Philips A 00690 R: Franz Schubert's Forellen Quintet (Trout) performed by Alice Heksch (Piano), Nap de Klijn (Violin), Paul Godwin (Viola), Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp (Cello), and Leon Groen (Cello). Alice Heksch and Nap de Klijn performed together as "The Amsterdam Duo" (Das Amsterdamer Duo). Picture taken from Philips S 04012 L.

 

 

 

 

Paul Godwin can also be heard in Dvorak's String Quartet reissued on the Fontana label, and in Mozart's String Quartets K 499 and K 589 on the Philips Minigroove label, reference A00232L.

Paul Godwin was a member of The Netherlands String Quartet (Nap de Klijn, violin - Jaap Schröder, second violin - Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp, cello) and of The Amsterdam Quintet (George van Renesse, piano - Nap de Klijn, violin - Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp, cello - Leon Groen, bass).

 

Paul Godwin was actually named Pinchas Goldfein. He was born in Sosnowiec, Poland, on March 28, 1902, and passed away on December 9, 1982, in Driebergen, The Netherlands. He studied with Stanislaw Barcewicz (1858-1929) in Warsaw. Later on he went to Vienna to study with H. Kaplan but he had to flee because of the changing political and social climate. From there he went to Budapest and studied with Jenö Hubay (1858 - 1937). The bad political climate made him leave Hungary and he finally came to Berlin were he studied at the "Hochschule für Musik" with Willy Hess (1859-1939).

In order to pay for his studies young Godwin played in restaurants and small orchestras in theaters. But the "misuse of one's own talent by deviating from the serious path" was punished by the management of the "Hochschule" and Godwin was expelled. That actually was his first step to success. He became the leader of the famous "Heller Revue Orchester", he played in the first radio broadcasts and by 1928 there were already more than 1500 records of Paul Godwin available on the market and he was the best selling artist at the time. With his orchestra he also performed scores for several movies. He toured the country and was a regular performer in radio broadcasts.
But times changed and in 1933 he took his last 8 Deutsche Mark and his 1713 Stradivarius violin, fled Germany and came via Luxemburg to Holland. When in 1940 the Germans occupied the Netherlands, Godwin was not deported to a concentration camp because his wife was "Arian" (she died in 1971), but had to work for the Nazis.

After the war he more and more played serious music in various ensembles and founded ensembles himself.

Paul Godwin in the late nineteen fourties. Picture taken from 'Radio Encyclopedie', Amsterdam 1949.

From 1946 on he worked for the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation, was violist in the "Alma Musica" ensemble, and again alto in "The Amsterdam String Quartet" together with Nap de Klijn (violin), Dick Vos (2nd violin), and Frank Maurits (cello).
Together with pianist Alice Heksch, violinist Nap de Klijn, violoncellist Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp, and bass player Leon Groen, he formed The Amsterdam Piano Quintet.
In "'The Netherlands String Quartet" he played with Nap de Klijn (violin), Jaap Schröder (violin), Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp (cello). Lateron George van Renesse was the pianist in "The Amsterdam Quintet". Hence there exist two different recordings of Schubert's "Trout Quintet" with Godwin, issued on the Philips label.

In 1955 Paul Godwin started a series of radio broadcasts for VARA Broadcasting Association. Mrs. Godwin recorded these transmissions at home. Before her husband left for the studio the tape recorder was set right for recording and when the broadcast started only the "record button" had to be pressed down and the level may have been slightly adjusted during the recording. We can still witness the radio performances by Paul Godwin of small gems by Kreisler, Bloch, Hubay, Wieniawski and others. These recordings have been marvelously improved and were released on Lp (VARAGRAM 0018).

Isja Rossiçan who is the pianist on VARAGRAM 0018 with the recordings made by Mrs. Godwin, was born on September 16, 1905, in Vilnius (Vilna, Lithuania). He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Lausanne and worked for "Radio Berlin".
In 1934 he started working for the "Dutch Broadcasting System" with violinist Eddy Wallis and he later became a music producer/director for the "Netherlands Broadcasting Union" (Nederlandse Radio Unie). He was an admired accompanist who accompanied Kathleen Ferrier in a recital in the famous Concertgebouw. He had formed a duo with violinist Paul Godwin until his death in 1968. He can be found on Musical Masterpieces Society Lp MMS 153, performing with Jean Antonietti in 'Carnival of Animals' (Saint-Saëns) and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Goehr conducting.

VARAGRAM 0024 is a modern analog Lp recording in stereo of Paul Godwin and Dutch pianist George van Renesse who studied in Amsterdam with composer Sem Dresden, in Paris with Ricardo Viñez (1875-1943) and in Berlin with Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953, who himself had studied with Glazounov). Van Renesse, born in 1909 in Zaamslag (The Netherlands), started an international career. He performed in Rome with Willem Mengelberg, made numerous tours with the "Budapester Trio" (1930-1945) and accompanied Yehudi Menuhin in one of his first international tours (1947). Before and during the war he was a principal teacher at the "Amsterdam Conservatory" (1930-1945).

Mozart's Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello K 370: Jaap Stotijn, Nap de Klijn, Paul Godwin, Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp. Philips 45 RPM: 400 014 A.

From 1954 on he was producer and recording director for the "Dutch Broadcasting System" and he had his own radio programs in which he analyzed and performed compositions by Schubert, Richard Strauss, Chopin and many others. He also was a marvelous accompanist admired by violinists and singers alike. He made recordings for the Artone and CNR labels.

The program on VARAGRAM 0018:
Kroll: Banjo and Fiddle
Bloch: Nigun
Elgar: La capricieuse
Albeniz/Kreisler: Tango
Hubay: Unter Ihrem Fenster (Serenade Op. 38 No. 2)
Kreisler: Tambourin chinois
Kreisler: La Gitana
Mussorgski/Dushkin: Hopak
Ravel/Kreisler: Pièce en forme de Habanera
Fall/Kreisler: Spanish Dance from 'La vida breve'
Burmester: Serenade
Wieniawski: 'Obertas' (mazurka)

Kreisler: Liebesfreud, Liebesleid
Tchaikovsky-Flesch: Melodie
Godard: Canzonetta
Bloch: Aboda
Wieniawski: Kuyawiak
d'Ambroise: Canzonetta
Meijrowitz: Wus geven is geven
Massenet: Méditation
Moszkowski-De Sarasate: Gitarre
Kreisler: Schön Rosmarin.
Smetena: Aus meiner Heimat

Sextuor Instrumental 'ALMA MUSICA' play Vivaldi on a 45 RPM Ducretet-Thompson, 470 C 048, from around 1955.