Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recordings of
October, 1927
As we have seen already, 1927 was an intensive year of
recordings by Stokowski and the Philadelphians, leading
up to his departure for a year of absence from the
orchestra which began at the end of
October, 1927.
Stokowski conducted no concerts during the 1927 - 1928
Philadelphia Orchestra season, which began in September
1927, but he and the orchestra recorded intensively in
the Academy of Music during October, recording hundreds
of 78 RPM sides, of which 38 sides were eventually
released.
Franck D minor Symphony of October, 1927
For the first of their October, 1927
recordings, Stokowski and the
Philadelphians made the first electrical recording
of the Franck D minor Symphony October 3 and 4, 1927. Piero Coppola
in France and Sir Henry Wood in Britain had both
recorded acoustic versions of the Franck symphony on
eight sides in 1924. Stokowski and the Philadelphians
recorded the complete symphony on ten electrical sides
in the Academy of Music on November 3, 1927.
Earlier, Stokowski had
recorded an analysis of the Franck symphony. The
analysis, recorded October 6, 1927 includes Artur
Rodzinski, Stokowski's assistant, whom he had
discovered in Poland. Rodzinski was at the piano
playing themes from the Symphony.
This performance is permeated with a lush romanticism
appropriate to the period. Some may favor less
the episodic treatment and speeding and slowing of
Stokowski's performance. This speeding and
slowing, not necessarily indicated in the score, is also
characteristic of the famous Mengelberg
Concertgebouw reading of this work, but to my ears
is more mannered than the Stokowski reading.
Also, in this 1927 performance,
listen to (or download) the beauty of Anton Horner's horn theme in
the second movement.
The Franck Symphony in D minor in three movements with the analysis was issued as
Musical Masterpiece album M-22 in 1928.
1927 - Dvorak - Symphony no 9 in e
minor opus 95 'From the New World'
October 5 and 8, 1927, Stokowski
re-recorded the Dvorak Symphony no 9 which he had
recorded among his first electrical recordings in
May of 1925 (see
1925 recording of the Dvorak
Symphony no 9).
What is there to say about this famous 1927
recording? Its sound is excellent, and the performance is
thrilling. This excellent recording seems to me the most
satisfying of the six commercial recordings Stokowski made of
the 'New World'. The album, M-1 in the Victor Musical
Masterpiece series includes a 'talk side' in which Stokowski
analyzes the symphony, with the music illustrated on the
piano by Artur Rodzinski, then the assistant
conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This analysis
is also interesting. If to our ears today this
Stokowski commentary may seem overblown and
exaggerated ("...the end is like a blood-red
sunset..."), recall that for many of his listeners,
this may have been their first hearing of this symphony.
In fact, in this era before talking movies, and wide-spread
radio broadcasting of concerts this recording might have been
a listeners first hearing of any symphony by a symphony orchestra.
Also, listening to contemporaneous recordings by other U.S. and
European orchestras, I will offer the opinion that no other
record company and orchestra was creating orchestra recordings
which matched the sonic excellence and inspired
performances of
Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in this 1926 to 1929
period. Click on the links below to listen to this great
recording and judge for yourself.
1927 - Ippolitov-Ivanov - Caucasian Sketches opus 10 -
'Procession of the Sardar'
On October 11, 1927 Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded
one of Stokowski's specialties, Ippolitov-Ivanov's
'Caucasian Sketches" opus 10. The recorded the 'Procession
of the Sardar', which Stokowski decided to label 'March of
the Caucasian Chief' on the record label to better
communicate what the music was about.
This October, 1927 recording, a remake of the April, 1922
acoustic recording was, in my opinion the most thrilling
version of the seven Stokowski recordings of movements of this
work. Although often considered as a "light classic",
I find this performance by Stokowski transforms the music
into a noble and moving evocation. The 'Procession of the
Sardar" was issued on a 10 inch Victor Red Seal recording
Victor 1335, matrix BVE 26442-5.
