Raphael Hillyer (April 10, 1914 – December 27, 2010) was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

soloist,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. Born Raphael Silverman in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, his career included playing in the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

and co-founding the

Juilliard String Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous ...

. Hillyer was still lecturing and teaching viola at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

during the final month of his life.BU School of Music fondly remembers esteemed faculty member Raphael Hillyer
, on ''www.bu.edu'', January 6, 2011.

Career

Hillyer was a founding member of the

. He was born in 1914 to a family with a musical background: his mother was a pianist and his father,

Louis Lazarus Silverman Louis Lazarus Silverman (21 April 1884 – 17 October 1967) was an American mathematician, the first person to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics from an academic institution in the state of Missouri.Zitarelli, Davi"Hilbert in Missouri."Mathematics Mag ...

, also was an amateur violist. Hillyer's formal violin studies began in 1921, and his youthful passion for music was further ignited on a trip with his parents in 1924 to

Leningrad, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where he studied with Sergei Korgueff and an 18-year-old

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

. At the age of 16 Hillyer attended the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

, followed by studies at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, from which he graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

with a mathematics degree in 1936. He then completed graduate work in music under

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

and

Hugo Leichtentritt Hugo Leichtentritt (1 January 1874, Pleschen, , nearby Posen, Province of Posen13 November 1951, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a German-Jewish musicologist and composer who spent much of his life in the USA. His pupils include composers Leroy ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he played frequent recitals with his friend and classmate,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

.Richard Dyer, Globe Staff (April 16, 2004)
"Birthday tribute inspires a heartfelt performance"
on ''everythingharvard.com''. Retrieved January 6, 2011. In 1942, Hillyer joined the

as a violinist under Serge KoussevitskyDavid Weininger, Globe Correspondent (April 10, 2009)
"At 95, violist Hillyer is still sharp in mind and music"
on ''boston.com''. Retrieved January 6, 2011. and played with the Stradivari Quartet alongside Boston Symphony violist,

Eugene Lehner Eugene Lehner (1906 – 13 September 1997) was a violist and music educator. Lehner, as he preferred to be addressed, was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1906. Originally named Jenö Léner, he performed as a self-taught violinist from th ...

, who became his mentor. In 1946, at the urging of Lehner, Hillyer, until then a violinist, prepared for an audition with a new quartet that was in need of a violist. With a borrowed viola and an intensity for which he was becoming well known, Hillyer played the audition and was chosen to be the violist and founding member of what became the

. Hillyer remained with the Juilliard String Quartet for 23 years, recording, teaching and concertizing—championing new music and reinvigorating chamber music. After retiring from the

in 1969, Hillyer performed frequently as soloist and collaborator with other chamber music groups. He also intensified the work he had grown passionate about: teaching and mentoring young musicians throughout the world. He was a guiding force behind the

Tokyo String Quartet The was an international string quartet that operated from 1969 to 2013. The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where they studied with Professor Hideo ...

for decades. Hillyer continued to teach at

until his death. On December 6, 2010, he taught his very last class, which was described by those in attendance as "as passionate and illuminating as any he had ever taught."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillyer, Raphael Jewish American classical musicians American classical violists 1914 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Ithaca, New York Curtis Institute of Music alumni Boston University faculty American music educators Classical musicians from New York (state) Juilliard String Quartet members 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century violists