San Francisco Classical Voice

A cellist myself, I have long believed that ‘cellists are the most collegial and loyal of musicians, so I was not surprised to read, in the newly published Colin Hampton, A Cellist's Life, that Hampton expresses exactly that opinion: "Cellists are a wonderful breed. In the whole of my life, I have met only two cellists I couldn't get on with–only two. I think this speaks extremely well for any group of musicians playing the same instrument. Surely it must be something in the instrument itself that attracts a certain type of person." He also gives several examples of people who "[have] taken up the wrong instrument, an instrument that did not reflect [their] personality." And he describes the improvement that comes when one finally finds the "right" instrument.

As cellist of the long-lived Griller Quartet (formed in 1927, when its members were in their last year at the Royal Academy of Music, [Hampton was 17], and disbanded in 1961 after the death of its violist, Philip Burton), Hampton spent his entire adult life playing and teaching chamber music, and in his later years, composing. Although the quartet, named after its first violinist, Sidney Griller, began its concertizing years in England and other realms of the United Kingdom, after World War II, it toured increasingly in the U.S., finally, in 1949 becoming the Quartet in Residence at U.C. Berkeley. The Grillers continued their touring schedule, taught chamber music and gave concerts in Berkeley, and spent summers coaching at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West, with fewer and fewer returns to their native England.

This book is based on tapes made by Hampton in 1986, ten years before his death. The transcribed reminiscences, provided by sons Ian and Andrew Hampton, have been edited, and published in a paperback edition by String Letter Publishing. It contains a Hampton chronology, the Griller Quartet Discography, a list of Hampton's compositions, and a somewhat inaccurate index. The editor was successful in keeping in the text Hampton's witty, erudite, and deeply involved character.

Hampton reflects on the joys and difficulties of being in such a close and long-lasting relationship as this professional string quartet. He concluded quite early in the career that it was important to "leave troubles in the work room," and though he doesn't give specifics about those troubles, he does say that "Disagreements arise. Our first violin, Sidney, was not the easiest of people, and I learned early on that it was going to spoil my life unless I could forget it as soon as I left the room." He ascribes the unhappiness, and finally, suicide of violist Burton partly to an inability to do this. Except for this discussion, he makes no mention of the personalities or activities of the other quartet members, Griller (though he mentions Griller's wife, Honor, as being with them on occasion), and second violinist, Jack O'Brien. There is no detailed description of how the quartet prepared a piece, how they worked out its challenges, or those of living and working so closely for so long. The expected anecdotes about musicians' high jinks while on the road are included, though, most of them were probably funnier when actually experienced.

A large part of the book is given to mention and brief discussion of musicians the Grillers worked with over the years. Although Hampton characterizes many of them only as "nice," he mentions especially the kindness and thoughtful demeanor of Yehudi Menuhin. The Grillers also toured and gave many concerts with Menuhin's sister, Hephzibah: "A great pianist and an outrageous person...audacious, but nevertheless exuded charm." He has the greatest admiration for Myra Hess, saying that "Of the hundreds of pianists we played with ...the one that stood out miles above the rest was Myra Hess," who had an "innate understanding" of matching sounds and knowing exactly how much support to give other players.

He characterizes Casals as a most compassionate teacher and, although an exceptional musician and cellist, a person who carefully studied a piece of music with long and deep thought before ever sitting down to play it on the cello. Citing Casals' kind thoughtfulness, he gives a lovely example: arriving in S.F. after a long and 6-hours- late airplane flight, the exhausted 80-year-old Casals greeted the waiting Hampton and another old friend with, "You poor darlings, you must be so tired!"

Hampton felt that the "greatest person it was my luck to meet" (of all the hundreds of artists he had worked and played with in his long career) was the composer Ernest Bloch. He puts Bloch's String Quartet No. 1 in front of Schubert and Brahms as "one of the great works of the world." Bloch was on the faculties of U.C. music department (not especially appreciated by the faculty there) and the Santa Barbara Music Academy of the West at the same time as the Grillers, and they spent some time with him also at his Oregon beach home.