Ippolitov-Ivanov, Stokowski, and Gliere in Russia in 1931
Click on the link below to hear the 'Procession of the Sardar' from
Ippolitov-Ivanov's 'Caucasian Sketches" opus 10.
In another major recording occurred in
October, 1927. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia
Orchestra made a new recording of Igor Stravinsky's
Firebird Suite, almost three years, to the day from the
October, 1924 recording. And what a contrast in the
recording quality in only three years! This is a result
of, not only the revolutionary improvement that was the
Western Electric recording process, but also due to
recording in the acoustics of the Academy of Music in
Philadelphia. Also, because of the freedom of the
electrical recording process, Stokowski was able to use
100 musicians for the 1927 Firebird, compared with only
34 players for the 1924 performance.
To hear the dramatic difference in recording technology
and in hall acoustics, click on the link below that has
one and a half minutes of Part II, the Berceuse music
from the 1924 and then the 1927 performances.
This 1927 recording is atmospheric and a glorious performance,
with the Philadelphia string sound at its most
sumptuous. However, there is a drawback. As
well as the usual minor cuts and instrumentation changes, Stokowski
has made an extensive cut in the finale of the last
movement of the Suite. In fact, Stokowski had made this
same cut in the 1924 acoustic performance, but cuts in
the acoustic era were the norm. The extent of the
cut is more than one minute, significant in sides
running three to four minutes. More significant is
the change in the musical effect of the conclusion of
this remarkable work.
It would seem however that this cut was not for reasons of time.
Stokowski made this same cut, not only in the 1927
recording, but again when he re-recorded it with the
Philadelphians in November 1935, the November, 1940 recording with
the All-American Youth Orchestra and also with the NBC
Symphony Orchestra recording of April, 1942.
Apparently, Stokowski
felt that the somewhat repetitive nature of the build-up
to the finale was better omitted. Yet others,
presumably including Stravinsky, believed that this
progression adds to the cumulative impact of this
thrilling finale.
Stravinsky was vocal in his resistance to the changes to
his work in performance, and he likely did not condone
this one, either, although I have seen no record of any
comment by him. Stravinsky was usually careful to
avoid any actions which might reduce his royalties (well
earned) on his compositions.
All in all, however, this is a stimulating and gorgeous performance
also with beautiful recorded sound. This recording was issued
in February, 1928 on three Victor Red Seal disks, 6773, 6774,
and 6775 A (with the 1927 Khovanshchina Prelude of side B) in Victor
Musical Masterpiece album M-53. Listen to this wonderful
performance by clicking on the links below to hear for yourself.
The mp3 recordings, below, are organized into two parts:
Part 1 - Introduction, Dance of the Firebird, Dance of the Princesses,
the Infernal Dance of King Kashchei. (The Introduction, Dance of Firebird,
and Dance of Princesses are on matrices CVE 30992-4, CVE 30993-4 and the
first half of matrix CVE 30994-4. Dance of King Kashchei is the second
part of matrix CVE 30994-4 and the first half of matrix CVE 30995-5).
Part 2 - Berceuse, Finale (Berceuse is the second half of matrix CVE 30995-5,
and this concludes on matrix CVE 39356-1).
Click here to listen to (download) the 1927 Stravinsky Firebird Suite - part 1
October, 1927 - Berlioz - La damnation de Faust - Rakoczy March
On October 12, 1927 Stokowski recorded a dynamic
performance of the Rakoczy March from Berlioz's La
damnation de Faust opus 24. This piece which
concludes the first part of Faust, and is also
known as the Marche Hongroise.
Berlioz recounts in his
Mémoires de Hector Berlioz, Deuxième
Voyage en Allemagnein a letter to Humbert
Ferrand3 how he came to write this march with
Hungarian themes.
