Leopold Stokowski Concerts -

[1941]

Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244

- LoRean Hodapp, soprano

- Elizabeth Krueger, contralto

- Harold Hedgpeth tenor (Evangelist)

- John Baumgartner bass (Jesus)

- George Krueger bass

Henri Switten cembalo; Georges Couvreur organ, the Westminster Choir School, John Finley Williamson director

note: It seems unfortunate that this last Stokowski subscription concert of his Philadelphia tenure should feature singers of such a lack of stature that it is difficult in research to ascertain their professional identities.

the Baltimore Sun wrote of the soloists: "There were soloists, but perhaps it is as well not to mention them at all. The singing sometimes came from the throat alone, however, and not always from a deep reservoir of spiritual insight into the music." ⁹¹

About the Carnegie Hall performance, John Alan Haughton wrote: "Mr. Stokowski did some strange things, such as having members of the Westminster Choir, which was the chorus of the occasion, sing the solo parts. It was not an eminently successful experiment." ¹¹⁴.

the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: "the Matthew Passion in its entirety would occupy about 4 hours. Mr. Stokowski has revised it to an hour and a half, more or less ¹³¹.

Concert for Children

Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier - Prelude and Fugue in c minor BWV 847: Fugue - Stokowski transcription

The Story of Noah's Ark.

Stravinsky: Petrushka Suite from 1911 ballet: Russian Dance

This Children's Concert is a low-key ending to three decades of Stokowski service with the Philadelphia Orchestra

Stokowski's Initial Concert of the 1941 trans-continental tour of his new All-American Youth Orchestra

the Associated Press wrote: "The All-American Youth Orchestra has been organized by Leopold Stokowski, one of the most brilliant and colorful figures in the musical world as a means of discovering and developing outstanding young talent between the ages of 16 and 27 for orchestral and instrumental work... The orchestra will make a tour of cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States starting in May and ending in the middle of July."

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Tales of Our Countryside (1941) - Henry Cowell piano (who joined the United States tour of the AAYO):

• Deep Tides
• Exultation
• The Harp of Life
• Country Reel

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Ancient Desert Drone (1940)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

encore: Chopin: Mazurka in A minor opus 17 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

encore: Tchaikovsky: Humoresque in G major, opus 10 no 2 - Stokowski transcription

the Baltimore Sun wrote: "The tone of the orchestra was flashy, crystal cut rather than suave; insistant rather than beguiling; powerful, clear." ¹¹²

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Ancient Desert Drone (1940)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Olin Downes in the New York Times wrote: "...At its best - indeed on average - this orchestra is irrefutable testimony to and confirmation of Stokowski's realization that in America today there is an immense and growing number of young orchestral players, exceptionally gifted, superbly trained and so accomplished that they anc be assembled and in the space of two weeks rehearsing by their present leader made into a flexible, sensitively fused musical ensemble..."

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Victor Young (1900-1956): Charm: a ballet: " Shadows and Sunshine"

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

This Tristan und Isolde Synthesis is a regular feature of Stokowski concerts. In Leopold Stokowski Transcriptions, Maestro Serebrier explained:  "Stokowski's "symphonic synthesis" consists of Wagner's own concert version of the Prelude and Liebestod, interpolating between them music of the Liebesnacht from the second act. His intention was not to create a suite, but an extended symphonic poem, with the several sections moving seamlessly from one to the next, harmonically and thematically. Stokowski did not alter Wagner's scoring but limited his input to replacing the vocal lines with instruments, such as the cellos performing Tristan's lines at the start of Liebesnacht and the violins taking up Isolde's. At other times, Stokowski leaves Wagner's orchestral music alone, without the vocal lines, as Wagner himself had done in his own orchestral versions of scenes from his operas."

concert in the outdoor stadium of Rutgers University with an audience of 5,000.

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Tales of Our Countryside (1941) - Henry Cowell piano:

- Deep Tides

- Exultation

- The Harp of Life

- Country Reel

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

concert attended by 10,000 according to newspaper reviews

C.W.D. in the Boston Globe wrote:"Henry Cowell was assisting pianist in his 'Tales of Our Countryside'...the piano portion, including long solo passages, was something to watch as well as hear. Mr. Cowell still employs the 'tone clusters' he originated, consisting of several notes struck at the same time by elbow, forearm, or fist." ⁷⁶

Olin Downes in the New York Times wrote:"At its best - indeed on its average - this orchestra is irrefutable testimony to and confirmation of Stokowski's realization, which he came to well in advance of his critics, that in America today there is an immense and growing number of young orchestral players, exceptionally gifted and superbly trained and so accomplished that they can be assembled and in the space of two weeks of rehearsing by their present leader made into a flexible, sensitively fused instrumental ensemble." ⁷⁶

concert included as an encore:

Roy Harris (1898-1979): Folksong Symphony: one of the Interludes (1940)

Paul Creston early in his career  

concert included:

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Symphony no 1 opus 20 (1940): Scherzo movement

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Ancient Desert Drone (1940)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Encore: Weber: Invitation to the Dance opus 65 - Stokowski transcription

During the intermission, relayed into the hall speakers was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio address announcing an unlimited US national emergency in response to Germany's European conquests.

Pittsburgh critic David Steinfirst wrote: "...the tone of the woodwinds is warm, that of the strings brilliant because of Stokowski's unusual seating arrangement..."

The Zoological Park Amphitheater, Toledo, Ohio site of the 28 May 1941 outdoor concert  

An outdoor concert at the Amphitheater of the Zoo of Toledo, Ohio, with proceeds going to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra Association

Charles Miller: Appalachian mountains: an American folk rhapsody (1939)

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Natalie Bender (1919-1988?): San Louis Rey (Natalie Bender was later a long-time assistant to Stokowski including until his death in England in 1977)

Encores: Bach, Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss

4,000 persons attended the Concert. The Milwaukee Journal wrote "The glorious climax of the Bach Fugue was all but breathtaking in its power and beauty." ⁹⁹

Henry Cowell, composer and pianist would produce note clusters on the keyboard by using elbow and fist, and create pizzicato effects by picking the piano's strings  

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Wagner: Die Walküre: "Ride of the Valkyries"

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Ancient Desert Drone (1940)

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Victor Young (1900-1956): Charm: a ballet: " Shadows and Sunshine"

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Natalie Bender (1919-1988?): San Louis Rey

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Preludio in E - from Partita no 3 in E major BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

Charles Miller: Appalachian mountains : an American folk rhapsody (1939)

encore: "Star Spangled Banner" with audience singing

Service men in uniform were admitted free of charge

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Roy Harris (1898-1979): Folksong Symphony: one of the Interludes (1940)

Encores: Bach, Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss

9,000 tickets sold for this concert ⁶⁸

The Exhibition Hall, Kentucky State Fair Grounds site of the 11 June 1941 concert  

Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Symphony no 1 opus 20 (1940): Scherzo movement

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Encore: John Stafford Smith: Star Spangled Banner

concert was played to an audience of 6,500 in a hall usually given to livestock exhibitions

Concert sponsored by the Womens Field Army for the Control of Cancer

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899): Fêtes

Franck: Symphony in D Minor (1888)

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Stokowski wrote to Gould: "I like the music immensely. We are playing your Guaracho and Rhumba and I think it is wonderful how you have caught the spirit of this music and yet expressed it through our kind of orchestra..." ²³.

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

This Tristan und Isolde Synthesis is a regular feature of Stokowski concerts. In Leopold Stokowski Transcriptions, Maestro Serebrier explained:  "Stokowski's "symphonic synthesis" consists of Wagner's own concert version of the Prelude and Liebestod, interpolating between them music of the Liebesnacht from the second act. His intention was not to create a suite, but an extended symphonic poem, with the several sections moving seamlessly from one to the next, harmonically and thematically. Stokowski did not alter Wagner's scoring but limited his input to replacing the vocal lines with instruments, such as the cellos performing Tristan's lines at the start of Liebesnacht and the violins taking up Isolde's. At other times, Stokowski leaves Wagner's orchestral music alone, without the vocal lines, as Wagner himself had done in his own orchestral versions of scenes from his operas."

Encore: John Stafford Smith: Star Spangled Banner

Encore: Bach: Aria "Air on the G-String" (from Orchestral Suite no 3, BWV 1068 - Stokowski transcription

Encore: Weber: Invitation to the Dance opus 65 - Stokowski transcription

The Ellis Auditorium in Memphis with a capacity of 12,000 in 1941. Elvis made one of his earliest sold-out concerts there only 14 years after Stokowski's concert  

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Schubert: Symphony in B minor, D759, "Unfinished"

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Tranfiguration), opus 24

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Symphony no 1 opus 20 (1940): Scherzo movement

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

8000 attended the concert sponsored by the Kansas City Junior Chamber of Commerce

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Natalie Bender (1919-1988?): San Louis Rey

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Encore: John Stafford Smith: Star Spangled Banner

Encore: Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Roger Sessions composing syle was primarily tonal and chromatic  

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Roy Harris (1898-1979): Folksong Symphony: one of the Interludes (1940)

Roger Sessions (1896-1985): Violin Concerto (1935): Largo

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Tranfiguration), opus 24

Henry Brant in his compositions used spatial effects with multiple, separate musical ensembles simultaneously playing together. He also experimented with controlled improvisation, and large instrumental groups, such as 80 trombones or 75 guitars. City Portrait is a ballet for full orchestra and percussion  

concert included Henry Brant (1913-2008): City Portrait ballet: "Decisions"

concert sponsored by Latter Day Saints Choir

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Tranfiguration), opus 24

Franck: Symphony in D Minor (1888)

Natalie Bender (1919-1988?): San Louis Rey

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Encores: Bach, Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss

concert included:

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Morton Gould: pianist, conductor, success on TV, prolific composer, Morton Gould was an amazing, mostly self-taught talent, championed by Stokowski throughout his career  

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade opus 35 (1888)

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Plan of the Rose Bowl acoustic shell and seating for the 29 June 1941 concluding AAYO concert  

Concluding concert of the Summer 1941 trans-continental tour of the All-American Youth Orchestra

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"Placement of an acoustic reflector was selected by Maestro Stokowski, creating a 'bowl within a bowl' and restricting the audience to 15,000 persons..." ⁹

Recording sessions with the All-American Youth Orchestra followed at the Republic film studios in Hollywood 3 to 20 July 1941 by Columbia Records including a dozen of the Bach-Stokowski transcriptions, Mussorgsky-Stokowski Pictures at an Exhibition, Brahms Symphony no 1, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo, Falla "Ritual Fire Dance" from "El Amor Brujo", the Mussorgsky-Stokowski Boris Godunov: "Symphonic Synthesis", Cowell's Tales of our Countryside, Paul Creston Symphony no 1 Scherzo, and the Ritual Fire Dance from Falla's El Amor Brujo and others. Visit Leopold Stokowski Discography 1941-1959 to read about these recordings.

