Robert Pfennig Murray is an American violinist, scholar and teacher. He premiered the 5th Sonata for Violin and Piano by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Leo Sowerby[1] . Murray was the first violinist to record the four sonatas of Anton Rubinstein.[2] More recently, he has partnered with Ardyth Lohuis[3] in a violin and pipe organ duo which brought attention to the large body of musical repertoire available for this combination of instruments through concerts and recordings. Several well known contemporary composers have written pieces for Murray and Lohuis, and have worked closely with Murray and Lohuis to create definitive recordings of these works.[4]
Murray was born in South Bend, Indiana, but he grew up in Janesville[5] , Wisconsin. He attended the American Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois where he earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Murray received a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University in Bloomington. He learned electronics while serving as a Naval officer. This background enabled him to have complete artistic control over his recordings which, because of the organ, are made on location in concert halls and churches, rather than studio environments. Murray, who was born with perfect pitch, determines microphone placement in each venue through meticulous test sessions in each new hall. He uses his own recording equipment, and even does the editing for each composition. Before becoming a university professor, Murray worked as a backup studio musician in Nashville for Eddy Arnold, Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and other recording artists[6] .
Murray considers himself a native of southern Wisconsin where he graduated from Janesville High School in 1955. While a student at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, he premiered the Sowerby Sonata for Violin and Piano at a convention of the International Society for Contemporary Music. After completing his Master’s degree, Murray served four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, after which he resumed his musical career and concertized widely as a soloist. He has been with Columbia Artists as a member of the Nashville String Quartet in Tennessee, has served as concertmaster of numerous orchestras including the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Amici della Musica Chamber Orchestra in Santa Clara, CA., and the Bach Festival Orchestra in Carmel, CA. He made his New York debut at Town Hall in 1975.[7]
Murray has been associated with an impressive array of musicians and teachers,[says who?] including Scott Willits (first American representative of O. Sevcik), Franco Gulli, Irving Ilmer, William Primrose, Janos Starker, Tadeusz Wronski, Allan Blank, Derek Healey, Wilbur Held, Lewis Whikehart and Leo Sowerby. A scholar as well as violinist, Murray has served as Chamber Music Editor for the American String Teachers’ Association national journal, and was also a major contributor to that association's book, The Bach Chaconne: A Collection of Views.[8] Murray has been on the faculty at U. of Northern Colorado in Greeley and at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and it was during this time that he recorded the Saint-Saens Sonatas which were praised by Fanfare Magazine for having 'greater vigor' and being faster than the recording done by Heifetz.[9] While teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond he joined cellist Frantisek Smetana (a relative of Smetana of ‘Moldau’ Fame), and was the violinist that institution's highly praised "Smetana Trio". After Smetana retired, Murray joined Ardyth Lohuis to form the Murray/Lohuis Duo which performs music for violin and pipe organ, and created a new niche for artists of both instruments. Composers Allan Blank, Derek Healey, Wilber Held and Lew Whikehart have written and dedicated pieces to Murray and Lohuis, thus increasing the already surprisingly ample available repertoire. In addition, John Corigliano gave their violin and organ duo permission to make an organ transcription from the piano score for the "Lento" movement of his Sonata for Violin and Piano, and like the Blank, Healey, Held and Whikehart pieces, this selection is also included on one of their recordings.[10] The Murray/Lohuis Duo has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival,[11] Charleston, S. Carolina, at the Margam Festival in Swansea, Wales[12] , and for concert series and conventions in North America too numerous to mention.
Robert Murray's background in electronics enabled him to do all of the recordings on location rather than in a studio setting.[13] Microphone placement must be decided based on the results of meticulous test sessions for each new facility. Listing the name 'Heinz Pfennig' as the recording engineer, Murray is thus able to maintain complete artistic control over his recordings which because of the pipe organ, are made on location rather than in studio environments. Violinist Murray has performed and recorded for the Musical Heritage Society,[14] [15] Spectrum, a division of Uni-Pro Recordings, Inc., [16]
Premier,[17] and Raven. While the LP recordings from Musical Heritage Society and Uni-Pro division of Spectrum are long out of production, the CDs produced by Premiere Recordings and the Organ Historical Society's Raven label are still available. Commenting about how the sound of Murray's violin compliments the pipe organ, "Pipedreams" host Michael Barone has said, "the effect is magical".[18] Their Breached Borders CD brought to light excellent music from behind the "Iron Curtain", including the first recording of the Concerto for Violin and Organ by Russian composer Victor Voloshinov.[19] For the curious who would like just to hear him, Murray can also be found on "YouTube". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIypHy9E-wA. Their sixth CD of violin and organ music was released in September, 2010, also on the Raven label.
