Yehudi Menuhin, (April 22, 1916 – March 12, 1999) probably the greatest violinist of the last century, if not of all time, died ten years ago today.
Awarded the OM and KBE and world renowned not just as a violinist but also as a conductor, spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born a U.S. citizen, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985.
According to Wikipedia, his recording contract with EMI lasted almost 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry. He made his first recording at age 13 in November 1929, and his last in 1999 at age 82. In total he recorded over 300 works for EMI, both as a violinist and as a conductor. Soon after his death, the Royal Academy of Music acquired the Yehudi Menuhin Archive, one of the most comprehensive collections ever assembled by an individual musician.
In 1991, aged 75, he was awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize by the Israeli Government. Before the the Israeli Knesset he gave a controversial acceptance speech in which he criticised Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian West Bank:
"This wasteful governing by fear, by contempt for the basic dignities of life, this steady asphyxiation of a dependent people, should be the very last means to be adopted by those who themselves know too well the awful significance, the unforgettable suffering of such an existence. It is unworthy of my great people, the Jews, who have striven to abide by a code of moral rectitude for some 5,000 years, who can create and achieve a society for themselves such as we see around us but can yet deny the sharing of its great qualities and benefits to those dwelling amongst them. ("Wolf Prize winner raps government" Jerusalem Post, May 6, 1991).
When challenged as to why he gave such a speech, Sir Yehudi replied, "That is why I came".