Henry Cowell was also an accomplished pianist  

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Violin Sonata no 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: movement 3: Andante sostenuto - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Tales of Our Countryside (1941) - Henry Cowell piano:

• Deep Tides
• Exultation
• The Harp of Life
• Country Reel

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Roy Harris (1898-1979): Folk Song Symphony: Dance Tunes for Strings and Percussion

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68 in the 16 October concert ¹¹⁵

Franck: Symphony in D minor in the 17 October concert ¹¹⁵

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Guaracho

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Symphony no 1 opus 20 (1940): Scherzo movement

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - Stokowski transcription

First broadcast of the NBC Symphony under Stokowski's direction

Broadcast from the Cosmopolitan Opera House while Studio 8-H was being changed acoustically at Stokowski's insistance

Bach: Prelude in E-flat minor, BWV 853 (Prelude no 8 from book I of the Well Tempered Clavier) - Stokowski transcription

*** Philip Warner (1901-1982 Chicago composer): Sinfonietta (1940) - first movement.

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

"Stokowski is Engaged for Broadcast Series (10 September 1941): Niles Trammel, President of the National Broadcasting Company annouced today that Leopold Stokowski had been engaged to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a series of Tuesday night radio broadcasts during the 1941-1942 season. Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the orchestra for four seasons, completed his contract and wanted a rest, Trammel said, adding that he hoped Toscanini would decide to conduct the orchestra later." ⁹⁰

The decision by NBC to appoint Stokowski as conductor of the NBC Symphony not only solved the dilemma of Toscanini withdrawing from the orchestra, but also brought Stokowski back to recording for RCA Victor after he had moved to Columbia Records at the time of his All-American Youth Orchestra.

It is interesting when Stokowski moved the NBC Symphony concerts temporarily to another venue, the hall selected was at that time called the 'Cosmopolitan Opera House'. This was the same hall in which Stokowski was later to perform his concerts with the New York City Symphony. The hall had been built by the Shriners fraternal order and originally called by them the 'Mecca Temple'. When the owners failed to pay the taxes on the building during the depression, the City of New York took possession and Mayor La Guardia had the idea that it could be a center for symphony, opera and ballet. It was then renamed 'City Center' and became Stokowski and the New York City Symphony's home

Beethoven: Symphony no 9 in D minor, Op 125

Anne Wiggins Brown soprano, Winifred Heidt contralto, William Horne tenor, Lawrence Whisonant baritone

Westminster Choir

the first three movements of the symphony were not broadcast, since the first half of the programme was given to the Red Cross for fund raising.

it was perhaps a sign of the era that the Baltimore Sun gave particular coverage to the race of the soloists: "The soprano soloist was Anne Brown, colored, of Baltimore who has accomplished a great deal and who created the role of 'Bess' in 'Porgy and Bess'. The other soloists are Vinifred Heidt contralto, William Horne tenor and Lawrence Whisonant, colored, baritone." ⁹²

Robert Kelly Adirondack Suite Sunset Reflections on Guild Historical GHCD2361  

Broadcast from the Cosmopolitan Opera House while Studio 8-H was being changed acoustically

Prokofiev: music from the opera Love for Three Oranges (1930): Stokowski selection:

• Infernal Dance
• The Prince and the Princess
• March

Robert Kelly (1916-2007): Adirondack Suite: Sunset Reflections

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E Minor, Opus 98

Broadcast from the Cosmopolitan Opera House while Studio 8-H was being changed acoustically

Bach: Arioso - Largo from Concerto for harpsichord and strings BWV 1056 - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

*** Herbert Haufrecht (1910-1998): Two Fantastic Marches

While working in the field for the Department of Agriculture in West Virginia, Haufrecht collected folk melodies, which he used in developing his compositions.

[1942]

Performed in the renovated NBC Studio 8-H, modified according to Stokowski's recommendations

Carleton Cooley: Eastbourne Sketches: Promenade

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Collegiate Chorale, Robert Shaw director

Wagner: Parsifal - Stokowski Synthesis of music from Act III plus Good Friday Music

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture opus 36

Frances Nash in the 1920s when she first performed with Stokowski  

"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" - Stokowski transcription from the traditional Martin Luther hymn

note: in most other concerts of which we have been able to verify, Stokowski performed his transcription of Bach's Chorale of this Martin Luther theme, such as from Bach's Cantata BWV 80

Edward MacDowell: Piano Concerto no 2, opus 23 - Frances Nash

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959): A Negro Parade - a North Carolina based composer

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

William Grant Still  

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Saudades do Brasil opus 67: 4 movements selected by Stokowski:

• 3 - Botafogo
• 5 - Copacabana
• 6 - Ipanema
• 7 - Gavea

+ William Grant Still (1895-1978) : "And They Lynched Him On A Tree" (1940)

Louise Burge contralto, Lawrence Whisonant Winters bass-baritone

"Negro Chorus": Eva Jessye Choir, "White Chorus": Collegiate Choir, Robert Shaw director

(note: although the score called for "Negro Chorus" and "White Chorus", the Collegiate Choir under Robert Shaw was racially integrated from its inception in 1941 ⁷⁰)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

Concerts to Promote Sale of War Bonds and War Stamps

Stokowski conducted 5 WPA concerts ¹⁶

a concert included:

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

"Leopold Stokowski conducted the opening of the 1942 season, beginning a close relationship with the Bowl..." ¹¹

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Night on Bare Mountain - Stokowski transcription

Shostakovich: 24 Preludes opus 34 (1933): 14: Prelude in E-flat minor - Stokowski transcription

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

As well as a composer, Harold Triggs was a successful concert pianist, a student of Josef Lhevinne

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Spirituals for Orchestra

Richard Strauss: Eight Poems: "Zueignung" - Dorothy Maynor soprano singing in English

Bach: Aria "Air on the G-String" (from Orchestral Suite no 3, BWV 1068 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Hovhaness Symphony no 1 on Guild Historical GHCD 2347  

Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Adagio in C from Toccata, Adagio and Fugue BWV 564 - Stokowski transcription

*** Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Symphony no 1, opus 17, no 2, "Exile Symphony"

reissued available on Guild Historical GHCD 2347

*** Paul Lavalle (1908-1997): "Symphonic Rhumba"

Paul Lavalle was a member of the NBC Symphony's clarinet section

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll (1870)

Programme of the Shostakovich Symphony no 7 Carnegie Hall concert  

Shostakovich: Symphony no 7 "Leningrad" opus 60

Frequently written about has been the 1942 disagreement about whether Toscanini (not particularly a Shostakovich advocate) or Stokowski (who premiered many Shostakovich works and championed the composer throughout his career) would give the premiere performance outside the Soviet Union of the Shostakovich Symphony no 7 "Leningrad". With World War 2 at its hight and the German Army at the gates of Leningrad, this was a much awaited work. Toscanini gave the premiere with the NBC Symphony on 19 July 1942 ¹², and Stokowski performed it in Carnegie Hall five months later.

Paul White: Five Miniatures for Orchestra opus 7: Caravan Song

Handel: opera Siroe, re di Persia: "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night"

"The young audience will sing Christas carols and will be permitted a question-and-answer period during which Stokowski will answer their queries" ¹⁷

[1943]

San Francisco Art Commission Municipal Concert

Shostakovich: Symphony no 7 "Leningrad" opus 60

(encore)

Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

+ Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Symphony no 1, opus 17, no 2, "Exile Symphony" (Stokowski gave the premiere the previous December with the NBC Symphony)

Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé - Suite no 2

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

9 PM evening concert on the 61st birthday of President Roosevelt at the Fleet Marine Force Training Center, Miramar, and was broadcast on CBS radio ¹³. This was an evening concert following the 30 January 1943 San Diego Russ Auditorium matinee concert.

John Stafford Smith: Star Spangled Banner

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Romanus Hoffstetter (attributed to Franz Josef Haydn): String Quartet in F major, opus 3 no 5, Hob III-17 mvmt 2 Andante cantabile (sometimes called by Stokowski "Haydn Eighteenth Century Dance" or "Haydn's Serenade") - Stokowski transcription

Boccherini: String Quintet No 1 in E opus 11 no 5 G 275 - 3rd movement Minuetto - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Rapsodie for Orchestra and Saxophone (1911) soloist not identified

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé - Suite no 2

Holst: The Planets on Cala CACD 0526  

Gustav Holst (1874-1934): The Planets opus 32 (1916) - available on Cala CACD 0526

Women's Chorus

The Planets was the only work on the programme

Concert in honor of France with French soldiers present

Stravinsky: Symphony in C (1940)

Stravinsky: Circus Polka (1942)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé - Suite no 2

encore: 'La Marseillaise'

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

+++ Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky opus 78 - Jennie Tourel mezzo-soprano

Vaughan Williams Symphony No 4 on Cala CACD 0528  

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony No 4 in F minor (note: available on Cala CACD 0528)

Morton Gould (1913-1996): New China March opus 78, Red Cavalry March arranged by Morton Gould

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no 2

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Johann Strauss Jr.: On the Beautiful Blue Danube

Audience sing-along

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): music from Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (1911)

Wagner: Parsifal - Act I Prelude and Act III Prelude

presented as "A Miracle Play", this was a staged version of a greatly cut St. Matthew Passion, Robert Edmond Jones designer and George Balanchine choreographer

Bach: St. Matthew Passion

• Eleanor Steber soprano
• Jennie Tourel mezzo-soprano
• Charles Darwin tenor
• Lucius Metz tenor (Evangelist)
• Gerhard Pechner bass-baritone (Pilate, Judas, Peter)

"Concert for the benefit of the world's children"

Oscar Thompson of the Christian Science Monitor wrote:"It was well, perhaps, that that this was specified as a miracle play 'based on' the 'St. Matthew Passion' for the music had been cut with a ruthlessness that reduced to about an hour and a quarter the time consumed for the unfolding of a score which, in its complete form, requires about three hours... much of the time, the sound was that of the Bach Stokowski transcriptions rather than plain Bach. The reverent was converted to the sensuous." ⁹⁷

