Josef Gingold (; January 11, 1995)
was a Russian
and American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United States, with many successful students.
Early life
Gingold was born to a Jewish family in
Brest-Litovsk
Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...
,
Grodno Governorate
Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(now
Brest, Belarus
Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug (river), Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as ...
),
and emigrated in 1920 to the United States where he studied violin with Vladimir Graffman in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He then moved to Belgium for several years to study with master violinist
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".
Early years
Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...
. Gingold wrote about his experience for
''The Strad'' magazine. He gave the first performance of Ysaÿe's
3rd Sonata for Solo Violin.
Career
Performance
In 1937,Gingold won a spot in the
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...
, based in
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York City with
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
as its conductor.
He gave an extensive interview and story about Toscanini. While at the NBC Orchestra, he was a founding member of its associated chamber ensembles. One was the
Primrose String Quartet, with first violinist
Oscar Shumsky, violist
William Primrose
William Primrose (23 August 19041 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 v ...
, cellist
Harvey Shapiro. He also was in the NBC Trio with Shapiro and pianist
Earl Wild
Earl Wild (November 26, 1915January 23, 2010) was an American pianist known for his transcriptions of jazz and classical music.
Biography
Royland Earl Wild was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1915. Wild was a musically precocious child and ...
).
He later joined the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...
as the
concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...
and occasional soloist. In 1947 he moved to the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
as concertmaster under conductor
George Szell
George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor, composer and pianist. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors ...
. He spent thirteen years in that position. Gingold was interviewed about his relationship and experience working with Szell.
Teaching
Gingold taught at the
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
Jacobs School of Music
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...
for more than thirty years, until his death in 1995. His pupils included
Gil Shaham,
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Early life and education
Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, one of four children of ...
,
Christoph Poppen,
Sally O'Reilly,
Desirée Ruhstrat,
Arnold Steinhardt (who wrote about Gingold for the
Strad Magazine),
Dylana Jenson,
Martin Beaver,
Shony Alex Braun,
Andrés Cárdenes,
Corey Cerovsek,
Cyrus Forough,
Miriam Fried,
Philippe Graffin,
Endre Granat
Endre Granat (born in Hungary in August 3, 1937) is an American violinist. He is regarded as the most recorded violinist and concertmaster working in the studios today.
Early life and education
Granat studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Buda ...
,
Ulf Hoelscher
Ulf Hoelscher (born 17 January 1942 in Kitzingen) is a German violinist.
He has been soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has recorded numerous concertos by S ...
,
Hu Nai-yuan, Karen Iglitzin,
Jacques Israelievitch
Jacques Israelievitch, CM (May 6, 1948 – September 5, 2015) was a French violinist, and one of Canada's foremost chamber musicians.
Born in Cannes, France, at 11 years old he was the youngest graduate in the history of the Le Mans Conservatory ...
,
Leonidas Kavakos,
Chin Kim
Chin Kim (born 1957) is a Korean-born American classical violinist, largely educated in the United States through the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.
Activities
Chin Kim has performed extensively throughout North America, Eur ...
,
Salvatore Greco,
Malcolm Lowe,
Jaime Laredo,
William Preucil,
Joseph Silverstein,
Lucie Robert, and
Gwen Thompson
Gwendoline Linda Louise Thompson (born 30 March 1947) is a Canadian violinist and music educator. She has been a member of two notable chamber music ensembles with whom she has made several commercial recordings: the Masterpiece Trio (1977–1988 ...
(who wrote about him in the
Strad Magazine).
Gingold was associated with another prominent American violin pedagogue,
Ivan Galamian
Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung.
Biography
Galamian was born in ...
, and joined him to teach at the
Meadowmount School. He also edited numerous violin technique books and orchestral excerpt collections, such as ''Orchestral Excerpts from the Symphonic Repertoire'', volume 1-3.
Professional associations
Gingold was a founder of the quadrennial
Indianapolis Violin Competition.
He was a National Patron of
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.
History
Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 a ...
, an international professional music fraternity.
Personal Life
He married Gladys Anderson 1932; she died in 1978. Gingold died in
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...
, in 1995, at the age of 85. He was survived by his son, George, and two grandchildren.
Honors and awards
Gingold's recording of
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...
's works was nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
. Some of the numerous honors he received during his lifetime include the
American String Teachers Association Teacher of the Year. He received the Fredrick Bachman Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
and in 1980 he was named Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University.
In 1984, he received the
Chamber Music America Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award. In 1993, Gingold received
Baylor University
Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...
's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers and he also was granted the
American Symphony Orchestra League's Golden Baton Award.
Discography

The discography of Josef Gingold is limited.
The Primrose QuartetCD (Biddulph Recordings LAB052-53) reissue of the 1940-1941 78 rpm recordings, with Josef Gingold,
Oscar Shumsky, violinist; William Primrose, violist;
Harvey Shapiro, cellist and
Jesús María Sanromá, pianist, of Toscanini's
NBC Symphony Orchestra, performing works of Haydn, Schumann, Brahms, Smetana, and Tchaikovsky.
* "Joseph Gingold Seventy-five", recordings from 1942–1968, including Walton's Sonata for VIolin and Piano, 1984 vinyl LP (Red Bud RB-1017).
[Liner notes to "The Art of Josef Gingold"]
Josef Gingold Plays Fritz Kreisler a 1976 vinyl LP record.
* Starker Plays Kodály : Gingold's 1973 recording of Duo by Zoltán Kodály with cellist Janos Starker, originally released on the LP (Fidelio F-003).
In 1992 it was reissued on the C
Starker Plays Kodaly and in 2007 o
SACD (TM-SACD 9002.2)and o
vinyl LPby Hong Kong label TopMusic International.
* Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D385, and Liszt's Rapsodie Espagnole, with Gyorgy Sebok (piano) on LP (IND-722, Indiana University School of Music).
* Schubert's Duo Sonata in A major, D.574 with pianist Robert Walter (available on YouTube)
* Schubert's Fantasia in C major, D.934 with pianist György Sebök (available on YouTube) ''(listed elsewhere for this performance, incorrectly, as with pianist Robert Walter)''
The Art of Josef Gingold a transfer to CD of the 1976 recording and a 1966 recordin
by Music and Arts in 1989, and reissued in 2007 b
Pristine Classical This included Sonata in A, op.13 by
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...
and
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...
short pieces
* The Artistry of Josef Gingold, a two-CD set on Enharmonic ENCD03-015 contains otherwise unavailable performances of music by Bloch, Arensky, Beethoven (a live recording of the Concerto from Ohio State), Francaix, Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and
Ysaye.
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gingold, Josef
Violin educators
American music educators
Jacobs School of Music faculty
20th-century American classical violinists
Jewish classical violinists
Jewish American classical musicians
Male classical violinists
American male violinists
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century American Jews
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Polish emigrants to the United States
Jews from the Russian Empire
1909 births
1995 deaths
Concertmasters of the Cleveland Orchestra