Hephzibah Menuhin
Encyclopedia
Hephzibah Menuhin was an American
-Australia
n pianist
and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violin
ist Lord Menuhin (Yehudi Menuhin)
and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin
. She was also a gifted linguist and writer, co-authoring several books and writing many papers with her second husband, Richard Hauser.
, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty. Her mother Marutha has been described as "dominant and controlling". The Menuhin children had little formal schooling. Hephzibah spent only five days at a San Francisco school, where she was classed as educationally backward. Her parents took her out of school and taught her to read and write at home. She started studying the piano at the age of four and gave her first recital in San Francisco in 1928 when she was eight. She then studied with Rudolf Serkin
in Basel
and Marcel Ciampi
in Paris
. In 1933 she and Yehudi made their first recording (a Mozart sonata), which won the Candid Prize as best disc of the year. Her public debut was on 13 October 1934, at the Salle Pleyel
in Paris. The siblings performed in the New York Town Hall and Queen's Hall
in London
, and Hephzibah gave solo recitals in most of the major cities of Europe and America.
, Bernard Heinze
introduced Hephzibah and Yehudi to the Australian brother and sister Lindsay and Nola Nicholas, heirs to the Australian ‘Aspro’ pharmaceutical fortune. In quick succession, Yehudi (aged 21) married Nola, and Hephzibah (aged 17) married Nicholas, abandoning her plans to give her debut recital in Carnegie Hall
, New York. She moved with Nicholas to his grazing property "Terrinallum" near Derrinallum
in south-western Victoria
, where she spent the next 13 years. She started a travelling library for children and bore two sons, Kronrod and Marston Nicholas. However, while she curtailed her musical career, she did not entirely abandon it. She played with the Sydney
and Melbourne
Symphony Orchestras and she and Yehudi played together many times during his 1940 tour of Australia. She also gave solo recitals, supported local activities such as the Griller Quartet, and was involved with Richard Goldner
in the foundation of Musica Viva Australia
. She also befriended many displaced European musicians who had emigrated to Australia. During this time she played the Australian premiere of Bartók
’s Second Piano Concerto
. Both the Menuhins' marriages to the Nicholases ended in divorce. Her two children remained with their father Lindsay Nicholas.
concentration camp, which had a profound effect on her, forcing her to confront the meaning of her own Jewish heritage, and they entered a romantic relationship which lasted for several years.
In 1951 she and Yehudi played at the opening of the Royal Festival Hall
in London, then made a concert tour of Australia and played and broadcast for the ABC
. She supported all types of causes with concerts and recitals, such as the National Music Camp Association, and she was outspoken about the influence of television on children. In Sydney she was soloist in Juan José Castro
’s piano concerto, with the composer conducting (he was at that time the chief conductor of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra
). In 1954 she moved to Sydney
, where she gave concerts and opened her home to anyone in need.
n Quaker sociologist and social commentator who had moved to Sydney with his family, one of whom was Eva Cox
. Hephzibah divorced her husband and married Hauser in Sydney in 1955. Two years later Menuhin and Hauser moved to London
with their daughter, Clara Menuhin-Hauser, where they fostered Michael Alexander Morgan, a boy of mixed Welsh and Nigerian background and who grew up with Clara. They started the Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities, and the Centre for Group Studies
, and later moved to Friends Hall, a settlement house in the East End of London. They also ran a Human Rights refuge from their house in Pimlico
. They worked on small-steps conciliation and attempted to help minorities all over the world, and she was a passionate supporter of women's and children's rights. In 1977 Hephzibah Menuhin became the President of the British chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
.
In 1962 she and Yehudi toured Australia. She toured with Yehudi and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra: the United States and Canada in 1967, and Australia in 1970 and 1975. In 1977 she was a member of the judges’ panel for the first Sydney International Piano Competition
. In Melbourne that year she played at a concert at which her son Dr. Marston Nicholas made his first public appearance as a cellist.
In 1979 Hephzibah Menuhin made her last Australian concert appearances, playing with Yehudi and the Sydney String Quartet. She appeared with her brother for the last time at the Royal Festival Hall in London in November 1979.
Hephzibah Menuhin died in London on 1 January 1981, after a long illness. Yehudi dedicated his Carnegie Hall concert of 22 February 1981 to her memory.
