LKM: Happy Recollections Of His Cello World

The music in the background for this article should be "Happy Recollections", for cello and piano, by the famous 19th century cellist composer David Popper. This cellist blogger fervently believes that the art of cello-playing, at least in America, will not survive long beyond his own lifetime. He also doubts that names of great cellists of the past-- such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, Pablo Casals, Leonard Rose, Janos Starker, Gregor Piatigorsky, Bernard Greenhouse, Andre Navarra, Fritz Magg, Aldo Parisot, Antonio Janigro, Samuel Mayes , Paul Tortelier and Pierre Fournier--will even be in the memory of generations of Americans born after the end of his own lifetime. Starting with Elvis Presley and the Beatles, the slow but certain trashing of Western musical culture began. Today's contestants on the TV show "American Idol" owe infinite apology to the musical greats of fifty and more years ago, as the former cause this American blogger great chagrin and embarrassment for the sake of cultural repute of his native country.


The four cello maestros in this blogger's life were: 1)William Stokking, a.k.a. "Dutch Uncle Bill", future principal cellist of the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras(he was in the Navy Band-Orchestra during the time of teaching this blogger); 2)John Martin, for fifty years principal cellist of the National Symphony; 3)Leopold Teraspulsky, professor of cello at Indiana University Music School; and 4)Mihaly Virizlay, principal cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Great first-rate performers, all! But this blogger's favorite teacher of all was---Leopold Teraspulsky. This choice has no relation to Mr. Teraspulsky's playing or teaching ability, although those things he certainly had. No, Mr. Teraspulsky is chosen because he did not smoke! As a non-smoker himself, this blogger infinitely appreciated Mr. Teraspulsky's abstinence from the use of tobacco!


The first teacher, i.e. "Dutch Uncle Bill", often told stories about himself in which he made himself the hero. For example, while driving his bright-red and white station wagon and wearing his Navy uniform hat, he once followed an emergency fire-truck convoy through a red traffic light. A near-by policeman, mistaking him for the fire chief, waved him on through the traffic light! "Dutch Uncle Bill" gave me a great early foundation, giving me left hand-developing exercises which he said would one day see me signing my checks with my left hand(I am right-handed). Then one day, he sought to teach me vibrato. I had been experimenting with this technique all the week before, and almost knocked him off his chair with shock-surprise, to show him I already had the technique mastered! I continued to study with "Dutch Uncle Bill" until the end of my elementary school days, playing for my sixth grade classmates one day at Beltsville Elementary School.


Transition over into junior high school also saw my transition over to John Martin as my cello teacher, I was to study with him until graduation from high school. I remember but little of my study with him, except that he introduced me to cello exercise books by cellist composers David Popper and Alfredo Piatti. I studied several well-known pieces of cello solo repertoire with Mr. Martin as well. When I would complete playing these at my lessons, Mr. Martin would say to me his now-immortal words: "That was nice for a warm-up, NOW LET'S PLAY IT!" What he was referring to was the fact that while I had played these works in perfect intonation and rhythm, any semblance of artistic expression and interpretation was still horribly lacking: I was playing these solo works just like an exercise: hmm-m-m. I wonder why that was?! But John was overall an excellent teacher. He was a suave, reserved and easy-going gentleman, in stark contrast to a more forward and sometimes petulant William Stokking. John Martin never told any stories about himself as William Stokking did.


Then I went on to college, to Indiana University Music School and Leopold Teraspulsky. I learned much new cello repertoire from Mr. Teraspulsky, who was the first of my teachers to discuss with me seriously the issue of musical interpretation and refined musicianship. I eventually got the message, but concluded in later years of playing that without the ability from within one's own heart and soul to understand this concept, the instrumentalist would always be a mere organized-noise-maker, as opposed to being a true musician. Mr. Teraspulsky was also a basically very friendly and easy-going individual, and again I especially appreciated his abstinence from smoking.


Then after leaving Indiana University, I took a break from my cello as I went on to U.C.L.A. to further pursue my foreign languages studies: I had never actually majored in music while in college per se, but had opted for major in the languages studies. This is because you need no institutional degree to play in a professional orchestra: you are tested by orchestra managers on your actual playing skills when you apply for the job, and John Martin himself served as principal cellist of the National Symphony for fifty years, with no formal music institution degree. It is recognized by orchestras that some musicians are privately instructed and trained.


I finally resumed my cello again in 1974, going to the Peabody Music School of Johns Hopkins University to study with Mihaly Virizlay. Mr. Virizlay also taught me much about general musicianship, as well as about bow economy and utilization according to relative importance of various musical passages. His introduction of new and unfamiliar cello repertoire to me also prompted me to explore the cello literature on my own. Today, I have a collection of approximately 200 works for cello and piano: some are originally composed for cello, while others are merely transcriptions of works written originally either for voice or for other instruments(they sound nice on cello anyway!). I studied with Mr. Virizlay until 1980, when the school tuition simply became too expensive for me. Also, while Mr. Virizlay displayed superb ability to teach, he had a bad habit of running out on my scheduled lessons to play at his own self-glorifying public events, making up those missed lessons at his convenience! He often boasted to me of his public repute, I recall. I felt such conceit to be unnecessary, as one's musical performance speaks much more than words for any musician's public repute. By 1980, I had already had 18 years of formally-structured education on the cello, and had all the basics of cello-playing well in hand. It was just a question of learning new repertoire, and its appropriate-best stylistic interpretation is always a subject up for debate and discussion by those in the business!


My activities in Music Makers over the last forty years have always been a joy to me, and although I have made but pennies with my cello-playing, I also believe not every worth-while thing in this life is measurable in any monetary units. I also consider my high school days experience of playing with the all Prince George's County high school orchestra a culturally very enriching experience. Those of my high school classmates who would ridicule me for my involvement in this activity, both then and now, simply do not know the magnitude of cultural greatness they were(and are!) missing! I still held the high ground on this issue, the ignorance of the school's education establishment about great Classical orchestra music notwithstanding! Upon reflection, this blogger acknowledges that the genre of music he played--and still plays today--was not composed for the entertainment of the masses of common people: the latter have their own musical traditions of far more simple-minded appeal. Also, the lion's share of music this cellist blogger plays was and is the brain-children of great European--not American--composers. Also, most of the great cellists mentioned in this blog are also of European--not American--birth. Therefore, the "cultural incorrectness" this blogger experienced among his high school colleagues lies in the fact that this Western Classical music tradition is deeply rooted in Europe, but merely has shallow roots here in American soil. The likes of this blogger's former cello teachers would never "cut it" on American Idol. America's culturally-better days are most unfortunately behind her as the truly great musical composers and performers die off in our day, one by one. Indeed, the nation was too ensconced in the Watergate scandal as President Nixon fired his first Watergate prosecutor, to notice that a truly great cello virtuoso--Pablo Casals--passed from the world scene on that very same day.