Stokowski with (from left) Deems Taylor, Paul Creston, Aaron Copland and William Schuman in 1943  

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no 2 in F major BWV 1047 - Stokowski transcription

+ Bach: Chorale Prelude "Christ lag in Todesbanden" BWV 718 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

William Schuman (1910-1992): Prayer in Time of War, 1943

Handel: Messiah: Pastoral Symphony - Stokowski transcription

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Fantasia on Christmas Carols (1912)

Roy Harris: Folk Rhythms of Today (1942)

Richard Mohaupt: Concerto for Orchestra (based on Red Army Themes)

Deems Taylor Ramuntcho on Guild GHCD 2335  

Rossini: Barber of Seville: Overture

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Chant of 1942

Deems Taylor (1885-1966): Ramuntcho: Introduction, Ballet (1935)

[1944]

Stokowski's "Second Symphonic Synthesis" of Tristan und Isolde: In April, 1932 Stokowski recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra excerpts from Tristan und Isolde Act II, concluding with the Love Music (Liebesnacht) from Act II. Reception to this version regretted the missing Liebestod from Act III. Then in his 1935 recording of his second "Symphonic Synthesis" arrangement, Stokowski expanded the music from Acts 2 and 3, concluding the transcription with a transition from the Act II music to the concluding finale of the opera, the Liebestod in which Isolde sings over the body of Tristan. Stokowski retains the protagonist's interplay having cellos play Tristan's music and violins play Isolde's music.

Howard Hanson (1896-1981): Symphony no 4 opus 34, "Requiem" (1943)

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri described as "a distinguished figure of the Brazilian national school", and an active conductor and composer  

Albéniz: Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (1897-1948): Reisado do pastoreio: Batuque

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993): Three Dances for Orchestra (1941):

• Brazilian dance
• Flower of Tremembé
• Savage Dance

Copland: Symphony no 2 "Short Symphony"

Charles Sanford Skilton (1868-1941): Sunrise Song

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Plow that Broke the Plains Suite from the film music

Efrem Zimbalist (1889-1985): American Rhapsody

Wagner: Die Walküre: Magic Fire Music

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Nobilissima Visione ballet (1938)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74 "Pathétique"

Eduard Steuermann performed a wide range of Schoenberg and other works. He and Stokowski prepared the Schoenberg Piano Concerto premiere for several weeks with subsequent praise from Schoenberg (often difficult to please)  

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669): "Tu mancavi a tormentarmi" - Stokowski transcription

Schubert: Symphony in B minor, D759, "Unfinished"

Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

*** Schoenberg: Piano Concerto, opus 42 (1942) - Eduard Steuermann - World Premiere

Butterworth and Antheil on Cala CACD 0528 (Debussy on Cala CACD 0526)  

George Butterworth (1885-1916): "A Shropshire Lad" (1914)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

George Antheil: Symphony no 4 "1942"

Tchaikovsky: Again, as Before, Alone, opus 73, no 6 - Stokowski transcription

Stravinsky: Petrushka Suite from 1911 ballet

Daniele Amfitheatrof (1901-1983): De Profundis Clamavi for orchestra (1944)

Final Stokowski concert as co-conductor of the NBC Symphony, with his contract not being renewed ^14,15

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

First Concert of Stokowski and the newly formed New York City Symphony

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Plow that Broke the Plains (1936)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

'Stokowski to Head New York City Symphony' (AP 19 January 1944): "Leopold Stokowski announced today that he has accepted an invitation to act as unsalaried musical director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia. Stokowski said that auditions for the 80 positions of the new orchestra would begin Monday." ¹⁰⁰

a review: "A capacity crowd of music lovers, many in uniform paid a top price of $1 last night to fill the city center of music and drama. Stokowski lead the 80 piece orchestra in a program including the 'Little' G minor Fugue of Bach, Beethoven's 7th symphony, the Virgil Thomson suite 'The Prow that Broke the Plains, and Stravinsky's Firebird suite " ⁶²

Shostakovich: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 54

Dai-Keong Lee (1915-2005): Pacific Prayer (1943) - Lee was a Hawaiian born Chinese-American who studied at Juilliard

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Albéniz: Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville in F# minor - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Shostakovich: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 54

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919)

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612): Sacrae symphoniae: Canzon quarti toni a 15, C185 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Parsifal: "Symphonic Synthesis" of Act III - Stokowski transcription

Stokowski transcriptions of Bach

press commentary: "Stokowski is going to Mexico City at the invitation of the Mexican government...later he will visit Guatemala, El Salvador and other Latin American republics" ⁶³

In fact, Stokowski did not visit other Latin American republics but rather returned to California after an incident: 25 May 1944 press account: "Mr. Stokowski arrived here [Mexico City] several weeks ago to conduct a series of concerts...Among the scores in a scheduled broadcast was a composition by Ponce. The composer failed to produce the orchestra arrangement of his piece explaining to the conductor that he did not have it. Mr. Stokowski in what the newspaper called 'a childish display of temper' berated the composer in rehearsals in front of the musicians, who then walked out...In an open letter to President Camacho Mr. Stokowski who left yesterday for California said that he could not conduct a program without adequate rehearsals and that 'in behalf of the music of Mexico, a country I love dearly, I present with sorrow this protest'." ⁶⁴

Opening Concert of Stokowski and the New York City Symphony, 1944-1945 season

Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 3 in E-flat major, Opus 55 "Eroica"

Joaquin Turina (1882-1949): Danzas fantásticas opus 22

Franz Carl Bornschein (1879-1948): Moon over Taos : for solo flute, strings, timpany, Indian drums, harp

"On a moonlit summer night in Taos, New Mexico in 1941, Franz Bornschein listened intently to an Indian, silhouetted against an adobe building, playing softly a bewitching melody on a primative flute. Bornschein went to his hotel room and made a musical sketch of what he had just seen and heard." ⁹²

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no 2

"review by Olin Downes of the New York Times: The greatest interpretive feat of the evening - his reading of the Beethoven 'Eroica' - was one that for formal coherance and proportion would pass the most exigent tests." ⁷³

Shostakovich: Symphony no 8 in C minor, Op 65 - score extensively edited by Stokowski

Scriabin: Prelude in C-sharp minor opus 2 no 1 - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Ricardo Castillo's works often make use of the early mythology of his native Guatemala  

Handel: Chandos Anthem no 2 in d minor HWV 247 - Overture in D minor - Stokowski transcription

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Violin Concerto, opus 14 (1939)

- Roman Totenberg (effectively Concertmaster of the New York City Symphony, but with the official title 'solo violin' ⁶⁵

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Ricardo Castillo (1894-1967): Cortège (1944)

10 December 1944 New York City Symphony recording of Death and Transfiguration  

Bach: Harpsichord Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Largo (Arioso) - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K550

Schubert: 16 German Dances opus 33: Tyrolean Dances - Stokowski arrangement

Richard Strauss: Death and Transfiguration opus 24

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony no 2, opus 38 (1939)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74, Pathétique

Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto no 3 in D major - Henrietta Schumann piano

Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije Suite, opus 60

Nicolai Berezowsky, a violinist and conductor whose compositions were championed by Koussevitzky and Stokowski, and whose early death may have cut short his success  

Copland: Fanfare For The Common Man (1942)

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935): "In the Manger" described in the programme as "Russian Christmas Music" - Stokowski transcription

Felix Greissle (1894-1982 and son-in law of Arnold Schoenberg): Transcription of Harold Bauer's theme and variations on a Siciliano of Purcell

Bach: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 - no 10 Sinfonia - Pastorale "Shepherd's Christmas Music" - Stokowski transcription

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Nicolai Berezowsky (1900-1953): Christmas Festival Overture (1943)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite from the 1895 opera

Encore: Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

Robert Shaw early in his career; one of Stokowski's favorite choral directors  

Children's Christmas Story of the Birth of Christ

Birth of Christ performed in pantomime by 55 school children, with costumes, choreography and animals from the Bronx Zoo (at least at rehearsals). Concert of 24 December concluded at Midnight Christmas eve with bells chiming ⁶⁰

Between each scene, works of Bach as transcribed by Stokowski were played ⁷²:

• Bach: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248: Part II no 10: Sinfonia "Shepherd's Song"
• Bach: "Sinfonia" from Cantata no 156: "Ich Steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe"
• Bach: Violin Sonata no 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: movement 3: Andante sostenuto
• Bach: Chorale prelude "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639
• Bach: Cantata no 29 BWV 29: "Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (We thank you, God, we thank you)": Sinfonia
• Bach: Orchestral Suite no 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067: Badinerie
• Bach: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248: Part I no 1: Chorus "Christians be joyful"

Augustin Duncan, narrator, read a corresponding passage from the Gospels before each scene. The producer of the pantomime was Robert Edmond Jones.