Her recordings include Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet with members of the Amadeus Quartet
, Mozart concertos with her brother conducting, trios with Yehudi and Maurice Gendron
, and sonatas with Yehudi.
Faculty of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
. The principal soloist’s dressing room at the Melbourne Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall
was named in Hephzibah’s honour.
In 1998 Curtis Levy produced and directed a well-received documentary, Hephzibah. A biography An Exacting Heart was published in 2007 by Jacqueline Kent.
A biography of Yehudi Menuhin and his family entitled Yehudiana - Reliving the Menuhin Odyssey by Philip Bailey, who worked on the Menuhin staff from 1976 until Yehudi's death in 1999, has been published in late 2008. This book contains information concerning Hephzibah's life.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Lord Menuhin (Yehudi Menuhin)
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin
Yaltah Menuhin
Yaltah Menuhin was an American-born British pianist, artist and poet.-Early life:Yaltah was born of Russian Jewish parents in San Francisco, the youngest of three extraordinarily musical children. Her siblings were Yehudi Menuhin and Hephzibah Menuhin...
. She was also a gifted linguist and writer, co-authoring several books and writing many papers with her second husband, Richard Hauser.
Early life
Hephzibah Menuhin was born in San Francisco. Through her father Moshe MenuhinMoshe Menuhin
Moshe Menuhin was born in Gomel to a distinguished, religious Jewish family. He was the great great grandson of Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hassidism...
, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty. Her mother Marutha has been described as "dominant and controlling". The Menuhin children had little formal schooling. Hephzibah spent only five days at a San Francisco school, where she was classed as educationally backward. Her parents took her out of school and taught her to read and write at home. She started studying the piano at the age of four and gave her first recital in San Francisco in 1928 when she was eight. She then studied with Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and Marcel Ciampi
Marcel Ciampi
Marcel Paul Maximin Ciampi was a French pianist and teacher. He held the longest tenure in the history of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and also became head of piano classes at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1933 she and Yehudi made their first recording (a Mozart sonata), which won the Candid Prize as best disc of the year. Her public debut was on 13 October 1934, at the Salle Pleyel
Salle Pleyel
The Salle Pleyel is a concert hall in Paris, France. The resident ensembles are the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.-History and Design:...
in Paris. The siblings performed in the New York Town Hall and Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Hephzibah gave solo recitals in most of the major cities of Europe and America.
Australian connection
In March 1938, after a concert at the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, Bernard Heinze
Bernard Heinze
Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze, AC was an Australian Professor of Music, conductor, and Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music....
introduced Hephzibah and Yehudi to the Australian brother and sister Lindsay and Nola Nicholas, heirs to the Australian ‘Aspro’ pharmaceutical fortune. In quick succession, Yehudi (aged 21) married Nola, and Hephzibah (aged 17) married Nicholas, abandoning her plans to give her debut recital in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, New York. She moved with Nicholas to his grazing property "Terrinallum" near Derrinallum
Derrinallum, Victoria
Derrinallum is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Hamilton Highway, in the Corangamite Shire. The town is the centre for the surrounding farming community and lies at the foot of Mount Elephant....
in south-western Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, where she spent the next 13 years. She started a travelling library for children and bore two sons, Kronrod and Marston Nicholas. However, while she curtailed her musical career, she did not entirely abandon it. She played with the Sydney
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
and Melbourne
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
Symphony Orchestras and she and Yehudi played together many times during his 1940 tour of Australia. She also gave solo recitals, supported local activities such as the Griller Quartet, and was involved with Richard Goldner
Richard Goldner
Richard Goldner was a Romanian-born, Viennese-trained Australian violist, pedagogue and inventor. He founded Musica Viva Australia in 1945, which became the world's largest entrepreneurial chamber music organisation. The Goldner String Quartet was named in his memory.-Biography:Richard Goldner...
in the foundation of Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
. She also befriended many displaced European musicians who had emigrated to Australia. During this time she played the Australian premiere of Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
’s Second Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 2 (Bartók)
Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Sz. 95, BB 101 is one of the composer's more accessible compositions for audiences. It is especially notorious for being one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire....
. Both the Menuhins' marriages to the Nicholases ended in divorce. Her two children remained with their father Lindsay Nicholas.
Career and causes
In 1947, she played at the Prague Spring Music Festival in a concert organised by Paul Morawetz, a Melbourne businessman. He took her to see TheresienstadtTerezín
Terezín is the name of a former military fortress and adjacent walled garrison town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.-Early history:...
concentration camp, which had a profound effect on her, forcing her to confront the meaning of her own Jewish heritage, and they entered a romantic relationship which lasted for several years.
