A lesson with Leonard Rose: 1978

Cellist Leonard Rose (1918-1984) was famous for having had a deep burnished tone and was naturally gifted in left hand technique. This important 1978 film, edited for viewing by Steven Honigberg, documents Rose's teaching theories for posterity. It is a must see for both budding young cellists and established artists. Experience what it was like to be in a lesson with the master cellist. [book can be purchased at tinyurl.com/nf34q4l]

[@strad1944]

Yes, he was my idol when I was 13-18. I studied with him in NY at Juilliard when I was 16, living alone in the city a year after my father died... not a good idea of my mother's. Bad: school grades good: met Bernstein and played on a televised childern's concert in March 1961.Mr. Rose was a great teacher.. He passed on a great sound and was sensitive to let the individual grow. I think Yo Yo and I are testament to his genius.

[@shobarsch]

Is this really Lynn Harrell???

[@lotusbuds2000]

Sounds like it is Lynn Harrell. So wonderful to read your beautiful words Mr. Harrell.

[@RachelXu]

I Love your cello playing very much!

[@jaredcarlsonripple6692]

Rest easy

[@nickdavis965]

@@shobarsch No, I do not believe this is truly Lynn Harrell. There is another account that seems to be Lynn Harrell where videos of his performances are posted, also those he subscribed to seem to be also close family. This channel is subscribed to gaming channels, which I'm not sure if Mr. Harrell was actually a fan of.

[@yehbuddy4251]

The editing is hilarious. It’s not a problem for me at all

[@bobcochran2890]

Maybe the most elegant and refined cellist ever. I was privileged to be in the orchestra accompanying him twice. Just spectacular.

[@nrosen8794]

Listening to Mr. Rose play the Faure Elegy with Henri Temianka conducting the California Chamber Orchestra changed my life for the better. His sound is lodged in my memory forever. He is the greatest American-born cellist of all time.

[@FourthSpell]

Thats some heavy ass video editing skills you got there

[@schumacherenator]

Some Times Yeah, especially clever cropping out the entire right arm around 22:00 when he's showing the function of the right arm in using the lower half of the bow. Brilliant.

[@PraiseHim718]

34:07 "Come on baby, speak. We have to plead with it." I love that.

[@PraiseHim718]

I've had 3 cello lessons now, and after watching Leonard Rose here, I question what I am, and also am not, being taught. I am not the messed up (cello taught) college aged student he mentions, instead I am nearly 70. I will carry on with this for the time being, however, until I can get this figured out. I appreciate all he is saying, but at 32 minutes I am going to take a break from this video, will watch the rest shortly. It is intense, but clearly very important information. I am grateful for this video.

[@profpf]

Ron Leonard is one of the greatest teachers I've known. I wouldn't say that his lessons are 'duplicates' of these videos but he does incorporate these ideas into his own playing and teaching. I learned so much from him. Anyone who is studying with him should pay very, very close attention!

[@muken48]

Mr. Rose is my favorite musician. I've heard stories of people who cried when they have heard a particular piece of music for one reason or another. I sort of understood but thought it could be explained through psychiatry or maybe the persons state of mind at the time but it happened to me when I listened to Mr. Rose play the slow variation of the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky at about 4 o'clock in the morning many years ago...a recording. If you listen carefully. it is incredible.

[@Nnamdxxx]

Even from 1978 from old film through yoiutube that cello still rings.

[@nazabektur3809]

Brilliant! Thank you ❤

[@swilkins1984]

Wow. This is the first time I've heard his speaking voice, yet I've heard and admired his 'cello voice' for years.

[@MastanehNazarian]

This is so great! Thanks for posting.

[@KarenLCB]

Thanks so much for posting this, Steve! Extremely worthwile view for both teachers and students!

[@karenbeck8310]

Thank you for this wonderful video - what a great master, player and teacher, he was!

[@mellocello4u]

thanks so much for compiling this video..wonderful to watch...such a great master cellist

[@joznick1]

thanks for this great tribute

[@twolegsnotail]

What a marvellous effort! Thank you Mr. Honigberg (honeytown) and all the best to you !!

[@armensargsyan9263]

Fantastic!!!

[@MrGreencheetah]

What a privilege to be able to get this lesson!

[@andrewzaplatynsky4556]

Absolutely brilliant and spot on. I use this video for my violin students. Thank you, Leonard Rose.

[@munkybrain]

Thank you so very very much for this

[@strad1944]

So fabulous to have to review, and to study! Kind knowledgable and warmly enthusiastic. What a treasure. Lynn Harrell

[@alvarobitran]

Great! Thanks for posting!!

[@NHCello]

Nicely done, Steve!

[@electriccellist]

I have an autograph over 50 years old, that I still cherish from Leonard Rose.

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

11:30 pure magic - elegance and beauty. Also hopelessly outclassing Stern who was so lazy in his late years.

[@pmiahky]

Lessons with Ron Leonard are virtually duplicates of this video. So fantastic.

[@murdeface5]

this man is an amazing cellist! i have the opportunity to study with one of his best students- scott kluksdahl. amazing cellist by far.

[@dvega5576]

I study with him now!

[@MrHonigberg]

Yes. I averaged 7 lessons per year with Mr. Rose at the Juilliard School from 1979 to 1984.

[@ryanschick9882]

Interesting, did you take additional lessons with Channing Robbins? And if so, how often/how many per year?

[@MrHonigberg]

@@ryanschick9882 Most of my lessons were with Channing Robbins who was a terrific teacher who deserves a lot of credit.

[@Bigbug123456]

What a beautifully well done video! Kudo from an aspiring cellist in college :) Thanks for the great info!

