The Concertmasters of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

As the first chair of one of the world’s great orchestras, the LA Phil concertmasters often extend their credits by working on great cinematic scores.

 

The casual fan of orchestral music knows the first-chair violinist, the concertmaster, is the “number one,” the best of the violinists. They are the ones who tune the orchestra before the concert begins, shakes the hand of the conductor, and signal when it’s time for the orchestra to take a bow. It’s a prestigious position and one that comes with a top salary in professional symphony orchestras.

 

Another perk that often comes with the position is the use of fine violins owned by the orchestra. Professional orchestras, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic acquire fine Italian violins by masters such as Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri. The current concertmaster of the LA Phil has performed on a 1711 Stradivarius violin, “the Kreisler”, and a 1729 Stradivarius violin, the “ex-Jack Benny”, for instance.

 

Globally recognized orchestras naturally have globally recognized concertmasters. Dating back to when the LA Phil was founded, those virtuosos have been (in chronological order):

 

Sylvain Noack (1880-1953) Trained in Amsterdam, Noack was the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s first concert master beginning in 1919, the year the orchestra was founded.

Alfred E. Megerlin (1880-1941) A native of Antwerp, he first served as the concertmaster at the Vlaamse Opera and the New York Philharmonic, next with the Minneapolis Philharmonic, becoming the lead violinist with the LA orchestra in 1926.

Henry Svedrofsky (birth and death unclear) While the records are scarce, what exists mentions Svedrofsky as a conductor of the Standard Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles from 1941 to 1947 and several other orchestras as well. Concertmasters frequently are conductors as well.

 

Josef Borissoff (1889-1964) The US Library of Congress lists the book, “Foundation for violin technic,” by Borissoff as published by Carl Fischer, Inc. in 1925.He is also credited for being the soloist in the premier in Los Angeles (November 1929) of “Introduction and Rondo Capricciosos” by Camille Saint-Saens (1863).

John Pennington (birth and death unclear) Pennington’s tenure as concertmaster with the “LA Phil,” as it is affectionately known today, came after his time as first violinist with the London String Quartet, San Francisco Symphony, and the Paramount Pictures orchestra. He was the concertmaster with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in its first post-War assemblage in 1946. Archives indicate he performed in Los Angeles under conductor Otto Klemperer in 1937.

 

Bronislaw Gimpel (1911-1979) From a musical family in what is now Lviv, Ukraine, the accomplished violinist came to America in 1937 as the drums of war threatened people who, like him, were of Jewish ancestry.

Sascha Jacobsen (1895-1972) Born in Finland (then a part of Russia), he attended the Julliard School in New York and is credited with making the first complete recording of a Haydn quartet. He was the concertmaster in Los Angeles in the 1950s and played the Red Diamond Stradivarius violin.

Jacques Gasselin (birth and unclear) While officially listed in the list of Los Angeles Philharmonic concertmasters, the record of his life and performances are more Hollywood than Haydn. Working for Decca, Musicraft, Capitol Records, and Columbia, Gasselin worked with Katherine Hepburn in the move “Trigger,” playing a violinist, and recorded with Perry Como, Mel Tormé, and Doris Day, among many others.

 

David Frisina (1912-2000) Frisina was the first US-born and youngest (at age 28) concertmaster in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also contributed to 277 movie soundtracks as a studio musician. He held the position for 37 years, until 1973, but continued playing with the orchestra another five years (1978).

Sidney Harth (1926-2011) Harth was concertmaster in four philharmonics (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Louisville), served as a conductor as well, including at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. But perhaps his greatest enduring influence was serving on the faculty at the Yale School of Music for 17 years.

Sidney Weiss (1928) Serving as the LA Philharmonic concertmaster from 1979 through 1994, he also recorded Elgar and Walton violin sonatas, and the Mendelssohn and Haydn Double Concerti with his wife, pianist Jeanne Weiss. Both met while studying music in their native Chicago.

 

Alexander Treger (1948) Assuming the role of concertmaster in Los Angeles in 1985, Treger emigrated from his native Russia in 1973 and began playing with the orchestra in 1974. In one notable concert in 2008, he soloed playing the theme music from Schindler’s List in a concert of composer John Williams’ film music.

Martin Chalifour (1961) As of 2022 Martin Chalifour is in his 25^th season as principal concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Canadian native previously was the associate concertmaster with the Atlanta Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra. Aside from an impressive list of appointments, concerts, and conducting engagements, it bears noting he began playing at age 4 with the Suzuki method.

