From Friday 17th October, Suzuki-sensei's handwritten manuscript of “Ai ni ikiru (Nurtured by Love) ” is on special display at the Suzuki Shinichi Memorial Museum. Meanwhile, the ISA (International Suzuki Association) website has announced that, coinciding with Dr Suzuki's birthday, it has released archive footage of the “2nd European Suzuki Workshop in 1981” , recorded in Elsinore, Denmark.
The seven-volume video series comprehensively documents lessons given by Shinichi Suzuki (aged 83 at the time – how youthful he appears!) in 1981, capturing exceptionally rich content intended for both pupils and instructors.
We are now able to reveal the historical facts hidden within the story of how this footage came to be published on the ISA website, thanks to the key figure involved, Piano Teacher Trainer Ruth Miura (residing in Barcelona). We present this here in both the Japanese translation and the original English text.
A History of the Danish Suzuki DVDs
I have been asked to give an account of how the Danish Suzuki DVDs from the 2nd European Suzuki workshop in 1981, filmed by Per Kanneworff and edited by Tove Detreköy, became available on the ISA website. It was a journey which took over 20 years, but I am truly happy and grateful to all those who were involved that these exceptional archive videos are now available for future generations of Suzuki teachers to watch.
A little background
Dr. Suzuki visited Europe over a period of more than ten years in order to teach children and train Suzuki teachers by his inspiring example. I had previously met some of the Danish Suzuki students and teachers at the 1st Cambridge Suzuki workshop in 1980, but in 1981 I had not yet moved to London, and did not attend the 2nd European Suzuki workshop which was held in the International People’s College, a folk high school in Elsinore, from April 7th to 19th of the same year. It began with five days of teacher training, followed by a workshop for Danish Suzuki students, and a third children’s workshop for Suzuki students and teachers from ten European countries. (For a more complete report, see the ESA magazine: https://europeansuzuki.org/assets/Uploads/ESA-Newsletter-No-1-Volume-1-1981-min3.pdf).
From all accounts, this was an exceptionally happy and inspiring occasion for everyone, and to our great fortune, Dr. Suzuki allowed everything to be filmed at Tove Detreköy’s request. Years later, I learned that the resulting video material had been shared with another violin teacher trainer, who uploaded some excerpts on YouTube to illustrate certain basics of the Suzuki method.
Out of an abundance of caution (digital material was still in its early days in those years), the original videos had not been shown to anyone other than a few teachers, and this made me feel strongly that Dr. Suzuki’s teaching should be shared with all teachers in order to preserve his important legacy. To understand the true power of his teaching, watching an entire lesson gives a much better sense of continuity, and part of the learning process is seeing the progression from beginning to end.
From this point on, I spent over 16 years asking for access to the videos through sending annual Christmas cards, requesting in person at workshops within Europe, and later by sending email requests to ESA teachers who I hoped would be able to help. Dr. Suzuki’s example of never giving up probably made me a bit of a nuisance to some of my Suzuki colleagues- but I felt that it was important to get the videos transferred to DVD before they disintegrated with age (sadly, this had already happened to the old videos from another major ESA children’s workshop, and these films have been lost forever).
The trip to Denmark, February 26-28, 2011
As a last resort, I asked Tove Detreköy at a Suzuki event that if she could not release the videos, if she would allow me to come to Denmark and watch them, to which she kindly agreed. In exchange for this great privilege, I prepared a half day of video material which the TERI audio visual department had so generously shared with me over the years, and showed them to a small group of Danish teachers.
Tove and Bela sensei welcomed me with great warmth to the beautiful old house which was their ‘Suzuki lesson home’ for many years. As I climbed the wooden stairs, looking at all the photos of previous workshops, I felt that I could almost hear the echo of footsteps of the countless children who had begun their Suzuki studies in that wonderful place. I slept on a camp bed in Tove sensei’s studio, and spent two days watching stacks of VHS videos of the Elsinore workshop until the early hours of the morning, taking notes on all the contents for later reference. Violin teacher Marianne Rygner also came to watch some of the videos together with me, and I was deeply touched by the sense of complete trust and Suzuki companionship I felt by being allowed to spend a large part of those two days alone with such precious material. It was like seeing Dr. Suzuki in person again and feeling his great spirit.
The DVD pedagogical contents
These videos are an exceptional document, as Dr. Suzuki was in amazing form in 1981. His sense of humour, coupled with great clarity and high expectations, shone through in his work with both teachers and the small groups of students he taught. This even extended to the musical tempos he asked the pianist to follow! (See the Seitz Concerto on DVD 2, where he conducts the entire piano introduction).
I had never heard him playing so much before on other videos, and with such inner power. A sense of this can be felt on DVD 7 during one of the individual teachers’ lessons on the Handel D major Sonata, where he works on phrasing and a sense of prayerfulness, demonstrates by playing, and talks about how he can feel Handel’s spirit.
His humorous comments always had a core of truth, and were often used as a way of relaxing the intense concentration. To the teachers once: ‘We must say thank you to the horse – otherwise it would be impossible to play the violin!’ (without the horsehair). He was always resourceful- and once, when he found himself without enough chocolates to give out during a group lesson Tonalization exercise, one chocolate was carefully handed round to each person who played!
