Felix Salmond

A signed photograph of Salmond with his cello, c. 1922

Felix Adrian Norman Salmond(19 November 1888 – 20 February 1952) was an Englishcellistandcelloteacher who achieved success in the UK and the US.

Early life and career

Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His fatherNorman Salmondwas abaritone,and his motherAdelaide Manzocchiwas a pianist who had studied withClara Schumann.At age twelve, Salmond started studying with the man who became his primary cello teacher,William Whitehouse.He won a scholarship to continue studies with Whitehouse four years later at theRoyal Academy of Musicin London. He continued on to theBrussels Conservatoireat age nineteen, where he studied for two years withÉdouard Jacobs.His concert debut was in 1908, playingFrank Bridge's Fantasy Trio in C minor andJohannes Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor. Salmond's mother was the pianist, with Bridge onviolaandMaurice Sonsplaying the violin. The recital, which took place at theBechstein Hall,was very successful, leading to many future engagements for Salmond.He gave recitals across Britain and appeared with theQueen's HallOrchestra, theLondon Symphony Orchestraand theHallé Orchestra,amongst others.He also toured America in a piano quartet withHarold Bauer,Bronisław HubermanandLionel Tertis.

Salmond and Elgar

Programme for the CBSO's first formal concert, on 10 November 1920, with Salmond as the soloist and Elgar conducting

World War I prevented Salmond from developing his international career further at that time, but he resumed building a reputation inchamber musicafter the war. His performances in this period included the premieres, on 21 May 1919, ofEdward Elgar'sString Quartet in E minorandPiano Quintet in A minorat the Wigmore Hall (as the Bechstein Hall had now become).

After Salmond's performance of his quartet, Elgar entrusted Salmond with the solo part for the debut of his most personal and heartfelt work, hisCello Concerto in E minorwith the London Symphony Orchestra at theQueen's Hall.The premiere, on 26 October 1919, proved to be a disaster. The performance was scheduled such thatAlbert Coates,the conductor of the London Symphony, would conduct the rest of the programme and Elgar himself would conduct the concerto. Coates, a self-important man, was well known for using up to forty-five minutes of his hour of rehearsal time lecturing his players. After Coates consumed an hour of Elgar's rehearsal time, Elgar—who was until that time waiting offstage for his chance to rehearse—uncharacteristically exploded with anger. The severely under-rehearsed performance which followed received scathing reviews, withErnest Newmanstating that "the orchestra made a public exhibition of its miserable self". Elgar later said that if it weren't for Salmond's diligent work in preparing the piece, he would have pulled it from the concert entirely.

On 10 November 1920, the inaugural concert of the City of Birmingham Orchestra (later theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) was given atBirmingham Town Hall,with Elgar conducting a concert of his own works,including the first performance of his Cello Concerto in that city, with Salmond as the soloist.

Career in America

On 29 March 1922, he made his American solo debut in New York at theAeolian Hall.He settled in America, although he returned to England and Europe for tours. In 1923 he was appointed to the faculty at theMannes School of Music.He was appointed to theJuilliard School's faculty in 1924, and became head of the cello faculty at theCurtis Institute of Musica year later—a position which he kept until 1942.However, still bruised by the experience of the first performance of the Elgar concerto, he did not teach it or play it outside England.He was highly regarded in America as a teacher, with pupils includingRobert LaMarchina,Orlando Cole,Suzette Forgues Halasz,Tibor de Machula,Bernard Greenhouse,Leonard Rose,Daniel Saidenberg,andAlan Shulman.He also received great appreciation as a performer. In 1924, he appeared atCarnegie Hallin a well-reviewedpiano triowith pianistIgnacy Jan Paderewskiand violinistEfrem Zimbalist.He had a broad taste in music for the cello, including works by contemporary composers such asSamuel Barber,Ernest BlochandGeorge Enescu(premiering two of his pieces).He last returned to England in 1947; he died in New York.

External links

• An article that partially deals with Salmond
• Felix Salmond on JSTOR
• An archive of his recordingsArchived1 July 2016 at theWayback Machine