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Julius Baker

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For the English cartoonist, see Julius Stafford Baker.
Julius Baker
Born(1915-09-23)September 23, 1915
Cleveland, Ohio
DiedAugust 6, 2003(2003-08-06) (aged 87)
Danbury, Connecticut
GenresOrchestral
Occupation(s)Flautist, teacher
InstrumentFlute
Years active1937–2003
Websitejuliusbaker.com
External audio
audio icon You may hear Julius Baker performing Antonio Vivaldi's Flute-Bassoon Concerto in G Minor with Karl Hoffmann, bassoon and Antonio Janigro conducting Solisti de Zagreb in 1964 Here

Julius Baker (September 23, 1915 – August 6, 2003) was one of the foremost American orchestral flute players. During the course of five decades he concertized with several of America's premier orchestral ensembles including the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.[1][2]

Background

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Baker was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and at age nine started flute lessons with his Jewish-Russian immigrant father. Later he studied with August Caputo and local flautist Robert Morris. He attended the Eastman School of Music, where he was pupil of Leonardo De Lorenzo, and the Curtis Institute, where he studied with William Kincaid and had classes with Marcel Tabuteau. Upon graduation in 1937, Baker returned to Cleveland to play second flute in the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Artur Rodziński, and in the section led by Maurice Sharp.[3][4] He went on to a distinguished and long tenure as principal flute in the New York Philharmonic.

Career

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Teaching, performing

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Juilliard School - Alice Tully Hall

Julius Baker was well known as a teacher and served as a faculty member at the Juilliard School from 1954,[5] the Curtis Institute of Music from 1980, and Carnegie Mellon University from 1991. He made many recordings with conductors such as Bruno Walter and Leonard Bernstein, and played second flute with the Cleveland Orchestra from 1937 to 1941.[6]

Baker emerged as principal flautist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner from 1941 to 1943, the CBS Symphony Orchestra under Alfredo Antonini at the CBS network in New York City (1943-1951),[7] with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik from 1951 to 1953, and subsequently with the New York Philharmonic for 18 years, beginning in 1965 under such legendary conductors as: Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and Zubin Mehta.[8][9][10] During that time he also played in the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.[11]

Baker loved chamber music and was one of the founding members of the Bach Aria Group, with whom he played from 1946 to 1964.[12][13][14][15] Baker also performed on several notable film scores, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Lovesick. In addition, he appeared opposite violinist Oscar Shumsky in filming Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, with pianist and conductor Glenn Gould for CBC Television.[16] Baker also collaborated with Glenn Gould, the violinist Rafael Druian and members of the New York Philharmonic in a recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenberg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049.[17]

In addition to film, Baker was also featured on network television in such noted programs as: The Dick Cavett Show in 1971 and the Public Broadcasting Service series Great Performances in 1995.[18]

Orchestra Hall at the Symphony Center in Chicago

Baker gave the first American performance with orchestra of the Ibert Flute Concerto in 1948 with the CBS Symphony under the direction of Alfredo Antonini for Voice of America, and that concert was later issued on his own label, Oxford Records.[19] Baker also collaborated with his friend John Serry, Sr. during his tenure at CBS and produced a demonstration recording in 1951 of Mr. Serry's compositions for flute and accordion entitled La Culebra and Desert Rumba, both of which were dedicated to Baker.[20][21] [22][23][24]

Baker retired from the New York Philharmonic in 1983 in order to devote himself to playing recitals programs and concertos around the United States, Europe and Asia.[2]

In 1997 and 1999 he was jury member at the International Flute Competition "Leonardo De Lorenzo", held every two years in Viggiano, Italy.[25]

Avery Fisher Hall with Henry Moore sculpture

The Oxford Recording Company

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Baker was also an electronics buff and amateur ham radio operator. He built audio equipment upon which he taped his early solo recordings. The Flute Talk article explained, "His interest in electronics developed into The Oxford Recording Company, a mail-order business he ran out of his home and which produced five of his flute recordings between 1946 and 1951.

Notable pupils

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External videos
video icon You may see Julius Baker performing with Glenn Gould in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 for the CBC Television documentary "Glenn Gould on Bach" in 1962
Here on bing.com
video icon Photograph of Julius Baker recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in 1948
Here on Getty Images.co.nz

Death

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Julius Baker died in 2003, aged 87.

