A NINETEEN PART RADIO SERIES

Written and Presented By HUMPHREY BURTON

Yehudi Menuhin is without argument the best-known name in 20th Century music, indeed his name goes far beyond the cognoscenti – almost everybody has heard of him the way they have heard of Charlie Chaplin or Pablo Picasso. As a violinist, Menuhin was a child prodigy who created a public interest without parallel in the 1920s and 1930s. (Born in 1916). Nobody before or since has made such a stir or bedded himself in the public consciousness in the same way. When he was a kid, everybody wanted to hear him from kings and presidents to Rumanian gypsies and US soldiers on wartime duty in the Aleutians. He filled halls to bursting wherever he went and sold millions of gramophone recordings. His appeal was a combination of supreme virtuosity coupled with a spiritual approach to music -making, even as a child which made people feel that he must have been toughed by something miraculous. Menuhin had a hard time making the transition from child to manhood. His youthful first marriage failed while his technique, acquired instinctively as a boy needed a complete overhaul after he had pushed himself to the limit giving 500 wartime concerts around the world. From his forties onwards, he has become equally active as a conductor, festival organiser, inspirational teacher, jazz fiddler (with Stephane Grapelli) and philosophical sage. While continuing to make music virtually every day of his life, he also took on the role of musical ambassador to the world, serving as President of UNESCO for several years and giving his name to countless humanitarian causes. He has a special love of India and faithfully practises yoga every day – including standing on his head at the drop of a hat. In this series of wide-ranging conversations with author and broadcaster Humphrey Burton, Lord Menuhin looks back with complete frankness on some of the high points and powerful personalities who have influenced his life. In each programme he introduces a selection of recordings from his enormous archive, among them the great concertos by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms and many others. Recordings range from re-mastered pre-electric 78s featuring Menuhin’s sensational debut discs as a boy down to the latest CDs of his complete Beethoven cycle, taking in on the way many outstanding recordings from the intervening sixty years, including the solo sonata he commissioned from Bela Bartok. Each programme contains interviews not only with Yehudi Menuhin but also with members of his family (including his 100 year old mother) and distinguished musicians from England, the USA where he was born (New York), where he grew up (San Francisco) and many other parts of the world.

MENUHIN MASTER MUSICIAN – Episodes

Episode 1  MIRACLE BOY – Childhood in the USA. Born in New York, 1916, settled in San Francisco 1918. Descriptions of parents. First lessons aged five, debut as a performer as a soloist and later with orchestra.

Episode 2  CONQUEST OF EUROPE – Father takes him to study with the world’s leading teachers. YM dislikes the veteran Ysaye, opts for Georges Enescu the most important influence in his life. Debuts in Paris and Berlin with concertos by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms in one concert. Childhood impressions of cities and personalities whom he loved all his life. Family enlarged by two musical sisters Hepzibah and Yaltah.

EPISODE 3  YOUNG GENIUS – OLD MASTER – Master Menuhin conquers London. Friendship with Sir Edward Elgar, recording his violin concerto. Family settles briefly in Basel so young Menuhin can study with Adolf Busch. Mrs Mearutha Menhin’s unflattering portrait of Mrs Busch. Early important recordings include Bach solo sonata and Mozart sonatas with kid sister Hepzibah at the piano in 1934.

EPISODE 4  THE END OF THE INNOCENCE – In his teens Yehudi lives in Paris – meets Ravel and Casals, and then returns to California where he takes a year-long sabbatical from violin playing following his First World war tour. The joys of motoring in pre-war California. First marriage to and Australian wool heiress, Nola Lindsay. Hepzibah marries Nola’s brother in the same year 1938. Yaltah also marries. End of an Era.

EPISODE 5  MENUHIN AT WAR – Birth of his two children by Nola – Zamira and Krov. Wartime touring adventures (over 500 concerts to allied forces). Bartok friendship and commission of solo sonata.

EPISODE 6  EMERGING FROM THE NIGHTMARE – YM plays for concentration camp survivors in Belsen (1945). First USSR tour. Bitter separation from Nola and marriage to guardian angel Diana Gould, former dancer and blithe spirit (1947).

EPISODE 7  TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS – Fights to rehabilitate Furtwangler – accused of Nazi collaboration – and to re-establish mastery of his own battered violin technique. Keeps his place on world stage as a spokesman for music

EPISODE 8  IMPACT OF INDIA – First visit 1952. Lifelong friendships with Pandit Hehri and Ravi Shankar. Yoga as a vital force in his rejuvenation.

EPISODE 9  AU REVOIR AMERICA The creation of the first Gstaad Festival in Switzerland where he later builds a home. Also lives briefly with Bernard Berenson I Florence. Diana divides time between bringing up their two children, Gerard and Jeremy, and looking after husband who is perpetually on tour.

EPISODE 10  THE MENUHINS MOVE TO LONDON – The family settles in Highgate North London (1959). Following George Enescu’s inspiring example, YM branches out from the virtuoso life and establishes a major arts festival in Bath where he frequently appears as conductor of his own orchestra. Soon afterwards he founds an important educational establishment, the Yehudi Menuhin School near Cobham in Surrey.

EPISODE 11  NEW PARTNERSHIPS – Menuhin works with Canadian piano genius Glenn Gould and makes recordings with hyis own son Jeremy. The long partnership with his sister Hepzibah is reviewed. 50th birthday celebrations in 1966. BBC 2 televises master classes (Nigel Kennedy a six year old pupil).

EPISODE 12  FROM BATH TO BOULEZ – Yehudi conducts opera for the first time – Mozarts Cosi Fan Tutte at Bath. Still conducting operas 30 years later. In 1968 he leaves Bath after ten years and creates Windsor Festival.

EPISODE 13  ON THE WORLD STAGE – Elected President of the International Music Council, part of UNESCO. Stays for two terms. Has a big row with Russians in 1971. Later falls out with international Jewish music community over archaeological sites controversy in Israel.

EPISODE 14  YEHUDI THE INSPIRER – He commissions work from, among others, Andzrej Panufnik and Frank Martin (Polytique) 1973.

EPISODE 15  NEW DIVERSIONS – Always in search of the new, he makes his first TV shows and LP recordings with the great jazz violinist Stephane Grapelli

EPISODE 16  SABBATICAL TEAR – He stands back to take stock with a sabbatical year. creates a new organisation, Live Music Now, to take young performers to prisons, old folks homes and schools etc.

EPISODE 17  THE ETERNAL GYPSY – In 1982 he returns to China, the following year The Pope in Rome.

EPISODE 18  FROM DOWN BOW TO DOWN BEAT – The conductor in Yehudi takes on the lions share as YM’s violin technique begins to suffer from the ravages of time. He conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with increasing frequency and becomes the orchestra’s president. In 1985 he takes British citizenship and becomes Sir Yehudi. Later in 1993 he is made a life peer and takes his seat in the House of Lords.

EPISODE 19  UTOPIA IN STOKE D’ABERNON – The Yehudi Menuhin School, a unique institution – recorded on location, we hear from pupils and teachers. In this programme Yehudi also looks back on a crowded life and identifies some of the themes which have given him strength over the years.