Among other cellists briefly discussed are Rostropovich and Zara Nelsova, who also worked closely with Bloch.

The mentions of most of his fellow musicians and composers are slight, some amusingly pointed (Stravinsky), and many rather superficial. Surprisingly, though there are two pictures of her, including a most touching one with Hampton, there is almost no mention of the Bay Area's premier and most loved cello teacher of the time, Margaret Rowell. Hampton and she were the founders, in 1956, of the California Cello Club.

Cellists will find interesting the tidbits of practical advice, such as playing successful trills (learned from Casals), keeping in tune with the quartet, playing in "positions" (he disapproves of it), caring for the cello, playing the Bach Suites. He feels that learning to play the piano is essential for all would-be musicians. He also includes an especially cogent discussion of what it takes to form a "real quartet." All advice from one who really knows!

And, like many experts in one area, he seems quite opinionated in taking to task professionals in other areas about which he has not appeared to have given enough thought (music critics, for instance, musicologists, and music and art in the schools). He feels that musicality can be "educated" right out of a person. Hampton is amusingly, and unintentionally, I think, patronizing towards amateur musicians, saying that the subject "is worth some consideration," going on to explain that the value of amateurs is in the fact that they take such good care of their instruments and bows (unlike professionals, who are apparently more casual about it), and thus fine instruments are preserved. Giving faint praise, he notes that amateurs seem to refer to most works by their opus numbers, while professional musicians just go by the key a work is in, concluding, "Amateurs certainly are a bunch to be reckoned with."

Though the book has a picture of sons Ian and Andrew (by Colin's first wife), and mentions his subsequent wives, cellists Bonnie Hampton and Megan Dalton, he does not discuss how his family life fit into his intense touring and teaching one. In fact, he mentions his father (his first music teacher) only once, at the beginning of the book, and his mother not at all. This may be because, to avoid the dangers of World War I German bombing of London, he was sent away to boarding school at age 5, and never really lived at home. So one gets only a hint of Hampton's personal life. At the end of the book, though, he reflects that at the age of 75, "Cello playing, as such, does not hold much interest for me. I am interested in, and I do find myself being more and more attracted to the spiritual side," of music.

In his last ten years, Hampton devoted himself almost entirely to composition, and the list of his compositions–mostly for cello (or celli), pieces for cello and orchestra and many arrangements for massed cellos, but also a work for tenor and strings, is respectably long . The titles of some of these pieces reflect his impish humor: "Twelve Pieces for Twelve-Year Olds"; "Five Whimsies for Two Celli"; "Seven Irritations for Two Girls and Two Cellos"

The book contains pictures of Hampton from childhood on, looking, strangely enough, somehow always the SAME age, mature, with expressive eyes and a serious expression. There is a delightful full-page picture of Menuhin and his wife, one of Casals and his wife, and some unusual photos of other famous composers and musicians, including an interesting group of well-known solo concert cellists. However, since the pictures are not always connected to the text, it is often not clear what the subjects are doing or why they are together.

It is regrettable that more persons with long, successful professional lives do not take the time and trouble to reflect upon and pass on an account of their lives, what really happened and what it all seems to have meant. Hampton, a charming and insightful man, has provided us with a thoughtful, though sometimes cursory summing up of the life of a professional 20th century classical musician and teacher. His son Ian, who contributed an appreciative Forward, a has done a service in producing the book: it is good to have it.

Colin Hampton: A Cellist's Life. String Letter Publishing, San Anselmo, CA; 2000; 1986 taped reminiscences transcribed by Betty's Typing Service, edited by Stacey Lynn. Part of the series "Backstage Books."

(Mary Commanday is a professional cellist and associate editor of SFCV.)

©2001 Mary Commanday, all rights reserved