Discography

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External audio
audio icon You may hear Julius Baker performing Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun with Lisa Emenheiser, piano in 1982 Here
audio icon You may hear Julius Baker performing the Allegro from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra K. 299 with Antonio Janigro conducting I Solists de Zagreb Here on archive.org

Serenade In D Major, Op. 25 and Trio In C Minor Op. 9, No. 3 (Decca, 1953)[26]

  • Poem For Flute And Orchestra and A Night Piece For Flute And String Quartet (Decca, 1952)[27]
  • Eighteenth Century Flute Duets with Jean-Pierre Rampal (1959)
  • The Virtuoso Flute with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (Vanguard, 1967)
  • The Art of Julius Baker (Desmar, 1977)
  • Julius Baker in Recital (VAI 1993)
  • The Virtuoso Flute Vol. 2 (1996)
With Coleman Hawkins

Archive

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  • The Julius Baker Collection at the Juilliard School of Music Peter J. Sharp Special Collections contains Baker's collection of 1,900 published scores and 275 manuscript scores.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Julius Baker website
  2. ^ a b Allan, Kozinn (8 August 2003). "Julius Baker, Principal Flutist Of Philharmonic, Dies at 87". New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  3. ^ Flute Talk, October 2003.
  4. ^ Larry Huffman. "Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Musicians: A Chronological Listing". Stokowski. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  5. ^ The New York Times, August 9, 2003, Page B6.
  6. ^ "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians: Centennial Edition". Slonimsky, Nicholas editor. Schirmer Books, New York NY, 2001. Vol.1 pg. 188 ISBN 0-02-865526-5
  7. ^ "Sunday Selections" Toledoo Blade, June 12, 1948 p. 65 on Google Books
  8. ^ The New York Times, November 17, 1964, Page 48.
  9. ^ The New York Times, May 6, 1983, Page C26.
  10. ^ "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians: Centennial Edition". Slonimsky, Nicholas editor. Schirmer Books, New york NY, 2001. Vol.1 pg. 188 ISBN 0-02-865526-5
  11. ^ Juius Baker, Principal Flutist of Philharmonic, Dies at 87. Alann Kozinn. The New York Times August 8, 2003 p. Arts Section on nytimes.com
  12. ^ The New York Times, November 6, 1947, Page 34.
  13. ^ The New York Times, January 25, 1948, Page X7.
  14. ^ The New York Times, February 17, 1949, Page 28.
  15. ^ The New York Times, November 12, 1949, Page 8.
  16. ^ CBC Television: Glenn Gould lecturer and conductor with Julius Baker and Oscar Shumsky performing Bach's Brandenbur Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 on bing.com
  17. ^ Glenn Gould At Work: Creative Lying Andrew Kazdin. Dutton, 1989 p. 171 Glenn Gould & Julius Baker & Rafael Druian collaborating with Glenn Gould on books.google.com
  18. ^ Julius Baker on imdb.com
  19. ^ The New York Public Library Archives and manuscripts: "Voice of America Collection of Radio Broadcasts" June 13, 1948 Alfredo Antonini & Julius Baker on archives.nypl.org
  20. ^ JuliCat: John Serry Sr., La Culebra and Julius Baker - See hand written dedication notes on Page # 3 of the score: "written for and dedicated to my friend Julius Baker" on library.juilliard.edu
  21. ^ Julicat: John Serry Sr., Desert Rumba and Julius Baker - See hand written dedication notes on Page # 3 of the score:"written for and dedicated to my friend Julius Baker" on library.juilliard.edu
  22. ^ Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester - Sibley Music Library: John J. Serry Sr. Collection Series 4- Item #6 p. 18, 10" audio disc recording of "Desert Rhumba" & "The Rattlesnake" (La Culebra)" composer John Serry, flautist Julie Baker" in the John J. Serry Sr. Collection archived at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music Sibley Music Library Special collections on esm.rochester.edu
  23. ^ "African Bolero", "Desert Rhumba" Musical Scores, Composer John Serry, Dedicatee Julius Baker. See John Serry on Worldcat.org
  24. ^ "La Culebra" Musical Score, Composer John Serry, Dedicatee Julius Baker. See John Serry on worldcat.org
  25. ^ "International Flute Competition "Leonardo De Lorenzo"" (PDF). concorsodelorenzo.it. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  26. ^ "Beethoven*, Julius Baker, Joseph Fuchs, Lillian Fuchs, Harry Fuchs - Serenade In D Major, Op. 25 For Flute, Violin And Viola / Trio In C Minor, Op. 9, No. 3 For Violin, Viola And Cello". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  27. ^ "Julius Baker - Poem For Flute And Orchestra / A Night Piece For Flute And String Quartet". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  28. ^ The Juilliard School - Peter J. Sharp Special Collections - Julius Baker Special Collections on juilliard.edu
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