ABSTRACT

First published in 1969, The Sisters d' Aranyi traces the careers, personalities and musical development of Jelly d’ Aranyi and Adila Fachiri, outstanding violinists in Britain and Hungarian great nieces of Josef Joachim, with insight and a wealth of anecdote and description. The book contains fresh lights on figures such as Joachim himself, Elgar, Ravel and Vaughan Williams, Casals, Suggia, and Myra Hess, Aldous Huxley, Einstein and Schweitzer, Balfour, Asquith and Neville Chamberlain. There are illuminating comments on music from Bach to the present day, and also a chapter on the mysterious affair of the Imprisoned Schumann Violin Concerto, and how it was found and liberated. These two consummate musicians were, however, part of a movement towards greater sincerity in music- a tendency not yet sufficiently recorded by musicologists. To set them in their time, this biography contains a most readable history of music in Britain with some original observations on the nature of music itself in performance. This book is an essential read for students of music, music history, literature, performance studies, for violin players and also for general music lovers.

part I|101 pages

The Three Sisters

chapter 1|13 pages

Childhood in Budapest

chapter 2|11 pages

Music Prospect

chapter 3|9 pages

Violins and Fiddles

chapter 4|9 pages

To the Death of Joachim

chapter 5|11 pages

Viâ Elsewhere to England

chapter 6|12 pages

Music in Britain and Abroad

chapter 7|13 pages

An Advantage of High Society

chapter 8|10 pages

Enemy Aliens

chapter 9|11 pages

Wartime Music

part II|102 pages

Jelly d'Aranyi

chapter 10|16 pages

Drawing Flames

chapter 11|12 pages

Béla Bartók

chapter 12|10 pages

Ravel: Vaughan Williams: Szymanowsky

chapter 13|18 pages

Variations on Various Themes

chapter 14|15 pages

Myra Hess and America

chapter 15|18 pages

The Truth About the Schumann Concerto

chapter 16|11 pages

The Pilgrimage of Compassion

part III|51 pages

Adila Fachiri

chapter 17|25 pages

Divisions on a Ground

chapter 18|12 pages

The House in Netherton Grove

chapter 19|12 pages

Last Years