Lev Aronson
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Lev Zacharovitch Aronson (Lew Aronson, Lev Aronoff, Lev Aronov, Lev Arnoff, Lew Arnow, Lew Arnoff-Aramon, Lew Arnoff-Aronson; February 7, 1912 – November 12, 1988) was an Eastern European-American
cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and cello teacher.


Early life

Lev Aronson was born February 7, 1912, in
Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...
, Germany. Aronson's parents, Zorach and Pessa, along with their first infant son, had moved to Germany in 1911 so Zorach could study tailoring at the Fachhochschule (School of Fashion) in Berlin. Zorach and Pessa's infant son died in 1911. Lev was born a few weeks before his father graduated from the Fachhochschule. About three weeks after Lev's birth, the family returned to their home in Mitava in the
Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...
region of the Russian Empire (presently Jelgava, Latvia). Aronson's sister, Gerda, was born in 1914, the same year
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fran ...
was assassinated and World War I began. The Russian government, fearing that German and Yiddish-speaking Jews might be or become German spies, took action quickly. On April 18, 1915, the Decree of Expulsion was issued by Czarist Russia, and many Jews were forcibly moved to the interior of Russia. The Aronsons and many other Jews were deported on cattle cars to
Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
, southeast of Moscow. Aronson first heard the cello played by a child of a non-Jewish neighbor in
Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
. Soon after this, a relative on his mother's side, Nikolai Arnoff, who was a professional cellist, came to
Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
to give a concert and stayed with the Aronson family. He taught Lev how to hold the instrument and the bow. Lev's father bought him a small cello and arranged with a fellow immigrant, Aron Rafaelovitsch Rubinstein, to teach the child his first cello lessons. Lev was seven. In 1920, the family was allowed to leave Voronezh, and they chose to move to
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
, Latvia. Lev attended school in Riga and continued to study cello.Lev Aronson, interview by Bob Beers, 1985 (Lev Aronson Musical Score Collection,
Martha Blakeney Hodges Martha Elizabeth Blakeney Hodges (September 12, 1897 – June 27, 1969) was an American educator and political hostess. As the wife of Governor Luther H. Hodges, she served as the Second Lady of North Carolina from 1953 to 1954 and as First Lady o ...
Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA).
As a youth, he performed occasionally with the orchestra at silent movies. Aronson studied cello with Paul Berkowitz, a well-known physician and cellist in Riga.


Between the World Wars

Upon his graduation from high school at 16, Aronson moved to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
to study law. During his first semester he met a doctor who was an amateur cellist. The doctor, after hearing Aronson play, introduced him to
Julius Klengel Julius Klengel (24 September 1859 – 27 October 1933) was a German cellist who is most famous for his études and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of Paul Klengel. A member of the Gewandhausorchester of Leipzig at fif ...
in Leipzig. Aronson began studying cello with Klengel and soon gave up law to focus on music. After a year with Klengel, Lev began his studies with Alfred von Glehn at the
Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory () was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades (until 1960) was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed from the existing schools of music of Xaver ...
in Berlin. When von Glehn died,
Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian-born American cello, cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Dnipro, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a c ...
took over his class. Piatigorsky was to become Aronson's life-long mentor and friend. Aronson began performing locally with three German friends in the Peters String Quartet in 1931. In 1933,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
became chancellor of Germany. Anti-Jewish violence in Germany and throughout Europe was on the rise. Aronson decided to change his name to Lev Arnoff, which sounded more Russian than Jewish in an attempt to escape attention and continue performing. Aronson found a patroness, Mrs. Daliba Jones, whom he met in Florence through American conductor Vladimir Shavitch, and began to build a successful performing career throughout Europe as a soloist. He won a competition in Russia.Aronson personal papers, Lev Aronson Collection, RG 2052 (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, NY, USA.) He made several recordings for the Bellacord Electro label. In 1937, he became principal cellist for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Libau. During the late 1930s, Aronson also began teaching cello in Riga, awakening a passion for education that would stay with him for the rest of his life.


