Jack Glatzer
Encyclopedia
Jacob Joseph Glatzer (born February 9, 1939) is an American
violin
ist who resides in Portugal
. He has performed as a soloist in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and has also released several acclaimed recordings. Glatzer specializes in the literature for solo violin, such as the unaccompanied works of Bach
, Paganini
, Bartók
, and Locatelli
, and calls upon his strong academic background in world history and civilization
in presenting frequent lecture-recitals of the solo violin literature.
, the son of Fred and Miriam (Feder) Glatzer. He began violin lessons at age five. Glatzer's primary teacher in Dallas was Henry Brahinsky; he pursued additional musical studies with G. Clinton Davis, Marvin Gross, and Leonard Posner. At 14, Glatzer performed a movement of the Violin Concerto No. 4 by Henri Vieuxtemps
with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Walter Hendl
. In 1956, at age 17, he was the winner among all string
players and runner-up for the Grand Prize at the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, D.C.
, and performed a movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto
with the National Symphony Orchestra under Howard Mitchell
. Glatzer's playing was strongly praised by Washington music critics
Day Thorpe and Paul Hume
.
Following his graduation from Forest Avenue High School (now James Madison High School) of the Dallas Independent School District
, Glatzer attended Yale University
, where he studied violin with Joseph Fuchs
while earning a bachelor's degree
summa cum laude
and Phi Beta Kappa
in history. Glatzer, a Rhodes Scholar
, subsequently earned an honours degree in history from Oxford University. He undertook further music study at the Musik Akademie in Basel
, Switzerland
, under Sándor Végh
.
of the Sándor Végh String Orchestra and of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
. He participated in the Prades Festival, where he worked with the legendary cellist
Pablo Casals
. Glatzer settled in Portugal, where he came to the attention of Maxim Jacobsen, an influential Russia
n violin pedagogue whose protégés included Benito Mussolini
and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
. Jacobsen, then in his 80s, chose Glatzer as the young artist with whom he wished to share certain unpublished writings of the great 19th-century Italian virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini, which until then had been kept among Mussolini's papers. In these writings, Paganini described "secret" techniques for producing desired tone colors in his Caprices, Op. 1. Glatzer has since incorporated these techniques into his performances and describes many of them to listeners at recitals and on recordings.
Glatzer has performed concerts and recitals in more than fifty countries and on every continent (presumably excepting Antarctica). Most of his recitals include visual components such as films and slides, as well as spoken discourse. He has led numerous master classes and gives frequent presentations for schoolchildren.
Jack Glatzer performs on a violin crafted by the Italian maker Joseph Guarneri "del Gesù"
. The instrument, which was donated to him by a fan, was previously owned by the 19th-century Italian virtuoso Camillo Sivori
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 who resides in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He has performed as a soloist in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and has also released several acclaimed recordings. Glatzer specializes in the literature for solo violin, such as the unaccompanied works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Paganini
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
, 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...
, and Locatelli
Pietro Locatelli
Pietro Antonio Locatelli was an Italian composer and violinist.-Biography:Locatelli was born in Bergamo, Italy. A child prodigy on the violin, he was sent to study in Rome under the direction of Arcangelo Corelli...
, and calls upon his strong academic background in world history and civilization
History of the world
The history of the world or human history is the history of humanity from the earliest times to the present, in all places on Earth, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. It excludes non-human natural history and geological history, except insofar as the natural world substantially affects human lives...
in presenting frequent lecture-recitals of the solo violin literature.
Early life and musical training
Glatzer was born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, the son of Fred and Miriam (Feder) Glatzer. He began violin lessons at age five. Glatzer's primary teacher in Dallas was Henry Brahinsky; he pursued additional musical studies with G. Clinton Davis, Marvin Gross, and Leonard Posner. At 14, Glatzer performed a movement of the Violin Concerto No. 4 by Henri Vieuxtemps
Henri Vieuxtemps
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th century....
with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
conducted by Walter Hendl
Walter Hendl
Walter Hendl was an American conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1939 to 1941 he taught at Sarah Lawrence College in New York City...
. In 1956, at age 17, he was the winner among all string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
players and runner-up for the Grand Prize at the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and performed a movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Brahms)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 is a violin concerto in three movements composed by Johannes Brahms in 1878 and dedicated to his friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim...
with the National Symphony Orchestra under Howard Mitchell
Howard Mitchell
Howard Mitchell was an American cellist and conductor. He conducted the National Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1969....
. Glatzer's playing was strongly praised by Washington music critics
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
Day Thorpe and Paul Hume
Paul Hume
Paul Chandler Hume was the music editor for the Washington Post from 1946 to 1982.-Career:...
