



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 (Bass). 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 the quartet
became The Amsterdam Quintet when pianist Alice Heksch joined and after she had
died in 1957 was replaced by George van Renesse. For the performance of the Trout
Quintet (Schubert), the bass player was Leon Groen. Before
World War Two Nap (Nathan) de Klijn had started playing in a radio orchestra.
Later he became a member of the Waleson Quartet - Dick Waleson (violin) Nap de
Klijn (violin), Giel Smit (alto) and Guillaume Hesse (violoncello). The photograph
below appeared in the Dutch weekly 'Panorama' in 1936 when it was announced that
he was to take up the post of violin teacher at the 'Maatschappij voor Toonkunst'
in Leiden on September 1st. '
Nap
de Klijn (1909-1979) was married to pianist Alice Heksch (1936-1957). Famous are
their recordings of several Mozart Sonatas. They are also admired playing violin
gems together under their respective pseudonyms, Romano Rubato (Nap de Klijn)
and Bianca Ritorno (Alice Heksch), for the Philips label, issued in the 10 inch
S-R Series. The early death of Alice Heksch completely changed Nap de Klijn's
carreer as a performer. In later years he concertised with pianist Rudolf Jansen.
They recorded for the Iramac label. In the 1950s he was preparing a publication
with the title "Technical Studies for the Left and Right Hand for Violin". |
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 Sosnowiec, Poland,
on March 28, 1902, and passed away on December 9, 1982, in Driebergen, the Netherlands.
He
studied how to play violin
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 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 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 recordings have been marvelously improved
and were released on LP, VARAGRAM 0018.
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 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 of music by Schubert (Impromptus) and Chopin (Waltzes,
Nocturnes). In
quartets, quintets and concertos Godwin is a skillful, serious musician. In his
performances of the pieces of Fritz Kreisler, Godard, Bloch and so many others,
he is also the entertainer and is of course somewhat less serious. Whatever composition
he plays, his style bears the fruit of a long life of successes on the lighter
side but also shows us the deeper meaning of what music is all about.
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) The
program on VARAGRAM 0024: 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-Thomson, 470 C 048,
from around 1955. |