Leopold Stokowski - Philadelphia Orchestra Recordings of 1936
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Leopold Stokowski - Philadelphia Orchestra
Recordings of 1936
1936 Cover of the Brochure for the Leopold Stokowski - Philadelphia Orchestra National U.S. Tour
1936 Recordings of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra
1936 was a productive recording year for Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Remarkably, these recordings were accomplished in a surprisingly few recording sessions: only three days. All the recordings in the first half of 1926 were recorded on Wednesday, January 15, 1936. These consisted of the Wagner Meistersinger Prelude to Act 1, Bach's 'Air on the G-String', and Bourée from the English Suite 2 in Stokowski transcriptions, Panis Angelicus by Franck, the Prelude to Act 3 of Tannhäuser, a re-recording of Saint-Saëns 'Danse macabre', Valse Triste by Sibelius, and a re-recording of the Brahms Symphony no 1. Whew, all this in one day of recording ! Not surprisingly, nearly all of these sides were done in one take, except for the Brahms Symphony.
Prior to the January 15, 1936 recording session Stokowski had conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra Concerts from the beginning of the season in October, 1935, and during the first two weeks of 1936, just prior to the January 15, 1936 recording session. He then took his accustomed winter break until April. Then, in April and May, 1936, Stokowski took the Philadelphia Orchestra on a national tour across the United States (with a stop in Toronto).
1936 - The National Tour of Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra
On January 2, 1936, after two years of indicating that he would leave the Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowski announced he would no longer be Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra 2. The Association Board had yielded to all his demands, but it seems that Stokowski had had enough 3.
The furor that announcement this might otherwise have caused was lessened by the previous two years of conflict between Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra Association Board, reported in detail in the press for many months, blow by blow. It would seem that most of the emotion related to Stokowski's decision, after more than 23 years as head of the Philadelphia Orchestra had become exhausted. The announcement that Eugene Ormandy would be released from this Minneapolis Orchestra contract, and would become the new Music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra seems to have been met more with curiosity 3.
However, Stokowski did receive one of the agreements which he had been seeking for at least a decade.&nbp; The Orchestra Association Board agreed to a transcontinental tour by the Philadelphia Orchestra. This would be financed by RCA Victor records, and would include 33 concerts in 27 cities over 35 days.
The Philadelphia Orchestra in its tour from Boston to Toronto to Holdredge, Nebraska, and back from San Francisco on to New York was the first U.S. orchestra to make a transcontinental tour 4.
January, 1936 Wagner Meistersinger - Act 1 Prelude
The first recording session of 1936 were on January 15, 1936. First, Stokowski and the orchestra recorded the Prelude to Act 1 of Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner. Cuts at end. Several sections recorded at excessive levels, causing some transient distortion.
Programmed in Stokowski's second Cincinnati season 1910-1911.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 recording of the Meistersinger Act 1 Prelude
January 1936 Bach Suite no 3 in D major, BWV 1068 - Movement 2 - Air
Bach wrote four Orchestral Suites 1066–1069, of which the third Suite was scored for 2 oboes, 3 trumpets, timpani with a small string orchestra. The second movement of this Orchestral Suite no 3 in D major BWV 1068 is marked 'air'. The music from this movement became famous, among other reasons due to a transcription by August Wilhelmj (1845-1908) and is popularly known as 'Air on the G String'. Stokowski made an orchestration of this piece, and first recorded it on January 15, 1936.
This movement of the Bach Suite no 3 was issued on the two sides of a Victor 10 inch Red Seal disk number 1843 in Musical Masterpiece album M-401 (or in Britain on HMV DA 1605) matrices BS 94647-1, BS 94648-1.
Click here to listen to (or download) the Air from the Bach Suite no 3
1936 - Bach - English Suite 2 in a minor BWV 807 - Bourée (Air)
Also on January 15, 1936, Stokowski recorded another of this orchestration - arrangements of music by Bach. This was a movement (fifth movement: 'Bourée') from the Bach English Suite no 2 in a minor, BWV 807.
This Stokowski arrangement of the music from the Bach English Suite, BWV 807 illustrates, as well as any the effect of what Stokowski was accomplishing. The score which resulted cannot be said to be an orchestration, since the music does not simply transform the notes into an orchestral score. It is not exactly an arrangement, either. Perhaps the best description is a transformation, in the hands of Stokowski.
There are certain common effects of Stokowski's transformations of Bach, found in his performances. Two of the key characteristics of the Bach originals is a solid, uniform rhythmic pulse, and the contrast of fugueal voices, playing off against each other. Stokowski in his performance does not keep this solid, uniform rhythmic pulse, but rather speeds up and slows down. Also, the contrapuntal voices are not displayed and played against one another. Rather, Stokowski likes to emphasize echo effects, perhaps similar to what he would have experienced as an organist, with contrasting pipe choirs coming from different parts of a church.
