Klarinet Archive - Posting 000339.txt from 2004/08

From: Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Abe Galper
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 02:20:15 -0400

Michael

I was lucky enough to hear you play in New York in December (at Carnegie Hall)
and was in awe. Your playing is a testament to the excellence of your wonderful
teacher. He will be sorely mised.

Audrey Travis

mrusinek@-----.net wrote:

> August 11, 2004
>
> It was with indescribable sadness that I learned today of Abe's passing. I
> received a phone call as my girlfriend Nancy and I were driving from Napa
> Valley, where we had just performed, to the Santa Fe chamber festival, where
> we are about to perform.
>
> After many miles of sadness and silence, Nancy and I started to talk about
> Abe; his life, his family, his musicianship, and his legacy. (Nancy is the
> principal bassoonist of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Although she wasn’t able to
> go with me a few weeks ago, she has had the good fortune of meeting both Abe
> and Charna on a few visits she has made with me from Pittsburgh to Toronto.
> She also got to know him through many of my anecdotes.) I would like to share
> a few thoughts that Nancy and I talked about today, as outside of my parents,
> Abe certainly had a more profound impact on my life than anybody.
>
> I began studying with Abe at the age of ten. Initially, he was reluctant. But
> agreed to teach me after some not so gentle prodding from my mother. I
> studied with him continuously until I left for Curtis when I was 19. Even
> after Curtis, even after joining the National Symphony, even after joining
> the Pittsburgh Symphony, he continued to shape my playing on my regular
> visits to him. Whenever I would play for him, he had an uncanny ability to
> diagnose problems and pinpoint areas of my playing that needed attention.
> (Always, it was back to basics.)
>
> The devotion that I felt coming from both Abe and Charna for the past 25 yrs
> was unwavering. He and Charna came to every performance. Even my appearances
> at the local Kiwanis competitions would be attended, and then dissected at my
> next lesson. When my performances required travelling out of town, both
> Charna and Abe would be there. On one occasion, when my parents weren't able
> to, driving me to a competition at the Oberlin conservatory south of
> Cleveland. They even shared their hotel room with me when they discovered
> that my accommodations in the dormitory were too warm to be conducive to
> performing well. During the summer of 1987, he and Charna shared their
> journey to Israel with me as well. I went with them in order to prepare for
> the 1987 Belgrade competition. His devotion became his family's when, first
> his daughter Chaya, and then his niece Ruth housed me and took care of me for
> 2 months. His devotion required devotion on my part as well. Quitting my
> junior soccer and hockey career in order to avoid injury and foregoing summer
> jobs in order to practice were insisted upon. My lessons were exercises of
> devotion in themselves. Often they were marathon lessons, lasting up to 2
> hours. Charna would thankfully come to my rescue by knocking on the door and
> telling Abe that enough was enough. At that point I would always be invited
> into the kitchen, where I was made to drink a glass of milk ("milk gives you
> good tone") and offered some of Charna's delicious goodies. This would be
> repeated not just once a week, but later in my high school career, three
> times a week. Don't get me wrong, the lessons were tough. Questions such as
> "Did you practice this, this week?" had no good answer, and I also learned
> that the answer to the question "How are your reeds?" should be "good", lest
> I be told, with a chuckle, that when you practice a lot, you don't have bad
> reeds. The lessons were tough, but fair, and I took deep pride when all that
> took place after playing an etude was a turn of the page followed by him
> saying "…next".
>
> Although I met Abe after he left the Toronto Symphony, I still got to hear
> him play, in recital, on records, and in lessons. It was the playing in
> lessons that was most impressive. Even very recently I would hear him in his
> studio and be totally incredulous at the refinement and control with which he
> could still play. To this day, when I think of how the clarinet should sound,
> I think of his sound.
>
> All of this has made me feel like I never stopped having an active teacher.
> It helped that when Abe would call, his messages on my machine began with,
> "Hello, it's your teacher calling.." When I won the audition for the
> Pittsburgh Symphony, the first call I made from backstage was to Abe.
> Parenthetically, I say “Abe”. But even as I write this it seems odd to say.
> It was always Mr. Galper. I spoke to Charna and she told me that he was in
> the hospital and that I should call him there. I did so, and in a tired
> voice, he began to question me about the audition. "What did you have to
> play?"
> I told him.
> When the list came to Prokofiev's 5th symphony. He inquired "Which fingering
> did you use for the high F#?"
> I told him.
> "...Of course!" came his reply. My next conversation with him started with
> something I never thought I would hear. "You have a big job now, you can call
> me Abe". I laughed to myself. That was never going to happen.
>
> There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about or put into practice
> lessons that I learned from him. Whether it is in my playing or my teaching,
> his influence is abundantly clear. I can often hear his voice as I talk to my
> students, most of the time quoting him directly. And so, as Nancy and I were
> driving today, and I kept an endless stream of Galperisms flowing, a smile
> came over my face and warmth in my heart. And I realized that although I am
> no longer able to go to him for advice, or to share stories, his sound I will
> carry with me forever.
>
> Thank-you for listening….
>
> Michael Rusinek
>

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