Concert of Christmas carols (included Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, First Noel, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, Jingle Bells)

The Collegiate Chorale, founded and directed by Robert Shaw ⁶⁰

[1945]

Robert Arthur Gross (1914–1983) violin  

Albéniz: Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville in F# minor - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Rapsodie espagnole (1907)

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Violin Concerto (1939) - Robert Arthur Gross violin

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Student Concert

Bruch: Violin Concerto no 1, opus 26: third movement - twelve year old Carlo Ferro

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Schubert: 16 German Dances opus 33: Tyrolean Dances - Stokowski arrangement Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Rapsodie espagnole (1907)

Schubert: Schwanengesang D.957: "Serenade"

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Night on Bare Mountain - Stokowski transcription

Audience sing-along: traditional Welsh song 'Men of Harlech' and Foster: 'My Old Kentucky Home' ⁷⁴

Myaskovsky, left with Prokofiev  

Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950): Symphony no 21, opus 51 - Myaskovsky wrote 27 symphonies and is somewhat famous for the quote: "Never wait for inspiration"

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade opus 35 (1888)

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Fanfare for the Forces of Our Latin-American Allies (1944)

Bach: Violin Sonata no 2 in A minor, BWV 1003: movement 3: Andante sostenuto - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Heitor Villa-Lobos was guest conductor in his own works

Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Uirapurú (1917)

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas brasileiras: no 5 (1938)

Olin Downes of the New York Times wrote: The performance [of the Beethoven Pastorale] was one of much beauty and prevailingly fine proportions. There was an occasional over-accentuation of phrasing too studied or a tempo a little livelier than is customary. There were places that Mr. Stokowski gave uncommon significance. Not the least of these was the thanksgiving after the storm ⁷¹

Tommy Dorsey, Nathaniel Shilkret, and Leopold Stokowski  

Popular and Student Concert broadcast on WNYC, the city radio station

Albéniz: Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville in F# minor - Stokowski transcription

Scriabin: Etude opus 2 no 1 in c-sharp minor - Stokowski transcription

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

+++ William Schuman (1910-1992): Side Show (1944) later renamed "Circus Overture"

*** Nathaniel Shilkret (1889-1982): Trombone Concerto - Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey had commissioned this concerto from Shilkret, and this concert is the premiere. New York City Mayor La Guardia attended this student concert. ⁷³

the concert concluded with three audience sing-along songs

Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, RV 580

- Roman Totenberg, Elsa Werth, Everett Lee, Joyce Flissler

Bach: Concerto for 4 Pianos BWV 1065

- Marianna Sarrici, Anita Bieber, Iola Corini, Roxanne Connick

Anis Fuleihan (1900-1970): Concerto for Theremin - Clara Rockmore

*** Burrill Phillips (1907-1988) - Scherzo (world premiere)

Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940): Sensemayá (1937)

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669): Orontea: Arioso - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

This Parsifal Act III Synthesis is a regular feature of Stokowski concerts. In Leopold Stokowski Transcriptions, Maestro Serebrier explained:  "Stokowski's Symphonic Synthesis of Act III includes the transformation music from the conclusion of the final scene and the final moments when Parsifal heals Amfortas's wound by touching it with his spear. Stokowski excluded the 'Good Friday Spell' music from his version because Wagner himself had already made a concert version of it"

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture opus 36

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - Stokowski transcription

Student Concert

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - Stokowski transcription

Thompson: Five Portraits (1940/1944)

Virgil Thompson conducted his own work

Roman Totenberg  

Stokowski's final Concert with the New York City Symphony - He was to be succeeded by Leonard Bernstein, Bernstein's first conducting post which he held for three seasons. Bernstein also conducted without fee, as had Stokowski

Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

• Barbara Troxell soprano
• Jean Handslik contralto
• Joseph Laderoute tenor (Evangelist)
• Ralph Jusko baritone (Jesus)
• Ralph Telasko bass
• Carlos Alexander baritone

Collegiate Chorale, Robert Shaw director

Roman Totenberg violin solo

The New York Times wrote: "Because of time limitations, the work had to be drastically cut and the program indicated 'Music from the Passion' " ⁷⁵

Charlie and Oona Chaplin at the Hollywood Bowl  

First concert of what was to be Stokowski's 1945 and 1946 direction of the 'Symphonies Under the Stars' series of Hollywood Bowl concerts

"Leopold Stokowski and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony inaugurated the 24th season of 'Symphony under the Stars' with an audience of 11,000 and with Stokowski's bride Gloria Vanderbilt Stokowski in a front row box. The audience included Lana Turner, Charles Chaplin and his wife Oona Chaplin and Mr. and Mrs. Edward G. Robinson..." ⁴

the concert was introduced by three brief fanfares composed by George Antheil (1900-1959), and Hollywood composers Alexander Steinert (1900-1982) and Walter Scharf (1910-2003) ¹³⁰

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74, Pathétique

Grieg: Piano Concerto, opus 16 - Percy Grainger

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

INTERMISSION

George Antheil (1900-1959): Heroes of Today (1945) - premiere - later reworked as the first movement of Antheil's Symphony no 6 of 1948.

Victor Herbert: Air de Ballet (1912)

Tchaikovsky: Humoresque opus 10 no 2 as arranged by Stokowski

Tchaikovsky: song "Again, as Before, Alone" opus 73, no 6 - Stokowski transcription

there was also audience sing-along during the second part of the concert ¹³⁵

Stokowski 1945 programme  

Eugene Zador (1894-1977): Fanfare - opened the concert

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Albéniz: Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville in F# minor - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé Suite no 2

Isabel Morse Jones wrote: "...it is evident that the Hollywood Bowl Symphony is settling down to its work. The different sections and even the varied solo instruments stand out with clarity. This was particularly noticable in the "Daphnis and Chloe" second suite..." ¹³⁶

INTERMISSION

César Franck: Symphony in D minor (1888)

Religious Chant

Christmas Carol - Kolyada

Plaintive Melody

Humorous Song 'I Danced With The Gnat'

Legend of the Birds

Cradle Song

Round Dance

Village Dance Song

Marina Schubert Kochetz soprano sang:

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride (1899) Act 2: "Marfa's aria"

Rimsky-Korsakov: "The Nightingale and the Rose" opus 2 no 2

Shostakovich: 24 Preludes opus 34 (1933): 14: Prelude in E-flat minor - Stokowski transcription

Marina Schubert Kochetz soprano sang:

Mussorgsky: Sorochinsky Fair (1880) "Parasja's aria"

Rachmaninoff: Georgian Melody opus 4 no 4 "Sing not to me, beauitful maiden"

Nicolas Nabokov (1903-1978): Three Marches (1945): 'Fanfare', 'Worker's March', 'In Memoriam'

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor opus 74 "Pathétique": excerpt, not specified

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream opus 61 (1826): Scherzo

Sibelius: Finlandia opus 26 (1899)

Encore: Marina Kochetz led audience in a sing-along including 'Swanee River'

Sibelius: Symphony no 2 in D Major opus 43

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade opus 35 (1888)

Hoyt Bohannon, longtime Hollywood studio musician 

Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave in B-flat minor, opus 31

Bach: Prelude from Partita no 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

Miklós Rózsa: Three Hungarian Sketches opus 14: Pastorale

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Chausson: Poème, opus 25 (1896) - Toscha Seidel

Jerome Kern: Fanfare on a Blues Theme - (Kern died suddenly 4 months later)

Nathaniel Shilkret (1889-1982): Trombone Concerto - Hoyt Bohannon

Tommy Dorsey had commissioned this concerto from Shilkret, and the work was given its premiere by Tommy Dorsey and Leopold Stokowski 15 February 1945 concert listed above.

Jacques Offenbach: Tales of Hoffmann (1881) Act IV: "Barcarolle"

Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 in C sharp minor (S. 244/2) orchestrated by Liszt and Franz Doppler, adapted by Leopold Stokowski

"...the audience was invited to sing 'Home On The Range'..." ¹³⁷

Victor recorded the Symphony no 1 with the Hollywood Bowl on 1 August 1945 reissued on Cala CACD 0520  

Gluck: Ballet Suite of 6 Interludes from Gluck operas - Stokowski transcription:

- Don Juan Wq 52: Air gai

- Iphigénie en Aulide Wq 40: Lento

- Iphigénie en Aulide Wq 40: Air gai

- Orfeo ed Euridice Wq 30: Dance of the Blessed Spirits

- Armide Wq 45: Musette

- Armide Wq 45: Sicilienne

Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, RV 580

"...It was an inspired idea to present four violinists from the orchestra in the Vivaldi B minor concerto. Concertmaster Harold Ayres, violinists Maurice Warner, Hyman Weinstein, and Ralph Schaeffer was a delight..." ¹³³

Bach: Concerto for 4 Harpsichords in a BWV 1065 (1730)

- Dorothea Eustis, Margaretha Lohmann, Helena Lewyn, Yi-an Rosita Chang pianos

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

8:15 PM - 8:45 PM Hollywood Bowl Symphony conducted by Stokowski in Hollywood composers. Followed by Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Claudette Colbert, Frances Langford and Johnny Green with songs from Hollywood productions.

Franz Waxman (1906-1967): "The Horn Blows At Midnight" (1945): Athaniel the Trumpeter comedy overture

Alfred Newman: (1901-1970): "Song of Bernadette" (1943): Vision Scene

Robert Emmett Dolan (1908-1972): "Lady in the Dark" (1944): waltz

Ernst Toch (1887-1964): "Ladies in Retirement" (1941): Scherzo

Max Steiner (1888-1971): "Now, Voyager" (1942): final scene

Conrad Salinger (1901-1962): "Meet Me In St. Louis" (1944): Halloween Music

Frank Churchill (1901-1942) and Edward Plumb (1907-1958): "Bambi" excerpts with narration by Claudette Colbert

Leo Shuken (1906-1976): "Our Wife" (1941): Trumpet Concerto - Sergeant Mannie Klein trumpet

- Mannie Klein (1908-1994) was a long-time big band and Hollywood studio musician who had studied with Max Schlossberg.

Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, RV 580

- Concertmaster Harold Ayres, violinists Maurice Warner, Hyman Weinstein, and Ralph Schaeffer

Jeremiah Clarke (1674-1707): Suite in D Major: Prince of Denmark's March (sometimes labelled: "A Trumpet Voluntary") - Stokowski transcription

Girolamo Frescobald: Gagliarda, Book 2 no 2 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Concerto for 4 Pianos BWV 1065 - Dorothea Eustis, Margaretha Lehmann, Helena Lewyn, Yi-an Rosita Chang

Gluck: Ballet Suite of 6 Interludes from Gluck operas - Stokowski transcription:

- Don Juan Wq 52: Air gai

- Iphigénie en Aulide Wq 40: Lento

- Iphigénie en Aulide Wq 40: Air gai

- Orfeo ed Euridice Wq 30: Dance of the Blessed Spirits

- Armide Wq 45: Musette

- Armide Wq 45: Sicilienne

Brahms: Serenade no 1 in D-major, opus 11: two minuets arranged by Stokowski

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669): "Tu mancavi a tormentarmi" - Stokowski transcription

encore - Chabrier: España (1883)

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, opus 59: Waltzes

Jerome Kern (1885-1945): Mark Twain (Portrait For Orchestra)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - Stokowski transcription

Jeanette MacDonald soprano:

- Gounod - Faust "Song of the King of Thule"

- Gounod - Roméo et Juliette "Juliette's Waltz"

- Léo Delibes - The Maids of Cadiz

- Victor Herbert - Badinage (1908)

- Italian song I'll See You Again

- Schubert - Ave Maria D 839

- Rudolf Friml - Indian Love Call Wq 45: Sicilienne

- Rudolf Friml - Donkey Serenade

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Dvorak: Carnival Overture, opus 92

