Saint-George, George
Saint-George, George
Saint-George, George , noted English viola d’amore player; b. Leipzig (of English parents), Nov. 6, 1841; d. London, Jan. 5, 1924. He studied piano, violin, and theory in Dresden and Prague. His violin teacher, Moritz Mildner of Prague, had a fine viola d’amore, which he lent to Saint-George for practicing; he made such progress on this little-used instrument that he decided to adopt it as a specialty. About 1862 he settled in London and became a manufacturer of string instruments; gave performances on the Welsh crwth for the “Hon. Soc. Cymmrodorion”; also played the viola d’amore in duos with his son, Henry Saint-George (b. London, Sept. 26, 1866; d. there, Jan. 30, 1917), who assisted him on the viola da gamba.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire