Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Tertis Family
- 2 Early Career
- 3 The Great War
- 4 The Chamber Music Players
- 5 American Tours
- 6 Return to the Royal Academy of Music
- 7 The Elgar and Walton Concertos
- 8 The BBC Orchestra, Delius, Bax and Vaughan Williams
- 9 A Shock Retirement
- 10 The Richardson–Tertis Viola
- 11 The Second World War
- 12 Promoting the Tertis Model Viola
- 13 Return to America and Eightieth Birthday Celebrations
- 14 Second Marriage and Last Appearance
- 15 TV Profile and Ninetieth Birthday
- 16 Final Years
- Notes
- Appendix 1 Tertis’s Violas
- Appendix 2 The Tertis Model Viola
- Appendix 3 Tertis’s Writings and Talks
- Appendix 4 Tertis’s BBC Appearances
- Appendix 5 Tertis’s Honours
- Appendix 6 Music with Tertis Connections
- Appendix 7 The Tertis Bequest
- Appendix 8 The Tertis Legacy
- Discography
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Return to the Royal Academy of Music
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Tertis Family
- 2 Early Career
- 3 The Great War
- 4 The Chamber Music Players
- 5 American Tours
- 6 Return to the Royal Academy of Music
- 7 The Elgar and Walton Concertos
- 8 The BBC Orchestra, Delius, Bax and Vaughan Williams
- 9 A Shock Retirement
- 10 The Richardson–Tertis Viola
- 11 The Second World War
- 12 Promoting the Tertis Model Viola
- 13 Return to America and Eightieth Birthday Celebrations
- 14 Second Marriage and Last Appearance
- 15 TV Profile and Ninetieth Birthday
- 16 Final Years
- Notes
- Appendix 1 Tertis’s Violas
- Appendix 2 The Tertis Model Viola
- Appendix 3 Tertis’s Writings and Talks
- Appendix 4 Tertis’s BBC Appearances
- Appendix 5 Tertis’s Honours
- Appendix 6 Music with Tertis Connections
- Appendix 7 The Tertis Bequest
- Appendix 8 The Tertis Legacy
- Discography
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
His greatest moment – Montagnana viola – Flos campi – teaching – Griller Quartet
Lionel and ada Tertis returned to England on 16 February 1924 on the Cunard liner RMS Berengaria. No sooner were they back in circulation than the pianist Katherine Goodson invited them to a party in honour of Ernő Dohnanyi. The Hungarian composer, then forty-six, was at the height of his fame, and his country's foremost musical ambassador as creator and performer; Bartok and Kodaly – both much better appreciated today – were hardly known to the wider world. In conversation that evening Tertis mentioned that he played Dohnanyi's C sharp minor Violin Sonata exactly as written for the violin. The Hungarian was amazed that he could get up so high; the music was produced, a viola borrowed from their host, and they proceeded to play the sonata. Tertis remembered: ‘It was a most exciting performance for me, as Dohnanyi, besides being a world-famous composer, was a magnificent pianist.’
Tertis's first recital on his return to England was at the Wigmore Hall on 4 March, when he played the Bax Sonata with the composer at the piano, a sonata by Martini, and his transcription of the Bach Chaconne. The following review from The Times was one of many:
After a performance at Wigmore Hall on Tuesday … the player addressed his audience. He said that he was sorry to see so many empty seats; he had been told by his agent that he could fill the hall by giving away free tickets, but he preferred to play to those who thought the artist worthy of his hire. He proposes, therefore, to follow the example of the American concert managers who are refusing to ‘paper’ their halls. This was Mr. Tertis's reappearance in his own country after a prolonged tour in America, and it was interesting to discover that there were about 60 people in London who thought it worth while to pay to hear the finest living exponent of his instrument. So much for the taste of the London public! … Mr. Tertis's distinctive gift is to show that the viola can be as gracious as the violin.
Tertis's solo career continued unabated, and included a concert in Cardiff on 1 May.
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- Information
- Lionel TertisThe First Great Virtuoso of the Viola, pp. 73 - 93Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2006