William Fitzpatrick: Pyotr Stolyarsky: A Factory of Diamonds - From the Violin Expert
Aug 19, 2026 · 6 min · 7 segments
Aug 19, 2026 · 6 min · 7 segments
But who taught him? And just how did they teach him? Well, Oistrakh referred to Pyotr Stolyarsky as his first and only music teacher.
Apparently, Stolyarsky believed that a child should be given the whole range of skills a performer needs, from chamber music to orchestra, right from the start.
Stolyarsky started teaching in his apartment, and years later, the state took the idea over and turned it into a school for gifted children, the first of its kind in the Soviet Union.
Mothers sat out in the corridors waiting and discussing the problems of violin playing with great excitement and, by all accounts, remarkable knowledge.
His working day lasted from early in the morning until late in the evening, but even so, he couldn't devote the same amount of time to each of his pupils.
So he would work with the most talented children sometimes two or three times a day, and the other students, some of whom had wealthy, snobbish parents, he would listen to without making any comments or attempts at improving their play, sending them home, but first reminding them of the deadline for paying the tuition fee.
So how did all this start? Well, Stolyarsky's family were klezmerrema, meaning they were klezmer musicians, and this meant that he played with his family constantly and grew by listening rather than being shown.
that said his father was his first violin teacher then sefchik followed by barchevitz who had trained under loup and later romali at the moscow conservatory in odessa two more teachers shaped him mwynarski and Karol Bulka, himself a pupil of Binovich.
So through that one teacher, Stolyarski's lineage runs straight back to Auer, and then to Joachim.
But where did the idea of teaching the very young come from? I mean, he had no formal training in child psychology.
So although his gift for teaching children seems largely instinctive, he was at least connected to our pedagogical tradition through the teachings of Minarski.
But who taught him? And just how did they teach him? Well, Oistrakh referred to Pyotr Stolyarsky as his first and only music teacher.
Apparently, Stolyarsky believed that a child should be given the whole range of skills a performer needs, from chamber music to orchestra, right from the start.
Stolyarsky started teaching in his apartment, and years later, the state took the idea over and turned it into a school for gifted children, the first of its kind in the Soviet Union.
Mothers sat out in the corridors waiting and discussing the problems of violin playing with great excitement and, by all accounts, remarkable knowledge.
His working day lasted from early in the morning until late in the evening, but even so, he couldn't devote the same amount of time to each of his pupils.
So he would work with the most talented children sometimes two or three times a day, and the other students, some of whom had wealthy, snobbish parents, he would listen to without making any comments or attempts at improving their play, sending them home, but first reminding them of the deadline for paying the tuition fee.
So how did all this start? Well, Stolyarsky's family were klezmerrema, meaning they were klezmer musicians, and this meant that he played with his family constantly and grew by listening rather than being shown.
that said his father was his first violin teacher then sefchik followed by barchevitz who had trained under loup and later romali at the moscow conservatory in odessa two more teachers shaped him mwynarski and Karol Bulka, himself a pupil of Binovich.
So through that one teacher, Stolyarski's lineage runs straight back to Auer, and then to Joachim.
But where did the idea of teaching the very young come from? I mean, he had no formal training in child psychology.
So although his gift for teaching children seems largely instinctive, he was at least connected to our pedagogical tradition through the teachings of Minarski.
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