New York Times, April 8, 1975, Raymond Ericson, Reviewer
Audio Magazine, December, 1977, E. T. Canby, Reviewer
Fanfare, May/June 1979, J.B., Reviewer
Audio Magazine, August, 1979, E. T. Canby, Reviewer
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, Oct. 12, 1981, Judith Suben, Reviewer
Reston Times, Reston, VA, November 11, 1982
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, September 12, 1987, James A. Jerritt, Reviewer
Richmond News Leader, June 1, 1991, F. Church, Reviewer
Los Angeles Times, June 20, 1991, J. Henken, reviewer
Cross Accent, Journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, No. 2, July, 1993
Post and Courier, Charleston, S. Carolina, 6/2/94, C. Furtwangler, Reviewer
American Record Guide, July/Aug 1994, p. 214, Bond, reviewer
Washington Post, Aug. 15, 1994, C. McCardell
Organ Historical Society, The Diapason, Feb. 1995, R. Dean, Reviewer
The American Organist, October, 1995, P. Hesselink, Reviewer
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Feb. 21, 1996, Section M, pp. 1, 3, Marsha Hanzel
The American Organist, Aug. 1996, V. Gotwals, Reviewer
Organ Historical Society, The Diapason, Nov. 1996, D. Bartel
Crossroads, Sun City FL., April, 2001, by Charleen Wilson
Organ Historical Society, The Diapason, November, 2002, John L. Speller, Reviewer
American Record Guide 66.6 (Nov-Dec 2003): p. 227(1), by Metz, Reviewer
"Pipedreams" Radio Broadcast, Michael Barone, Host, Program No. 1040, October 4, 2010
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Feb. 21, 1996,
H. Wyndham, G. L’Epine"Who’s Who in Music: A biographical record of contemporary musicians". http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Robert+P.+Murray+violin&qt=owc_search.
MHS 3785, C. Saint-Saens Violin Sonatas, 1977, Robert Murray Violin, Jane Abbott Piano MHS 3385/86. A. Rubinstein, Four Violin Sonatas, Robert Murray Violin, Daniel Graham, Piano
SR-317, Georg Philipp Telemann, 12 Fantasias for Violin Without Bass, Robert Murray, Violin, LP stereo vinyl record, Harriman, N.Y., 1980. ISBN 86-743183
Leo Sowerby, Music for Violin and Piano, Robert Murray Violin, Gail Quillman, Piano, CD, 1995, N.Y.
AUR CD 3193, "Chamber Works of Allan Blank" with Robert Murray, violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ, Sunrise Quartet, David Shaffer-Gottschalk, Piano, Alice Hammel, Flute, Charles West, Clarinet, Bruce Hammel, Bassoon, CD, 2000, Pine Grove Studios, Tucson, AZ
OAR-200, "A Perfect Match” Violin & Organ works, Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music of Rheinberger, Stanley, Sowerby, Raff, Weiner, Bender, Ravanello, Vieuxtemps. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 1991
OAR-230, "Rondo: Volume II", Works for violin and Organ, 1993, Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music of Schroeder, Becker, Foote, Bender, Sowerby, Paciorkiewicz, Paganini. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 1993
OAR-370, "Breached Borders, Volume III: Works for Violin & Organ", Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music from behind the Iron Curtain, by Lepnurm, Wilkomirski, Voloshinov, Orlinski, Woytowicz, Komarnitskii. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 1996
OAR-510, "Airs & Romances, Volume IV, Works for Violin & Organ", Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music by Ravanello, Olsson, Becker, Beach, Coleridge-Taylor, Erb, Lindberg, Svendsen, Lovreglio, Jensen. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 2000
OAR-650, "All American, Volume V, Works for Violin & Organ", Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music by Mathews, Bartow, Corigliano, Weaver, Dethier, Healey, Sowerby, Held, Read, Wienhorst, Callahan, Whikehart. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 2003
OAR-923, "An International Collection, Volume VI, Works for Violin & Organ", Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, Organ. Music by O. Respighi, J. Aavik, C. Kint, E. Baghdasaryan, G. Hagg, G. Raphael, D. Healey, W. Held, S. Foster, V. Herbert. CD produced by W. Van Pelt, Richmond, VA, 2010