Samuel Lifschey (May 6, 1889 – September 14, 1961) was an American viola player.

Biography

Lifschey was born on May 6, 1889, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

and began his musical studies at the age of nine, studying violin with Arnold Volpe, viola with Henri Casadesus, and theory with Rubin Goldmark.“Lifschey, Samuel.” ''Who’s Who in American Jewry: 1926''. (New York: Jewish Biographical Bureau, 1927), 390. In 1911, he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Cooper Union“Lifschey, Samuel.” ''Who Was Who in America, vol. IV''. (Chicago: Marquis-Who’s Who, 1968), 575. and began his lengthy career as a musician. He was appointed to the position of solo viola with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch in 1916 and served as a bandmaster with the United States Navy during World War I. Brief stints as principal violist of The Cleveland Orchestra and The Detroit Symphony followed before he was lured to the principal violist position with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

in 1925 at the request of

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

.“Samuel Lifschey Retirement.” ''International Musician'' 53, no. 9 (March 1955): 23. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1955. He died on September 14, 1961, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Legacy

In addition to Lifschey’s career as an orchestral violist, he was also a prominent viola soloist, the “first native-born American to achieve virtuoso rank” on the viola. His March 24, 1919, Aeolian Hall recital with soprano Greta Torpadie is often considered the first solo viola recital in New York City, and he gave the American premieres of numerous works for viola and orchestra, including Paul Hindemith’s Konzertmusik, op. 48, Isadore Freed’s ''Rhapsody'', Georges Hüe’s ''Théme Varié'', and the Handel-Casadesus Concerto in B Minor. Lifschey was also an important champion of viola music by American composers, and he gave premieres and other important performances of viola works by

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (; ; July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. Several of his most no ...

, George Frederick Boyle, Samuel Gardner,

Rubin Goldmark Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, his ...

, Walter Golde,

Henry Holden Huss Henry Holden Huss (June 21, 1862 in Newark, New Jersey – September 17, 1953 in New York City) was an American composer, pianist and music teacher. Huss grew up in New York City, the son of German immigrant parents. After studying piano and ...

, and

Gustav Strube Gustav Strube (3 March 1867 – 2 February 1953) was a German-born conductor and composer. He was the founding conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1916, and taught at the Peabody Conservatory. He wrote two operas, ''Ramona'', which pr ...

. Lifschey also contributed greatly with his early publications of viola music, including original pedagogical materials and transcriptions and editions of other works. Published widely by Schirmer, Associated Music Publishers, and Carl Fischer, these works were readily available to American students who were increasingly turning to the viola in the early twentieth century. Lifschey made only a handful of recordings, most notably the gavottes from J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6, in 1941, the earliest known commercial recording of any of the suites played on viola.Thomas Tatton. “Bach Violoncello Suites Arranged for Viola: Available Editions Annotated.” ''Journal of the American Viola Society'', 72, online issue (Summer 2011): 8. Lifschey is depicted in the Santa Monica Library Murals by American artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright as part of a panel of “famous executants on musical instruments.”

Publications

*Original Works **Daily Technical Studies for the Viola, 1929 **Double-Stop Studies for the Viola, 1943 **Scale and Arpeggio Studies for the Viola, 1939 **Twelve Modulatory Studies for the Viola, 1936 *Editions/Arrangements **J. S. Bach: Six Suites for Unaccompanied Viola, 1936 **Johannes Brahms: Orchestral Excerpts for the Viola, 1954 **Bartolomeo Campagnoli: 41 Caprices for the Viola, 1944 **J. P. Rameau: Menuet from the opera Platée, 1929 **Henry Schradiek: The School of Violin-Technics, Transcribed for Viola, 1951 **Friedrich Seitz: Student Concerto No. 2, Transcribed for Viola, 1955 **Friedrich Seitz: Student Concerto No. 3, Transcribed for Viola, 1955 **Otakar Ševčík: Selected Studies in First Position, 1951

Recordings

*J. S. Bach, Cello Suite No. 6 (Gavottes only), 1941 *Johannes Brahms, Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, op. 120, no. 1, (with Egon Petri, piano), 1941 *Leoš Janáček, Concertino for piano, 2 violins, viola, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, 1954 *Richard Strauss, Don Quixote (with

Emanuel Feuermann Emanuel Feuermann (November 22, 1902 – May 25, 1942) was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century. Life Feuermann was born in 1902 in Kolomyja, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Kolomyia, Ukraine) to ...

, cello, and the

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

, conductor), 1940

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifschey, Samuel 1889 births 1961 deaths American classical violists Cooper Union alumni Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American violists Musicians from Manhattan Classical musicians from New York (state) Players of the Cleveland Orchestra Players of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra