William Primrose

William Primrose (23 August 1904Template:Spaced ndash1 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed in various countries around the world as a soloist throughout his career. He also taught at several universities and institutions. He authored several books on viola technique.

Biography

Early years

William Primrose was born in Glasgow, Scotland to John Primrose and Margaret McInnis (Whiteside) Primrose. He was the oldest of their three children.<ref name="walk on the north side" /> His father, John Primrose, taught violin and was part of the Scottish Orchestra.<ref name="Dalton" /> His father bought Primrose his first violin in 1908,<ref name="walk on the north side">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp when Primrose was only 4 years old.<ref name="BYU mag" /> That same year, his father arranged violin lessons with Camillo Ritter, who had studied with Joseph Joachim and Otakar Ševčík.<ref name="musical prodigies">Template:Cite book</ref> Primrose performed his first public concert on the violin in 1916, at the age of 12, playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.<ref name="Dalton" /> During his childhood, Primrose also enjoyed reading and playing chess in addition to studying music and performing.<ref name="walk on the north side" />Template:Rp

In 1919, Primrose's family moved to London, and he began to study violin at the Guildhall School of Music in London on scholarship,<ref name= Dalton>Template:Cite journal</ref> where he would later be named Fellow.<ref name="newspaper" /> Primrose graduated in 1924, having received its highest honor, a gold medal, although he admitted that he skipped some of his classes because the violin did not interest him.<ref name="Dalton" />

On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène Ysaÿe<ref name="Dalton" /> from 1926 to 1929.<ref name="walk on the north side" />Template:Rp Ysaÿe heard Primrose play an Amati viola that his father had forbidden him to play, and suggested that Primrose pursue the viola instead of the violin.<ref name="newspaper" />

London String Quartet

Primrose became a professional violinist in 1924. In London, on October 2, 1928, William married Dorothy Friend, daughter of Arthur John Friend and Susanna Jane Luscombe. He moved from violin to viola in 1930 when he became the violist of the London String Quartet. He was joined in the group by Warwick Evans, John Pennington, and Thomas Petre. They toured throughout North and South America in the 1930s; however, due to financial pressures of the Great Depression, they disbanded in 1935. After the disbandment of the London String Quartet, Primrose took a variety of jobs; he performed in Berlin, at La Scala in Milan, and a number of concerts in England.<ref name="Dalton" />

NBC Orchestra and the Primrose Quartet

File:Primrose Quartet.jpg

Primrose (second from left) with members of the Primrose Quartet

In 1937, NBC established their namesake symphony orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. Primrose was a violist for the orchestra, but he was never their principal violist. He played with the orchestra for four years until it was rumored that Toscanini would leave the Symphony in 1941.<ref name="Dalton" />

In 1939, NBC suggested that Primrose form his own group, and the Primrose Quartet was founded. The other players (all with the NBC Orchestra at the time) were Oscar Shumsky, Josef Gingold and Harvey Shapiro. Primrose boasted that "no quartet ever played that had the instrumental ability of my quartet".<ref>David Blum: Quintet: Five Journeys Towards Musical Fulfillment (1999), p. 96</ref> The Primrose Quartet was short-lived, but recorded three sets of commercial 78s for RCA, along with a few unissued recordings.<ref>Primrose Quartet: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings, (recorded 1940-41 in New York). Biddulph Recordings 85023-2, reviewed at MusicWeb International</ref>

While performing with the NBC Symphony, Primrose also made recordings with Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky.<ref name= NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> However, they stopped playing together in 1964 due to Primrose's declining hearing and his increased absences due to his teaching career.<ref name= piat>Template:Cite book</ref>

Soloist

Primrose made his debut as a violin soloist in 1923;<ref name="musical prodigies" /> however his soloist career playing the viola didn't take off until 1941 when he started touring with Richard Crooks. He accompanied Crooks on five tours in the next four years,<ref name="musical prodigies" /> playing in 32 concerts in 1941–1942. While touring with Crooks, Arthur Judson, an influential concert manager, sought out Primrose. He signed with Judson who furthered Primrose's soloist career. Primrose doubled his concert performances, playing in 64 concerts in 1943–1944.<ref name="Dalton" />

In 1944, he was the soloist in the first studio recording of Berlioz's Harold in Italy with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Serge Koussevitzky.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>That same year, he commissioned a viola concerto from Béla Bartók.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This was left incomplete at Bartók's death in 1945, and had to wait four years for its completion by Tibor Serly.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Primrose was the soloist in the world premiere performance of the concerto in America, on 2 December 1949, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and Antal Doráti conducting.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>He gave the European premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in 1950 with Sir John Barbirolli and The Hallé orchestra.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1950, Benjamin Britten wrote for him Lachrymae based on the song by Dowland.<ref name="all music">Template:Cite web</ref>

