In San Francisco, a small boy had a birthday, made his party out of such stuff as Mozart, Bach and Tartini and entertained 10.000 guests. He was Yehudi Menuhin, who after two years abroad, has upset the tradition that a child prodigy can never be a great artist. Out he came on to the great Civic Auditorium stage, a chunky child in the white socks, silk blouse and velvet breeches of the conventional boy violinist. Over his face spread a wide, confiding smile. Up to his chin went the violin — itself not quite man-sized — and the concert began.
In San Francisco, Yehudi Menuhin is at home. He was born there eleven years ago, the first son of Moshe Menuhin, a Russian, and his Tartar wife. There was no money at home to pay for a nursegirl and there were symphony concerts outside to be had for the going, so Yehudi, when he was not quite a year old, was taken along. The Menuhins scarcely ever missed a concert from then on until Conductor Alfred Hertz and all his musicians came to know them, and call the baby their mascot. Yehudi's first interest was in Concert- master Louis Persinger. He wanted to touch him, to finger the strings of his violin. When Yehudi was four years and ten months old, Persinger became his teacher. In five years he helped him to an almost uncanny understanding of his instrument. He did more when he did nothing to make the boy aware of himself or his talent, and the Russian father and the Tartar mother have been just as wise. Yehudi lives on a regular schedule with his sisters Hephzibah who is seven and Yaltah who is five. He gets up at seven, exercises, has breakfast, practices for three hours, has lunch, plays outdoors all the afternoon, has dinner and goes to bed at seven. Ask him what he likes best and his answer will be Bach and Beethoven and Handel and Haydn and Mozart and San Francisco and ice-cream sodas (the first thing he asked for after his Manhattan concert), handball, climbing rocks, chess, the new Cadillacs, St. Bernard dogs and giving concerts. Some weeks ago Walter Damrosch cautioned him gravely against playing the Beethoven Concerto with the New York Symphony and Yehudi said "Why not? I only want to have some fun playing with the orchestra." He had his fun and critics, niggardly always with their praise for youthful virtuosos, threw restraint to the winds, reveled in such simple qualities as innocence and joy, prayed these might not be tarnished. There followed an offer for seven concerts at $5,000 apiece, another from a San Francisco group for ten at $3,000 each but the Menuhins refused them both, boarded the train instead for San Francisco, permitted a birthday concert there and then announced a period of retirement "for the development of his musical and general education."
Ether Music