Sol Babitz

Sol Babitz ( born October 11, 1911 in Brooklyn NY, † 1982 in Los Angeles ) was a U.S. American violinist, music theorist and pioneer of historical performance practice.

Sol Babitz taught himself to play the violin as a largely self-taught at. It was not until after high school, he took lessons with Carl Flesch and Marcel Chailley (1881-1936) in Paris. His interest in historical performance practice was awakened by the writings of Arnold Dolmetsch and promoted by Igor Stravinsky. As a violinist he was from 1933-1937 in the " Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra" and until 1952 he played in the "Hollywood Studio Orchestra".

In 1948 he was co-founder of the " Early Music Laboratory " ( EML) in Los Angeles, where he devoted much of his research in historical performance practice, especially in the field of music of the 17th and 18 century. He also dealt with the ancient techniques of violin playing (see Baroque violin) and harpsichord playing.