The Holocaust and its aftermath

German forces invaded and occupied Riga in June 1941. Aronson's cellos were confiscated. Aronson began work as a slave laborer for the Gestapo. The Jews were moved to a ghetto in the so-called Moscow suburb of Riga. Between November 29 and December 8, 1941, thousands of Jews living in the
Riga Ghetto Riga Ghetto was a small area in Maskavas Forštate, a neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia, where Nazis forced Latvian Jewish, Jews from Latvia, and later from the German "Reich" (Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia), to live during World War II. On ...
were taken to the Rumbula forest, shot, and buried in mass graves. Among them were Aronson's parents. Aronson worked at the clothing depot, Ausekla, for much of the period between the German invasion and 1943. In 1943, the Riga-Kaiserwald concentration camp system was formally established. Many Jews already lived and worked at satellite work camps in the region, which were now considered to be part of the Kaiserwald system. The Riga Ghetto was liquidated, moving the Jews from one horrible situation to another. Most Jews from the ghetto or satellite camps passed through Kaiserwald briefly on their way to work assignments within the system. Aronson worked at the Lenta subcamp, and outgrowth of Ausekla. In the fall of 1944, the Germans fled Latvia ahead of the Russian advance. Aronson and a number of other Jews from Kaiserwald and its subcamps, including his sister, were deported to the
Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...
concentration camp. Aronson's sister died at Stutthof. From Stutthof, Aronson was transferred to Burggraben and worked in the Danzig shipyards. In 1945, the Germans again moved their Jewish prisoners ahead of the Allied advance. Aronson was in one of the many groups of Jews sent on
death marches A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires that ...
in the early months of 1945. His group made it to Gotentov (near Lauenberg), where they were liberated on March 10, 1945, by the Russians. Aronson, along with many other survivors, was sent to a Soviet repatriation camp in Torun, Poland. Aronson managed to escape and made his way with the help of the Jewish underground through Poland and Germany to the American militarized zone, where he spent nearly two years waiting to be allowed to immigrate to the United States. During his flight, Aronson met dancer Nina Bukowska, and the two fell in love and were married in 1947. Some of the musicians from the Riga ghetto survived the war in the same camps as Aronson; the tenor Gregor Shelkan was one of them. After the war, Aronson and Shelkan, memorializing those who died in the war, composed several original pieces. A few of these compositions were published in the
displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...
Schlachtensee in the American zone of Berlin.


United States

Aronson and Bukowska immigrated to the United States in 1948. He accepted a contract with the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...
and moved to Texas. Aronson served as assistant principal cellist in the Dallas Symphony for the 1948–1949 season and then as principal until 1967. Aronson taught cello at
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 ...
in Waco, Texas, from 1967 until 1980. In 1980, Aronson began teaching at
Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
. In the 1970s, Aronson collaborated with Croatian cellist and composer
Rudolf Matz Rudolf Matz (19 September 1901 – 22 March 1988) was a Croatian composer who wrote about 500 instrumental and vocal compositions. Matz lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. He was born in Zagreb, 1901 and d ...
, producing the two-volume work ''The Complete Cellist''. Bukowska and Aronson moved to Dallas together but later divorced. Aronson married Deane Wright in 1959 and was subsequently divorced. He married Harriet Snodgrass, a fellow cellist and former pupil, in 1979. Lev Aronson died in Dallas on November 12, 1988. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the ''Chevalier du violoncello'' by the Janzer Foundation.


Impact as a cello teacher

Though a talented performer, Lev Aronson is perhaps best-known as an influential teacher of the cello. During his tenure in the Dallas Symphony, he taught several private cello students. After his retirement from the orchestra, he dedicated more time to teaching, privately and at his university appointments. He founded and conducted the Dal-Hi Chamber Players, a group of young musicians who performed in the United States and abroad in the 1970s. He taught and judged at numerous music festivals, workshops, and competitions. He also taught a course for the Southern Methodist University Continuing Education program, which introduced adults to western art music. Aronson's students include
Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell (January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020) was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras o ...
and
Ralph Kirshbaum Ralph Henry Kirshbaum (born March 4, 1946) is an American cellist. His award-winning career combines the worlds of solo performance, chamber music, recording and pedagogy. Early life and education Kirshbaum was born in Denton, Texas, and raised ...
.Conversation with Ralph Kirshbaum
by Tim Janof. Internet Cello Society, 9 Mar 1997. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
and Richard Pope


References

*Aronson, Lev. 1985. Interview by Robert Beers. Lev Aronson Musical Score Collection, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. *Brent, Frances. 2009
The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson
New York: Atlas & Co. Publishers. *Chism, Olin. "The Incredible Story of Lev Aronson," ''
Dallas Times Herald The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the '' Dallas Times'' and the '' Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas ( USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, an ...
: Sunday Magazine'', January 14, 1979. *Dean, Martin, and Geoffrey P. Megargee, editors. ''The United States Holocaust Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945''. Volume
I
an
II
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. *Lesh, Carolyn. "High Profile: Lev Aronson," ''
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
'', March 2, 1986.
Lev Aronson Cello Music Collection
SC009.1
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. *Lev Aronson Collection, RG 2052.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Establi ...
. *Lev Aronson Curriculum Vitae, SC009.2. Lev Aronson Personal Papers Collection
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. *Universitat Hamburg. "Lev Aronson," ''
Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit The ''Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit'' (LexM) is an online encyclopedia of the University of Hamburg, which has been developed as a work in progress since 2005. Publication/contents The editors today are Sophie Fetthau ...
''. Accessed May 27, 2013: http://www.lexm.uni-hamburg.de/object/lexm_lexmperson_00000769 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Lev 1912 births 1988 deaths Musicians from Riga Latvian classical cellists Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American musicians Kaiserwald concentration camp survivors Soviet emigrants to the United States 20th-century cellists Players of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra