Sharing on behalf of Julian Woodruff:

Dear Julia,

My thanks to you, your family, and the many friends of Bob’s who participated in the memorial event for him this past Saturday. I listened and watched in not ideal conditions—I was visiting a daughter and son-in-law & their 5 young kids at the time—but I hung in there, until my phone ran out of juice, I think it was just after you finished speaking. But not to be denied all there was to see & hear, I brought up the event again last night on our desktop back in Rochester. (We had been in Toronto, where Andrea & I plan to move within a month or so). I’m very glad I did. With slightly improved audio transmission, I reviewed the remarks of all family members, and of Lois Brandwynne, then went on to take in the rest of the video.

I have to say, despite my friendship with Bob being renewed only occasionally over the last ten years, through sporadic emails and one or two social engagements, the connections and memories the beautiful remembrance brought to my mind were many and striking. I’ll mention only a few. The presence of Lois Brandwynne, for whom I turned pages in more than one performance with Bob, playing masterfully the Schubert G-flat Impromptu. The mention of Severin Saphir, whose kids I went to school and music camp with, and with whose wife I met years later in chamber music sessions at her house in south Berkeley, a long stone’s throw from where I lived my pre-violin years. The appearance of Kern Holoman, known to me only by name for 50 years or so, but whose thesis on Berlioz provided a desperately needed organizational model for a major chapter of my own dissertation. And of course the comments of your mom and of Maki Kuper, mentioning the Capitol Chamber Players and Rejean Anderson, with whom I enjoyed so many wonderful performing opportunities. The photos provided by David Nutter: I had no clue your father ever picked up a viola da gamba!—despite being the in-law of gambist/singer/church-music-critic Diana Dallman, who says she baby-sat you & Sarah while she was a student at UCD. (You probably know, your father now & then sat down at the piano: together we did the CPE Bach Phantasia and Arioso, and the Weber Violin Sonata no. 6 on noon concerts at UCD. Your own and Sarah’s profile of your father as a parent and in casual circumstances rang true: when we were in touch by phone, Bob always asked after my own family with genuine regard (my wife Andrea had also been his student in freshman theory at UCD). Last, but by no means least, the splendid recording of Bob on the Gavotte & Gigue from the E major Partita. What playing! I’m sorry not to have known of this recording, much less to have heard any of it before (does it contain the other movements?); but it does remind me of hearing him play the A minor Sonata on 2 occasions; the 2nd was, I think, the last time I heard him play but one. (And that masterful playing of the Partita also reminded me of Bob’s wonderfully inventive buffoonery, his transcription of the opening of Beethoven’s 9th for unaccompanied violin.)

Please forgive this ramble. (I’m sending it direct to you; I fear there’s too much “me” in it to be entirely appropriate for the beautiful website. Nevertheless, if you want to post it, edited or otherwise, please feel free.) I don’t suppose you need a further example of how your father impacted the lives of those around him, but I had to get this off my chest. Again, my thanks to you and your family for putting on this wonderful event, and to those of Bob’s friends who participated, especially Lois, Maki, and Priscilla Hawkins. My thoughts and prayers are for Bob, and also for you, Sarah & her family, and your mother. Your pain is inescapable and appropriate, but I hope you also find consolation in your memories of this remarkable man and his circle of loving friends.

Blessings,

Julian

My thoughts and prayers are with you during your moments of sorrow . For every Good Friday there is an Easter Sunday,

Respectfully yours,

Godfrey Coulson Bloch

I’m sorry for your loss Julie and family. I hope it’s a beautiful service. 

Dear Susan, I was sorry to hear about Bob's death.  He was a fine musician, a tremendous violinist, and a good colleague.  I recall his playing with great pleasure.  Perhaps not incidentally, the performance I remember most vividly took place in Barnes Hall, when you and Bob performed Zipoli's only violin sonata.   Please accept my sincere condolences, and convey them to your the rest of your family. Your old professor, Neal

Dear Julia, Sarah, and Susan, I was very sorry to hear about Bob’s passing and, although we did not see each other much in the past decade or so, Bob was instrumental in helping me get my feet on the ground when I returned from Europe in 1989.  I remember many a joyful chamber music reading with Bob and with my father on viola, and we did several concert together as well.  When I was hired to teach in the UCD Music Department, it was always a pleasure to run into Bob and share conversation with him.  He always had such interesting things to share.  I am sorry that I will have to miss the Memorial, as I have a previous commitment which cannot be changed, but I am sending my sincerest condolences to each of you.