Lionel Tertis

from My Viola and I: a complete autobiography / Lionel Tertis, page 16:

When I first began to play the viola as a solo instrument, prejudice and storms of abuse were my lot. The consensus of opinion then was that the viola had no right to be heard in solos, indeed the consideration of its place in the string family was of the scantiest. It was not only a despised instrument, but its cause was far from helped by the down-and-out violinists who usually played it. The executants in those days were violinists too inferior to gain a position in orchestras as such. A wretchedly low standard of viola-player, was engaged by the Academy to take part twice a week in the …   more >>

cite as

Lionel Tertis, My Viola and I: a complete autobiography / Lionel Tertis (Great Britain, 1974), p. 16. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1424340952798 accessed: 28 March, 2024

Listeners

Lionel Tertis
Violist
1876-1975

Experience Information

Medium live

Originally submitted by tlisboa on Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:15:52 +0000
Approved on Tue, 12 Jan 2016 14:29:34 +0000