Adolph Koldofsky (13 September 1905 – 8 April 1951) was a London-born violinist, living for most of his career in Canada and later in America. He was an orchestral player and member of chamber music ensembles; he commissioned and gave the premiere of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's ''Phantasy'' Op. 47 for violin and piano.

Life

Koldofsky was born in London in 1905, son of Russian-Jewish parents. He moved to Canada in 1910, and later returned to Europe to study violin with

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

and

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. Biography Ševčík was born in Horaž ...

; he toured Czechoslovakia as leader of the Ševčík String Quartet."Adolph Koldofsky"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 24 December 2020."Adolph Koldofsky 1905–1951"
''Cabbagetown People''. Retrieved 24 December 2020. In Canada he played with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

intermittently from 1923 to 1938. From 1938 to 1942 he was second violin with the Hart House String Quartet, a Toronto quartet founded in 1923.

C. P. E. Bach manuscripts

From 1934 for several years, Koldofsky endeavoured to authenticate manuscripts of keyboard concertos shown to him, said to be by

C. P. E. Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

. He established that all were in the same handwriting, but not the composer's own hand; seven were already known, seven were apparently not known. Five of the unknown concertos were given modern premieres in March and April 1943 in Toronto by the harpsichordist

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in t ...

, broadcast by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. The manuscripts were deposited at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. In 1943 he married the piano accompanist Gwendolyn Williams. They gave recitals for violin and piano; Koldofsky performed as soloist with orchestras. They moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1944, and Koldofsky became

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

Los Angeles, and late works of Schoenberg

The Koldofskys moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1945. He played with the RKO Studio Orchestra, and gave chamber music recitals; he took part in a performance of

's String Trio Op. 45, broadcast by

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

in May 1949. Koldofsky commissioned a work for violin and piano from Schoenberg; the ''Phantasy for violin with piano accompaniment'' Op. 47 was composed in March 1949, and Koldofsky gave its first performance on 13 September of that year, the composer's 75th birthday."Phantasy for violin with piano accompaniment Op. 47 (1949)
''Arnold Schönberg Center''. Retrieved 27 December 2020. Koldofsky died in Los Angeles in 1951. His wife founded an annual scholarship, the Koldofsky Fellowship in Accompanying, at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. This became the Gwendolyn and Adolph Koldofsky Memorial Scholarship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koldofsky, Adolph 1905 births 1951 deaths Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers British emigrants to Canada Canadian expatriates in the United States