Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician [Hardcover]

Barbara Lourie Sand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

The late Dorothy DeLay taught violin at Juilliard for more than 50 years, and a list of her pupils - from Itzhak Perlman and Kennedy to Midori and Sarah Chang - reads like a who's who of the violin world. For more than 10 years, the author was granted access to DeLay's classes at Juilliard and the Aspen School, allowing her to craft this fascinating book that is both an exploration of the mysteries of teaching and learning and a feast of anecdotes about an extraordinary woman. HARDCOVER.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Some people are born teachers, some become great through experience, and some become famous through their students. The renowned violin teacher Dorothy DeLay fits all three categories. She discovered her innate talent and love for teaching early in life, inspired by the great pedagogue Ivan Galamian, but her long association with him, first as his student, then as his assistant at the Juilliard School, ended in an acrimonious parting of ways. She then developed her own class of students at Juilliard and other prestigious conservatories, and soon acquired a worldwide reputation as unrivalled producer of prodigies and virtuosos. One of her first star pupils was Itzhak Perlman; it might be said that they made each other famous. The music world has long speculated about what sets DeLay and her teaching apart, and in this book, 10 years in the making, Barbara Sand tries to find some answers. She observed DeLay in action and interaction with her pupils at Juilliard, the Aspen summer school, and at home, and talked extensively with DeLay and her husband of almost 60 years, Edward Newhouse. Sand interviewed her assistants, her students past and present, and the conductors and managers who engage them. What emerges is a portrait of a woman whose inexhaustible energy, determination, inquiring intellect, and single-minded commitment to her work and her students give her a larger-than-life quality. This is a personal profile, not a description of a teaching method. Indeed, DeLay claims she has none, though it seems clear that she is guided by Galamian's technical principles. However, she rejects his well-known authoritarianism, responding to her pupils' individual needs and tempering stringent demands with generous encouragement and support. What makes her approach unique is her deep involvement in her students' lives, from choosing their wardrobes to remaining available to them as adviser and confidante long after they leave her studio. Even more remarkable is her ability to launch them into the concert world. Their gratitude and devotion are unstintingly expressed by Sand's carefully selected interviewees, as is her own wholehearted admiration. The book is a hymn of praise.

However, like all successful people, DeLay has her share of detractors. Sand dispatches them in a single chapter, mostly devoted to refuting criticism, some of which is undoubtedly inspired by envy. It is said that her students win major prizes and make successful careers because she attracts the best talents from all over the world, and because she has attained an unprecedented position of power and influence in the music profession's slippery back corridors. She takes only highly accomplished, motivated students who are preparing for solo careers and practice all day. Even the youngest children arrive playing virtuoso concertos, which indicates heavy family pressure and means that she can hand out the carrots while the parents wield the stick. Nevertheless, the chapter on prodigies makes the tortuous process of training and "handling" them sound utterly benign and healthy.

Sand discusses DeLay's well-known habit of keeping students waiting for hours and leaving much of the teaching to her assistants (whom she gets on the Juilliard faculty), explaining that she accepts too many students and spends too much time promoting them. But she mentions legitimate pedagogical issues only by implication. Unlike teachers who also perform, DeLay never plays for her students (beyond some technical demonstration) to avoid exposing them to a single influence; instead, she advises them to listen to different interpretations on many recordings. But doesn't this also produce imitation, and perhaps confusion as well? Entirely performance-oriented, DeLay focuses on what is effective onstage and encourages a large-scaled, extroverted playing style. She speaks emphatically about teaching her students to think for themselves, but never mentions fostering their emotional response to the music or helping them in the slow, inward process of discovering their own feelings. Yet isn't this the key to becoming a communicative artist?

