William Primrose facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Primrose
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| Born | 23 August 1904 Glasgow, Scotland
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| Died | 1 May 1982 (aged 77) Provo, Utah, U.S.
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| Occupation | Violist |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy Fanny Friend (m. 1928–1951; her death) Hiroko Sawa (m. ?-1982; his death) |
| Children | 6 |
William Primrose (born August 23, 1904 – died May 1, 1982) was a famous Scottish violist and teacher. He was known for playing the viola beautifully and for teaching many students around the world. He played in famous groups like the London String Quartet and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He also traveled a lot, performing as a solo artist.
Contents
About William Primrose
Early Life and Music Journey
William Primrose was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, John Primrose, was a violin teacher and played in the Scottish Orchestra. William got his first violin when he was only four years old! He started taking lessons that same year.
When William was 12, he played his first public concert. He performed a violin concerto by Felix Mendelssohn. Besides music, he also loved reading and playing chess as a child.
In 1919, his family moved to London. William studied violin at the Guildhall School of Music on a scholarship. He graduated in 1924 with the highest honor, a gold medal. Even though he was very talented, he later said he sometimes skipped classes because he wasn't always interested in the violin.
A friend suggested that William study with the famous musician Eugène Ysaÿe in Belgium. From 1926 to 1929, William learned from Ysaÿe. One day, Ysaÿe heard William play a viola and told him he should focus on the viola instead of the violin. This changed William's musical path!
Playing in Famous Quartets
William Primrose became a professional musician in 1924. In 1928, he married Dorothy Friend in London. In 1930, he officially switched from violin to viola and joined the London String Quartet. The group toured North and South America. However, because of money problems during the Great Depression, the quartet stopped playing together in 1935. After that, William performed in different places like Berlin and Milan.
In 1937, William joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the United States. He played with them for four years. In 1939, NBC asked him to form his own group, and that's how the Primrose Quartet started. The other musicians were Oscar Shumsky, Josef Gingold, and Harvey Shapiro. William was very proud of his quartet, saying they had amazing musical skills. The Primrose Quartet made several recordings before they stopped playing together.
While with the NBC Symphony, William also recorded music with other famous musicians like Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. They stopped playing together in 1964, partly because William's hearing started to get worse.
A Solo Star
William Primrose first performed as a violin soloist in 1923. But his career as a viola soloist really took off in 1941. He started touring with singer Richard Crooks, performing many concerts.
An important concert manager named Arthur Judson noticed William's talent. Judson helped William get even more solo concerts. William's performances doubled, showing how popular he was becoming.
In 1944, he made the first studio recording of Harold in Italy by Hector Berlioz. That same year, he asked the composer Béla Bartók to write a viola concerto for him. Bartók passed away before finishing it, so another musician, Tibor Serly, completed it four years later. William Primrose was the first person to perform this new concerto in 1949.
William was known for his incredible playing technique. He could even play very difficult violin pieces on the viola! He also wrote many of his own arrangements for the viola, including a famous piece called "La Campanella."
In 1953, he was honored with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) award for his important contributions to music.
Teaching the Next Generation
Besides performing, William Primrose was also a dedicated teacher. He taught at many famous music schools around the world.
He taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the University of Southern California. From 1965 to 1972, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He also taught in Japan at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Sometimes, he was a guest teacher at schools like Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music.
William also wrote several books about playing the viola. These books helped many students learn his techniques. Some of his notable students became famous musicians themselves, including Albert Pratz and Alan de Veritch.
Later Years and Legacy
William Primrose started having hearing problems in 1946. Later, in 1977, he was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in Provo, Utah on May 1, 1982.
William Primrose left a lasting impact on the world of music:
- His large collection of viola music is now kept at the William Primrose International Viola Archive at Brigham Young University.
- He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to music recordings.
- The Primrose International Viola Competition was created in 1979 in his honor. It was the first international music competition specifically for viola players.
- A British music group formed in 2004, the Primrose Piano Quartet, is named after him.
William Primrose's Instruments
The Primrose Amati Viola
For the first part of his career, William Primrose played an Amati viola that his father owned. He noticed that this viola sometimes had a "wolf tone" (a strange vibration) and wasn't very loud. He sold this Amati viola in 1951. Today, this viola is owned by Roberto Díaz, who is the president of the Curtis Institute of Music.
The Primrose Guarneri Viola
In 1954, William Primrose bought a special viola made in 1697. This viola is now known as the ex-Primrose Guarneri. It's one of only seven violas known to be made by the Guarneri family, who were famous instrument makers. Experts believe it was made by Joseph Guarneri, the son of Andrea Guarneri. This viola has a beautiful golden color with a hint of orange.
This Guarneri viola became William Primrose's main instrument for solo performances. Before him, no other professional violist had owned it. In the late 1970s, William sold the viola to one of his former students. Later, in 2012, this viola was sold for over $4 million, which was the highest price ever paid for a Guarneri instrument at an auction!
Other Instruments
William Primrose also owned violas made by William Moennig Jr. He even borrowed and played the famous "MacDonald" Stradivari viola in the 1940s. Some of his other violas are now on display at the Primrose International Viola Archive in Provo, Utah.
Books by William Primrose
- The Art and Practice of Scale Playing on the Viola (1954)
- Technique is Memory (1960)
- Walk on the north side: Memoirs of a violist (1978)
Images for kids
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Primrose (second from left) with members of the Primrose Quartet
See also
In Spanish: William Primrose para niños
