Page 23 - Great Elizabethans

THE POWER OF MUSIC HEALS
During the Second World War, Yehudi played to Allied troops who were fighting against Nazi Germany. Later on, accompanied by a pianist called Benjamin Britten (who would become a famous composer too), he played to survivors of the Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Over 50,000 people – mostly Jewish people – had died there during their imprisonment by the Nazis. After the Nazis had been defeated and the war was over, Yehudi was
also the first Jewish musician to visit Germany to play with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Some
people criticised him for doing this, but Yehudi, who believed in the power of music to heal, felt
strongly that it was the right thing to do to help bring people back together.
Yehudi had felt attracted to Great Britain since discovering the music of Elgar, and in 1959, he settled in London. In 1963, he set up the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England, to help teach musically gifted children with talent like his own. Here, he taught many brilliant pupils,
some of whom grew up to become famous musicians too.
After Yehudi had played a concert, he liked to end the evening by eating an ice cream. His favourite flavour was strawberry!
A WEALTH OF WONDERFUL RECORDINGS
Throughout his life, Yehudi was outspoken when he thought people in power were doing the wrong thing. He spoke out against ‘apartheid’ in South Africa, which was a set of laws that kept people of different skin colours apart and gave white people more power. He also said the bad treatment of people who criticised the Russian government was wrong. This didn’t always make his life easy, but he never stopped doing it.
Yehudi loved the Western classical composers he’d grown up with, but he was also adventurous and keen to experience other types of music. He enjoyed playing jazz music, and exploring Indian music with the famous sitar player Ravi Shankar. In India, he also fell in love with yoga, which he practised daily for the rest of his life.
As he grew older, the arm he used to hold his violin bow became weaker, so he did more conducting than performing,
leading many of the world’s most famous orchestras. He was made first Sir Yehudi, then Lord Menuhin, but he preferred
to be known just as Yehudi.
Yehudi died in 1999, leaving behind hundreds of wonderful
recordings – and the joyful memories of his students and the people who had heard his extraordinary performances.
In 1982, Yehudi conducted Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s 100th anniversary gala – standing on his head, and conducting with his feet!
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