"...Among the number of works which I composed is found
the march which now serves as the finale of the first part
of my legend of Faust. I had written it during the
night that preceded my departure for Hungary. An
enthusiast from Vienna, very well informed on the
customs of the country to which I was going to visit, had
come to find me with a volume of old airs several days
previously. 'If you wish to please the
Hungarians', he told me, 'write a piece based on their
national themes, of which they will be delighted, and
you will tell me upon your return of their hurrahs and
applause. Here is a collection from which you have
only to make a choice.' I followed his advice and
selected the theme of Rákóczy, on which I constructed
the grand march which you know,.."3
The Stokowski performance of 1927 is vigorous and filled
with character and nuance. The Philadelphians play
with splendor and a brilliant style. The sound of
the recording is excellent, including bass strings and
percussion. The 1927 recording is a triumph.
Stokowski had previously attempted to record this march in 1923
with the acoustic process, and it is easy to suppose
that the recording technique was simply not capable of
reproducing the brilliance of the orchestration given to
this music by Berlioz. In any case, Stokowski
never approved the recording for issue.
Compare this
with the spirited 1907 acoustic performance by Édouard Colonne
for Pathé. The performance and recording is
sufficient to give a listener some pleasure from the
music, but the reproduction makes this famous Paris
orchestra sound as if made up of children's instruments.
it is another example that only with the advent of the electrical
process beginning in about 1926 was is possible for the
record listener to receive a satisfactory impression of
a full symphony orchestra performing immortal works.
Have a listen to (or download) the Édouard Colonne acoustic
performance.
On the final day of this rich week of Philadelphia
Orchestra recordings, on Thursday, October 18, 1927,
Stokowski recorded one of his finest performances.
This was of the Prelude to Act 1 of Wagner's opera
Lohengrin. Recall that Stokowski and the
Philadelphia Orchestra had recorded in April, 1924, a
surprising effective
1924 acoustic recording of this Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude
.
However, with the new electrical recording process, and
in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, this 1927
recording for the first time provided the response
necessary for this ethereal music.
This recording seems to me the finest of the many
Stokowski recordings of this music. It reinforces
the concept of 1927 being perhaps the finest year of
recordings by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
This recording remained in the Victor catalog until well
into the 1940s.
The 1927 recording was released in April, 1928 as Victor Red Seal disk 6791
and as HMV 12 inch disk D 1463. The matrices
were CVE 30021-3 (later CVE 30021-4) and CVE 30022-3.
Stokowski recorded another orchestral showpiece the next
day on October 13: Camille Saint-Saëns - Act 3
Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila, opus 47.
This music comes from the final scene of the opera,
which begins in the temple with a wild bacchanalia.
After this dance,
Dalila, and the High Priest and the Philistines
taunt Samson, who prays to God to return his strength.
Samson's prayers are answered, the the opera ends opera with Samson pulling down the temple,
crushing the bacchanalia.
This music proceeds at a breathless pace, emotionally
charged, filled with passion, and with Saint-Saëns' scintillating
orchestration, including castanets to emphasize the
oriental flavor. Stokowski and the orchestra are
at the heights of their virtuosity, and this recording
is also sonically a great success. This recording
remains today one of Stokowski's most brilliant
recordings.
The Samson et Dalila Bacchanale was issued in the Summer
of 1928 on a 12 inch Victor Red Seal disk 6823, matrix
number CVE-24630-6. This disk also featured the
Rákóczy March from the Berlioz Damnation de Faust on the
other side.
Bach - Prelude no 8 in e flat minor BWV 853 from
Book 1 of the Well Tempered Clavier
Bach - Chorale Prelude "Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu
Christ" BWV 639
In October 1927, Stokowski and the Philadelphia
Orchestra recorded two of Stokowski's orchestrations of
Bach works. First, on Wednesday, October 12 was
the Prelude no 8 in e flat minor BWV 853 from Book 1 of
the Well Tempered Clavier, composed it is believed in
1722, some 205 years earlier. This prelude has
been arranged over the years for a wide variety of
instrumental combinations. The theme has a sublime
simplicity.
Stokowski's arrangement is not worse than many others,
but the performance, with ample portamento, and lush
strings applies a romantic patina that seems to my ears
to be not as satisfying as the keyboard version, whether
played on harpsichord or a modern grand piano.
