Hymanson, William (11th February 1914-11th January 2015)

Violinist and violist who was born in Manhattan and studied at the Juilliard School on a scholarship from when he was 14 years old.

He played the viola on request so that he could join the Musical Art Quartet and at that time performed regularly with Jascha Heifetz at his home and on recordings. He also performed alongside Albert Einstein who was the second fiddle with the Quartet at his residence in Princeton. The Quartet disbanded when he went into service with the army in 1944 but he continued by entertaining as a concert master at several rallies and visiting soldiers in hospitals. When the war was over he and the orchestra put on full Broadway productions for the troops and after going back to civilian life he moved to Los Angeles with his first wife, Pearl, who sadly died in 1970.

He recorded with Frank Sinatra back in the day, on albums such as The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1945. In 1947, he was part of a session that included Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra performing “My Romance” and “Tea for Two”.

He was a co-founder of the piano quartet, Scripps Chamber Music Players and he worked as a music reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. In the mid ’50s he became a member of the faculty if the Claremont Graduate School and California State University at Northridge and from 1959 to 1969 he taught at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California.

In 1963 the Department of State asked him to become the concertmaster of a chamber orchestra and with that orchestra he went on a four month tour of 13 countries in Europe.

As music changed, Hymanson easily adapted to other genres. In 1969, he performed on David Axelrod’s Songs of Experience, inspired by the poetry of William Blake. Axelrod used him again on 1974’s Heavy Axe. In 1975, he appeared on Joan Baez’s Diamonds & Rust, Robert Lamm’s Skinny Boy, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Frankie Valli – Greatest Hits.

He collaborated with a number of friends on Johnny Mathis’s and Deniece Williams’ That’s What Friends Are For, released in 1978. In 1979, he got down with Walter Murphy on Discosymphony and reunited with Frank Sinatra on his boxed set, Trilogy.

He opened the ‘80s on Lee Oskar’s My Road – Our Road. In 1981, he was summoned for violin duties on Earth, Wind & Fire’s Raise! and Jaco Pastorius’s Word of Mouth. Two of his last recordings appear to be Julio Iglesias’s 1100 Bel Air Place and the soundtrack of The Color Purple.

He also wrote a study of Paul Hindemith entitled “Hindemith’s Variations: A Comparison of Early and Recent Works”, in which he attempts to explain the modern composer’s methods regarding theme and variations.

The CD era affords us various opportunities to hear William Hymanson’s viola and violin stylings, on compilations such as Sinatra Rarities: The Columbia Years, The Columbia Years: 1943-1952, The Axelrod Chronicles, on which he served as Concert Master, and The Essential JacoPastorius.

He passed away at Casa Dorinda in Montecito, California, when he was in his hundredth year.

Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams recordings
Emotion (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb)
S CBS 6164B (UK 45)

Here’s David Axelrod performing “My Family” from his Heavy Axe which William played on…

Sources:

Hymanson, William (11th February 1914-11th January 2015)

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