Description

SASCHA JACOBSEN (HELSINKI, FINLAND, 11 DECEMBER [O.S. 29 NOVEMBER], 1895 – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 19 MARCH, 1972)

 

 

 

 

Sascha Jacobsen was a Russian violinist and teacher born (in Helsinki, Finland) on December 10, 1895.  Jacobsen’s birthdate is also given as November 29, 1895 and December 11, 1895.  Little is known of his early life.  It has been said that he grew up in St Petersburg.  He has been often confused with another violinist (from Philadelphia) named Sascha Jacobson.  A humorous song written by George Gershwin in 1921 includes his (first) name (along with those of Jascha, Toscha, and Mischa – Russian violinists Heifetz, Seidel, and Elman, respectively.)  It is known that he enrolled at Juilliard in 1908 where his main teacher was Franz Kneisel.  He graduated from Juilliard (Institute of Musical Art) in June of 1914 (some sources say 1915.)  He was 18 years old.  (A fellow-student of his was Elias Breeskin.)  In February of 1915, Jacobsen played parts of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol at an Aeolian Hall concert.  On November 27, 1915, he made his official recital debut at Aeolian Hall playing (among other things) Saint Saens’ third concerto.  After the announced program was concluded, he had to play numerous encores and he received very favorable reviews the following day.  He first soloed with the New York Philharmonic on March 9, 1919 (at age 23) playing Bruch’s first concerto with Walter Damrosch conducting.  Jacobsen concertized as a soloist between 1915 and 1925.  He began teaching at Juilliard in 1926.  After being hired, he almost immediately formed the Musical Art Quartet which disbanded in 1945, after almost 20 years of concert activity. He moved to Los Angeles (California, USA) in 1946 and taught at the Los Angeles Conservatory but at other music schools as well.  From September 1947 and May 1949, he was guest concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  Some sources say he was concertmaster up to 1952 but I could not confirm that.  It has been said that Albert Einstein was one of Jacobsen’s pupils.  (Einstein also took lessons from Toscha Seidel.)  Jacobsen’s most famous pupils are probably Julius Hegyi and Zvi Zeitlin.  Among the violins he played are the Red Diamond Stradivarius (1732), the Cessole Stradivarius (1716), the Windsor Stradivarius (1717), a GB Guadagnini (1779), another GB Guadagnini (1772), and a Del Gesu Guarnerius constructed in 1732.  Jacobsen died on March 19, 1972, at age 76.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Only a rose (Friml) Raymond Bauman (piano) Columbia 125-M W141920

Pale Moon (Frederic Knight Logan) with Harry Kaufman (piano) Columbia 20001D 81249

Serenade (Drigo) with Sam Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia A2779 78065

Serenade (Pierne) with Emanuel Balaban (piano) Columbia A3495 79818

Serenade (Toselli) Emanuel Balaban (piano) Columbia A3597 80183

Serenade (Victor Herbert) with Samuel Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia A2753 78021

Sing me to sleep (Greene) with Barbara Maurel (vocal) Columbia A6156 49741

Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak) with Harry Kaufman (piano) Columbia A3866 80274

Souvenir (Drdla) with Samuel Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia A2779 78061

Spring Song (Songs Without Words, No. 30) (Mendelssohn) with Emanuel Balaban (piano) Columbia A3495 79820

Tambourin chinois (Kreisler) with Samuel Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia A6093 49470

Thaïs (Massenet) Meditation with Samuel Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia A6093 49389

The Love Nest (Hirsch) Columbia A2977 79190

The song of songs (Moya) Columbia 4771

To a wild rose (MacDowell) Arthur Bergh (piano) Columbia 152-M W145796

To spring (Grieg) Samuel Chotzinoff (piano) Columbia 20019-D 81461

Träumerei (Schumann) with Charles Albert Baker (piano) Victor 17385-A

Where the Lazy Mississippi Flows (De Freyne) Emanuel Balaban (piano) Columbia A3419 79837

You forgot to remember (Irving Berlin) with Alec Sander (violin) and Robert Hood Bowers (piano) Harmony 26-H