Editing Pierre Monteux (section)

===Early years===
Pierre Monteux was born in Paris, the third son and the fifth of six children of Gustave Élie Monteux, a shoe salesman, and his wife, Clémence Rebecca ''née'' Brisac.<ref name=c20>Canarina, p. 20</ref> The Monteux family was descended from [[Sephardic]] Jews who settled in the south of France.<ref>Canarina, p. 19</ref> The Monteux ancestors included at least one [[rabbi]], but Gustave Monteux and his family were not religious.<ref name=m18>Monteux (1965), pp 18–19</ref> Among Monteux's brothers were [[Henri Monteux|Henri]], who became an actor, and Paul (1862-1928), who became a conductor of light music under the name Paul Monteux-Brisac.<ref>Canarina, pp. 20 (Paul) and 148 (Henri)</ref> Gustave Monteux was not musical, but his wife was a graduate of the Conservatoire de Musique de Marseille and gave piano lessons.<ref name=c20/> Pierre took violin lessons from the age of six.<ref name=c20/>

[[File:Theatre du Conservatoire Paris CNSAD.jpg|thumb|left|The building which housed the Paris Conservatoire in Monteux's student days (21st century photograph)]]
When he was nine years old Monteux was admitted to the [[Conservatoire de Paris]]. He studied the violin with [[Jules Garcin]] and [[Henri Berthelier]], composition with [[Charles Lenepveu]], and harmony and theory with [[Albert Lavignac]].<ref name=c21>Canarina, p. 21</ref> His fellow violin students included [[George Enescu]], [[Carl Flesch]], [[Fritz Kreisler]] and [[Jacques Thibaud]].<ref name=c21/> Among the piano students at the Conservatoire was [[Alfred Cortot]], with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. At the age of twelve, Monteux organised and conducted a small orchestra of Conservatoire students to accompany Cortot in performances of concertos in and around Paris.<ref name=grove/> He attended the world premiere of [[César Franck]]'s [[Symphony in D minor (Franck)|Symphony]] in February 1889.<ref name=CRC34Canarina>Canarina, John. "Peerless Pierre". ''[[Classic Record Collector]]'', Autumn 2003, Number 34, pp. 9–15</ref> From 1889 to 1892, while still a student, he played in the orchestra of the [[Folies Bergère]];<ref name=c21/> he later said to [[George Gershwin]] that his rhythmic sense was formed during the experience of playing popular dance music there.<ref>Swain, Jonathan. "Pierre Monteux Edition", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', September 1994, p. 131</ref>

[[File:(Edvard Grieg and string quartet) (3470683952).jpg|thumb|right|Monteux as viola player in quartets (2nd from right), with Johannes Wolff, Joseph Hollmann and André Dulaurons, and with Gustave Lyon (Administrateur Délégué of Pleyel) at the rear and Edvard Grieg in front, Salle Pleyel, April 1903.]]
At the age of fifteen, while continuing his violin studies, Monteux took up the viola. He studied privately with [[Benjamin Godard]], with whom he performed in the premiere of [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]]'s [[Septet (Saint-Saëns)|Septet]], with the composer at the keyboard.<ref name=c21/> Monteux joined the Geloso Quartet as violist; he played many concerts with them, including a performance of [[Gabriel Fauré|Fauré]]'s Second Piano Quartet with the composer at the piano.<ref name=c22>Canarina, p. 22</ref> On another occasion he was the violist in a private performance of a [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] quartet given before the composer in Vienna. Monteux recalled Brahms's remark, "It takes the French to play my music properly. The Germans all play it much too heavily."<ref name=c24>Canarina, p. 24</ref> Monteux remained a member of the Geloso Quartet until 1911.<ref name=grove/> With Johannes Wolff and Joseph Hollman he also played chamber music for [[Edvard Grieg|Grieg]].<ref name=CRC34Canarina/> Years later, in his seventies, Monteux deputised with the [[Budapest String Quartet|Budapest Quartet]] without rehearsal or score;<ref name="Reputations – Pierre Monteux">Swain, Jonathan. "Reputations – Pierre Monteux", ''Gramophone'', January 1998, p. 35</ref> asked by [[Erik Smith]] if he could write out the parts of the seventeen Beethoven quartets, he replied, "You know, I cannot forget them."<ref name="MMSmith">Smith (2005), pp. 36–38</ref>

In 1893, when he was eighteen, Monteux married a fellow student, the pianist Victoria Barrière. With her he played the complete Beethoven violin sonatas in public. Neither family approved of the marriage; although the Monteux family were not religious, both they and the Roman Catholic Barrières were doubtful about an [[interfaith marriage|inter-religious marriage]]; furthermore, both families thought the couple too young to marry.<ref name=c22/> There were a son and a daughter from the union.<ref name=c22/>

During his formative years Monteux belonged to a group which toured with the [[Casadesus]] family of musicians and the pianist [[Alfredo Casella]]. The combination played supposed "ancient pieces", allegedly discovered in libraries by one or other of the Casadesus family; [[Marius Casadesus]] later revealed that he or his brother [[Henri Casadesus|Henri]] had written the music.<ref name="MMSmith"/><ref>Scheijen, p. 238</ref> While still a student, in 1893 Monteux was successful in the competition for the chair of first viola of the [[Concerts Colonne]], of which he became assistant conductor and choirmaster the following year.<ref name=grove/> This gave him a link via the orchestra's founder, [[Édouard Colonne]], to [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]. Colonne had known Berlioz, and through the older conductor Monteux was able to mark his scores with notes based on the composer's intentions.<ref>Canarina, p. 23 & 25</ref><ref>Monteux (1965), p. 49</ref>{{refn|group=n|These scores were stolen from his Paris apartment by the Nazis in the Second World War and lost.<ref>Monteux (1965), p. 50</ref>}} He was also employed on a freelance basis at the [[Opéra-Comique]], where he continued to play from time to time for several years; he led the viola section at the 1902 premiere of ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' under the baton of [[André Messager]].<ref name=times>"Obituary – M. Pierre Monteux", ''The Times'', 2 July 1964, p. 14</ref> In 1896 he graduated from the Conservatoire, sharing first prize for violin with Thibaud.<ref name=grove>Cooper, Martin, José A Bowen and Charles Barber [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/19020 "Monteux, Pierre"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 16 March 2012 {{subscription}}</ref>