Oscar Shumsky

Oscar Shumsky(March 23, 1917 inPhiladelphia– July 24, 2000 inRye, New York) was an Americanviolinistandconductor.

Biography

Oscar Shumsky was born toRussian-Jewishparents. He started learning theviolinat the age of three, and made his concert debut at the age of seven with thePhiladelphia OrchestraunderLeopold Stokowski,who declared him to be "the most astounding genius I have ever heard".Fritz Kreislertook a special interest in him, and he played Kreisler's owncadenzasto theBeethoven violin concertoto him after learning them by ear. He was a pupil ofLeopold Auerfrom 1925 and studied at theCurtis Institute of Musicfrom 1928 to 1936, continuing his studies withEfrem Zimbalistafter Auer's death in 1930. His New York debut was in 1934 and his Vienna debut was in 1936. He played first violin in thePrimrose Quartetfrom 1939, and the same year joined theNBC Symphony OrchestraunderArturo Toscanini.During theSecond World War,he served in theU.S. Navy.

His violin was aStradivariof 1715 known as 'Ex-Pierre Rode' or the 'Duke of Cambridge' (previously owned by Pierre Rode). It was used by Shumsky to record the complete 24Capricesby Rode. He tells how he came to acquire the instrument:

It was a case of "love at first sound". During the period of readjustment after the"war to end all wars"we were trying to pick up our lives where we had left them, and I was in the throes of trying to better my instrument. I realized that if I were to pursue a concert career I needed something considerably more outstanding than theCamillo Camilli(an excellent violin in its class) on which I was performing. In the process I had been through manyGuadagninisand some lesserStrads,but always came away disappointed. Then on one of my innumerable visits to theatelierofEmil Herrmann,I spotted a violin lying on the longfelt-coveredtable.A quick glance told me that the violin was not only aStradivariusbut one of the finest examples I had seen. Thrilled and discouraged at the same time (I knew that such an instrument was out of my financial range) I nevertheless had a strong curiosity to examine and try it. Permission was granted, and after a few passages from different fragments of the repertory I just knew I had to have it! I won't flood readers with all the information about my hugebank loan,but I have never had a moment's cause for regret. The fact that it somehow came by way of my old teacherLeopold Aueris a fascinating bit of mysticism.

— Oscar Shumsky,The Strad,April 1985

He taught at theCurtis Institute,Philadelphia,Peabody Conservatory,Baltimore,Yale University,and, from 1953, theJuilliard SchoolinNew York.From 1959 to 1967, he co-directed theStratford Festival(inOntario) withGlenn Gould,with whom he played regularly at the festival and made some recordings forT.V.broadcast. Around this time, he appeared regularly as a soloist with American orchestras. His conducting debut was in 1959 with theCanadian National Festival Orchestra;he later conducted theOrchestral Workshop of Westchester,theWestchester Symphony Orchestra,and theEmpire SinfoniettainNew York,and theNew JerseyColonial Symphony Orchestra.He joined theBach Aria Groupin the early 1960s. He was granted aFord Foundation Awardin 1965.

He returned to concerts and recordings in 1981, performing in the USA and in Britain for the first time in 30 years; a programme he gave for solo violin led to great acclaim:

It is not common practice here for audience members to leap on their feet in acknowledgement of outstanding playing and it is a mark of Oscar Shumsky's achievement at theQueen Elizabeth Hallthat so many did spontaneously do just that.

— The Daily Telegraph

He recordedEugène Ysaÿe's solo violin sonatas op.27 andBach'ssonatas and partitas for solo violin,theBeethovenviolin concerto,Bach'ssingle and double violin concertos,Mozart's4thand5thviolin concertos, and other works, including the twoBrahmsViola Sonatas on theviola.Many of these recordings have not been released onCD.

Many fellow violinists consider him to be one of the great violinists of the century;David Oistrakhcalled him "one of the world's greatest violinists" and theNew Grovedictionary says of him: 'He was a player of virtuoso technique, pure style and refined taste; yet never sought recognition as a soloist, preferring to concentrate on teaching, chamber music playing and conducting.'

Shumsky married Louise Sophia Carboni on October 4, 1939. Together they had two sons; Noel (a business executive & teacher) and Eric (a violist & teacher).

A great deal has been written about Shumsky’s musical artistry; however, little is known about his “other interests”. Since his childhood in Philadelphia Shumsky was fascinated with photography. He was an avid amateur photographer who could often be found with a camera. His photographic skills and knowledge were recognized by the great American photographer- Ansel Adams. The two men became friends drawn together by their mutual interests and respect; Shumsky a professional musician and amateur photographer and Adams a professional photographer and amateur musician (pianist).

Shumsky had a curiosity with the world around him. He was drawn to biology and microbiology which led him to the field of photo microscopy. He would often find himself in a situation where he needed a special mounting to marry one optical device to another. He taught himself how to use a metal lathe and other machining tools to build whatever was needed to accomplish the task.

References

• Boris Schwarz/Margaret Campbell: 'Shumsky, Oscar', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-25),http://www.grovemusic.com/Archived2008-05-16 at theWayback Machine
• Robin Stowell: notes to Shumsky's recording ofPierre Rode:24 Caprices for Solo Violin,ebs 6007

Further reading

• M. Campbell:The Great Violinists
• B. Schwarz:Great Masters of the Violin
• J. Creighton:Discopaedia of the Violin, 1889–1971(Toronto, 1974)
• D. Rooney:Unshaken Ideals,inThe StradXCVIII (1987)

External links

• http://www.shumskymusic.com/- biography, discography, photos
• Obituary-The Guardian