Raymond Cohen

Raymond Cohen (1919-) is an English classical violinist.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in 1919 in Manchester into a musical family(his father being his first violin teacher) and educated at Manchester Grammar School. At the age of fifteen he won the Adolph Brodsky scholarship to the Manchester College of Music. There he studied with Henry Holst, former leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and was soon recognized as a soloist of extraordinary promise. It was not long before he began playing the the Halle Orchestra as their youngest ever member.

Career

Two summers were spent leading an orchestra in Blackpool where he gained and enormous amount of experience and pleasure playing music ranging from "The White Horse Inn" to Beethoven symphonies and appearing twice a week as soloist.With the war looming, and whilst still at college, he appeared as soloist in concerts and broadcasts throughout the North of England; and to crown all this, at the age of 19 he played the Bach, Mendelssohn and Brahms concertos with the Halle Orchestra in one memorable evening. A few weeks later he was in the army.

He spent 6 years in the Royal Corps of Signals Band, playing the clarinet but still practising the violin at every available opportunity, learning new repertoire, and even playing the odd movement of a violin concerto with the Band. By the time he was demobbed he had a repertoire of nearly 40 violin concertos.Whilst still in uniform he won the first Carl Flesch International Violin Competition. This brought him to the notice of the musical world and soon led to concerts and recitals all over Britain and Europe.

By this time he was living in London, and alongside his solo career, was always in demand as a chamber musician and orchestral leader as well as a teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music and continues to teach privately.He was leader of the Goldsborough Orchestra (later to become the English Chamber Orchestra) and led most or the countries leading chamber orchestras as well as the Philharmonia, the London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras.In 1959 at the invitation of Sir Thomas Beecham, he was appointed leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.He held that position for six years. One of the highlights of that period was his appearance as soloist at the Royal Festival Hall with the RPO and Beecham in the Goldmark concerto.

During the six years as leader he was still in demand as soloist and after leaving the orchestra he extended this area of his career. He appeared as soloist and recitalist with his wife Anthya Rael, in countries as far flung as the USA, New Zealand, Russia and South Africa, as well as appearing frequently in Britain and Europe.He was soloist with such conductors as Barbirolli, Sargent, Kletski, Kempe, Monteux, Boult and Beecham, and among his "firsts" were the first performance Britain of the Kabalevsky concerto and the Shostakovich sonata, the first performance of the Skalkottas concerto in the composer's native Greece (Athens Festival),the first artist to appear on British television playing a violin concerto (the Mendelssohn), and the first performance on video in England of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Marriage and children

In 1953 he married the pianist Anthya Rael. She had come from her native South Africa to study with the legendary pianist and teacher Illona Kabos. They have two children; Gillian is a violinist and Robert,an internationally renowned cellist.Raymond and Robert have given duo recitals and appeared together in the Brahms Double concerto; Anthya joined them to form the Cohen Trio. in 1993 Raymond was featured in a BBC radio programme called "The Musical World of Raymond Cohen" in which all the family took part.

Discography

RAYMOND COHEN AND ANTHYA RAELBeethovenTen Sonatas for Violin and Piano Op.12,23,24,30,47,96Meridian Records

DvorakFour Romantic PiecesCRD Records

THE COHEN TRIODvorak The Complete Piano Trios Op21,26,65,90CRD Records

References

*Violinists of Today by Donald Brooke Copyright 1948 Published by Rockliff London