Sand is an empathetic, adept interviewer, winning her subjects' confidence and eliciting frank, informative responses (though some could have used editing). Galamian, perhaps to contrast his teaching style with DeLay's, generally comes off rather badly; DeLay herself speaks about their rupture candidly but without rancor. The book contains much absorbing information, punctuated with many detailed descriptions of people's looks and attire. There are sweeping statements about players and teachers. Why, for example, are such great artist-teachers as Flesch, Busch, Enescu, Rostal, and Bron not mentioned among the 20th-century "teaching geniuses"? Sand's style is a pleasure to read, engaging, lively, humorous, and to the point, despite some moments of confusion and contradiction. Her perceptive insights and warm feeling for her subject bring us closer to understanding what makes Dorothy DeLay such a fascinating, controversial personality. --Edith Eisler

Review

"...[DeLay] was closely followed by Barbara Lourie Sand, whose resulting book...at last opens the door to Miss DeLay's studio." -- Paul Griffiths, The New York Times, September 3, 2000

"...a masterpiece of the genre, Barbara Sand constructs a picture of the 'whole' DeLay..." -- Wes Blomster, MusicalAmerica.com August 17, 2000

"...an unparalleled look both inside and outside DeLay's star-making studio, along with persuasively capturing the essence of DeLay herself." -- Ken Smith, Billboard, October 14, 2000

"In addition to vivid anecdotal touches in the book, there are insights about DeLay's teaching...smooth and easy to read." -- Allen Hughes, Chamber Music, Summer 2000

Her life, philosophy, and teaching techniques are thoughtfully examined in this wide-ranging and thorough biography ... -- Chamber Music

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Amadeus Press (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574670522
• ISBN-13: 978-1574670523
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #432,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Loved This Book!, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician (Hardcover)

Music is my avocation, but I teach on the high school level. Not only did this book fill me in on the inner workings of the clasical music business (lots of juicy stories that made me feel "in the know"), but I feel inspired by Dorothy Delay's masterful teaching style. I feel I'm a better teacher myself now when I enter the classroom and approach my students' difficulties and strengths. The book is so clearly written and I kept wondering how the author, Barbara Lourie Sand, got all this information. She must have spent a great deal of time with her fascinating subject because Ms. Delay came alive, her gifted students came alive, and so did all the mavens and greats in the music world. I'm telling all my colleagues and friends about the book. I'm urging them to give it a read because it is a treasure.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but pulls too many punches, December 27, 2001

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician (Hardcover)

Barbara Lourie Sand's book about Dorothy DeLay is written by a polished journalist who knows how to tell a good story. The early part of the book is thus the most interesting, tracing DeLay's life and development, first as a moderately successful concert violinist and chamber musician, next as longtime assistant to the great pedagogue Ivan Galamian, and finally as legendary teacher and mentor of many of the most successful classical violinists of the 20th century.

Sand mentions in a preface that she shaped this book during the course of a ten-year association with DeLay during which she was also writing articles about some of her well-known students. She obviously had a warm and close relationship with DeLay, her husband Edward Newhouse, and her students, and while this gave her an enviable access it probably hurt her journalistic acumen in the end. Too often, troubling questions are raised and treated dismissively, or quickly dropped--the hardships of raising and nurturing exceptionally gifted children, or outright abuse in the name of discipline and training, for example. Sand treats DeLay's rupture with Galamian in a fair amount of detail, but does not mention that some of DeLay's students have broken very publicly with her as well. Criticisms of DeLay and her style are mostly confined to one chapter and are largely made by unnamed sources. Though DeLay's approach to teaching is discussed in detail, important issues, such as the pros and cons of learning from a teacher who herself never demonstrates, are left untouched.

In short, this book is a good read and intriguing glimpse into the arcane and competitive world of top classical music-making. Because of her unwillingness to "go for the jugular," as she admits at one point, Barbara Lourie Sand loses a chance to make it even more.

Minor quibble: The Accolay Concerto is _not_ part of the Suzuki violin literature.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEHIND THE SCENES, May 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician (Hardcover)

Sand's three dimensional portrait of the mythically gifted violin teacher Dorothy DeLay is a treasure trove of useful information,practical tips and humourous anecdotes.From her priveleged position as an"insider"Sand sheds light on this truly gifted teacher's power to produce a constellation of stars in the highly charged competitive field of world renowned violinists.The author was granted permission to sit in on DeLay's lessons over a period of ten years.Her verbatim transcriptions of conversations between teacher and pupils,her own insightful observations and her interviews with now famous violinists and conductors are both colorful and illuminating. Most fascinating to follow is the way that the mysterious gift of inborn talent in very young pupils is nurtured and brought to its fullest potential by this magically intuitive and caring teacher whose unique gift of communication has inspired the devotion of so many of her stars.If there were a Hall of Fame for pedagogues,DeLay would be inducted by unanimous vote!