Yehudi Menuhin’s centenary: “Music is a therapy”
In the lead up to this years Menuhin Violin Competition, we remember Menuhin’s legacy and talk to some of this year’s vibrant and talented competitors.
One of the most successful violinists of the 20th century, Yehudi Menuhin spent much of his life helping young violinists from all over the world have an enriching and stimulating music education. A musician who revolutionised the world of music, Menuhin was more than a great musician; he was a teacher and a humanitarian.
“Music is a therapy. It is a communication far more powerful than words, far more immediate, far more efficient.” — Yehudi Menuhin
Born in New York in 1916, Menuhin made his violin debut at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, and a recital in New York followed a year later. By the time he was eleven he had debuted in Paris and Carnegie Hall. At twelve he played in Berlin and at thirteen in London, launching himself at an early age on a lifelong career that was to take him all over the world, playing with leading conductors and orchestras. “A child and yet he was a man and a great artist,” said the conductor Bruno Walter after working with him at the age of 13 in 1929.
By the age of 19 he went on an extensive world tour; after which he took an 18-month sabbatical, to focus on his music. In 1943, the great Hungarian composer and pianist Bela Bartók wrote his Solo Sonata for Menuhin — which is critiqued as one of last century’s greatest works for solo violin.
During the Second World War Menuhin often performed for the Allies in Europe. When he and Benjamin Britten played together to an audience of liberating troops and surviving inmates at Belsen, the experience confirmed for him music’s potential to soothe and heal the soul. “Men and women alike, our audience was dressed in blankets. The seemed desperately haggard, and many were still ill,” he wrote in his autobiography.
“Music, amongst all the great arts, is the language which permeates most deeply into the human spirit, reaching people through every barrier, disability, language and circumstance. This is why it has been my dream to bring music back into the lives of those people whose lives are especially prone to stress and suffering … so that it might comfort, heal and bring delight.” — Yehudi Menuhin
While sitting in the waiting room of a doctors office in 1948, Yehudi Menuhin came across a small book on yoga. He was immediately fascinated. Little did he know then that yoga and India would change his life. He became affiliated with renowned Hatha yoga teacher B.K.S. Iyengar and legendary Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar, who he frequently performed alongside. The more Menuhin learned about India and yoga the more he loved it. India was, he said, “the primal source, the mother country.” Menuhin and Shankar’s collaboration made history, bringing together two contrasting traditions. “The whole world knows Yehudi as a very special human being, but to me he is just my dearest friend,” said Shankar in an interview in 1995.
These sorts of collaborations are what made Menuhin such a dynamic musician. He was one of the first classical performers to really embrace other genres of music.
“I can only think of music as something inherent in every human being — a birthright. Music coordinates mind, body and spirit.” — Yehudi Menuhin
In 1963 Menuhin founded the Yehudi Menuhin School, aiming to offer an education to gifted young musicians, regardless of their ability to pay, and then in 1983, he started the Menuhin violin competition, which focused on younger musicians aged under 22.
One of Menuhin’s most inspiring initiatives is Live Music Now, a charity that sends young musicians out into the community to play to those whose lives are “challenged due to illness, disability, poverty or social disadvantage”. This initiative has reached over two million people all over the world.
This year to mark Menuhin’s centenary, IDAGIO has donated the Audience Award, which will be presented to the finalist of the Menuhin Competition that receives the most votes by you! After the final performance on April 15, you will be able to listen and vote for your favourite Junior performance on IDAGIO. The Senior vote will be conducted live after the final at Royal Festival Hall in London.
View all of this year’s competitors, read about their favourite musicians and music.
We asked the contestants what made Menuhin such a special musician and what qualities they found most inspiring about him, here are some of their responses…
“Menuhin was a revolutionary musician — he changed the landscape of classical music for the generations to come by establishing music schools, festivals, the Menuhin competition and Live Music Now. This generosity of spirit was always apparent in his violin playing too — the beauty of his playing drew me into his recordings from a young age and he has remained one of my all time favourite musicians.” — Mathilde Milwidsky 21, UK
“One of the qualities that I admire most in him would be his appreciation of cultural diversity. His belief of embracing a diversity of new experiences allowed him to champion music of genres to which he was entirely a stranger, from the ‘modern’ commissions from Elgar, Walton and Bartok, to name a few, gypsy improvisations, jazz, to even projects collaborating with Indian and Middle Eastern traditional musicians. Lord Menuhin not only was one of the foremost classical violinists of his era, with an individual understanding and innovative outlook on the traditional repertoire through studies with leading pedagogues, musicians and composers such as L. Persinger and G. Enescu, but also an advocate of multiculturalism and humanistic causes. Those experiences only deepened his connection to music as a means of personal healing and bonding within society, resulting in the intellectual, yet touching, interpretations which made him such an inspiring musician.” — Belle Ting 15, Taiwan/Canada
“I feel that Menuhin’s emphasis on the interpretation and emotion in music made him special, and I find this idea of finding and developing colours and emotions to convey in a piece very inspiring.” — Kevin Miura 13, USA/Japan
“We all know Menuhin’s incredible legacy as a violinist purely on a musical and technical level. But what made him so unique and special is his overflowing and infectious love for music and his genuine urge to share this with everyone around him, and through music he tried to help other people and bring peace to the whole humanity. Also, his passion for teaching and nurturing young talents was just extraordinary. He went great length to set up his own school, and his open mindedness allowed him to incorporate yoga and jazz improvisation into his teaching which must have been ground-breaking at the time.” — Coco Tomita 14, Japan
“As a musician I think Yehudi Menuhin possessed a completely unique and exceptional approach to music. His style and tone are synonymous to any adjective or colour yet always hold a signature elegance. His complete understanding and mastery of the musical phrase is captivating and extremely emotional. I feel that Yehudi Menuhin was not only a brilliant violinist but an exceptionally wise and open-minded man. I think he understood a great deal how music can benefit humanity in ways other than salon concerts and concerto performances. I admire his activism to help people in need and generosity to help young musicians. His involvement and commitment to world justice are truly inspirational. For me Lord Menuhin portrays nobility, understanding, communication, individuality… in amounts that are supremely compelling.” — Marley Erickson 12, USA
“Menuhin was not only a great violinist, but also an inspiring figure for all young musicians, such as myself and the other participants in this competition. His benevolence towards and endeavors to aid young people pursuing music made him, in my opinion, so influential and exceptional. He created many opportunities, such as this very competition, for young musicians to shine.” — Olivia Chen 14, USA