The contrast between these approaches - the baroque performance practice versus the more opulently romantic approach may be seen in this music from the English Suite no 2. Listen to the first half minute of this music played by Glenn Gould in 1977 versus the Stokowski version recorded in 1936.
Click here to listen to the Glenn Gould and Stokowski beginning of BWV 807
Even if you prefer your Bach as a Glenn Gould or perhaps a Nicholas Harnoncourt might play it, still, the Stokowski transformation is technically well done, and clearly achieves what Stokowski was intending to do. Also, his claim that his 'arrangements' were a means for the general public to hear the many Bach works which otherwise would not be given public performance seems to be supported by the historic listing of performances of Bach's orchestral music in concert (few and far between).
This performance was issued on a Victor 10 inch (25 cm) Red Seal disk Victor 1938, and in Europe on HMV DA 1639.
Click here to listen to the 1936 Stokowski version of Bach English Suite BWV 807 'Bourée'
1936 - Franck - Panis Angelicus (1872) in a Stokowski orchestration
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Franck Panis Angelicus
1936 - Wagner - Tannhäuser - Prelude to Act 3
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Wagner Tannhäuser - Act 3 Prelude
1936 Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor
Also on this busy recording day of Wednesday, January 15, 1936, Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded again the Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor. This recording replaced the blazing performance in the recording of 1927, but did not equal it in vitality and conviction.
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor, movement 1
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor, movement 2
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor, movement 3
Click here to listen to (or download) the 1936 Brahms Symphony no 1 in c minor, movement 4
1936 - Autumn Recording Sessions of Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Following the National Tour in April and May, 1936 Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, returned to recording over two sessions on November 15 and November 28, 1936. Again, these two days of recording were highly productive. A new recording of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 was followed by a re-recording of the Stokowski orchestration of the Bach Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor (which he had previously recorded in 1929). Other Stokowski orchestrations recorded that day were the Sarabande from Bach Violin Partita no 1, and of a Tchaikovsky song 'Solitude', and a three disk recording of Stokowski's arrangement of music from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. That was all on November 15, 1936 !
Then, on Saturday, November 28, 1936, Stokowski and the Philadelphians recorded four more works. There were two major Wagner excerpts from Parsifal: the Act 1 Prelude and the Good Friday Spell music from Act 3, both included in a Victor Musical Masterpiece album M-421. This was followed by two Bach-Stokowski transcriptions, of an aria from the St. Matthew Passion, and of the chorale prelude BWV 487.
1936 - Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 in c sharp minor
In both his 1920 and 1926 recordings, Stokowski delivered an interpretation of this orchestral show-piece significantly different from other leading conductors. The opening theme is played very slowly by Stokowski, followed by a rapid reading of the second theme, nearly to the extreme of playing. What seems to me as a 'mannered' Stokowski interpretation of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody becomes nearly a caricature of itself in this 1936 performance. Each phrase seems tailored for maximum drama and effect, but (it seems to me) more to feature Stokowski than to feature the music. The total effect is somewhat like the more extreme excesses of Mengelberg's 'interpretations', where an episode-by-episode performance style is imposed on the music in a way which seems extrinsic to the score. The orchestration of this piece (originally for piano, and number 4 of the 19 Rhapsodies - traditionally numbered 2 in its orchestral setting) seems to be a Stokowski adaptation of the orchestrations by Franz Doppler and Karl Müller-Berghaus.
In 1937, the Gramophone magazine, which was not always an admirer of Stokowski recordings liked this one. In 1937, it wrote (somewhat archly) '...some of the Philadelphia recordings have been too much for us, but this cosmic presentation of the Hungarian Rhapsodie is a crackerjack of tonal triumphs not to be missed. And needles - don't talk to me of needles. In God's Own Country we don't play this sort of thing with anything so feeble as a needle: we play it with a Streak of Lightning, snatched straight from the bosom of Heaven's Artillery. Yes, Sires! In a word (as Mr. Micawber would say), I like this record...' 5
Have a listen to this 1936 recording by clicking on the link below and judge for yourself. The recorded sound is very good, and the playing by the Philadelphia Orchestra precise and nuanced. The volume of the forté sections and the length required the second side of this Victor disk 14422 to have a smaller than usual label to allow the grooves to penetrate futher toward the center of the disk.
This recording was issued on a Victor Red Seal 12 inch disk 14422 and in Europe on HMV DB 3086 matrices CS 03100-1, CS 03101-1.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no 2
1936 - Bach - Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582
Following the Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody no 2, also on November 16, 1936, Stokowski recorded another of his arrangements of Bach organ works. This was a delicate orchestration/arrangement of the Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582. Recall that Stokowski and the Phildelphia Orchestra had recorded this arrangement previously on January 28 and May 1, 1929 on Victor Victor 7090 and 7091.
