JAVS Fall 2022

In October 1984, on the occasion of Milton Preves’s fiftieth anniversary with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, fellow violist Isadore Zverow (1909–1999) composed this poem to honor his colleague:

It’s no mean feat, without retreat To hold the forte so long, To stroke and pluck in cold and heat— All to produce a song. Toward music bent, with single intent, Unyielding dedication, You of yourself so gladly lent Your valued perspiration. You sat and played and marked and bowed And sometimes e’en reproached And sometimes we squirmed (just a bit) We didn’t wanna be coached. And yet whene’er the chips were down Throughout these fifty anna, Your steadfast presence was a crown Aiming at Nirvana.

As reported in his obituary in the Chicago Tribune, “It was while directing the Oak Park–River Forest group that he gained an unusual measure of national attention. He briefly became an icon of the fledgling civil rights movement in 1963, when he resigned from the community orchestra because it would not allow a Black violinist he had invited to perform with the group.” Preves died at the age of ninety on June 11, 2000, following a long illness. Shortly thereafter, his family began donating materials to the Rosenthal Archives, establishing his collection of correspondence, contracts, photographs, scrapbooks, programs, and recordings. Most recently, his children donated additional photographs— mostly portraits of music directors and guest conductors—all autographed and dedicated to Preves. Louis Sudler (Orchestral Association chairman emeritus), Lady Valerie and Sir Georg Solti, and Milton and Rebecca Preves celebrate Preves’s fiftieth anniversary as a member of the CSO in October 1984. Photo credit: Terry’s Photography

The full article by Frank Villella and more pictures can be found at: https://cso.org/experience/article/10288/ remembering-milton-preves.

10

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 2, Fall 2022