At
the same time as this recording, Wanda Landowska at her
École de Musique Ancienne in Paris was teaching and
popularizing the baroque performance style of Bach keyboard works on
the harpsichord. She had previously, in 1909
written her book Musique Ancienne published in
Paris by Editions Maurice Senart4.
Landowska in her works and teaching struggled against
the romantic retouching and transformation of baroque
works, in particular of Bach. Of course this
Prelude from the Well Tempered Clavier was played by her
many times in her traversal of the 48 preludes and
fugues.
The alla breve time signature of this prelude
indicates a fast pace, rather than the swooning, lush,
romantic lingering over sonorities of this transcription
and performance.
Also recorded the next day on Thursday, October 13, 1927 was Bach's Chorale
Prelude "Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ" BWV 639 ("I
call to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ") from Bach's
Orgelbüchlein in Stokowski's
arrangement. This is a particularly beautiful and
innovative chorale written in three voice counterpoint.
Stokowski would likely have highlighted the three voices
of the chorale melody when playing it on the organ,
compared with this more homogenized version for
orchestra.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1927 Bach Chorale
Prelude 'Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ'
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Schéhérazade opus 35 was recorded by Stokowski and
the Philadelphia Orchestra in a wonderful performance in the Academy of Music
October 8 and 11, 1927. This is a beautiful, and well-recorded performance,
except for some occasional distortion caused by over-cutting of some of the matrices.
Also, Victor does not seem to have released this recording in any of the
more quiet surface versions of their albums. Having noted these
problems, the recording remains wonderful and still satisfying today.
This 1927 Stokowski recording was also the first electrical recording of this
work.
Again, the orchestra's playing is superb. The violin solo is performed gorgeously
and with musical character by Mischa Mischakoff, who was then 32 years old and
Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1927-1929.
Mischakoff had previously been Concertmaster of the
Petrograd (St. Petersburg) Symphony, the Warsaw
Philharmonic, the New York Symphony, and went on to become
perhaps the most famous concertmaster of the twentieth
century with the New York Philharmonic, Toscanini's NBC
Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and others. The
Philadelphia Orchestra by 1927 was certainly one of the
great symphony orchestras of the world, and judging from the
many orchestral recordings of the late 1920s, more
consistently excellent than many of the famous orchestras of
Europe.
The recording seems to be occasionally overcut, such as
small portions of sides one, three and six of the original
78 RPM disks. Also, there is some change in acoustic
perspective between the Saturday, October 8, 1927 recording
session and the Monday and Tuesday, October 10 and 11, 1927
sessions, likely due to orchestra and microphone placement.
This makes the transitions between some sides (such as from
side one to side two at about 4:39) difficult to match.
Stokowski recorded Schéhérazade throughout his career.
As well as the two acoustic movements from Schéhérazade (III:
Young Prince and Young Princess and
IV: Festival at Baghdad),
this 1927 recording was one of at least 5 commercial
recordings and several other live recordings of
Schéhérazade.
As was Stokowski's practice at this time (and also later), there are numerous minor cuts and instrumental changes
in this performance of Schéhérazade. One cut that is not so minor, and surprising
is the passage at the end of ‘The Young Prince and Princess’, beginning at figure O
(marked Pochissimo più animato). This passage of 30
bars, cut from the score, shown below,
was made in both Philadelphia versions of Schéhérazade.
This Stokowski - Philadelphia Orchestra performance was not
only the first electrical performance of Schéhérazade, but
it was unmatched in both interpretation and orchestra
playing for a number of years. The next year, in 1928,
Oskar Fried and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra recorded
Schéhérazade for DGG/Polydor. The Philippe Gaubert
(1879-1941) recording with l'Orchestre de la Société des
Concerts du Conservatoire was issued two years later in
1930. Neither Fried nor Gaubert come close to matching
Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It is
interesting to compare the
conventional, earth-bound performance from Fried, who was normally a
firebrand as a conductor, with the intense and poetic interpretation by
Stokowski. Also, as we have heard in other examples, the famous
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, as recorded at this time does not
match the Philadelphia Orchestra either in virtuosity or in ensemble if
one listens to the entirety of each performance.