Don’t rush, but don’t stop (Dr. Suzuki, Nurtured by Love)
Tove（right）＆ Bela
At a Suzuki event later on that year in Germany where we happened to meet, Tove sensei told me, ‘Your troubles are over’, and explained that they had begun the arduous process of converting the videos to DVD format. Several years passed without any news, before I received an email from Marianne Rygner in 2015 telling me that due to Tove and Bela’s advanced age (they were both 90 that year), this project had been put on standby. I replied that I had not given up hope that one day it would be possible to make the DVDs available to all Suzuki teachers. This was a point on which we all agreed, but making it happen took longer than expected.
Things gradually began to move forward in a positive way. After meeting the DSI president and Suzuki violin teacher trainer Jan Matthiessen at the 70th Anniversary of Suzuki Method celebrations which were held in 2016 at the Colegio Montserrat in Barcelona, he told me he had learned that his Suzuki violin colleague Claus Kanneworff’s father Per had filmed the videos, and that eventually it would be possible to have copies made.
By February 2017, TERI Chairman Dr. Hayano had also asked me about other videos of Dr. Suzuki’s visits to Europe. He had learned of the existence of the Danish videos from Mitsuko Kawakami, who has always been of such great support to me during her years at the TERI office, and reiterated that Dr. Suzuki himself would have wanted them to be shared for teachers to learn from.
In February 2017, I received the best news of all – Jan wrote to tell me that he had received a complete set of the Elsinore DVDs from Claus sensei, and had been given permission to make copies for me. The idea was to upload them onto a private YouTube channel, with the condition that they were not to be sold commercially or altered in any way.
When another year went by without any news, I wrote again to ask about the DVDs. Technical problems in copying the videos were responsible for the delay, so it was indeed a very happy day when I finally received the physical copies from Jan sensei of DVDs 1-6 in June 2018. DVD 7 followed in digital form, and all the material was immediately copied onto an external hard drive (thanks go to guitar teacher trainer Mauro Bianco Levrin for his technical assistance). Since then, I have showed excerpts of the Elsinore lessons to many teachers on different occasions, and they are always awed and inspired by Dr. Suzuki’s life force and powerful teaching. To those who knew him, his use of English was picturesque at times, but always went straight to the point!
The last steps
Dr. Suzuki taught me over the years about the value of perseverance – and this was indeed the longest Suzuki project I have ever worked on. In October 2023, I gave a digital copy of all the Elsinore workshop videos to Dr. Hayano at the Teacher Trainer’s Convention in Matsumoto, as a thank-you for TERI’s great generosity in sharing their historical videos of Dr. Suzuki with me over the years. They have long been an invaluable way to show both new and experienced teachers excerpts from historical concerts, as well as Dr. Suzuki teaching and speaking on his philosophy.
Last month in October 2025, Dr. Hayano replied to one of my emails from 2023 to inform me that the DVDs had been posted on the ISA website in time for Dr. Suzuki’s birthday. I think this is a perfect way to ensure that the material will remain secure and unaltered. We are all very fortunate that Allen Lieb has worked so tirelessly over the past years to preserve the audio-visual legacy of Dr. Suzuki through the ISA video archives. I am extremely grateful to them both. I have never met Claus sensei or his father Per, but their great generosity in sharing these videos is a bright star in our Suzuki archives, and will continue to inspire generations of Suzuki teachers.
I would also like to extend my deepest thanks to all the Suzuki colleagues who made this end result possible, and thank them for their patience, especially to Suzuki violin teacher trainer Jan Matthiessen, without whom I would never have experienced the joy of receiving a package of DVDS postmarked from Denmark.
Addendum
In 2011, I made a detailed summary of all the 7 DVDs which lists as far as possible all the repertoire performed in both the group and individual children’s and teachers’ sessions, with added comments on specific lessons and occasional clarification. There is also a more recent summary of each DVD prepared by the ISA which can be accessed on their website.
Ruth Miura, Barcelona
27 October, 2025
The following is an overview of all seven volumes of footage compiled by Ruth Miura. It will prove highly useful for your viewing.
Dr. Suzuki in Denmark – The Elsinore DVDs Filmed during the 1981 Suzuki workshops in Helsingfor
DVD 1 : Books 1 and 2 2 hours
Contents: Lectures, group and individual lessons for children and teachers Group lessons: Individual lessons: __ year old student: Andante __ year old student: Lully Gavotte
DVD 2: Books 3 and 4 2 hours 58 min.
