Sonya Monosoff

Last updated

Sonya Monosoff (born June 11, 1927) [1] is a violinist, a pioneer of the Baroque violin and one of the first American performers to use the Baroque violin in performance.

Contents

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Sonya Monosoff studied the violin with Louis Persinger. She also studied chamber music with Felix Salmond and Hans Letz  [ Wikidata ]. [1] A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, she joined the Quartet Galimir, refounded by Felix Galimir during his exile in America. In 1963 she founded and directed her own ensemble, first called the Baroque Players of New York (later the Chamber Players), [1] performing a range of works from Henry Purcell to Bülent Arel.

In its infancy, Monosoff joined the ensemble New York Pro Musica under Noah Greenberg. She was the first modern performer to record the Rosary Sonatas [2] and the 8 sonatas of 1681 [3] by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. Her recording of the Bach sonatas with harpsichordist James Weaver won best recording of the year (1963) from the Stereo Review magazine.

From 1972 to 1997 she taught at Cornell University. In 1974 she formed the Trio Amade (1974–1997) with fortepianist Malcolm Bilson and cellist John Hsu.

Monosoff has given recitals of chamber music in the US, Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

After 1991 she taught violin and chamber music and gave concerts outside the United States, including the Czech Republic and where she was at the Prague Spring International Music Festival in 1993. She taught and gave master classes in many American and Canadian universities, and was invited to the Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv and Ferrara.

Partial discography

Monosoff's discography is currently lacking in CD format reissues, though LP and tape cassette formats are available at many university libraries. In the vein of Baroque performance, she recorded Biber, Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Geminiani and J. S. Bach. With piano accompaniment, she made recordings of the violin sonatas of Mozart.

Cornell University also keeps archival recordings of Monosoff's many performances at Barnes Hall. For example, her performance on October 7, 1962, of J. S. Bach's trio sonatas, BWV 1038 and from BWV 1079, and her October 29, 1974, performance of Charles Ives' Dialogues for violin and piano (1958)[ clarification needed ] are both available in Cornell's archives.

Publications

Articles

Collaboration

Related Research Articles

The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.

<i>Brandenburg Concertos</i> Collection of six works by Johann Sebastian Bach

The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721. The original French title is Six Concerts Avec plusieurs instruments, meaning "Six Concertos for several instruments". Some of the pieces feature several solo instruments in combination. They are widely regarded as some of the greatest orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Pinnock</span> English harpsichordist and conductor

Trevor David Pinnock is a British harpsichordist and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hille Perl</span> German musician

Hille Perl is a German virtuoso performer of the viola da gamba and lirone.

David Schrader is an American harpsichordist, organist, and fortepianist. He is a professor at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where he teaches music history and conducts chamber music ensembles. Schrader was the organist at Church of the Ascension, Chicago for 35 years.

Rachel Podger is a British violinist and conductor specialising in the performance of Baroque music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isolde Ahlgrimm</span> Musical artist

Isolde Ahlgrimm was an Austrian harpsichordist and fortepianist. In 1975 she was awarded the Austrian Gold Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Watchorn</span> Australian-born harpsichordist (born 1957)

Peter Watchorn is an Australian-born harpsichordist who has combined a virtuosic keyboard technique, musical scholarship and practical experience in the construction of harpsichords copied from original instruments of the 17th and 18th centuries. As well as presenting many solo public performances and broadcasts of baroque keyboard music and participating in choral and orchestral performances, he has made numerous commercial CD recordings of solo harpsichord music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flute Sonata in E major, BWV 1035</span>

The Sonata in E major for flute and basso continuo is a sonata for transverse flute and figured bass composed by J. S. Bach in the 1740s. It was written as the result of a visit in 1741 to the court of Frederick the Great in Potsdam, where Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel had been appointed principal harpsichordist to the king the previous year. It was dedicated to Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, the king's valet and private secretary, who, like the king, was an amateur flautist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Slowik</span> American cellist, viol player, conductor, curator, and artistic director

Kenneth Slowik is an American cellist, viol player, and conductor. Curator of Musical Instrument Collection at the National Museum of American History and Artistic Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. He took an interest in music and organology from an early age. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Chicago Musical College, the Peabody Conservatory, the Salzburg Mozarteum and, as a Fulbright Scholar, the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, guided by Howard Mayer Brown, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Antonio Janigro, Edward Lowinsky, and Frederik Prausnitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonata in G major for two flutes and basso continuo, BWV 1039</span>

The Sonata in G major for two flutes and basso continuo, BWV 1039, is a trio sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a version, for a different instrumentation, of the Gamba Sonata, BWV 1027. The first, second and fourth movement of these sonatas also exist as a trio sonata for organ.

Byron Schenkman is an American harpsichordist, pianist, music director, and educator. Schenkman has recorded over 40 CDs and has won several awards and accolades. He co-founded the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and was its artistic director. Schenkman currently directs a baroque and classical chamber music concert series, Sound Salon, formerly Byron Schenkman & Friends, and performs as a recitalist and concert soloist. He also performs with chamber music ensembles, and is a teacher and lecturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrna Herzog</span> Israeli musician (born 1951)

Myrna Herzog is a Brazilian-born Israeli musician, conductor, teacher and early music researcher. She is a player of the viol, viola da gamba and baroque cello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (Bach)</span>

The sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027–1029, are three sonatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for viola da gamba and harpsichord. They probably date from the late 1730s and early 1740s.

The Purcell Quartet, founded in 1983, was one of the world's leading Baroque quartets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ Sonatas (Bach)</span>

The organ sonatas, BWV 525–530 by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six sonatas in trio sonata form. Each of the sonatas has three movements, with three independent parts in the two manuals and obbligato pedal. The collection was put together in Leipzig in the late 1720s and contained reworkings of prior compositions by Bach from earlier cantatas, organ works and chamber music as well as some newly composed movements. The sixth sonata, BWV 530, is the only one for which all three movements were specially composed for the collection. When played on an organ, the second manual part is often played an octave lower on the keyboard with appropriate registration. Commentators have suggested that the collection might partly have been intended for private study to perfect organ technique, some pointing out that its compass allows it to be played on a pedal clavichord. The collection of sonatas is generally regarded as one of Bach's masterpieces for organ. The sonatas are also considered to be amongst his most difficult compositions for the instrument.

Alice Piérot is a French Baroque violinist.

Florence Malgoire was a French classical violinist, pedagogue and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Davidoff</span> American violist and cellist (1927–2021)

Judith Davidoff was an American viol player, cellist, and performer on the medieval bowed instruments. She was considered the “Grande Dame of the viol”, "a master of the viola da gamba and other stringed instruments" and "a central part of the early-music scene." Her recorded performances reflect her wide range of repertoire and styles, including such works as Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht and 13th-century monody. She is responsible for the catalog of 20th- and 21st-century viol music.

References

  1. 1 2 3 George Gelles; Beth E. Levy (2001). "Monosoff [Pancaldo], Sonya". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18982. ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0.
  2. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (August 19, 1963). Fifteen sonatas for scordatura violin and continuo. OCLC   3696813.
  3. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (August 19, 1964). 8 sonatas for solo violin (1681). OCLC   5583956.
  4. "Listing" (PDF). www.americanmusicpreservation.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  5. "LP List". titanicrecords.com. August 11, 2022.

Further reading