Adolph Koldofsky

Adolph Koldofsky. Violinist, born London 13 Sep 1905, died Los Angeles 8 Apr 1951. The son of Russian-Jewish parents, Koldofsky came to Canada in 1910 but later returned to Europe for advanced violin studies with Ysaÿe and Ševčík. He also toured Czechoslovakia as leader of the Ševčík String Quartet. He played in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra intermittently 1923-38, and was second violin 1938-42 of the Hart House String Quartet. He gave recitals with his wife, the pianist Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky, and appeared as soloist with orchestras. He undertook extensive research to authenticate manuscripts of C.P.E. Bach keyboard concertos that had turned up in the estate of an old Toronto family and in March and April 1943 conducted a series of seven CBC radio broadcasts in which Wanda Landowska gave the modern premieres of five of the concertos. (Later transferred to CD). The manuscripts were deposited later in the library of the University of California at Berkeley.

Schoenberg Fantasy op 47, composed for A Koldofsky; performed by Israel Baker and Glenn Gould.

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In 1944 Koldofsky became concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and conductor of the Junior Symphony. In 1945 he moved to Los Angeles, where he played in the RKO studio and in chamber music recitals and established a local chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music. He premiered Schoenberg's last two instrumental works, the String Trio, Opus 45 and the Fantasy, Opus 47 which was written for him. A scholarship fund was set up in his memory at the University of Southern California, which became the Gwendolyn and Adolph Koldofsky Memorial Scholarship after the death of his wife. His sister is Eleanor Koldofsky.

Suggested Reading
Walter Frisch ed. Schoenberg and His World (1999); Feisst, Sabine. Schoenberg's New World: The American Years (2011); Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz and Humphrey Searle, Schoenberg- His Life World and Works (2011).

Author Helmut Kallmann

Links to Other Sites
Hart House String Quartet
The website for the Hart House String Quartet. Click on the links at the top of the page for an illustrated history and profiles of musicians who were members of this esteemed chamber ensemble.

Bowmanville’s connection to Sam “the Record Man” Sniderman
A blog post about Sam “the Record Man” Sam Sniderman, his former wife Eleanor Koldofsky, her brother Adolph, and Adolph's wife, Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky. From the Clarington Museums & Archives Blog.

Koldofsky Memorial Benefit Recital
Brief profiles of musicians Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky and Adolph Koldofsky from the University of Southern California website.