Dvorak: Rondo for Cello in G minor, opus 94 - Kurt Reher cello

*** Steinert: Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra - Kalman Bloch clarinet

Encore - Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): The Damnation of Faust opus 24: Hungarian March

Encore - Saint-Saëns: Le Déluge (1876): Prelude

Encore - Johann Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus (1874) : Prelude

Encore - Romanus Hoffstetter (attributed to Franz Josef Haydn): String Quartet in F major opus 3 no 5, Hob III-17 mvmt 2: Andante cantabile (sometimes called "Haydn's Serenade") - Stokowski transcription

Encore - Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé - Suite for Orchestra no 2 (1912)

Stokowski rehearsing the Hollywood Bowl Symphony in 1945  

A Wagner Concert

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Wagner: Das Rheingold: "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"

Wagner: Siegfried: Act II Scene 2: "Forest Murmurs"

Wagner: Die Walküre: "Magic Fire Music" and "Ride of the Valkyries"

Wagner: Die Götterdämmerung: Death of Siegfried and Immolation Scene

Morton Gould (1913-1996): American Salute (1943)

Verdi: Don Carlo: "Ella giammai m'amò" - Nicola Moscona

Gounod: Faust: "Vous qui faites l'endormie" - Nicola Moscona

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Boito: Mefistofele (1868): Prologue - Nicola Moscona

Schubert: Moment Musical in f minor opus 94 no 3 (D780-3) 'Air russe' - Stokowski transcription

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936): Pines of Rome (1924)

William Grant Still  

William Grant Still (1895-1978): "Old California" (1941)

- Virgil Thomson's "The Plow that Broke the Plains" was scheduled for this concert, but the score did not arrive in time. It was performed and recorded by the Hollywood Bowl Symphony under Stokowski in August 1946

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony no 7 in c opus 60 "Leningrad" (1942)

Isabel Morse Jones of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "...The Hollywood Bowl Symphony has been rearranged to give a better blending quality of the winds and the brass. The cellos are in the middle and the basses at the back. The sound effect is vastly improved. Leopold Stokowski's re-creation of this symphony is not soon to be forgotten. It rings in the ears..." ¹³⁴

Scriabin: Etude opus 2 no 1 in c-sharp minor - Stokowski transcription

Victor Young: Pearls On Velvet (1937) for piano

- Ray Turner, piano Southern California Young Artists Audition Winner

Mozart: Marriage of Figaro: Act III: "Dove sono" - Phyllis Moffat soprano

Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci Ballatella - Phyllis Moffat soprano

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra (1941) - James Abato saxophone

Richard Strauss: Concert Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, opus 59

Anne Bollinger soprano, Robert Kidder tenor, Wauneva Bell mezzo-soprano, Tudor Williams bass ³

Greater Los Angeles Chorus "A Chorus of 1000 Voices" ³

Victor Herbert: song "Indian Summer" (1919)

Schubert: one of the Marches militaires D. 733 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Piano Sonata no 14 in c sharp minor opus 27 no 2 "Moonlight": Movement 1 - Stokowski transcription

Lalo: Symphonie espagnole opus 21 - Isaac Stern

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C major opus 48: Movement 2

USA Anthem: The Star Spangled Banner

USSR Anthem: "Unbreakable Union of Freeborn Republics"

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky: Cantata for Mezzo-Soprano, Chorus, and Orchestra, opus 78

Jennie Tourel mezzo-soprano, Westminster Choir

[1946]

Winifred Heidt in 1946 Hollywood Bowl Carmen  

Opening of the 1946 Hollywood Bowl season with Bizet's Carmen

Bizet: Carmen (1875) sung in English

Winifred Heidt mezzo-soprano (Carmen)

James Pease baritone (Escamillo)

Ramon Vinay tenor (Don José)

Marina Koshetz soprano (Micaëla)

Charles Ferguson bass (Zuniga)

Alice Lee soprano (Frasquita)

Barbara Patton mezzo-soprano (Mercédès)

Henry Reese baritone (Le Dancaïre)

Thomas McGranahan tenor (Le Remendado)

Hollywood Bowl Chorus directed by Hugo Strelitzer who was also choral director of the San Francisco Opera

"19,000 persons flocked to the Hollywood Bowl last night to witness 'Carmen', opening production of the twenty-fifth summer season. Leopold Stokowski conducted" ¹⁰

Camilla Wicks (1928- ) a virtuoso, age 17 at this concert  

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon opus 24: Overture

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 "From the New World": Largo

Mikhail Glinka: Jota aragonesa (1845) - perhaps the only Stokowski career performances of Jota aragonesa

Wieniawski: Violin Concerto no 2 in D minor, opus 22 - Camilla Wicks

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Peter Grimes (1945): Interlude from Act II (Passacaglia)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Soirées musicales opus 24 (1936) - suite of 'Five Movements from Rossini'

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Tzigane (1924) - Camilla Wicks

Fritz Kreisler: Caprice viennois opus 2 (1910)- arranged by Stokowski

Honegger: Pacific 231 (1923)

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Act III Prelude - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tannhäuser (Paris version 1861): Overture and Venusberg Music

Percy Grainger  

concert featuring Percy Grainger (1882-1961)

Lalo: Le roi d'Ys: Overture

Charles Tomlinson Griffes: "The White Peacock" (1915)

Grainger: In a Nutshell (1916)

Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960): From San Domingo (1945)

Tchaikovsky: Suite from The Nutcracker Op 71a - Stokowski selection:

- Marche

- Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Danse de la fée Dragée)

- Trepak - Danse russe

- Arabian Dance (Danse arabe)

- Chinese Dance (Danse chinoise)

- Waltz of the Flowers (Valse des fleurs)

Kodály: Danses de Galánta (1933)

Grainger: Danish Folk Song Suite - Percy Grainger piano

- The Power of Love

- Lord Peter’s Stable Boy

- The Nightingale and The Two Sisters

- Jutish Medley

Cyril Scott (1879-1970): Hornpipe and Shanty (Percy Grainger was a good friend of Scott - both were vegetarians who belived in apple cider and vinegar for health)

Shostakovich: Symphony no 1 in F minor opus 10

Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead opus 29

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Fantasy after Dante, opus 32

the Los Angeles Times wrote: "...the Stokowski seating arrangement, bazaar in Wagner or Brahms, is perfectly acceptable in Shostakovich. The wind instruments are given many opportunities and should be out front. There were impish and individual solos from the Concertmaster Alfred Lustgarten and from the cellist Boris Blinder of San Franciscos..." ¹²⁸

Ernst Toch  

Ernst Toch (1887-1964): Pinocchio, A Merry Overture (1935)

Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite opus 22: "The Swan of Tuonela" opus 22 no 2

Alfred Bachelet (1864-1944): "Chère nuit" (1897) - Nadine Conner soprano

Jules Massenet: Manon (1884) Act III: Gavotte scene: "Obéissons quand leur voix appelle" - Nadine Conner soprano

David Rose: Holiday For Strings (1942)

David Rose: As Kreutzer Spins (1940)

- David Rose (1910-1990) was a radio and TV orchestra leader married to Judy Garland

Puccini: La bohème (1896): Act I "mi chiamano Mimi" - Nadine Conner soprano

Puccini: La bohème (1896): Act II "Quando me'n vo'" - Musetta's Waltz - Nadine Conner soprano

Borodin: Prince Igor (1887): Polovetsian Dances - Stokowski arrangement

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Western Suite (1945)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): Die tote Stadt (1920): "Marietta’s song"

- (Otto Klemperer conducted the opera's premiere in Cologne and his wife Johanna Geisler sang Marietta.)

George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess: "Summertime"

Johann Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus (1874): waltz

José Iturbi  

Mozart: Don Giovanni K. 527: Overture

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

*** Italo Montemezzi (1875-1952): Italia mia! Nulla fermerà il tuo canto ("My Italy! Nothing will silence your song")

- Montemezzi moved from Italy to California in 1939. This seems to have been a world premiere ¹²⁹

José Iturbi (1895-1980): "Soliloquy" (1943)

Joaquin Turina (1882-1949): Danzas fantásticas opus 22

Shura Cherkassky  

Ambroise Thomas: Raymonda (1851): Overture

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669): Tu mancavi a tormentarmi - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no 2, opus 44: Movements 2 and 3 - Shura Cherkassky piano

Wagner: Siegfried: Act II Scene 2: "Forest Murmurs"

Delibes: Sylvia Ballet Suite (1880)

George Antheil (1900-1959): Over the Plains (1945)

Nikolay Peiko (1916-1995): From the Legends of Yakutia (1940) symphonic suite

Liszt: Les Préludes S 97 (1865)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Symphony in E flat major (1940) a 1940 commission by the Chicago Symphony

Richard Strauss: Salome opus 54: Dance of the Seven veils

Copland: Incidental music to the play Quiet City (1940)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Doris Stockton marimba soloist    

von Suppé: Beautiful Galatea Overture

Tchaikovsky: Valse Scherzo op 34 - played with Doris Stockton marimba

von Weber: Rondo for Harmonichord and Orchestra (1811) - Doris Stockton marimba

Aldo Solito De Solis: Malaga (short 3 minute piece from "Moods of Spain") - Doris Stockton marimba

Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4 - Doris Stockton marimba

Falla: El sombrero de tres picos: Suite arranged by Stokowski

Romanus Hoffstetter (attributed to Franz Josef Haydn): String Quartet in F major, opus 3 no 5, Hob III-17 movement 2 Andante cantabile (which Stokowski in performances and recordings sometimes called "Haydn EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DANCE") - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse

Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije Suite, opus 60

- performed with Edward Arnold narrator to a new Kije script written by the Hollywood Bowl Assistant Manager Douglas Field ¹³²

Sibelius: Finlandia opus 26 (1899)

this is a concert of such unusual (even strange) mix of works that perhaps would only be found in a Stokowski programme

Darius Milhaud    

Rachmaninoff: Symphony no 2 in e opus 27

Falla: El Amor Brujo (1916) - Nan Merriman mezzo-soprano

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Saudades do Brazil no 2: Botafogo

the Los Angeles Times wrote: "...it was a cool night in the Hollywood Bowl until Stokowski's El Amor Brujo fired the blood"

Eric Zeisl  

Wolf-Ferrari: Il segreto di Susanna (1909) Overture

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Bachianas brasileiras no 2 (1930):

- Aria and Toccata ("The Little Train of the Caipira")

Saint-Saëns: Samson and Delilah: 'Bacchanale'

Joaquin Torina: Oración del torero opus 34 (1925)

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major opus 35: Movements 2 and 3 - Roman Totenberg

Edvard Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite no 1

Eric Zeisl (1905-1959): Job: Cossack Dance

*** George Frederick McKay (1899-1970): Evocation "From A Moonlit Ceremony" - seems to have been the work's premiere

Edouard Lalo: Symphonie espagnole opus 21 (1874) - Roman Totenberg

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty ballet: Excerpts: Prelude, Pas d'action, Danse-vertige, La Fuite des Quatre Princes, La Fée des lilas variation, Sarabande, Apothéose

The Los Angeles Times wrote that this was "...authentic Vivaldi without corrective treatment..."

