Description

FELIX GALIMIR (VIENNA, MAY 20, 1910 – NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 10, 1999)

 

 

 

 

Born in a Sephardic Jewish family Vienna; his first language was Ladino. He studied with Adolf Bak and Simon Pullman at the Vienna Conservatory from the age of twelve and graduated in 1928. With his three sisters he founded the Galimir Quartet in 1927 to commemorate the centenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. During the early 1930s Galimir studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin. In 1936, the Galimir Quartet recorded the Lyric Suite of Alban Berg and the String Quartet of Maurice Ravel under the supervision of the composers, who were present during the rehearsals and recording sessions.

In 1936, he joined the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He was harassed because of his Jewish ethnicity – at one performance, writes Allan Kozinn, “just as the lights went down, the principal clarinetist called out, in a voice audible throughout the theater, ‘Galimir – have you eaten your matzos today?’” The next season, the orchestra expelled him because he was Jewish. He then emigrated to Palestine to join the newly founded Palestine Symphony Orchestra.

“My mother was Austrian, but as my father was Romanian, we were considered enemy aliens and lived in fear of internment”, he said of his family’s plight in World War I.

In 1938, Galimir moved to New York, where he founded another quartet and served as member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1939 to 1956.(later, when the NBC ensemble was disbanded, Galimir was concertmaster of the Symphony of the Air.) In the 1950s he began acquiring a reputation as a music teacher and began teaching at The City College of New York and later at The Juilliard School in New York in 1962 and from 1972 at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1976 he began teaching at Mannes College of Music in New York.

In 1952, after the death of Adolf Busch, pianist Rudolf Serkin asked Galimir to join the faculty of the Marlboro Music Festival, where he was in residence every year from 1954 until his death in 1999.

Galimir died on November 10, 1999, aged 89, of natural causes and has since been honoured with memorial concerts and competitions in his name.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

Berg: Lyric Suite, for string quartet (1926)

The Galimir String Quartet of Vienna:

Felix Galimir, violin I

Adrielle Galimir, violin II

Renée Galimir, viola

Marguerite Galimir, cello

Recorded c. 1935-36, in Paris, for French Polydor.  Issued in France as Polydor 516.659 through 516.662, and in Great Britain (in December, 1936) as Decca CA-8244 through CA-8247.  In the USA, the set was issued in March, 1937, as Brunwick-Polydor set BP-2 (records 95006 through 95009), and in slide automatic sequence as set BP-2A (records 95010 through 95013).

Side 1 (1093 GPP): First movement (Allegretto giovale)

Side 2 (1092 GPP): Second movement (Andante amoroso)

Side 3 (1094 1/2 GPP): Third movement (Allegro misterioso)

Side 4 (1095 GPP): Fourth movement (Adagio appassionato), part 1

Side 5 (1088 3/4 HPP): Fourth movement, part 2

Side 6 (1089 3/4 HPP): Fifth movement (Presto delirando)

Side 7 (1096 1/2 GPP): Sixth movement (Largo desolato), part 1

Side 8 (1097 GPP): Sixth movement, part 2

 

Schubert, Karen Tuttle, Laszlo Varga, István Nadás, Julius Levine, Felix Galimir – Trout Quintet Op. 114 – Guitar Quartet

Label: Period Records – SPL 730

Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo

Country: US

Genre: Classical

Style: Romantic

Quintet In A. Op. 114 “Trout”

Cello – Laszlo Varga

Piano – István Nadás

Viol – Julius Levine

Viola – Karen Tuttle

Violin – Felix Galimir

A1 Allegro Vivace

A2 Andante

A3 Scherzo

A4 Theme & Variations

B1 Finale, Allegro Giusto

Quartet In G “Guitar”

Cello – Siegfried Barchet

Flute – Karl Friedrich Mess

Guitar – Arthur Faiss

Viola – Heinz Kirchner

B2 Moderato

B3 Menuetto

B4 Lento

B5 Zingara

B6 Theme & Variations

Recorded At – Esoteric Studios

Composed By – Franz Schubert

Photography By – Mia Brest

Recorded By – Jerry Newman

 

Schönberg – Verklärte Nacht Op. 4 / Four Pieces Op. 27 / Variations For Orchestra Op. 31

