• Most Respected Classical Music Platform
  • #classicalForever
TOP

In Memory of Violinist Robert Mann (1920-2018)

Former Juilliard Quartet members Earl Carlyss, Joel Smirnoff, Samuel Rhodes and Joel Krosnick share their recollections of long-time colleague, Robert Mann

Losing a colleague whom you've worked with for many years isn't an easy experience. It is even more difficult when that person was a dear friend of yours. The loss of one of the golden era violinists as Robert Mann continues to rob the music world away from their immense knowledge and genius which they showered countless other musicians with. How was Robert Mann as his friends and colleagues knew him?

Former Juilliard String Quartet members – violinists Earl Carlyss and Joel Smirnoff, violist Samuel Rhodes and cellist Joel Krosnick shares their collective memories about their dear friend and esteemed colleague,Robert Mann, who passed away in 2018, aged 97.

 

Violinist Robert Mann – In Memoriam (1920-2018)

We, the remaining Juilliard Quartet colleagues of Robert Mann, deeply mourn his passing this past week. We send our condolences to his dear wife, Lucy, to the family, to all his friends and to all his former students, who had the good fortune to be guided and inspired by him, as we were. His students are, of course, such a wonderful and important part of his legacy.

In today’s world, it may be hard for some to comprehend the deep significance of Robert Mann’s legacy. Bobby devoted himself passionately and daily to insight of all kinds, hungry as he was to experience the joy of discovery at every possible moment.

Rehearsals with Bob Mann were always a highly energized search for beauty, order, coherence, insight, truth and catharsis, a seemingly unlikely mix of things. Almost in contrast, performances with Bobby were passionate abandon in the service of the composers’ imaginations, while holding the ship steady towards its goal.

Bobby deeply respected and understood the necessary interplay of rational and irrational thought and feeling requisite to great art of any kind and he helped each of us welcome both into our musical and personal lives, expression and process.

Chamber players are the peacemakers of music, musicians rejecting the “older” model of heroism, to replace it with the heroism of the peacemaker: he/she who struggles to promote understanding through shared honest interaction. Bob Mann, you were our general, leading us into musical battle for the “musical” common good.

We would like to ask the student who reads these words to ponder and try and grasp just how much patient hard work, listening, honesty, self-appraisal and love of music it takes to become a Robert Mann. The hard work is not to be underestimated. And the motivation was pure: to be worthy of the genius of the composer.

Sadly, most critics were never able to recognize Robert Mann’s most important asset: his great and innate ability to sing on the violin and render unforgettable performances of the quartet literature’s most intimate and lyrical phrases and moments, whether the Cavatina from Op. 130, the Largo of Op. 135, the slow movement of Ravel and Debussy quartets or the Largo of Haydn’s Op. 76 no. 5. The voice was always his own: plain-spoken, loving, vulnerable, always generously reaching out.

We each feel so lucky to have shared a good portion of our lives, musical and non-musical, with this amazing and wonderful human being. And though Bobby is with us no longer, we will ever feel his beneficent influence and will continue to share his memory and legacy with all who will listen.

Rest in peace, dear Bobby.

 

–Earl Carlyss, violin, 1966-1986

–Samuel Rhodes, viola, 1969-2013

–Joel Krosnick, cello, 1974-2016

–Joel Smirnoff, violin, 1986-2009

 

 

Do you have an idea for a blog or news tip? Simply email: [email protected]

 

 

Robert Mann was a driving force in the world of music for more than 75 years, one of most influential pioneers in the world of chamber music in the 20th and 21st centuries. As founder and first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, and as a soloist, composer, teacher, and conductor, Mr. Mann brought a refreshing sense of adventure and discovery to chamber music performances, master classes, and orchestral performances worldwide. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe hailed him as, ”one of the country’s most admired and deeply loved musicians”, and Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times described him as “A musical revolutionary on par with Cage, Bernstein, Callas and Gould”.

upcoming events

april 2024

01aprAll Day05Vienna Classic Violin Competition(All Day) Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, Johannesgasse 4a 1010 Vienna, AustriaEvent Type :competitions Event TagsClassic Violin Olympus International Competition,violin competitionFOLLOW

23aprAll Day26Lyon International Chamber Music Competition(All Day) Université Lumière Lyon 2, 18 quai Claude Bernard 69365 Lyon, FranceEvent Type :competitions Event Tagschamber music,chamber music competition,Lyon International Chamber Music CompetitionFOLLOW

CONTACT US
x

Get ALL our latest conveniently by EMAIL

Our newsletter is trusted by over 100,000+ industry professionals around the world

We deliver news straight to your inbox and will never share your data.
You'll never miss a beat!

click left click right