Text and images by Setareh Rezazadeh.
This summer, in the back rooms of the Marvin Duchow Music Library, I had the opportunity to work on an archival processing project, where I described and organized textual records from the Yaëla Hertz Berkson fonds. When a collection is donated, the Library organizes and describes the documents in accordance with archival processing principles. The objective is to preserve the original order of the fonds, while ensuring that researchers can find relevant documents efficiently. Like many of the Music Library’s special collections, the Hertz Berkson fonds began as a set of boxes containing documents and objects; these materials are now well on their way to being organized, described, and rehoused in archival containers for long-term preservation. This project has been my inaugural trip within the realm of archives, and it has been a blast!
The donated collection comprises the archives of the late violinist Yaëla Hertz Berkson (1930-2014), as well as members of her family. Hertz Berkson was an Israeli Canadian violinist based in Montreal. Born in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mandatory Palestine [Israel], she started learning violin at a young age from her mother, Atara Glickson Herz, concertmaster for the Palestine National Opera. Following studies with Mischa Mischakoff at The Juilliard School in New York, she moved to Montreal and integrated herself into the musical life of the city. Within five years of living in Montreal, she became the concertmaster of the McGill Chamber Orchestra (now Orchestre classique de Montréal), a position she held for over four decades. She helped establish the Hertz Trio, an ensemble that would perform for over 20 years and which included her brother Talmon Hertz (cello) and Dale Bartlett (piano). Together they would tour the U.S.S.R, England, and Canada. Within Canada they frequently performed in Albertan towns and cities, as Talmon was based in Calgary. Hertz Berkson also established herself as a prominent pedagogue in Quebec, teaching for over two decades at Conservatoire du musique de Hull (now Conservatoire de musique de Gatineau), as well as other conservatories in the province. Outside of her teaching studio, she was a regular faculty member at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and KlezKanada.
While many documents in this collection pertain to her life as a musician here in Montreal, there are many strong ties to Jewish musical life in Mandatory Palestine. Through program notes and concert posters, a lot can be learned about musical trends both at home and abroad. Not only are there programs from performances Hertz Berkson had been a part of, but there are also many programs from those of her mother, Atara Glickson Herz. Glickson Herz studied in Leipzig in the early 1920s with Henri Marteau; after her studies, she returned to Mandatory Palestine where she performed opera, chamber music, and solo works. The collection therefore contains programs from Glickson Herz’s examinations at the Konservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig, her career in Tel Aviv, and performances she attended.
One of the unexpected joys of this project has been encountering ephemera from Expo 67 held in Montreal. Expo 67, officially known as the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, was a World’s fair held in Montreal from April to October 1967, the year of Canada’s centennial. As music was a prominent feature of the Expo, the McGill Chamber Orchestra had an opportunity to perform, and, as concertmaster, Hertz Berkson attended the Expo for both work and fun! In recognition of her position as concertmaster, she was featured in a magazine spread in the Montreal Expo 67 magazine.
She also collected programs from other orchestral performances, the Expo passport, and many, many postcards of the various countries’ pavilions (Sousfonds 1, Series A3, File 008).
Place Des Arts, the most modern cultural complex in the world. Opened late in 1963 (at the cost of some $20,000,000) on a 9 acre site in the heart of the city. Place Des Arts consists of three concert halls, lounges, an office building, and three underground parking levels. (Postcard caption)
Three years later, Hertz Berkson went on tour with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal to Osaka for Expo 70, where she collected more programs and postcards when she was not performing.
Along with fascinating details about the World’s fair, there are many other souvenirs and mementos from her tours abroad with ensembles of which she was a member. Rather unexpectedly, this collection provides excellent insight into the destinations that attract touring orchestras, especially those touring in countries hosting the World’s fair and the U.S.S.R. As the Hertz Trio also toured regularly, there are many more documents pertaining to the organization of the trio’s performances abroad, in addition to the souvenirs from their travels.
This collection provides insight not only into Hertz Berkson as a person, pedagogue, and professional musician, but also into musical life in Montreal from the 1950s to the 2000s. Whether you are interested in learning more about prominent women musicians, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the history of musical pedagogy in Quebec, or memorabilia like postcards, you will find fascinating discoveries in the Hertz Berkson fonds to support your research!
The Yaëla Hertz Berkson fonds, which contains textual and audiovisual archives as well as scores and pedagogical materials, is currently being processed by Music Library staff with the assistance of part-time student workers. An announcement will be made once the collection is available for public consultation.
