Isidore Cohen
Encyclopedia
For the composer born with this name, see Isidore de Lara
Isidore Cohen (December 16, 1922, Brooklyn
, New York
– June 23, 2005, Bronx, New York
) was a renowned chamber music
ian and violin
ist, as well as a former member of the Juilliard String Quartet
and Beaux Arts Trio
.
Cohen began studying violin at age six, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan
, although his intention was to become a doctor. His pre-med studies at Brooklyn College
were interrupted by a stint in Europe
with the U.S. Army during World War II
. From there on, his career focus changed as he decided he'd rather touch people's lives through music as a result of his playing in both the army's orchestra and jazz
bands.
Upon returning to civilian
life, he became a student of Ivan Galamian
at Juilliard. Galamian had misgivings about accepting a 24-year-old student, but didn't want to turn down a war veteran. From there, his life as a musician started to blossom, even drawing the attention of Igor Stravinsky
with his performance of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat.
As of the 1950s, Cohen was serving as the concertmaster
of the orchestras at the Casals festivals in France
and Puerto Rico
, in addition to several ensembles in New York City
. While playing for Casals, he met Alexander Schneider
who invited Cohen to join his quartet as second violinist in 1952. During Cohen's tenure, the quartet recorded the first complete set of Joseph Haydn
's string quartet
s, a milestone noted in Time magazine.
Beginning in 1958, Cohen became second violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, a post he held for nearly a decade. As a member of the quartet, Cohen also served on faculty at Juilliard from 1958 to 1966.
In 1968, following the retirement of violin
ist Daniel Guilet
, he was persuaded to join the Beaux Arts Trio by pianist
Menahem Pressler
and cellist Bernard Greenhouse
. Though reluctant at first, he joined, and by the mid-1970s they were touring and recording as the world's best-known and busiest piano trio
. During Cohen's time with the trio, dozens of recordings were released, including the complete piano trios of Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven
, as well as works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff
, Charles Ives
, Antonín Dvořák
, and Dmitri Shostakovich
. After twenty-three years with the group, he was succeeded as violinist by Ida Kavafian
.
As a teacher, Cohen was on faculty at numerous institutions and festivals in addition to Juilliard, including the Aspen Music Festival the Curtis Institute of Music
, Princeton University
, SUNY at Stony Brook, and the Manhattan School of Music
. His longest association was with the Marlboro Music Festival, where beginning in 1966 he taught for nearly forty years.
Isidore de Lara
Isidore de Lara, born Isidore Cohen , was an English composer and singer. After studying in Italy and France, he returned to England where he taught for several years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and became a well known singer and composer of art songs...
Isidore Cohen (December 16, 1922, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
– June 23, 2005, Bronx, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) was a renowned chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
ian and 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, as well as a former member of the Juilliard String Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
and Beaux Arts Trio
Beaux Arts Trio
The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio. They made their debut on July 13, 1955 at the Berkshire Music Festival, known today as the Tanglewood Music Center. Their final American concert was held at Tanglewood on August 21, 2008. It was webcast live and archived on NPR Music...
.
Cohen began studying violin at age six, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, although his intention was to become a doctor. His pre-med studies at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
were interrupted by a stint in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with the U.S. Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. From there on, his career focus changed as he decided he'd rather touch people's lives through music as a result of his playing in both the army's orchestra and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bands.
Upon returning to civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
life, he became a student of Ivan Galamian
Ivan Galamian
Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...
at Juilliard. Galamian had misgivings about accepting a 24-year-old student, but didn't want to turn down a war veteran. From there, his life as a musician started to blossom, even drawing the attention of Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
with his performance of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat.
As of the 1950s, Cohen was serving as the concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
of the orchestras at the Casals festivals in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, in addition to several ensembles in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. While playing for Casals, he met Alexander Schneider
Alexander Schneider
Alexander Schneider was a violinist, conductor, and educator. Born in Vilna, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest Quartet.- Biography :...
who invited Cohen to join his quartet as second violinist in 1952. During Cohen's tenure, the quartet recorded the first complete set of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, a milestone noted in Time magazine.
Beginning in 1958, Cohen became second violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, a post he held for nearly a decade. As a member of the quartet, Cohen also served on faculty at Juilliard from 1958 to 1966.
In 1968, following the retirement of 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 Daniel Guilet
Daniel Guilet
Daniel Guilet was a French, and later, American, classical violinist, best known for founding the Beaux Arts Trio....
, he was persuaded to join the Beaux Arts Trio by 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:...
Menahem Pressler
Menahem Pressler
Menahem Pressler is a German-born American pianist, founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio.-Professional career:...
and cellist Bernard Greenhouse
Bernard Greenhouse
Bernard Greenhouse was an American cellist and one of the founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio.-Life:Greenhouse was born in Newark, New Jersey. He started his professional studies with Felix Salmond at the Juilliard School when he was eighteen...
. Though reluctant at first, he joined, and by the mid-1970s they were touring and recording as the world's best-known and busiest piano trio
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
. During Cohen's time with the trio, dozens of recordings were released, including the complete piano trios of Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, as well as works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
, Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
. After twenty-three years with the group, he was succeeded as violinist by Ida Kavafian
Ida Kavafian
Ida Kavafian is a classical violinist and violist.Kavafian was born in Turkey to Armenian parents. She moved with her family to America in 1956, and began studying violin in Detroit at age six...
.
As a teacher, Cohen was on faculty at numerous institutions and festivals in addition to Juilliard, including the Aspen Music Festival the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, SUNY at Stony Brook, and the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
. His longest association was with the Marlboro Music Festival, where beginning in 1966 he taught for nearly forty years.