Many years ago a collector of vinyl records asked me for an LP recording by violinist Paul Godwin.
Since there was practically no information on the world wide web at the time, I published a few pictures and details on a page so he (and others) could read about this violinist who performed as an altist as well. For the collector it was the info that he needed on Paul Godwin.
Since then the page about the violinist has evolved to the current stage it is in.

Paul Godwin was actually named Pinchas Goldfein. He was born in Sasnowiec, Poland, on March 28, 1902, and passed away on December 9, 1982, in Driebergen, the Netherlands.

At age 10, the talented boy was discovered by Herman Kaplan who was originally from Latvia. Kaplan jad deserted the Russian army and had to flee. He took the talented boy with him to Vienna. Kaplan exploited the young Pinchas who had to pay for the lessons Kaplan gave him by cleaning the house and doing errands. Paul Godwin later said : "I've never known a childhood..."

Because of the changing political and social climate he went to Budapest and studied with Jenö Hubay (1858 - 1937). The bad political climate after the estab;lishment of the Horthy regime 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 Luxembourg 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).

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

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

From 1946 on he worked for the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation (Nederlandse Radio Unie, NRU), 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.
He also was a member of "The Netherlands String Quartet" playing 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 with Paul Godwin of Schubert's "Trout Quintet", one with pianist Alice Heksch and another with George van Renesse; both issued on the Philips label.

In 1955 Paul Godwin started a series of radio broadcasts for Dutch VARA Broadcasting Association. Mrs. Godwin recorded these transmissions at home. Before her husband left for the studio, he prepared the tape machine for recording and when the broadcast started only the "record button" had to be pressed down. During recording the level may have been slightly adjusted by Mrs. Godwin. Today we can still witness the radio performances by Paul Godwin of small gems by Kreisler, Bloch, Hubay, Wieniawski and others. These original home made recordings have been marvelously improved and were released on LP, VARAGRAM 0018.

 

On VARAGRAM 0030 Paul Godwin plays with his soloists as he used to in the 1930s. And this time Dutch singer Bert Robbe who initially sang classical music can be heard in various songs. The recording was made at the time when Robbe was director of the popular music division popular of Dutch radio.

 

Isja Rossiçan who is the pianist on VARAGRAM 0018 was born on September 16, 1905, in Vilnius (Vilna, Lithuania). He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Lausanne and worked for "Radio Berlin".

Already in 1934 Rossican started working for the "Dutch Broadcasting System" and performed with violinist Eddy Wallis. He later became a music producer/director for the NRU (Nederlandse Radio Unie). He was an admired accompanist. He accompanied Kathleen Ferrier in a recital in the famous Concertgebouw. He had formed a duo with violinist Paul Godwin until he passed away in 1968. He can be found on Musical Masterpiece Society LP MMS 153, playing one of the pianos - with Jean Antonietti - playing the other - in 'Carnival of Animals' (Saint-Saëns) together with 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. Renesse had studied in Amsterdam with composer Sem Dresden, in Paris with Ricardo Viñez (1875-1943) and in Berlin with Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953, who himself was a studient of Alexander Glazunov). George Van Renesse was born in 1909, in Zaanslag (Netherlands) and started an international career. He performed in Rome with Willem Mengelberg, made numerous tours with the "Budapester Trio" (1930-1945) and accompanied Yehudi Menuhin during 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 (oboe), Nap de Klijn, Paul Godwin, Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp. Philips 45 RPM: 400 014 A.

From 1954 on Van Renesse 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 of music by Schubert (Impromptus) and Chopin (Waltzes, Nocturnes).

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' plays Vivaldi on a French 45 RPM Ducretet-Thomson, 470 C 048, from around 1955.