By ALBERT SAMMONS
ALBERT EDWARD SAMMONS made his debut in 1906 as a solo violinist at the Kursaal, Harrogate, in Mendelssohn's Concerto. He is mainly self-taught, having been taught the rudiments of the violin at a very early age by his father. After some seven years' experience of theatre and hotel orchestras, he became leader of Thomas (now Sir Thomas) Beecham's Orchestra, of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and of the London String Quartet, where he met with such success that he was much sought after by opera and orchestral societies. He led the Russian Ballet Orchestra in Berlin, and in 1913 the Dieppe Symphony Orchestra, after which he left orchestral work in order to devote his time to solo work. Sammons is one of the finest solo-players among contemporary English violinists; his playing of Elgar's Violin Concerto is of itself sufficient to stamp him as a great artist.