Interview with William Preucil, Jr.

At the time that the new Suzuki violin recordings appeared on our Suzuki stage, Domenic Salerni, a student of William Preucil, Jr. at the Cleveland Institute of Music, was asked by the SAA Board to interview Mr. Preucil, the recording artist. Mr. Preucil, Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchesta, is also a member of the SAA Honorary Board, which in fact was the original reason to conduct the interview. SAA has been conducting interviews with all members of the Honorary Board; our readers have no doubt enjoyed coming to know these extraordinary individuals who support Dr. Suzuki’s legacy.

Mr. Preucil was a remarkable choice to record the Suzuki repertoire, having been himself a Suzuki student of his mother Doris Preucil of the Preucil School in Iowa City. Doris Preucil was President of the SAA during an era of significant growth and development of this organization. Mr. Preucil’s father, a pioneer of SAA, developed the Suzuki Viola repertoire. In addition SAA is particularly pleased that Mr. Preucil, presently Concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, was able to undertake the project of recording the Suzuki Violin repertoire.

Domenic was a most appropriate choice to interview Mr. Preucil, as Domenic is the son of past SAA Chair, Paul Salerni. Domenic, therefore, is the interviewer.

ASJ readers: I believe you will enjoy this informal conversation between William Preucil and Domenic; you may well feel you are sitting in the violin studio with them.

— Gail Lange, Chair of SAA Honorary Board

Domenic: Did you listen to the other recordings just prior to making the new one?

Mr. Preucil: Yes, I have heard all the recordings. The committee in charge of the recording made studies of the tempi, including those of the recordings Dr. Suzuki himself made, to help get a ballpark for this recording. The purpose for this study was educational. Tempo is a double-edged sword: it must be playable by the student and make sense musically.

DS: What instrument did you use? And which bow did you use?

WP: I used my 1701 Stradivarius “The Circle”. As for bows, whichever one had hair at the time (probably my Pecatte).

DS: Is that the same instrument you use with the Cleveland Orchestra?

WP: Yes.

DS: How many times did you end up playing the Twinkle Variations before you (or others on the committee) were satisfied?

WP: I actually don’t remember. One always does three to four takes even if the first time seems perfect in case of background noises, recording equipment glitches, and just to have a back-up. I would say as a guess, around six times.

DS: Did you use the music when make the recordings?

WP: Yes. I use music because I wanted to play the bowings and fingerings the committee had decided upon, and because I’m not used to using someone else’s bowings and fingerings. I also did not want to commit to memory pieces I had not played for 40 years!

DS: What was the most challenging thing about making the new recording?

WP: Sometimes the hardest music is simple music. By simple I don’t mean simple-minded, but rather transparent. Book 1 for example has a lot of open strings and is hard to make a good sound. Articulation was a big thing, especially since in a concert hall small discrepancies are negligible, but with a mike three feet away I had to make clear, uniform articulations under close inspection.

DS: What was the most satisfying about the project?

WP: It was a chance for me to relive my childhood memories, and to remember places that cause trouble the first time around. It was nice to play without the same troubles. Although, if I did make a mistake, it was in the same place I had made one before! My mom was there, which was particularly amusing. Mostly though, I was satisfied with the knowledge that what I was doing would be a help to students taking lessons and listening to the recording.

DS: With a new edition and new recording in the stores, what are your dreams for Suzuki students in the next 10 to 20 years?

WP: This new recording will help teachers and parents foster an appreciation of music as well as other artistic pursuits now and in the future.

DS: If you were to think back to your childhood, what would you say you learned from the “Suzuki environment” that your mom and dad provided to you?

WP: [thought for a while] The most important thing? Playing on an instrument is an enjoyable, fun, meaningful thing that doesn’t have to be painful. It’s social. Which explains my love of chamber music. I’ve been playing together (or almost together) with people all my life.

DS: What are your thoughts on teaching in general and do you consciously apply the Suzuki method training you received as a child in your teaching?

WP: Well, I try to always keep a positive, encouraging approach, and I try to bring out the enjoyable aspects of playing the instrument and the music. And good posture (which is very important)!

DS: [Honorary Board members were asked about new or unusual ventures in their musical lives] How did your relationship with Stephen Paulus [a well known Minnesota composer] begin, and how would you characterize your relationship?

WP: That’s in interesting question. In the 1980s, in the summer of 1982, I’m pretty sure, I was invited by the former boss of Nashville Symphony, Michael Charry, to play a concerto at the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin. I arrived the day before rehearsal started in time for one of the festival performances that evening. On the first half, there was a work for orchestra by Stephen Paulus. Afterwards, I went backstage to say hi to Michael, and he introduced me to Stephen. I asked him if he had written anything for the violin, and he said, “No, but I really have to leave for the airport right now.” I was really curious; I loved the orchestral piece.

About two years later, the artistic director of the Atlanta Symphony said Mr. Shaw wants to commission a violin concerto for the orchestra. He asked me for a composer, and I immediately said, “Stephen Paulus!” That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Stephen decided to write a piece for violin and piano first as a test-run prior to the concerto. I worked closely with him on both pieces. He has written two other pieces for violin and piano, as well as two other short works for violin and orchestra since. He also wrote a quartet for the Cleveland Quartet, as well as a concerto for quartet and orchestra that was premiered by the Cleveland Quartet and the Cleveland Orchestra in 1995. My relationship with Stephen Paulus has resulted in seven to eight premieres.

DS: Any advice for aspiring young musicians? Suzuki students?

WP: Play in tune!

DS: What is your earliest performance memory?

WP: Cake and ice cream. It’s what we got afterwards.