In 1951 she and Yehudi played at the opening of the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London, then made a concert tour of Australia and played and broadcast for the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. She supported all types of causes with concerts and recitals, such as the National Music Camp Association, and she was outspoken about the influence of television on children. In Sydney she was soloist in Juan José Castro
Juan José Castro
Juan José Castro was an Argentine composer and conductor.Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduarno Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920s he was awarded the Europa Prize, and then went on to study in Paris at the Schola Cantorum under...
’s piano concerto, with the composer conducting (he was at that time the chief conductor of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
). In 1954 she moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, where she gave concerts and opened her home to anyone in need.
London
In Sydney, Hephzibah Menuhin met and became involved with Richard Hauser, an AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Quaker sociologist and social commentator who had moved to Sydney with his family, one of whom was Eva Cox
Eva Cox
Eva Cox AO is an Austrian-born Australian writer, feminist, sociologist, social commentator, stirrer and activist. She has been an active advocate for creating more civil societies. She is a long-term member of Women's Electoral Lobby...
. Hephzibah divorced her husband and married Hauser in Sydney in 1955. Two years later Menuhin and Hauser moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with their daughter, Clara Menuhin-Hauser, where they fostered Michael Alexander Morgan, a boy of mixed Welsh and Nigerian background and who grew up with Clara. They started the Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities, and the Centre for Group Studies
Centre for Group Studies
The Center for Group Studies was founded in 1989 to provide group leadership for professionals in the fields of mental health, business, education, religion and the arts. The programs are designed around the principles and techniques of Louis Ormont, Ph.D., an international leader in modern...
, and later moved to Friends Hall, a settlement house in the East End of London. They also ran a Human Rights refuge from their house in Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
. They worked on small-steps conciliation and attempted to help minorities all over the world, and she was a passionate supporter of women's and children's rights. In 1977 Hephzibah Menuhin became the President of the British chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was established in the United States in January 1915 as the Woman's Peace Party...
.
In 1962 she and Yehudi toured Australia. She toured with Yehudi and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra: the United States and Canada in 1967, and Australia in 1970 and 1975. In 1977 she was a member of the judges’ panel for the first Sydney International Piano Competition
Sydney International Piano Competition
The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia is a music competition, presented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with the University of Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia. It is held every four years, over a three-week period in July-August, and is...
. In Melbourne that year she played at a concert at which her son Dr. Marston Nicholas made his first public appearance as a cellist.
In 1979 Hephzibah Menuhin made her last Australian concert appearances, playing with Yehudi and the Sydney String Quartet. She appeared with her brother for the last time at the Royal Festival Hall in London in November 1979.
Hephzibah Menuhin died in London on 1 January 1981, after a long illness. Yehudi dedicated his Carnegie Hall concert of 22 February 1981 to her memory.
Her recordings include Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet with members of the Amadeus Quartet
Amadeus Quartet
The Amadeus Quartet was a world famous string quartet founded in 1947.Because of their Jewish origin, violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof were driven out of Vienna after Hitler's Anschluss of 1938...
, Mozart concertos with her brother conducting, trios with Yehudi and Maurice Gendron
Maurice Gendron
Maurice Gendron was a French cellist and teacher. He is widely considered one of the greatest French cellists of the twentieth century....
, and sonatas with Yehudi.
Memorial
The annual $8,000 Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Scholarship for young Australian pianists was established in 1980. It is administered alternatively by the University of MelbourneUniversity of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Faculty of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
. The principal soloist’s dressing room at the Melbourne Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall
The Arts Centre (Melbourne)
The Victorian Arts Centre is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia....
was named in Hephzibah’s honour.
In 1998 Curtis Levy produced and directed a well-received documentary, Hephzibah. A biography An Exacting Heart was published in 2007 by Jacqueline Kent.
A biography of Yehudi Menuhin and his family entitled Yehudiana - Reliving the Menuhin Odyssey by Philip Bailey, who worked on the Menuhin staff from 1976 until Yehudi's death in 1999, has been published in late 2008. This book contains information concerning Hephzibah's life.
External links
- Short biography (from the ABC Radio National website).
- Photographs (from the Archive of Australian Judaica).
- New biography (Yehudiana, a Menuhin family biography).