Click on the link below to hear the first minutes
of each of the Fried/BPO and Stokowski/PO performances, and judge for
yourself.
Click hear to listen to (or download) the beginning of Schéhérazade -
First 1928 by Fried, then 1927 by Stokowski
Oskar Fried
Among the many Stokowski recordings of Schéhérazade in 1927 and 1934 with
the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the later recordings of 1951, the live
performances of 1962, 1964, and the 1975 RPO performance, 56 years after
his first acoustic recording (!), this 1927 Schéhérazade is for me the most
satisfying of all. The performance is both lush and elastic, with
the virtuous solo performances showing the Philadelphia Orchestra at
what may have been its peak level during the years between 1927 and 1929.
Listen by clicking on the links below, and judge for yourself !
Click here to listen to (download) 1927 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade - Sea and Vessel of Sinbad
Click here to listen to (or download) 1927 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade - Tale of Prince Kalender
Click here to listen to (or download) 1927 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade - Young Prince and Young Princess
Click here to listen to (or download) 1927 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade - Festival at Bagdad
1927 - Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina - Prelude to Act 4
Tuesday and
Wednesday, October 11 and 12, 1927 were certainly busy
days for Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. On
the 11th, they recorded Rimsky-Korsakov's Schéhérazade,
and Debussy's 'Fêtes', and the Ballet Music from
Schubert's Rosamunde. Then, on Wednesday, they
recorded the Prelude to Act 4 from Mussorgsky's opera
Khovanshchina, as well as Stravinsky's Firebird Suite,
Stokowski's orchestration of the Bach Prelude no 8 in e
flat minor from the 'Well-Tempered Clavier', and the
Rakoczy March from Berlioz's La damnation de Faust.
Whew!
Mussorgsky's
music always seemed to inspire Stokowski, and the dark
sonorities of Mussorgsky's music match the rich Stokowski sound
palette. In spite of the
sonic limitations of the 1927 recording technology (greatly improved
in only 2 years, and yet still restricted in frequency
range and dynamic range) this is a beautiful recording.
It was issued
on a Victor 12 inch Red Seal disk 6775 (b side), matrix
CVE-27069-5 which was included as the final side in
Victor M-53. This was the Musical Masterpiece
album in which the main work was the Stravinsky
Firebird Suite, recorded the same day.
One of the best-selling Stokowski - Philadelphia orchestra recordings during
the 1920s was of the ballet music from Schubert's 'Rosamunde' recorded in
the Academy of Music October 11, 1927. This was music composed by
Schubert for a long forgotten play by Helmina von Chézy.
This record was issued on a 10 inch Victor Red Seal record Victor 1312,
matrix BVE 37497-1 in March of the following year, 1928. On the
flip-side was the Schubert Moment Musical in F which Stokowski and the
Philadelphians had recorded in April of 1927.
On October 11, 1927, Stokowski and the Philadelphians recorded the second of
the Claude Debussy Nocturnes, number 2 - Fêtes. The original
title Debussy used when writing these three Nocturnes
during 1897 - 1899 was "Three scenes at twilight" ("trois
scènes au crépuscule"), and originally conceived
of the works as being for solo violin and orchestra.
These works were inspired by paintings by James Whistler
which Debussy saw at the home of Stéphane Mallarmé in
about 1896.
The orchestral texture is particularly beautiful and
evocative, although apparently Debussy altered the
orchestration several times, not being satisfied with
the balance.
Debussy wrote about this
work "...The title Nocturnes is to be interpreted here
in a general and, more particularly, in a decorative
sense. Therefore, it is not meant to designate the usual
form of the Nocturne, but rather all the various
impressions and the special effects of light that the
word suggests.
...
'Fêtes'
gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere
with sudden flashes of light. There is also the episode
of the procession (a dazzling fantastic vision), which
passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in
it. But the background remains resistantly the same: the
festival with its blending of music and luminous dust
participating in the cosmic rhythm..."6
Stokowski gives us a glorious and atmospheric rendition of Fêtes,
with kaleidoscopic shifts of color. The recording
at times skims over musical details, but the forward
momentum and atmosphere is exhilarating. This is also
one of the very best sounding Orthophonic recordings of
the 1920s.