Mozart: Symphony no 41 in C major, K. 551

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

Concert featured winners of Southern California Young Artists Audition

Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld Overture (1858)

Verdi: Simone Boccanegra: Fiesco: "Il lacerato spirito..." - John Arnold Ford bass

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream opus 61 (1826): Scherzo

Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881-1946): Daoma Suite from the opera (1945):

- Spring Dance of the Willow Wands

- Dance of Sacrifice

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no 1 in B-flat minor, opus 23: Movement 1

- Lillian Magadow (Brewer) piano

Lillian Magadow (Brewer) in the 1950s

Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960): Swedish Rhapsody no 1 opus 19: "Midsommarvaka"

Scriabin: Prelude in C minor - Lester Donahue piano

Serge Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no 2 in C minor opus 18 - Lester Donahue piano

"Music for the Wounded" concert

Leopold Stokowski conducting:

Benjamin Britten: Soirées Musicales opus 9 (1936): March

Johann Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus (1874): waltz

Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave in B-flat minor, opus 31

Igor Stravinsky conducting: Firebird Suite (1945 version)

Sigmund Romberg conducting: medley of light opera selections by Victor Herbert

Sigmund Romberg conducting: music from 'The Student Prince'

followed by: Robert Montgomery - reading

Bing Crosby - They Say It's Wonderful

Bing Crosby - Blue Skies

Bob Burns - Comedy Monologue

band - Lady Be Good

Lawrence Welk - Tea for Two

Freddy Martin - To Each His Own

Billy Butterfield - Star Dust

Charlie Barnet - Cherokee

Leonard Sues - Blue Prelude

Harry James - Ciribiribin

Carmen Cavalerro - Till The End of Time

Bob Burns - I Ain't Got Nobody

Phil Harris - Lady Be Good

Frank Sinatra - The Girl That I Marry

Frank Sinatra - Soliloquy - from 'Carousel'

1946 Recording of The Plow that Broke the Plains  

Handel: Chandos Anthem no 2 in d minor HWV 247 - Overture in D minor - Stokowski transcription

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Plow that Broke the Plains Suite from the film music

This work was recorded by Stokowski and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony in a famous recording on 30 August 1946 issued on Victor album M-1116 (78 RPM) later re-issued on CD: RCA Victor Gold Seal: 09026-68163-2.

Elgar: Enigma Variations opus 36 (abridged by Stokowski)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Olive Mae Beach soprano

Clemence Gifford contralto

Joseph Sullivan tenor

Tudor Williams bass

Leopold Wintner bass

Hollywood Bowl Symphony and Greater Los Angeles Chorus "a chorus of 600 singers formed from choruses of Southern California by J. Arthur Lewis" ¹²⁷

Dorothy Eustis  

Concluding concert of Stokowski's 1945 and 1946 direction of the 'Symphonies Under the Stars' series of Hollywood Bowl concerts

Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri (1813): Overture - seem Stokowski's only concert performance of this popular overture

Louis Castellucci: "Mi carita" - with the composer playing trombone; Castellucci was also Principal trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Robert Emmett Dolan (1908-1972): waltz from the 1944 film Lady in the Dark

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Alborada del gracioso (1905)

Schumann: Piano Concerto opus 54: allegro affettuoso - Dorothy Eustis (1915-she later disappeared in Italy in the 1950s)

Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suite no 1 plus Danse provençale from Suite no 2 as arranged by Stokowski

Ernest Kanitz (1894–1978): Motion Picture Fantasies

- "Nightmare"

- "Love Scene"

- "Screen Ballet"

(Kanitz taught composition at University of Southern California after leaving the Vienna Conservatory in 1938)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor opus 36

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite opus 22: "The Swan of Tuonela" opus 22 no 2 - Michel Nazzi English Horn

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Frontiers opus 34 - inspired by the pioneer migration to the American west

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

*** Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Prairie Legend: "Harvest Evening"

premiere of this movement of Prairie Legend; Stokowski will give the premiere of the entire work with the Philharmonic on 18 Jan 1947.

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Fantasy after Dante, opus 32

[1947]

Mozart: Overture from Don Giovanni, K. 527

Intermission

Lalo: Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, opus 21 - Jacques Thibaud

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Saudades do Brasil opus 67

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Paul Hindemith at about the time of this concert  

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611): Motet "Jesu, dulcis memoria" - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Overture from Don Giovanni, K. 527

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Symphony in E-flat for Large Orchestra

Intermission

Lalo: Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, opus 21 - Jacques Thibaud

Falla: El Amor Brujo - Nan Merriman

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor opus 74 "Pathétique"

Intermission

Shostakovich: Concerto no 1 in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings, opus 35 - Eugene List

Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead opus 29

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no 2 in F major, BWV 1047

John Wummer, Ferdinand Prior, William Vacchiano, John Corigliano

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 8 in F major, opus 93 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Programme of 'Student' or 'Popular' concert of 18 January 1947  

Student Concert

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no 2 in F major, BWV 1047

John Wummer, Ferdinand Prior, William Vacchiano, John Corigliano

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 8 in F major, opus 93

Intermission

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Prairie Legend Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

J. S. Bach: Chorale prelude "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no 2 in F major, BWV 1047

John Wummer, Ferdinand Prior, William Vacchiano, John Corigliano

J. S. Bach: Prelude from Partita no 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Intermission

Mozart: Piano Concerto no 19 in F major, K.459 - Hortense Monath

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Student Concert

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no 1 in B-flat minor, opus 23 - Jesus Maria Sanromá

Sibelius: Finlandia, opus 26, no 7

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no 1 in B-flat minor, opus 23 - Jesus Maria Sanromá

Intermission

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Sibelius: Finlandia, opus 26, no 7

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Intermission

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Frontiers opus 34 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Heitor Villa-Lobos with Florent Schmitt in Paris in the 1920s  

Special Concert for Orchestra Society Members

J. S. Bach: Prelude from Partita no 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Mein Jesu! was fur Seelenweh" BWV 487 - Stokowski transcription

Romanus Hoffstetter (attributed to Franz Josef Haydn): String Quartet in F major opus 3 no 5, Hob III-17 mvmt 2: Andante cantabile (sometimes called "Haydn's Serenade") - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Drei Equali for Four Trombones

Gordon Pulis, Allen Ostrander, Lewis Van Haney, William Bell

Brahms: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in A minor, opus 102

John Corigliano, Leonard Rose

Intermission

Saint-Saëns: Septet in E-flat major for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Trumpet, and Piano, opus 65 - Excerpts

William Vacchiano trumpet, Walter Hendl piano

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Introduction and Allegro for Harp, accompanied by String Quartet, Flute and Clarinet

Theodore Cella harp, John Wummer flute, Simeon Bellison clarinet

Florent Schmitt (1870-1958): Poem for Oboe and Strings - arranged by Hershey Kay

Harold Gomberg oboe

Striegler: Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra

Saul Goodman timpani

Turner: Fanfare, Chorale and Finale

James Chambers, William Vacchiano, Gordon Pulis, William Namen, Nathan Prager, Lewis Van Haney, Mark Fischer, James Smith, Allen Ostrander, Robert Schulze, William Bell

Indy: Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français - Robert Casadesus

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

*** Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Hymne au Saint Sacrement (1932, reconstructed 1946)

Franck: Variations symphoniques for Piano and Orchestra

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse

Indy: Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français - Robert Casadesus

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Franck: Variations symphoniques for Piano and Orchestra

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Hymne au Saint Sacrement (1932, reconstructed 1946)

Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen (1945) first radio broadcast following the Koussevitzky/BSO premiere of this work

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Intermission

++ William Grant Still: Festive Overture

Wagner: Parsifal Good Friday Music, Act II

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)  

Young Peoples' Concert

Bizet: Carmen Act I: Prelude (Complete)

Beethoven: Incidental music for The Ruins of Athens, opus 113: "Turkish March"

J. S. Bach: Prelude from Partita no 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

Everybody Sing: Traditional: "Three Blind Mice" and Gilmore: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor opus 36: Scherzo. Pizzicato ostinato: Allegro

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition: Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks - Stokowski transcription

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Bachianas Brasileiras no 2 "Little Train of the Caipira" - Tocata

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Intermission

Wagner: Parsifal Good Friday Music, Act II

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

++ William Grant Still: Festive Overture

Shostakovich: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 54

Intermission

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919)

Pension Fund Concert

Beethoven: Symphony no 8 in F major, opus 93

Intermission

Beethoven: Symphony no 9 in D minor, opus 125

Charlotte Boerner Soprano, Nan Merriman Contralto, Donald Dame Tenor, Todd Duncan Baritone,

Westminster Choir, Dr. John Finley Williamson Director

Last Subscription Concert 1946-1947

Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857): Souvenir d’une nuit d’été à Madrid (Spanish Overture no 2)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Night on Bare Mountain - Stokowski transcription

Shostakovich: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 54

Tchaikovsky: Again, as Before, Alone, opus 73, no 6 - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919)

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite

Lyric Theater from the outside: not beautiful, but opened in 1895 in a concert of Dame Nellie Melba and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Emil Paur; it was modeled after the great Leipzig Gewandhaus hall  

On Tour: Lyric Theater, Baltimore

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) - John Wummer featured as flute

encore: Tchaikovsky: song Again, as Before, Alone, opus 73, no 6 - Stokowski transcription

encore: Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile opus 5 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

After the concert, the orchestra musicians were given vaccinations prior to their southern tour since smallpox cases had been reported in New York City ¹¹⁶

On Tour: Old Dominion University, Norfolk

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Frontiers opus 34 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

On Tour: Mosque Theater, Richmond, Virginia

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon opus 24: Overture

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Intermission

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Prairie Legend

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Preludio in E - from Partita no 3 in E major BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

