from Rachel Isserlis
I'm not sure where to begin when thinking about the ICC but I wrote down these thoughts in case they're appropriate …
Jane Cowan gave me an inscribed copy of Leopold Mozart's Treatise on Violin Playing in 1974 and it has stood me in very good stead ever since. It is certainly no coincidence that such a lot of us ended up playing on period instruments - her insistence on playing in the right style and minute attention to detail was to be a huge influence.
We used to play quartets on Saturday mornings and rarely got beyond the first few bars - with pepperings of 'Aieeee !' and 'daraDEEdarada' we would be drilled on the one hand on the virtues of gut strings and the character and history of the composer and his times, and on the other, the evils of too much vibrato, tasteless slides, disappointing leading notes, the Beatles, and so on. Unusual and very inspiring chamber music lessons !
... and the photo ... Janet Lorimer standing in front of John, M.E. Milford and May Lorimer sitting on the steps with Tuffer (Cuddy's son) in front of them and I'm lurking adolescently behind Lucy !
