Ivan Galamian

Ivan Alexander Galamian (born January 23, 1903 in Tabriz ; † April 14, 1981 in New York , NY , USA ), was one of the most influential violin teachers of the 20th century.

Life

His family with Armenian roots emigrated to Moscow from Persia . Galamian took violin lessons from 1916 to 1922 with Konstantin Mostras , a student of Leopold Auer . During the October Revolution he fled to Paris and continued his studies with Lucien Capet . He made his debut in Paris in 1924.

In 1937 Galamian finally emigrated to the USA. He taught there at the Curtis Institute of Music and became the head of the violin class at the Juilliard School . Galamian integrated the technical aspects of the Russian and French violin schools into his own methodology, with particular reference to Lucien Capet's technique of bowing. His teaching method was continued by his former assistant Dorothy DeLay (1917–2002); this was one of the most outstanding violin teachers in the late 20th century.

The most famous students were Itzhak Perlman , Pinchas Zuckerman , Simon Standage , Chung Kyung-wha , Walter Levin and Michael Rabin, who he described as his best student, who died early . For several decades, many of his students were regularly among the winners of the renowned international violin competitions.

Textbooks

• Contemporary violin technique . New edition Galaxy Music, New York 1966/1977.

1. Scale and arpeggio exercises with bowing and rhythm patterns . 1966.
2. Double and multiple stops in scale and arpeggio exercises . 1977

• Basics and methods of violin playing. ("Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching"). New edition Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. 1995, ISBN 3-550-00133-9 .

Web links

• English language violin site. Exercise part with 30 videos including Galamian's style exercises