Lauri Kennedy ( Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy; 5 July 1896 – 26 April 1985)
/ref> was an Australian cellist.

Early life

Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy (he used Laurie, later dropping the final 'e') was born in

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

, a suburb of Sydney, to an English-born father and native-born mother. He studied with

Herbert Walenn Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, London, and Paul Grümmer in Vienna. Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...

noticed him and encouraged him to undertake further studies in the United States.

Music career

In the US during the 1920s, he became principal cellist with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

at the personal invitation of

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 ...

. He played chamber music with performers such as

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

and

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

.Myspace: Debbie Kennedy
In the United Kingdom he played in a noted piano quartet called the Chamber Music Players with

Albert Sammons Albert Edward Sammons CBE (23 February 188624 August 1957) was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation re ...

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English viola, violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame, and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born ...

and

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish chemist, inventor, and mechanical engineer. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engin ...

. He also appeared with the tenor John McCormack for a number of years, and appears on record accompanying McCormack. He became principal cellist with Sir

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

at its inception in 1929 and played with them until 1935. It has been stated that his cello can be heard in the slow movement of Boult's 1935 recording of the

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

2nd Piano Concerto with

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and Pedagogy, pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th ...

. However, Kennedy himself said that, while it was planned that he should play the cello solo, by the time the recording was actually made (Nov. 1935), he had left the BBCSO, and that it was Ambrose Gauntlett whose cello playing is recorded with Schnabel. He recorded music with

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 ...

and

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 ...

, including Kreisler's ''String Quartet in A minor'' in 1935 with members of the

London String Quartet The London String Quartet was a string quartet founded in London in 1908 which remained one of the leading English chamber groups into the 1930s, and made several well-known recordings. Personnel The personnel of the London String Quartet was: ...

. He recorded

Edgar Bainton Edgar Leslie Bainton (14 February 18808 December 1956) was a British-born, latterly Australian-resident composer. He is remembered today mainly for his liturgical anthem ''And I saw a new heaven'', a popular work in the repertoire of Anglican c ...

's Cello Sonata. After

Felix Salmond Felix Adrian Norman Salmond (19 November 188820 February 1952) was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in the UK and the US. Early life and career Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His father Norman S ...

and

Guilhermina Suggia Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteado Mena, known as Guilhermina Suggia (27 June 1885 – 30 July 1950) was a Portuguese cellist. She studied in Paris with Pablo Casals, and built up an international reputation. She spent many years ...

turned it down, Lauri Kennedy was engaged to premiere

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...

's ''Oration'' (1929-30) for cello and orchestra, but withdrew during rehearsals:

Florence Hooton __NOTOC__ Florence Hooton (8 July 1912 – 14 May 1988) was an English cellist, chamber music performer and teacher, responsible for many important British music premieres in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Life She was born in Scarborough, the daughter o ...

was the eventual soloist. He also became a professor at the

. His wife, Dorothy Kennedy ( McBride), was a pianist who also accompanied John McCormack and taught the children of

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

. Lauri and Dorothy performed together in some recordings. They made a highly successful tour of Australia in 1938. They then went to the United States again, where Lauri joined Toscanini's

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 ...

. He relocated to Hollywood and his playing is heard on a number of films, including

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's ''

Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

''. In 1944, they returned to Australia permanently. They bought hotels in

Taree Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...

and Sydney, and Lauri taught at music camps. Australian singers he accompanied included Stella Power. Lauri later taught cello at the

Canberra School of Music The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of ...

in 1966, resigning after only one year due to poor health. His private students include John Painter, himself a future Director of the Canberra School of Music.The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia
Accessed 29 August 2022. Dorothy Kennedy died in 1972. Lauri Kennedy died on 26 April 1985, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, where he was living with their eldest son, David. Their son

John Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

was also a cellist and was the natural father of the violinist

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and viola, violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and has since expanded into jazz music, jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and ...

. Lauri Kennedy's cousin was violinist Daisy Kennedy.

References

Sources

Nigel Kennedy: I didn’t want to be the Des O’Connor of the violin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Lauri 1896 births 1985 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Australian classical cellists Australian music educators 20th-century Australian classical musicians 20th-century cellists Players of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Players of the New York Philharmonic