In his definitive book on Stokowski and the Bach organ works, Rollin Smith quotes from what Stokowski wrote in the Program Notes for the second tour of the All-American Youth Orchestra in 1941 1:
'Bach's Passacaglia is in music what a great Gothic cathedral is in architecture - the same vast conception - the same soaring mysticism given eternal form...The Passacaglia is one of those works whose content is so full and significant that its medium of expression is of relative unimportance; whether played on the organ, or on the greatest of all instruments - the orchestra - it is one of the most divinely inspired contrapuntal works ever conceived...' 1
This recording was issued Victor on two Victor 12 inch (30 cm) Red Seal disks 14580, 14581 in M-401 matrices CS 03102-1, CS 03103-2, CS 03104-2, CS 03105-1. In Europe it was issued by HMV on DB 3252 and DB 3253.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 Bach - Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582
1936 - 'Synthesis' (Stokowski arrangement) of Music from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov
Stokowski, throughout his career was one of the finest conductors of music by Modest Mussorgsky. Stokowski recorded the music of Mussorgsky from the acoustic era in 1922 until nearly the end of his recording career in 1975. As well as performing his own orchestrations of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition', he often performed his arrangement of music ('Symphonic Synthesis') from Mussorgsky's unfinished opera 'Boris Godunov'.
For convenience, the mp3 recordings, below, are organized into three parts: 'Music 1' 'Music 2' and 'Music 3'. This 'Symphonic Synthesis' was released by Victor as Musical Masterpiece album M-391 containing 3 Victor 12 inch (30 cm) Red Seal disks 14546, 14547, 14548. Matrices were all first takes: CS 03108-1, CS 03109-1, CS 03110-1, CS 03111-1, CS 03112-1, CS 03113-1.
'Music 1' includes music from the scenes in the 'Courtyard of the Novodevichiy Monastery' from Part 1, Scene 1, where the people urge Boris to become Tsar.
'Music 2' includes music from the 'Coronation Scene of Boris' from Part 1, Scene 2. This scene, in which Boris is crowned Tsar, is introduced by dramatic bells, and leads to a crescendo of orchestra and bells proclaiming Boris' coronation. The bells of the coronation fade, followed by the deep chimes of a monastery. This is the scene at the 'Monks in a Cell in the Chudov Monastery" from Part 2, Scene 1, in which the monk Grigoriy conceives of the idea of posing as the Tsarevich heir whom Boris murdered. The next music comes from the scene at the 'Inn on the Lithuanian Border (Siege of Kazan)' from Part 2, Scene 2. The monks Varlaam and Grigoriy enter, and Varlaam sings of of Ivan the Terrible's siege of Kazan where 83,000 Tartars died.
Coronation of Boris from 2008 San Francisco Opera Production
'Music 3' includes the scene called 'At the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed' from Part 4, Scene 1, in which a crowd gathers at the cathedral where Boris is at mass. The crowd is teasing an idiot. The crowd begs for bread and Boris, departing, asks for the idiot's blessing. Boris departs with the words of the idiot that he cannot bless a murderer. Next in this Music 3 is the concluding scene describing the "Death of Boris in the Kremlin' from Part 4, Scene 2, in which, after a dramatic scene, Boris dies to the dramatic tolling of bells.
This is dramatic music and a blazing recording. The sound is reasonably good, but we could perhaps wish for the dynamic range and sonic impact found in later recording technology.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 music from 'Music 1' of Boris Godunov
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 music from 'Music 2' of Boris Godunov
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 music from 'Music 3' of Boris Godunov
1936 - Bach Violin Partita no 1 BWV 1002 - Sarabande
In November, 1936, Stokowski and the Orchestra recorded his orchestration of the movement 5 of Bach Violin Partita no 1 in b minor BWV 1002, marked Sarabande. This included a beautiful English horn solo by John Minsker.
1936 - Chorale Prelude 'Mein Jesu was für Seelenweh befällt Dich in Gethsemane' BWV 487
During the November 28, 1936 recording session, Stokowski recorded his orchestration of the Chorale Prelude 'Mein Jesu was für Seelenweh befällt Dich in Gethsemane' BWV 487, which he had probably played often during his days as a church organist.
Click here to listen to (download) the 1936 Chorale Prelude 'Mein Jesu was für Seelenweh' BWV 487
1 pages 154-157. Smith, Rollin. Stokowski and the
Organ. Pendragon Press. Hillsdale, NY. 2004. ISBN 1-57647-103-9
2 page 1. Stokowski Quits Phila. Orchestra.
The Chester Times. Chester, PA. January 2, 1936.
3 pages 100-105. Kupferberg, Herbert. Those
Fabulous Philadelphians. Charles Scribner's Sons.
New York. 1969. ISBN 049-100394-3
4 The Phildelphia Orchestra, with Christoph Eschenbach
Conduction Tours Europe.. News Reslease. The Philadelphia
Orchestra. Philadelphia. December 19, 2008.
5 page 14. Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowski: Hungarian Rhapsody
No. 2 (Liszt, arr. Muller). HMV DB3086 (12 inch, 6 sides).. Gramophone
Magazine. London. July, 1937.
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