Lord Menuhin and the Menuhin Festival Gstaad:
A Living Affinity with the Saanenland

Lord Menuhin, the founder of the Gstaad classical music festival bearing his name, is still remembered as a world famous violin child prodigy, conductor and humanist. His remarkable humanity, his multi-faceted artistic gifts and his perpetual curiosity were the hallmarks of his creative endeavours. It was in 1957 that this honorary resident of Saanen founded the legendary festival in the Saanenland. The promotion of young talent was just as important to him as playing music amongst friends.

A Russian Cosmopolitan

Born in 1916 in New York into a family of Russian Jewish immigrants, Yehudi Menuhin grew up in San Francisco. Watched over by his strict parents as he practised and learned, he was quickly seen to be a musical prodigy. All his life, Yehudi Menuhin was a nomad and a cosmopolitan and travelled the world as a humanist, organiser and musician.

A Passion for Difference

His interest in other cultures and musical movements saw him arrange encounters between various styles at the Gstaad Festival, revealing the binding power of music, for example with Indian sitar-player Ravi Shankar (in 1971 and 1975) or with jazz virtuoso Grappelli. Menuhin endlessly pursued the “healing power in musical harmony”. Meditation and yoga exercises were important to him, and music was indispensable.

Love of Gstaad

In 1957 Yehudi Menuhin and his family moved to Gstaad and founded the Menuhin Festival Gstaad. The elemental power of the natural environment and the mountains fascinated and inspired him. He was impressed not only by the Saanenland’s magnificent alpine arena, but also by the meeting of Western Switzerland, German-speaking culture, and the nearby South with its Italian lifestyle. Since Gstaad and its surrounding area also offered an ideal environment for an international education for his children (among others, the “Le Rosey” Institute and the International Kennedy School are based in the Saanenland), Menuhin settled with his family in the area. Walking in the mountains with his children, the city-dweller discovered the natural world of the native population, who were also to inspire Menuhin with their folklore and music.

Discovery and Promotion of Countless Talented Young Musicians

Infected by the virus of pedagogical work with young musicians and motivated by the idea of sharing his life experience, Menuhin’s busy concert schedule increasingly was accompanied by writing, teaching and the direction of his festivals (since 1957 in Gstaad and from 1959 to 1968 also the artistic director of the festival in Bath). In 1963 he founded his Yehudi Menuhin School in London, later in more expansive premises in Stoke d’Abernon, a school for outstanding young musicians that now receives state funding. In 1977 the International Menuhin Music Academy moved with the Camerata Lysis from Holland to Gstaad and under the direction of his student Alberto Lysy it becomes a jewel in the cultural life of Gstaad and the three valleys: Pays-d’Enhout, Saanenland and Obersimmental.

Untiring Dedication until the End

In den 80er und 90er Jahren verlagert sich Menuhins Wirken immer mehr nach London: Yehudi Yehudi erhält 1987 von der britischen Königin den «Order of merit», und wird 1993 zum Baron mit dem Titel «The Right Honorable Lord Menuhin of Stoke d’Abernon» ernannt. Unermüdlich bleibt der grosse Humanist und Musiker aktiv, dirigiert auf der ganzen Welt und gründet 1994 in Brüssel «MUS-E». Als musikalischer Leiter wirkt er bis 1996 in Gstaad und wird als einer der bekanntesten Weltbürger und angesehener Humanist mit vielen Ehrungen überhäuft. Ganz überraschend stirbt er am 12. März 1999 in Berlin auf einer Konzerttournee mit seiner Sinfonia Varsovia. Ein gutes, rastloses Herz hat wenige Wochen vor dem 83. Geburtstag aufgehört zu schlagen.