s war guilt".[2]
A picture of Menuhin as a child is sometimes used as part of a Thematic Apperception Test.[3]
Lord Menuhin died in Berlin, Germany following a brief illness, from complications of bronchitis.
Soon after his death, the Royal Academy of Music acquired the Yehudi Menuhin Archive, one of the most comprehensive collections ever assembled by an individual musician.
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Awards and Recognitions
- Sonning Award (1972; Denmark)
- Kennedy Center Honors (1986)
In 1987 his recording of the Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 with Julian Lloyd Webber won the BRIT Award for Best British Classical Recording. The recording was also chosen as the finest ever version by BBC Music Magazine. In 1990 he was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize in recognition of his lifetime of contributions. He received a Doctorate Honoris causa from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. In 1993 he was created a life peer as Baron Menuhin, of Stoke d'Abernon in the County of Surrey.[4] In the European Parliament in Brussels, the room in which concerts and performances are held is called the "Yehudi Menuhin Space".
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Cultural References
The catchphrase "Who's Yehoodi?" popular in the 1930s and 1940s was inspired by Menuhin's guest appearance on a radio show, where Jerry Colonna turned "Yehoodi" into a widely recognized slang term for a mysteriously absent person. It eventually lost all of its original connection with Menuhin. Yehudi Menuhin was also 'meant' to appear on The Morecambe and Wise Show but couldn't as he was 'opening at the Argyl Theatre, Birkenhead'. He was instead replaced by Eric Morecambe in a famous sketch featuring the conductor Andre Previn[5]
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Bibliography
- Menuhin, Diana (1984). Fiddler's Moll. Life With Yehudi. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 0312288190.
- Menuhin, Yehudi (1977). Unfinished Journey. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0394410513.
- Subramaniam, L.; Menuhin, Yehudi; Directed by Jean Henri Meunier. (1999). Violin From the Heart (documentary film) [DVD].
Menuhin was also mentioned a number of times in Pat Conroy's novel The Prince of Tides.
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Films
- 1979 - The Music of Man (television series)
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References
- ^ "Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999)" (October 2004). New Internationalist (372).
- ^ Roger Boyes. "Menuhin's son forced to resign over 'anti-Semitic' interviews", The Times, 15 November 2005. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
- ^ "A young boy is contemplating a violin...", University of Tennessee. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
- ^ Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin: thepeerage.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
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External links
- Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists
- Yehudi Menuhin Center Saanen/Gstaad Schweiz
- International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation
- The International Music School Founded by Yehudi Menuhin
- PBS Series American Masters Yehudi Menuhin
- YouTube-Elgar Performance
- From the Sitar to the Guitar - The 1995 concerts featuring Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar
- Youtube Paganini Concerto: Third Movement
- Youtube: Paganini's Moto Perpetuo
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Menuhin, Yehudi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, Yehudi (full name with title) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Violinist and conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 22, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City, New York, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 12, 1999 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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