.
Following his graduation from Forest Avenue High School (now James Madison High School) of the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...
, Glatzer attended Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he studied violin with Joseph Fuchs
Joseph Fuchs
Joseph Fuchs was one of the most important American violinists and teachers of the 20th century, and the brother of Lillian Fuchs....
while earning a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
and Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
in history. Glatzer, a Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, subsequently earned an honours degree in history from Oxford University. He undertook further music study at the Musik Akademie 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...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, under Sándor Végh
Sándor Végh
Sándor Végh was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century.- Education :...
.
Career
In the 1960s, Glatzer performed as concertmasterConcertmaster
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 Sándor Végh String Orchestra and of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, second to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam...
. He participated in the Prades Festival, where he worked with the legendary cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
. Glatzer settled in Portugal, where he came to the attention of Maxim Jacobsen, an influential Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n violin pedagogue whose protégés included Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876-1965)
Elisabeth of Bavaria , was the queen consort of Albert I of Belgium and was the mother of Leopold III of Belgium and grandmother of Baudouin I of Belgium and Albert II of Belgium.-Family:Born in Possenhofen Castle, her father was Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, an ophthalmologist of...
. Jacobsen, then in his 80s, chose Glatzer as the young artist with whom he wished to share certain unpublished writings of the great 19th-century Italian virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini, which until then had been kept among Mussolini's papers. In these writings, Paganini described "secret" techniques for producing desired tone colors in his Caprices, Op. 1. Glatzer has since incorporated these techniques into his performances and describes many of them to listeners at recitals and on recordings.
Glatzer has performed concerts and recitals in more than fifty countries and on every continent (presumably excepting Antarctica). Most of his recitals include visual components such as films and slides, as well as spoken discourse. He has led numerous master classes and gives frequent presentations for schoolchildren.
Jack Glatzer performs on a violin crafted by the Italian maker Joseph Guarneri "del Gesù"
Giuseppe Guarneri
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri, del Gesù was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line...
. The instrument, which was donated to him by a fan, was previously owned by the 19th-century Italian virtuoso Camillo Sivori
Camillo Sivori
Ernesto Camillo Sivori, was an Italian virtuoso violinist and composer.Born in Genoa, he was the only pupil of Paganini. He also studied with Restano, Giacomo Costa and Dellepiane....
.
Discography
Glatzer has released several recordings, including the following:- Locatelli: Caprices. Golden Crest RE-7077. (1982)
- Piano trios of DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and CowellHenry CowellHenry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
. With the Manitoba Trio. UMSoM 111. (1986?) - February Suite. Music by S. C. Eckhardt-GramattéSophie Carmen Eckhardt-GramattéSophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté was a Russian-born Canadian composer and virtuoso pianist and violinist.Born in Moscow as Sofia Fridman-Kochevskaya, Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where her teachers included Alfred Brun and Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. Chenée for...
and Robert Turner. With Delores Jerde Keahey, piano. Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation EGF 200D. (1989) - Jack Glatzer - Scattered Sparks of Sound. Music of BlochErnest BlochErnest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
, de Sousa, Bartók. Chatsworth FCM 1006. Also released as 20th Century Violin Recital by Orient Vision. (recorded 1993; released 1994) - Cláudio Carneiro: Sonata and other works. With Filipe de Sousa, piano. Strauss. (1995). ISRC SP 4060
- Niccolo Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. Orient Vision CW 1002. (recorded 1997; released 1998)
- Murray AdaskinMurray Adaskin-External links:*...
: Sonatine Baroque for unaccompanied violin. On The Adaskin Collection. SOCAN MMI 05. (2000) - Bach in the Cathedral. With Joseph Munzenrider, harpsichord.
- Jack Glatzer in Recital. Music of Bach, SculthorpePeter SculthorpePeter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE is an Australian composer. Much of his music has resulted from an interest in the music of Australia's neighbours as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of native Australian music with that of the heritage of the West...
, ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, Paganini. ABC Classic FMABC Classic FMABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
.
Sources
- Birth records of Dallas County, TexasDallas County, TexasAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
. - Communications. York University libraries newsletter. Undated, c. 1986. (link)
- "Dal-Hi Salute Dated." The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, 2 December 1963. - "Dallas Violinist Wins Praise of Washington Music Critics" by Ruth Schumm. The Dallas Morning News, 26 May 1956.
- "Organ Guild Series to Open with Watkins." The Dallas Morning News, 16 November 1952.
- "Two Gain in Music Contest." The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 22 May 1956. - Wilkinson, Anthony. Liner notes for Niccolo Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. London: Orient Vision, 1998.
External links
- Jack Glatzer official website