On Tour: Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, North Carolina

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919)

On Tour: Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham North Carolina

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Frontiers, opus 34 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959) a North Carolina-based composer  

On Tour: Converse College Auditorium, Spartenberg, South Carolina

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959): Mountain Song and Cripple Creek Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Tchaikovsky: song Again, as Before, Alone, opus 73, no 6 - Stokowski transcription

On Tour: Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

On Tour: Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon opus 24: Overture

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Intermission

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Prairie Legend

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

On Tour: Knoxville, Tennessee, University of Tennessee, Alumni Memorial Auditorium (also the location of Rachmaninoff's last concert on 17 February 1943)

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959) a North Carolina composer: Mountain Song and Cripple Creek Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Elie Siegmeister  

On Tour: Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Auditorium, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon opus 24: Overture

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Intermission

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Prairie Legend (1947)

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

On Tour: Municipal Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919)

New York Philharmonic 1949-1950 season opening concert led by Leopold Stokowski  

Opening concert of the New York Philharmonic 1947-1948 season (no principal conductor listed on the programme masthead)

J. S. Bach: "Sinfonia" from Cantata no 156: "Ich Steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe" - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899) Westminster Choir

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no 2

"Runout Concert": Bushnell Auditorium, Harford, Connecticut

J. S. Bach: "Sinfonia" from Cantata no 156: "Ich Steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe" - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): two of the three Nocturnes (1899)

• Nuages
• Fêtes

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no 2

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E

Intermission

Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite (1941/1944): Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

Mendelssohn: Symphony no 3 in A minor, opus 56, Scottish

Intermission

Dvorak: Violin Concerto in A minor, opus 53 - Nathan Milstein

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini opus 32

Student Concert

J. S. Bach: Prelude in E-flat minor, BWV 853 (Prelude no 8 from book I of the Well Tempered Clavier) - Stokowski transcription

Mendelssohn: Symphony no 3 in A minor, opus 56, Scottish

Intermission

+ Copland: Billy The Kid ballet: "Prairie Night", "Celebration"

*** Marion Bauer (1882-1955): Sun Splendor opus 19 - world premiere

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

*** Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Symphony no 1 - world premiere

Intermission

Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, opus 54 - Dame Myra Hess

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music"

Messiaen L'Ascension on Cala CACD0533  

Student Concert

Griffes: The White Peacock, opus 7, no 1

*** Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Symphony no 1 (1947)

Intermission

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music"

Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991): Symphony no 1

Intermission

Mozart: Piano Concerto no 14 in E-flat major, K.449 - Dame Myra Hess

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music"

[1948]

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Fauré: Ballade for Piano and Orcehstra, opus 19 - Robert Casadesus

+++ Robert Casadesus (1899-1972): Piano Concerto in E minor, opus 37 - Robert Casadesus

Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung" - Siegfried's Rhine Journey

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Robert Casadesus (1899-1972): Piano Concerto in E minor, opus 37 - Robert Casadesus

Stravinsky: Pastorale, for Violin with Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet and Bassoon

John Corigliano violin, Harold Gomberg oboe, Michel Nazzi English Horn, Simeon Bellison clarinet, William Polisi bassoon

Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung" - Siegfried's Rhine Journey

+++ Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008): Concert Music for Orchestra (original title: "American Landscape")

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Intermission

+++ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite - Nan Merriman mezzo-soprano

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Stokowski conducting the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall in 1948  

Pension Fund Concert

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty ballet: Excerpts: Prelude, Pas d'action, Danse-vertige, La Fuite des Quatre Princes, La Fée des lilas variation, Sarabande, Apothéose

Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor opus 16 - Menahem Pressler

Wagner: Rienzi (1840): Overture

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): La damoiselle élue (1888)

Bidu Sayao soprano, Jane Hobson mezzo-soprano, Women's Chorus of the Westminster Choir Bassoon

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Boléro (1928)

(note: critics did not appreciate this performance of Boléro, which speeded up and slowed "like a roller-coaster" with amplification of the role of woodwinds in a very fast-paced reading

Intermission

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite - Nan Merriman soprano

Lorenzo Fernândez (1897-1948): opera Malazarte: "Batuque" Negro dance

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 41 in C major, K.551 Jupiter

Intermission

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910)

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

Intermission

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910)

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

Maestro Serebrier wrote: "Stokowski's Symphonic Synthesis of Act III includes the transformation music from the conclusion of the final scene and the final moments when Parsifal heals Amfortas's wound by touching it with his spear. Stokowski excluded the 'Good Friday Spell' music from his version because Wagner himself had already made a concert version of it"

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

+ Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Concert Music for String Orchestra and Brass, opus 50

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Intermission

Sibelius: Four movements from Belshazzar's Feast, opus 51: Oriental Procession, Solitude, Nocturne, Khadra's Dance - Stokowski arrangement

+++ Stravinsky: Concerto in D for Strings "Basle" (1946) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Students Concert

Khachaturian: Russian Fantasy (1944)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Intermission

Sibelius: Four movements from Belshazzar's Feast, opus 51: Oriental Procession, Solitude, Nocturne, Khadra's Dance - Stokowski arrangement

+ Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Medea ballet suite opus 23 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Intermission

Stravinsky: Concerto in D for Strings "Basle" (1946) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"Runout Concert"

J. S. Bach: Chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (from Cantata BWV140) - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Russian Fantasy (1944)

Stravinsky: Concerto in D for Strings "Basle" (1946)

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) The Seine at Night (1947) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"Young Peoples Concert"

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Ma Mère l'Oye (1910): excerpts: 5 - Conversation of Beauty and the Beast, 6 - Interlude

Joachim Andersen (1847-1909): Scherzino opus 55 no 6 - John Wummer

Charles Jones (1910-1997): Cowboy Song - Harold Gomberg oboe solo

Carl Baermann (1810-1885): Adagio in D-flat major for Clarinet and String Quartet, opus 23 - Simeon Bellison [note: incorrectly attributed to Wagner in programme notes]

Weber: Bassoon Concerto in F major, opus75 - William Polisi

Audience sing-along: Root: Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!, traditional: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Children's Corner orchestrated in 1910 by André Caplet: "The Little Shepherd"

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Masquerade: Galop

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Ennio Porrino (1910-1959) - a Respighi disciple: Sinfonia per una fiaba (Symphony for a Fable)

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947)

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Fugue for Thirty-Four Violins (1948)

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Masquerade Suite (1941/1944): Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

+Ennio Porrino (1910-1959) - a Respighi disciple: Sinfonia per una fiaba (Symphony for a Fable)

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

Stravinsky: Petrushka complete 1911 ballet

+ Messiaen: L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Fugue for Thirty-Four Violins (1948)

+ Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Symphony no 2 in A minor "Symphony with Bells" (1943)

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

+ Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Masquerade Suite (1941/1944): Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop

+Copland: Billy The Kid ballet: "Prairie Night", "Celebration" Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

+Ennio Porrino (1910-1959) - a Respighi disciple: Sinfonia per una fiaba (Symphony for a Fable)

+ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947) Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

Stravinsky: Petrushka complete 1911 ballet

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

+Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Fugue for Thirty-Four Violins (1948)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Aaron Copland at Tanglewood in 1946  

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

+ Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Masquerade Suite (1941/1944): Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop

+Copland: Billy The Kid ballet: "Prairie Night", "Celebration"

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

Stravinsky: Petrushka complete 1911 ballet

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

+Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Fugue for Thirty-Four Violins (1948)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

Olivier Messiaen at about the time of this concert  

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Intermission

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

+ Copland: Billy The Kid ballet: "Prairie Night", "Celebration"

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

+ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Seine at Night (1947)

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): L'Ascension: Four Symphonic meditations for orchestra (1933)

Wagner: Parsifal Act III Symphonic Synthesis - Stokowski transcription

"New York Philharmonic Autumn Tour"

Stravinsky: Petrushka music from the 1911 ballet: Danse Russe, Chez Petrushka, Shrovetide Fair Toward Evening

+Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Fugue for Thirty-Four Violins (1948)

+ Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Masquerade Suite (1941/1944): Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

[1949]

NY Philharmonic programme of 13 January 1949 listing as conductors:

Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Charles Munch and Leopold Stokowski  

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) (1843): Overture

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E minor, opus 98

Intermission

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): "Philharmonic Concerto" (Variations for Orchestra) (1932) named for the Berlin Philharmonic which gave its premiere in 1932 under Wilhelm Furtwängler

+Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper (1926): Polka and Fugue "First performance by the Society of the Revised Edition"

J. S. Bach: Chorale, "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach-Stokowski: Chorale Preludes, "Nun Komm', der Heiden Heiland,"

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E minor, opus 98

Intermission

Stravinsky: Petrushka music from the 1911 ballet: Danse Russe, Chez Petrushka, Shrovetide Fair Toward Evening

+Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007): Island God opera (1942): Revealing the Island, Struggle to Restore the Temple

Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper (1926): Polka and Fugue

Vano Muradeli's career had its hights and depths depending on the musical judgement of the Soviet Composers Congress, but is regarded by critics today as "a minor talent"  

Vano Muradeli (1908-1970): Georgian Symphonic Dance

(note: Muradeli was censured by the Communist Party Central Committee in 1948 for "Ideological deficiencies" concerning Georgian music)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Symphony no 2 in A minor "Symphony with Bells" (1943)

Intermission

+++Menotti: Piano Concerto (1945) - Rudolf Firkusny

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

+++ Henry Cowell (1897-1965): American Pipers (1943)

*** Maurice Baron (1889-1964): Ode to democracy : a setting of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - world premiere - The Schola Cantorum of New York, Hugh Ross director

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto no 2, opus 22 - Jean Graham

Intermission Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Symphony no 2 in A minor "Symphony with Bells" (1943)

*** Otto Luening (1900-1996): Pilgrim's Hymn "First Performance in This Version"

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): American Pipers (1943)

Maurice Baron (1889-1964): Ode to democracy :a setting of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - world premiere - The Schola Cantorum of New York, Hugh Ross director

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto no 2, opus 22 - Jean Graham

Intermission Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Symphony no 2 in A minor "Symphony with Bells" (1943)

Vaughn William Symphony no 6 on Cala CACD0537  

+Ernest John Moeran(1894-1950): In the Mountain Country

+Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony no 6 in E minor 1947 version (was further revised in 1950)

Intermission

Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 in C sharp minor (S. 244/2) orchestrated by Liszt and Franz Doppler, adapted by Leopold Stokowski