So, should a visitor to Los Angeles ask how to get to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the natural response from any concertmaster would be, simply, “practice.”

Types of Medieval Stringed Instruments

 

To understand stringed instruments of the European Middle Ages, it helps to understand medieval music itself.

 

The Medieval Era, roughly 500 CE to 1400 CE, was the time when the Church of Rome was the dominant ruling body and religion. Musically, the Catholic churches engaged people in the great cathedrals and humbler provincial churches with sacred music that was at times drawn from secular, folk melodies. It was characterized by chants, primarily in the monophonic (one voice, no melody) form; polyphonic music came later.

 

Of note, while sacred music was by far the dominant form, it was secular music that might have driven greater creative range, free of the strictures of church liturgy. Secular music allowed for love songs, songs about wine, political satire, drama, and dancing. It also gave rise to new musical instruments.

 

Percussion was part of medieval music (cymbals, frame drums, timbrels), as were wind instruments (recorders, tabor pipes, organs, bladder pipe, bellows pipe, bagpipes). And vocals were the center of the sound. But the variety of stringed instruments of the medieval era – most of which would not be found in a modern catalog of fine stringed instruments for sale – speak to a time of nuanced expression:

 

Citole: Also known by several other names (cetera, chytara, sitole, zitol) it was picked or strummed with an ivory or wood plectrum (pick). The only surviving example is in the British Museum and was made around 1300, however it seems to have been converted into a more violin-like instrument in the 16^th century.

 

Dulcimer: A version of a zither, it involved striking its many strings with “hammers,” with the fretted version (used in later times in Appalachian music) having only three or four strings. A banjo dulcimer has a resonating membrane, as with the banjo.

 

Fiddle-vielle: Played with a bow, this has a longer and deeper oval body than a violin, with three to five gut strings. As its earliest name was the “fidel,” making it easy to see how the more modern word “fiddle” came into being. The instrument was quite popular among troubadours and jongleurs in the medieval era, although it might be derived from the Arabic rebab of an earlier time.

 

Gittern: Also called the guiterre in French, this small gut-stringed and round-backed instrument is considered by scholars to be an ancestor of the modern guitar; along the way the guitarra latina and guitarra morisca were Spanish and Moorish versions thereof. Seen in 13th century art, it seems to have evolved to a flat back by the 16th century. The gittern (giterne) is referenced in medieval literature, including Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

 

Harp: With roots in antiquity (the Judeo-Christian bible has 66 verses that mention harps or lyres), and variations of harps were known in Africa and Asia as well as Europe, it was particularly popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. By definition, the harp has multiple strings affixed at an angle to a soundboard. The Celtic harp, commonly seen in Irish iconography, is strongly associated with medieval Gaelic music.

 

Hurdy-gurdy: It might be acceptable to refer to this as the platypus of stringed instruments as it incorporates several disparate pieces. It has a thick body with almost no neck and multiple strings (the number and presence of sympathetic drone strings have changed over time); in place of a bow the strings are stroked with a rosined, rotating wheel operated by a crank, while the player’s fingers from the second hand work a keyboard. And like the duckbilled, semi-aquatic, beaver-tailed, egg-laying mammal, it has survived remarkably into the 21st century, often played as a substitute for bagpipes for its similar sound. Earlier versions were called organistrums.

 

Lute: Defined by its mid-length neck, a deep round back, and a sound hole. Strings are plucked and given pitch via a fingerboard, and as a smaller instrument it has a quiet sound. The progenitor instrument to lutes is the oud, which has a teardrop-shaped body and is derived from the Middle Eastern Islamic and pre-Islamic cultures. The oud made its way to Europe by way of the Iberian Peninsula (Moorish Spain), Provence and French troubadours.

 

Psaltery (Psalterium): Better recognized as a modern zither, it is harp-like in appearance and function, plucked with fingers or a plectrum. Its popularity in the 12th through 15th centuries is evident in its depictions in European manuscripts and paintings as well as sculpture. The psalterium is a cousin with a boxier shape, large, primarily used for drone chords and even considered a “string drum” because its role is primarily to provide rhythm accompaniment.

 

Many of these instruments are still collected and played. Some have evolved into other, more modern versions, and, of course, many are extinct, with the last few behind glass in museums. The good news about those instruments that still do exist? While the modern violin maker focuses primarily on fine violins, violas and cellos, most are willing and able to perform maintenance and restoration work on these old medieval instruments.