Primrose was known for his tremendous technique. When he performed Paganini's violin caprices on viola, Mischa Elman is said to have exclaimed, "It must be easier on viola!" Primrose wrote many transcriptions and arrangements for viola, often technically dazzling, including "La Campanella" (from Paganini's second violin concerto) and the famous Nocturne from Borodin's second string quartet, the latter "out of jealousy" for the cello's long melodic lines.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1952, in recognition of his musical contributions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Teacher

Primrose was also a teacher during his violist career. He taught in many countries across the world, including the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He taught at the University of Southern California from 1961 to 1965 with Jascha Heifetz. After teaching at USC, he moved to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he remained from 1965 to 1972. In 1971, Primrose went to the Tokyo University of the Arts and the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He occasionally taught at Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music<ref name="Dalton" /> and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music,<ref name="newspaper">Template:Cite news</ref> In Australia, Richard Tognetti was one of his students.<ref name="the telegraph">Template:Cite news</ref> Primrose was a guest lecturer at Brigham Young University from 1979 to 1982.

Primrose wrote and contributed to several books on viola playing: Art and Practice of Scale Playing (1954), Technique is Memory (1960), Violin and Viola (with Yehudi Menuhin and Denis Stevens, 1976), and Playing the Viola (1988).<ref name="Dalton" /><ref name="BYU mag">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Some of his notable students include Canadian violinist Albert Pratz,<ref name="albert pratz">Template:Cite web</ref> former principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Alan de Veritch,<ref name="veritch">Template:Cite web</ref> the American composer David Campbell,<ref name="campbell">Template:Cite news</ref> and Olympic Music Festival founder and violist Alan Iglitzin, who was a member of the Philadelphia String Quartet..<ref name="olympic">Template:Cite web</ref>[1]

Other notable pupils include, Martha Strongin Katz, Karen Tuttle, Joseph de Pasquale and Cynthia Phelps.

Later years

Primrose had developed a hearing problem in 1946 which affected his ability to hear certain notes. He was later diagnosed with cancer in 1977, from which he died in Provo, Utah on 1 May 1982.<ref name="Dalton" />

Legacy

• Primrose's large collection of annotated viola scores became the nucleus for the William Primrose International Viola Archive at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
• For his contribution to the recording industry, Primrose has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
• The Primrose International Viola Competition, created in 1979 in honor of William Primrose, was the first international music competition for viola players.<ref name="Viola society">Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Primrose Piano Quartet, a British ensemble formed in 2004, is named after him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Instruments

Primrose Amati viola

For the first part of his career, Primrose played an Amati viola, formerly owned by his father.<ref name="ebsco">Template:Cite journal</ref> Primrose had noted that the viola had a wolf tone and did not project easily. He sold the Amati viola in 1951. The ex-Primrose Amati is now owned by Roberto Díaz, who is currently the president of the Curtis Institute of Music and recorded a CD of Primrose's transcriptions for Naxos Records. Prior to the recording, the viola was inspected and was found to have had adjustments of questionable workmanship, which were subsequently repaired.<ref name="ebsco" />

The Primrose Guarneri viola

Template:Main In 1954, Primrose purchased the 1697 Guarneri viola now known as the ex-Primrose.<ref name="ex-primrose">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> This viola is one of seven known Guarneri family violas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It bears an original label of Andrea Guarneri who died in 1698, but experts believe that the work is that of his son Joseph Guarneri 'filius Andreae' who inherited his father's workshop. The back of the viola is Italian maple and the front is open-grained spruce. It has a deep golden varnish with a subtle orange tint.<ref name= "guarneri"/>

The viola was purchased by the Earl of Harrington in 1874. It was acquired by the Rembert Wurlitzer Company in the 1950s and came to Primrose's attention. It became his solo instrument. Before Primrose, the instrument had never been owned by a professional violist. In 1975<ref name=":0" /> or 1978 Primrose sold the Guarneri viola to Gary Vandosdale, a former student. It was then sold in 1978 to Ulrich Fritze,<ref name= "guarneri">Template:Cite book</ref> who played the viola during his 30-year tenure as principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic.<ref name="ebsco" /> The viola was sold in 2012 by Tarisio "for over $4 million, the highest price paid for a Guarneri family instrument at auction and the highest publicly recorded price for a viola of any type".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other instruments

Primrose was also known to have owned two violas by William Moennig Jr. of Philadelphia. Primrose used the "MacDonald" Stradivari on loan during the 1940s. His Pierre Vidoudez and Yu Iida violas are currently on display in the Primrose International Viola Archive at Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah.<ref name="ebsco" />

Books

• The Art and Practice of Scale Playing on the Viola (1954)
• Technique is Memory. A method for violin and viola players based on finger patterns, etc. (1960)
• Walk on the north side: Memoirs of a violist (1978)

External links

• Article on Primrose from BYU Magazine
• Primrose Archive at Brigham Young University
• AVS.htm William Primrose's Discography