Contents: Group lessons for children and teachers Minuet 3- power at the tip, bow speed, dynamics, playing and speaking at the same time 17:06: Seitz Concerto- Dr. Suzuki plays the entire piece with the children 28:49: On using “Ki” (energy) for strong chord playing: breathing Vivaldi A minor- relaxing little finger, Judas Maccabaeus , upside-down bow 40:30 : Individual lessons for children __ year old student: Bach Gavotte in D major Elbow training – Suzuki gives child an ashtray and asks him to move with his elbow. “Your violin is too small” – Suzuki gives the child his own violin to play Whole-body practice 59:00:_______, __ yrs. old: Seitz Concerto Dr. Suzuki conducts the piano introduction Elbow moves together with arm 1:16: ________, __ yrs. old: Vivaldi A minor Concerto (performance) 1:21: (lesson) “I cannot smoke!” 1:34: ________. __ yrs. old: Bach Double 1:38 (lesson) using clip-on bow weight, developing thumb power 1:48: Individual lessons for teachers Fan yourself (“wind to you”) to relax left hand for vibrato training -Dr. Suzuki plays his Nagoya Cradle Song -Mary Trewin (England)
DVD 3:Sessions for teachers 60 minutes
Contents: Basic teaching techniques The bow hold – how to give the bow to the child Bow posture Finger action Changing strings “Panda” Group lessons for teachers -Arpeggio training, tone without pushing, G-string posture with straight bow, parallel to floor -Dr. Suzuki’s counting system for students: “only 3 times” -Panda: playing Twinkle while moving fingers up and down the bow. “no noise” – fast upbow, using elbow -Elastic power of the horsehair (Gossec Gavotte) “bu-ran” means “relax” in Japanese. Relaxing before playing each group of notes in Händel Bourree. “with bu-ran, not with Bu-randy”! Kreisler Highway contest – the winner receives a chocolate - but there is only one which is carefully handed on to each new player!
DVD 4: Sessions for teachers 60 minutes
Contents: Left hand power Power at the tip of the bow Relaxed elbow position Whole-arm motion
DVD 5: Sessions for teachers 47 minutes
Contents: Violin techniques, developing tone colour Staccato, marcato, spiccato, bouncing bow, double-stop training, slow bow – same volume Minuet 2: staccato training Dr. Suzuki demonstrates by walking on a “line” (“same condition” for up bow and down bow) Lucky Dip game: “if you cannot play, sit down.” Ideas for review in group lessons
DVD 6: Sessions for teachers 59 minutes
Contents: Tonalization, Casals Tonalization Vibrato, Shifting, Kreisler Highway Group lessons for teachers “(It is all right to) push with the horsehair, but do not push with the bow – it is only an instrument to help the elastic power of the horsehair”. Martini Gavotte, Bach Bourrée (minor section) -Trill practice: clear start of tone (Kreisler’s legacy) -Vibrato: Nice tone without vibrato is missing 50% (“50% minus”) Children must listen to Thibaud, Kreisler and Casals to develop good vibrato. (Dr. Suzuki is not satisfied with his vibrato: “don’t play like me” – listen to great artists) Teachers must work together and constantly research. “How to educate” – this means working together and constantly developing new ideas. -Shifting: J. Maccabaeus (listening to each teacher and giving prizes) “Sit down if you make a mistake” (switching to upside down bow at the ends of the phrases). Dr. Suzuki increases the tempo to make it more difficult! “We must say thank you to the horse – otherwise it would be impossible to play the violin (without the horsehair)”! Individual lessons for teachers Same tone for each note in slurs (scale-playing) - like pianists (every note should be clear) In 3 years of study with Casals, Mr. Sato, the Japanese Suzuki teacher, studied only tone production (Casals Tonalization) -Casals Tonalization is used to teach tone – any piece can be used for this. -Developing tone colour on long notes as opposed to playing with “straight tone” -“Typist”: playing without mistakes, but no change in tone colour
DVD 7: Books 5 and up 2 hours
Contents: Group lessons, individual lessons for children and teachers Group lessons Vivaldi G minor : on breathing and “ki” “9,990 times left to practice” Fiocco Allegro: playing in pairs (one child bows, the other fingers) Bach Double: Games for ability training divide into two groups, Dr.Suzuki has children switch groups one at a time and play “follow the leader”. 16’28- playing on the Kreisler Highway 36’05 -Improvisation: copying Dr. Suzuki who invents various melodies – some of these become quite complicated, but the children are very good at this game! (at 1hr 24?) 38’36- Tonalization: Dr. Suzuki plays on the children’s violins -Kreisler Highway contest (J. Maccabaeus) for chocolates – Dr. Suzuki also tries and wins a chocolate. Children’s group lessons: Eccles Sonata Children’s individual lessons _______: Bach A minor, 1st mvt: Posture, straight bow, E-string tone, G- string training (bending over and bowing from above), bow speed _______: Bach Solo Sonata: Panda, bow speed, finger flexibility Teachers’ group lessons Changing strings Casals Tonalization , using Twinkle A rhythm (tone colour on last 2 notes) “Monotony is the enemy of music” (Pablo Casals) Individual lessons, teachers Fiocco Allegro : changing strings 1 hr’52 Händel D major Sonata, 1st mvt, excerpt from 2nd) mvt. Musical sensitivity and tone colour – “you must pray and meet Händel when you play this piece”. “prayerful tone” – taking time to let shape the ends of phrases Dr. Suzuki plays the entire first movement together with the trainee and then begins the 2nd mvt. – “I cannot play, but I can feel Händel.” This piece evokes memories of Casals - “Monotony is the enemy of music.”