This was issued on Victor 1309, matrices BVE-39354-2 and
BVE-39355-2.
Second - in the Chronological Discography page.
For example, links to a 1926 recording are also found in the
electrical recordings chronological discography page:
Chronological Discography of Electrical Recordings
This page lists all the electrical recordings from 1925 to
1940 made by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold
Stokowski and issued by Victor, including of course the 1926 recordings.
The mp3 files in this site are encoded at 128 mbps. This means that the
files are of different sizes, according to the length of
the music. For example, the second electrical recording, the
April 29, 1925 Borodin ‘Polovetzki Dances’ is small (3.6MB). In contrast,
the 1929 Le Sacre du Printemps file is large. Le Sacre part 1 is 14MB
and Le Sacre part 2 is 16MB.
This means that a large file will take a longer time to
download, depending on your internet connection speed.
Please keep this in mind when you click to listen to -
download a particularly music file. You may click
the link to the music file, but need to wait a number of
seconds or even minutes to listen to the file.
If you have any comments or questions about this Leopold Stokowski site, please e-mail me (Larry Huffman)
at e-mail address:
leopold.stokowski@gmail.com
1 Page 301. Daniel,
Oliver Stokowski A Counterpoint of View Dodd, Mead
& Company New York 1982 ISBN 0-396-07936-9
3
Berlioz, Hector. Mémoires de Hector Berlioz.
Deuxième Voyage en Allemagne à M. Humbert Ferrand. 3ème Lettre.
1861. "...Au nombre des morceaux qui le composaient
se trouvait la marche qui sert maintenant de finale à la
première partie de ma légende de Faust. Je l’avais écrite dans
la nuit qui précéda mon départ pour la Hongrie. Un amateur de
Vienne, bien au courant des mœurs du pays que j’allais visiter,
était venu me trouver avec un volume de vieux airs quelques
jours auparavant. « Si vous voulez plaire aux Hongrois, me
dit-il, écrivez un morceau sur un de leurs thèmes nationaux; ils
en seront ravis et vous me donnerez au retour des nouvelles de
leurs Elien (vivat) et de leurs applaudissements. En voici une
collection dans laquelle vous n’avez qu’à choisir. » Je suivis
le conseil et choisis le thème de Rákóczy, sur lequel je fis la
grande marche que vous connaissez..."
4 Landowska,
Wanda. Musique ancienne Le Style L'Interprétation.
Editions Senart 1909 Paris.
6 «Le titre
Nocturnes veut prendre ici un sens plus général et surtout plus
décoratif. Fêtes: c’est le mouvement, le rythme dansant, de
l’atmosphère avec des éclats de lumière brusque, c’est aussi
l’épisode d’un cortège (vision éblouissante et chimérique)
passant à travers la fête, se confondant en elle…» Debussy
dit aussi qu’ils' inspire des nuits du Bois de Boulogne, «une
retrait eaux flambeaux», le passage «des cavaliers de la Garde
républicaine, les clairons qui sonnaient leur fanfare».
"Le titre Nocturnes veut prendre ici
un sens plus général et surtout plus décoratif. Il ne s’agit
donc pas de la forme habituelle d’un nocturne mais de tout ce
que ce mot contient d’impressions et de lumières spéciales.
Nuages: c’est l’aspect immuable du ciel avec la marche lente et
mélancolique des nuages finissant dans une agonie de gris,
doucement teintée de blanc. Fêtes: c’est le mouvement, le rythme
dansant de l’atmosphère, avec des éclats de lumières brusques,
c’est aussi l’épisode d’un cortège (vision éblouissante et
chimérique) passant à travers la fête, se confondant en elle de
poussières lumineuses participant à un rythme total. Sirènes:
c’est la mer et son rythme innombrable, puis, parmi les vagues
argentées de la lune, s’entend, rit et passe le chant mystérieux
des sirènes. ".
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Oskar Fried