Label: Philips – A 01520 L

Series: Modern Music Series

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album

Country: Netherlands

Genre: Classical

Style: Modern

A Verklärte Nacht Op. 4

Cello – Judith Rosen, Michael Grebanier

Viola – Harry Zaratzian, Samuel Rhodes

Violin – Ernestine Briesmeister, Felix Galimir

B1 Four Pieces Op. 27

Bass Vocals – Sam Van Ducen

Cello – Emmet Sargeant

Clarinet – Hugo Raimondi

Conductor – Robert Craft

Contralto Vocals – Catherine Gayer

Lyrics By – Richard Dehmel

Mandolin – Max Gralnick

Soprano Vocals – Marni Nixon

Tenor Vocals – Richard Robinson

Violin – Dorothy Wade

B2 Variations For Orchestra Op. 31

Conductor – Robert Craft

Orchestra – Columbia Symphony Orchestra

Composed By – Arnold Schoenberg

Liner Notes – Bernard Jacobson, Robert Craft

Painting – Gérard Schneider

Comes in gatefold with liner notes in English. Also include the original lyrics in German together with English translations

Verklärte Nacht op. 4 (1899), sextet for two violins, two violas, and two cellos after Richard Dehmel’s poem from Weib und Welt

Four Pieces op. 27 (1925) for mixed voices consist of four movements:

1. Unentrinnbar
2. Du sollst nicht, du musst
3. Mond und Menschen
4. Der Wunsch des Liebhabers

Variations for Orchestra op. 31 (1928) consist of the following sections:

Introduction

Thema

Variations 1-9

Finale

 

Alexander Schneider, Felix Galimir, Michael Tree, David Soyer, Lynn Harrell, Alirio Díaz – Boccherini

Label: Vanguard – SRV-291SD

Series: Vanguard Everyman Classics, The Alexander Schneider Chamber Series

Format: Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Stereo

Country: US

Genre: Classical

Quintet In C Major For Guitar And Strings “la Ritirita di Madrid”

A1 Allegro Maestoso Assai

A2 Andantino

A3 Allegretto

A4 La Ritirata di Madrid: 12 Variaziono

Quintet For Strings In E Major, Op.13, No.5

B1 Amoroso

B2 Allegro Con Spirito

B3 Minuetto ( Con Un Poco di Mato)

B4 Rondo (andante)

Copyright © – Vanguard Recording Society, Inc.

Cello – David Soyer, Lynn Harrell (tracks: B1 to B4)

Guitar – Alirio Díaz (tracks: A1 to A4)

Sleeve Notes – Jack Diether

Viola – Michael Tree

Violin – Alexander Schneider, Felix Galimir

Matrix / Runout (Label, side A): XSV 221012

Matrix / Runout (Label, side B): XSV 221013

 

Dvořák – Peter Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Felix Galimir, Michael Tree, David Soyer – Piano Quintet In A Major, Op. 81

Label: Vanguard – VRS-1148

Series: The Alexander Schneider Chamber Series

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono

Country: US

Released: 1965

Genre: Classical

Style: Romantic, Chamber Music, String Ensemble, Piano

Piano Quintet In A Major, Op. 81

A1 Allegro Ma Non Tanto

A2 Dumka: Andante Con Moto

B1 Scherzo (Furiant): Molto Vivace

B2 Finale: Allegro

Copyright © – Vanguard Recording Society, Inc.

Cello – David Soyer

Composed By – Dvořák

Liner Notes – Sidney Finkelstein

Piano – Peter Serkin

Viola – Michael Tree

Violin – Alexander Schneider, Felix Galimir

 

Ludwig van Beethoven / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler, Laszlo Varga – Quartet No.4 In C Minor, Op.18, No.4 / Quartet No.23 In F Major, K.590

Label: Westminster – W-9074

Series: Collectors Series

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Mono

Country: US

Released: Aug 1966

Genre: Classical

Style: Classical, Romantic, Chamber Music, String Ensemble

String Quartet No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4

Composed By – Beethoven

A1 Allegro Ma Non Tanto

A2 Scherzo: Andante Scherzoso Quasi Allegretto

A3 Minuetto: Allegretto

A4 Allegro

String Quartet No. 23 In F Major, K. 590

Composed By – Mozart

B1 Allegro Moderato

B2 Andante

B3 Minuetto: Allegretto

B4 Allegro

Corporate Owner – ABC-Paramount Records, Inc.

Produced At – Westminster Recording Co., Inc.

Plated At – Longwear Plating

Cello – Laszlo Varga

Viola – Walter Trampler

Violin [First] – Erica Morini

Violin [Second] – Felix Galimir

Reissue of XWN 18595 Ludwig van Beethoven / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Laszlo Varga, Walter Trampler – Quartet No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 18 / Quartet No. 23 In F Major, K. 590

W-9074 (18595) on back cover, W-9074 on spine, front cover and labels

Matrix / Runout (Side A label): W-9074-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B label): W-9074-B

Matrix / Runout (Side A etched): W9074A K LW

Matrix / Runout (Side B etched): W-9074 B R LW

Other (“Old catalog no.”): 18595