William Primrose: What Is A Viola Like A Lawsuit?

How is a viola like a lawsuit?

Everyone is happy when the case is closed.

Often the butt of many jokes, the viola has never been the most recognized instrument. It seems as though it has always been overshadowed by its younger brother, the violin. This association has probably stemmed from the fact that violas are difficult to discern in an orchestra, and rarely get the melody in most pieces, as they are tuned a perfect fifth below the violins. Nowadays, the viola is recognized as an instrument with a warm, rich, 'chocolatey' sound, whereas in the 1900's, a violist was seen as a shameful career. As one of the music world's most noted violists, William Primrose left a legacy worth preserving. He did so by exploring various areas of music, overcoming a variety of obstacles he encountered, and exchanging beautiful music for the recognition of the viola, and a legacy that would last for generations.

William Primrose was exposed to music from the very beginning.

He was born into a musical family on August 23, 1904, in Glasgow, Scotland. Even before his official studies began, Primrose learned much from the music exposure his father provided. He later described his father, John Primrose as "entranced . . . with all that appertained to string playing and pedagogy." John Primrose played with the Scottish Orchestra and taught violin in the family's small apartment in Glasgow, Scotland. Despite this, William Primrose later confessed in his memoirs, that he "resented the differences imposed on [him] by musical chores." "Some years later," he said, "I became aware that I did not know as much about my musical trade as puerile conceit had led me to suppose. My dedication to practice did not burgeon fully until I came under the ponderous, yet benign, influence of my great master, Eugene Ysaÿe." Eugene Ysaÿe would change the young violinist's career and life

forever.
When Primrose was four years old, his father purchased a quarter sized violin, and placed him under Camillo Ritter, an Austrian national who had studied under Joseph Joachim. Though Camillo Ritter is not famous today, he was popular and an adept instructor during his time. Under his teacher's influence, young Primrose began to develop his own musical taste and by the time he was twelve years old, he had made debuts at local schools, Glasgow's palette club, and at the local Congressional Church. Until 1919, Primrose continued to watch the leading violinists of the time, and absorb the knowledge.
In 1919, when Primrose was about fifteen years old, his family and he moved to London, where he had received a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music. There, he began to study under Max Mossel. At his 1924 graduation, Primrose received a gold medal, the school's highest honor. But he later admitted that he was not the "ideal student," and the curriculum was not challenging or motivating enough.
"I was supposed to take secondary piano, theory, and counterpoint, but I skipped them all. The reason here . . . was my ear. If I had been given something in the way of advanced harmony and counterpoint, I might have been interested. But everything started from the fons et origo . . . (from the beginning). . . . I was so little inspired by violin instruction at the Guildhall School that I kept in the cloakroom a volume of concertos edited by Joachim, which I would retrieve before my lesson and read in class. And that would be my lesson for the day."
However, what his formal education lacked in motivation and challenge was compensated by visits to performances in London's wide array of concert halls. He was particularly inspired by the playing of Pablo Casals, whose "playing of the lilting middle section [of the second movement of the Lalo Concerto] literally lifted me out of my seat," he later wrote. "I was utterly transported by the ravishing euphoria he induced."
After two years of being a professional violinist, Primrose's playing began to falter in 1926. A friend of his, Ivor Newton, advised the young violinist to seek the help of the great, but aging violinist, Eugene Ysaÿe. Ysaÿe provided the young violinist with new motivation, and much-needed technical refinement. Unbeknownst to most people at the time, Primrose, as a young man, had secretly played his father's viola, and discovered that he preferred its sound over the violin. However, due to the seemingly 'low' position violas and violist were held at the time, Primrose chose to pursue a career as a violinist. However, after three life-changing years of study under Eugene Ysaÿe, Primrose made the switch from a violinist to a violist. It was the decision that would change his career, and on a bigger scale, his life. Primrose later remarked, "I had become a violist full-fledged. I had burned all my bridges. I had walked the Damascus road, seen the light, repented of past transgressions, and turned to the viola."
However, the question is, why did Primrose change from a violinist to a violist? Unbeknownst to most people at the time, Primrose, as a young child, had secretly played his father's viola, and found that he preferred the sound, later describing it as "woody." It was this woody sound he fell in love with. However, he chose to play the violin because of the seemingly low esteem violists were held in, and due to his father. He later explained that his father, John Primrose 'wanted [him] to be happy. “He said the viola was a kind of harbor for disappointed fiddlers. Not worth one’s time … so of course I played viola every chance I got,” Primrose later confessed.
Primrose made the official switch from the violin to the viola in 1930, when he joined the London String Quartet (LSQ) as the violist. He toured with the group for five years, until they disbanded. Primrose toured as a recitalist for two years, until he moved to the United States in 1937. Primrose's career continued when he was invited by the NBC to found the Primrose Quartet. His fame was increased when Queen Elizabeth the second named him the commander of the British Empire for his services to music. Sadly, when he suffered a heart attack in 1953, he shifted his focus from playing to teaching.
Primrose taught at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1955 until 1962, and formed the Festival Quartet, which played at the Aspen Music Festival. In 1962, he joined Music Faculty of the University of California to teach Viola and Chamber Music, and taught there for three years. Primrose joined Indiana University in 1965, and continued to teach there until his death. Primrose visited Japan at the invitation of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1972. In 1978, his memoirs, A Walk on the North Side, were published. On May 1, 1982, Primrose died of cancer at age 77.
Even now, more than thirty years after his death, Primrose's legacy continues to live on, as strong as ever. For example, every three years, a Primrose Viola Competition and Festival is held, an event that draws violists from all around the world. In addition, Primrose's legacy lives on is through the students of his students. As a teacher, he changed many young violists' lives forever. A student of his, David Dalton, talked about his teacher a great bit in his book, Playing the Viola: Conversations with William Primrose.
"Primrose in his méiter was the great exemplar. His bow was a magic wand, transforming many into loyal subjects and sometimes fierce devotees of the art of viola playing... One could learn much more from Primrose than how to play the viola. Always surrounded by books, he never stopped educating himself. His curiosity was enormous. I have sat enthralled as he discoursed on a variety of subjects from sumo wrestling to the plays of Oscar Wilde."
He kept teaching until the very end. "I am naturally in touch with young people,'' he told an interviewer. ''That keeps me mentally limber and, where possible, physically limber. I have developed a passion for photography. I read a tremendous amount, and I like to explore the part of the world I'm in. I don't allow myself to vegetate. The thought of retirement fills me with horror.'' Primrose passed away on May 1, 1982, a victim of cancer.
William Primrose may be dead, but his legacy survives in the students of his students, the pieces he made famous, and in many other ways. For example, an international viola competition is held every three years to honor Primrose. The Primrose International Viola Archives, (PIVA) are the largest collection of viola archives in the world, and house almost everything Primrose-related. In addition, the Handel/Casadesus Viola Concerto in B minor, has become a piece almost every aspiring violist has to practice, due to Primrose's outstanding performance of all three movements
"If Lionel Tertis was the first protagonist, Primrose was certainly the first star of the viola."
Yehudi Menuhim"