[@zamyrabyrd]

Did you ever study with him? I did hear Rose play a concert of all the Beethoven Cello Sonatas around 1969 with Vladimir Sokolov in Philadelphia - wonderful memory!

[@santhemooncrystal796]

Some of the terms he used, like figure 8 and sounding point I was like "someone else said that to me now who was it??!?" It was Steve Domka, my accompanist who plays violin in a couple orchestras around where I live. Great teacher.

[@johnrobinsoniii4028]

My Teacher(G. Kagan of the Met Opera Orchestra fame) studied with Leonard Rose. And his approach to scales and bowing technique were of course passed down to me.

[@gustavwochercello1059]

I'd like to have the sound edited (add highs because his voice sounds very muffled, plus take some low mids out when he plays cello and also assimilate audio levels during his speech vs. concert clips) because I believe this is a tremendously important video for all cellists!!!

[@CelloLoop]

Thankyou!

[@ahtisuomisto7588]

My Finnish teacher has one of N. Amati´s cellos. It has a very powerful tone but requires strength to get it out.

[@clairebennett7831]

Leonard Rose is my cousin and I wanted to hear him play a piece. The last time I heard him play I was a child.

[@QauntumCellist]

Is there a video of this lesson without the video editing? (Though I appreciate the hard work and the video itself!)

[@profpf]

His dry humor is wonderful. As an undergraduate I wasn't quite ready for it!!! More's the pity.

[@MrHonigberg]

Just the opposite Nate. It was Rose who learned from lessons Galamian taught at the Meadowmount School of Music in the summer of 1952.

[@kyliestwo]

Awesome

[@marcogutierrez6198]

Mr. Honigberg, what is the string trio that is played at the end? Also what is that piano trio as well? so wonderful and I've been struggling to find music for the first ensemble format mentioned. thank you.

[@kaliheera2136]

GOD! ahhahahha I loved your comments. Leonard is so thrilling and a selfless teacher.

[@amycello]

Thanks so much for posting this. I'm looking forward to watching the whole thing, but what is surprising so far (up to 10 minutes) is that he is talking about very basic ideas, familiar to any student who has gotten to an intermediate level; bow speed, pressure, and sounding point. Was Rose one of the first teachers to articulate these aspects of sound production? Hard to imagine.

[@cello64]

What a great master! And a very kind man, too.

[@IsaiahCelloBrown]

Okay I'm confused. @19:20 When he is talking about the bow hold, what does he mean by He doesn't believe our fingers should go past the second joint?

[@MikeDrewYT]

Opening and closing the shoulder at the lower half. Maybe he misspoke, Very visible that the elbow angle was changing little in that sequence.

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

What’s with all the weird video editing techniques? Why is the background made black at times?

[@gasparocelloman9852]

I wonder if anyone remembers what brand strings he used.

[@cemr113]

Alguna traducción en español (subt)?. Übersetzung nach Deutsch Sprache (subt)? Gracias /Danke.

[@tomatojuice12]

Who is the pianist that speaks at 20:49? Is that Claude Frank?

[@pmiahky]

Yes! They are so similar obviously because of the pedigree. What I meant is that Mr. Leonard truly mastered Rose's teaching in such a way that his bow arm and even the vibrato is essentially a duplicate. He sounds like Rose and even has that dry humor. "You want to bow straight..." Ha!

[@eleanorjones26407]

I wish I could meet him... he seams cool

[@jerrywetherall9612]

One day you will have a chance to meet him, guaranteed. 🎶😎🎵

[@NickHollis21]

Really awesome video! The video effects, though, were kinda annoying. But I did learn a lot. :)

[@kaliheera2136]

'COME ON BABY PLEASE' !!!!!!!!!!!!! 'We need to plead with it to sound. ' omg nobody understands it but Rose

[@munkybrain]

I'm sure he means that the stick should lie along the place on the fingers between the two joints that divide the fingers into three segments. so the hand should not slip so far down the bow that those two joints are below the stick, and the tips of the fingers are hanging down below the bottom of the frog.

[@vavavi1000]

damn... that clip of him playing with stern... such a master.

[@bealreadyhappy]

31:49 Christopher Bunting said one needs to play badly first! Let’s face it, we all had to scribble before we could write legibly.😎

[@birdyinabox]

How did you know that he was gifted in left hand technique? Is that something that can be perceived and distinguished from plain old hard work?

[@DurpenHeimer]

Interesting to see that dispute in the master class. I do think the F-sharp sounds better, but the point of the master giving directions is for the cellist to play and experiment with in practice rather than to fully understand right away. That was completely rude and blatant of the pianist to intrude on the lesson.

[@gasparocelloman9852]

21:03 😱

[@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

✡️✝️Sept./27/2023.

[@schumacherenator]

Can you please, PLEASE re-upload this without all the horrid video effects? Dear god.

[@MrHonigberg]

It is not so easy. I'm not sure I would be able to retrace my steps. I no longer have the original on hand. The original video was in bland shape - of which I had a third generation. I'm not certain where I even got that copy. The color was faded. It was awful really. I tried to jazz it up. Sorry you didn't like it.

[@oliverdixon9924]

Well just thank you for making it available!

[@scottsgueglia5085]

Leanord Rose taught my cello teacher's, teacher.

[@owenradcliffe4696]

Casals taught my cello teacher's teacher

[@stefanrogers9091]

+Michele Lorenzi Leonard Rose taught my teacher.

[@unfinishedgestalt]

Rostropovich was taught by prof. S.Kozolupov and never by P.Casals. They just met occasionally few times.

[@ezequielcamacho5956]

Spanish suuubs pleaseee

[@whatthecello42]

He turns into the Pope at 7:35

[@JD..........]

32:33