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Claus Adam

American cellist, teacher and composer (1917-1983)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ4057242
Source-derived summary

Claus Adam (November 5, 1917 – July 4, 1983) was an American cellist and cello teacher as well as a composer. His music teachers include Emanuel Feuermann for cello, Stefan Wolpe for composition, and Léon Barzin for conducting. He served as the second cellist of the Juilliard String Quartet from 1955 to 1974, preceded by Arthur Winograd and succeeded by Joel Krosnick, a former student of his. Composer and pianist Awilda Villarini was also one of his students.

He devoted the last decade of his life primarily to musical composition, and several of his works—including a cello concerto and a string trio—are published by G. Schirmer.

Adam lived in Indonesia until he was six. His father, Tassilo Adam, was an ethnologist there. He then went to Europe and studied in Salzburg.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Claus Adam” as american cellist, teacher and composer (1917-1983). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1917, 1983, 1955, 1974—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1917-11-05. The account is most persuasive where Claus, Adam and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american cellist, teacher and composer (1917-1983). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4057242. VIAF identifies the subject as 199206. The Library of Congress control number is nr90026223. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1917, 1983, 1955 and 1974.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Claus Adam”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Claus Adam primary sources, Claus Adam archive and Claus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Claus Adam”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Claus Adam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.