Barbara Wood Lull Rahm (January 25, 1905 – May 18, 1978) was an American violinist, a student of

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer (; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Auer was born in ...

. Later in life she taught violin in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

Early life and education

Lull was born in

Belmont, California Belmont is a city in San Mateo County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the San Francisco Peninsula about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. It was originally part of Rancho de las Pulgas, f ...

, and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, the daughter of Henry Morris Lull and Alice M. Woods Lull. Her mother was a violinist, and her father was a railroad executive. She was considered a musical prodigy. She moved to New York at age 15, and studied violin with Leopold Auer.

Career

Lull played violin with a "fine-spun tone of delicate beauty and warmth, a firm bow and emotional feeling tempered with artistic restraint," according to a report in ''The New York Times''. She performed at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in 1924, sharing the bill with vocalists Evelyn Scotney and

Umberto Urbano Umberto Urbano (16 October 1885 in Livorno – 16 June 1969), was an Italian baritone opera singer. He made his debut in 1907 in Trieste. His career really picked up momentum in 1920, beginning as the Herald in '' Lohengrin'' at La Scala. H ...

. In 1928, she played

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

's "Ukelele Serenade" at a concert in New York City, with Copland himself accompanying her on piano. "Miss Lull plays with a vigor that results in brilliance, rhythmical accuracy and a big tone," reported ''The Musical Leader'' after a

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

concert in 1928. She toured in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She was a soloist with the

Baltimore Symphony The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, ...

in 1932. She gave a recital at the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and ...

in 1933. In later life, Lull taught violin in

. She was concertmaster and assistant conductor of the University of California Symphony, and played second violin in the

Oakland Symphony The Oakland Symphony is an American orchestra based in Oakland, California. The orchestra is resident at the Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California). Founded in 1933, the orchestra filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1986. Musicians from the or ...

Personal life, death and legacy

Lull married engineering professor Louis Frank Rahm in 1929. They lived in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, and had two sons, Michael and Richard. They divorced in 1947, and she moved to Berkeley with her sons, and lived with her mother and younger brother there. She listed her occupation as "professional violinist" in the 1950 census. She died in 1978, at the age of 73, in Berkeley. The

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada ...

has a Barbara Lull Rahm Scholarship Fund for young musicians, established as a memorial to her.

References

External links

* Elfenworks Productions
"World War I Through the Roaring 1920s"
''Ribbons & Bows Podcast'' (February 28, 2019); a podcast episode about American women violinists, including Lull {{DEFAULTSORT:Lull, Barbara 1905 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American violinists American women violinists American music educators American women music educators People from Belmont, California Musicians from Berkeley, California