Ernest John Moeran(1894-1950): In the Mountain Country

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Schelomo (1916) - Leonard Rose

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): two of the three Nocturnes (1899)

• Nuages
• Fêtes

Intermission Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony no 6 in E minor 1947 version (was further revised in 1950)

Brahms: Piano Concerto no 1 in D minor, opus 15 - Dame Myra Hess

Intermission

Schumann: Symphony no 2 in C major opus 61

• Mélisande
• At the Seashore
• Pastorale
• Entr'acte
• Death of Mélisande

+++ Walton: film "The First of the Few": Spitfire Prelude and Fugue (1942)

Mozart: Piano concerto n. no 21 in C major, K.467 - Dame Myra Hess

Intermission

Schumann: Symphony no 2 in C major opus 61

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

+ Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975): The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74, Pathétique

Pension Fund Concert

Wagner: Das Rheingold: "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"

Eileen Farrell soprano, Molly Starkman soprano, Mary Davenport contralto

Wagner: Siegfried: Act II Scene 2: "Forest Murmurs"

Wagner: Siegfried: Act I: Siegfried's Forging Song "Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!" - Irwin Dillon tenor Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion - Eileen Farrell soprano - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music" - Michael Rhodes baritone

Wagner: Das Rheingold Scene 4: Erda's Warning "Wie alles war" Mary Davenport contralto, Michael Rhodes baritone

Weinberger: Gotterdammerung Act III: Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene Eileen Farrell soprano

Quinto Maganini was second flute of the New York Philharmonic sitting next to his teacher Georges Barrère, and was winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize in Music  

+ Quinto Maganini (1897-1974): Three Early American Pieces (1940)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74, Pathétique

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975): The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

Mozart: Three German Dances, K.605 (1791) - Stokowski transcription

+ Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony no 53 in D "Imperial" Hob. I:53

Intermission

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no 3 in D minor, opus 30 - William Kapell

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Young People's Concert

Gounod: Faust (1859): Soldier's Chorus: "Gloire immortelle de nos aïeux" - - Boy's Choirs

Stephen Foster: Tioga Waltz for Four Flutes - Stokowski transcription - John Wummer, Amedeo Ghignatti, F. William Heim, Ben Gaskins

Pierné: March of the Lead Soldiers, opus 14, no 6

Traditional: "The Erie Canal"

Traditional: Las Chiapanecas (Mexican Dance) - Boy's Choirs

George Kleinsinger (1914-1982): "Tubby the Tuba"

audience Sing-Along: Marching Through Georgia, Home on the Range

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh ballet: Sabre Dance

+ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

Sibelius: Violin Concerto, opus 47 - John Corigliano

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh ballet Suite no 1, opus 53:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

Intermission

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

+ Howard Hanson (1896-1981): Serenade for flute, harp and strings, opus 35 - John Wummer, Theodore Cella

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh from ballet Suite no 1, opus 53 and no 3, opus 55 Stokowski selections:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

Intermission

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, opus 90

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade" (Night in Granada), from Les estampes - Stokowski transcription

Howard Hanson (1896-1981): Serenade for flute, harp and strings, opus 35 - John Wummer, Theodore Cella

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh ballet Suite no 1, opus 53:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

• Trumpet Tune "The Cebell"
• Echo Pastorale from The Fairy Queen
• Hornpipe from The Fairy Queen
• "When I am laid in earth" ('Dido's Lament') from "Dido and Aeneas")
• Largo and Allegro from The Fairy Queen

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K550

Intermission

Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung" - Siegfried's Rhine Journey,

Siegfried's Death Music, Immolation Scene and Act III Finale - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K550

Intermission

Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung" - Siegfried's Rhine Journey,

Siegfried's Death Music, Immolation Scene and Act III Finale - Stokowski transcription

Arthur Kreutz (1906-1991) composer of the Paul Bunyan Suite also conducted the New York Philharmonic in a 13 June 1946 Pops concert  

Young Persons Concert

Mozart: Three German Dances, K.605 (1791): no 3 in C major "Sleighride" - Stokowski transcription

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Fantasia on Greensleeves (1934)

Arthur Kreutz (1906-1991): Mosquito Serenade for string orchestra

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op 71a: Dance of the Sugarplum Fairly

Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966): Capriccio for Piccolo - Ben Gaskins

Audience Sing-Along "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"

Deems Taylor (1885-1966): Circus Day, Eight Pictures from Memory opus 18:

• The Lion's Cage
• The Dog and Monkey Circus
• Waltzing Elephants

Young Person's Prize Winning Competition is Performed:

Mary Lou Wesley (Krosnick) (1936- ): The Rains Came - orchestrated by Stokowski

J. S. Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini opus 32

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh from ballet Suite no 1, opus 53 and no 3, opus 55 Stokowski selections:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

The Mosque Theater, Richmond  

1949 New York Philharmonic Spring Tour

J. S. Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini opus 32

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh from ballet Suite no 1, opus 53 and no 3, opus 55 Stokowski selections:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

J. S. Bach: Chorale prelude:  Wir glauben all an einen Gott  BWV 680 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini opus 32

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Three Pictures: Wheat Field at Noon (1948)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Gayaneh from ballet Suite no 1, opus 53 and no 3, opus 55 Stokowski selections:

• Lezghinka
• Lullaby
• Dance of the Young Kurds
• Adagio
• Sabre Dance

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): American Pipers (1943)

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music" - Stokowski transcription

+Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007): Island God opera (1942): Revealing the Island, Struggle to Restore the Temple

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74 "Pathétique"

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): American Pipers (1943)

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music" - Stokowski transcription

+Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007): Island God opera (1942): Revealing the Island, Struggle to Restore the Temple

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74 "Pathétique"

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

Wagner: Siegfried: Act II Scene 2: "Forest Murmurs"

Wagner: Das Rheingold: "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"

Sibelius: Pelléas et Mélisande excerpts from the incidental music (1905):

• Mélisande
• At the Seashore
• Pastorale
• Entr'acte
• Death of Mélisande

J. S. Bach-Stokowski: Chorale Preludes - Stokowski transcriptions:

• "Nun Komm', der Heiden Heiland," BWV 62
• "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639
• "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437

Programme for the New York Philharmonic 1949-1950 season opening concert led by Stokowski, with headmast stating: "Conductors: Leopold Stokowski, Dimitri Mitropoulos"  

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868): Prelude to Act I

+ Copland: The Red Pony (1949) suite from the film score:

• "Morning on the Ranch"
• "The Gift"
• "Dream March and Circus Music"
• "Walk to the Bunkhouse"
• "Grandfather's Story"
• "Happy Ending"

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): La Mer (L 109 - 1905)

Intermission

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Rolf Liebermann at age 50, later head of the Paris Opera  

Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999): Suite on Six Swiss Folk Songs (1947)

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Intermission

+ Chopin: Mazurka in A minor opus 17 no 4 - Stokowski transcription

Copland: The Red Pony (1949) suite from the film score:

• "Morning on the Ranch"
• "The Gift"
• "Dream March and Circus Music"
• "Walk to the Bunkhouse"
• "Grandfather's Story"
• "Happy Ending"

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

Intermission

Mozart: Notturno in D major, K. 286/269a - Stokowski arrangement

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Tranfiguration), opus 24

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

Intermission

Mozart: Notturno in D major, K. 286/269a - Stokowski arrangement

Johann Strauss Jr: On the Beautiful Blue Danube (An der schönen, blauen Donau), opus 314

Johann Strauss Jr: Tales from the Vienna Woods opus 325

+ Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder: Song of the Wood Dove - Martha Lipton

+ Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Uirapurú (The Magic Bird)

Intermission

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

Intermission

Mozart: Piano Concerto no 9 in E-flat major, K. 271 - Eugene Istomin

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Tranfiguration), opus 24

J. S. Bach: Aria from the Schemelli Gesangbuch: "Mein Jesu! was vor Seelenweh" BWV 487 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68, Pastoral

Intermission

Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder: Song of the Wood Dove - Martha Lipton

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Uirapurú (The Magic Bird)

+ David Diamond: Overture to the Tempest [of Shakespeare] (1946)

+ Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Two Interludes to Macbeth - Act I and Act III (1919)

Intermission

Schumann: Cello Concerto: opus 129 - Pierre Fournier

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony no 101 in D major "The Clock"

+ Jean Rivier (1896-1987): Rivier: Concertino for Viola and Orchestra (1947) - William Lincer

+ Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Two Interludes to Macbeth - Act I and Act III (1919)

Intermission

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony no 101 in D major "The Clock"

Schumann: Cello Concerto: opus 129 - Pierre Fournier

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony no 101 in D major "The Clock"

Intermission

+ David Diamond: Overture to the Tempest [of Shakespeare] (1946)

+ Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Two Interludes to Macbeth - Act I and Act III (1919)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto no 2 in B flat major, opus 19 - William Kapell

Intermission

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Wagner: Tannhäuser "Paris version": Venusberg Bacchanal Act I scene 1 - Chorus of the Schola Cantorum Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Stokowski Symphonic Synthesis: Act 1 Prelude, Act II Liebesnacht and Act III Liebestod conclusion

- Mariquita Moll soprano, Robert Bernauer tenor, Virginia Paris contralto,

Intermission

Wagner: Siegfried Act III : "Mit zerfocht'ner Waffe wich mir der Feige?", Siegfried climbing to Brünnhilde's rock "Was ruht dort schlummernd im schattigen Tann?", Brünnhilde's Awakening (Heil dir, Sonne!) and Love Scene - Stokowski arrangement

- Mariquita Moll soprano, Eugene Conley tenor

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Intermission

+ Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940): Sensemayá (1937)

Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain G. 49 (1915) - William Kapell

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Concert Champêtre for Harpsichord and Orchestra (1928) - Wanda Landowska

Intermission

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine - Leonid Hambro, Ginette Martenot, Schola Cantorum Chorus

Intermission

Handel: Keyboard Concerto G. 49 opus 4 no 6 in B flat Major - Wanda Landowska, harpsichord

Mozart: Symphony no 35 in D Major, K. 385 (Haffner)

J. S. Bach: Cantata no 21: "Ich hatte viel Bekummernis" BWV 21: Sinfonia - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: English Suite No 2 in A minor BWV 807: Bourée - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 35 in D Major, K. 385 (Haffner)

Handel: Keyboard Concerto G. 49 opus 4 no 6 in B flat Major - Wanda Landowska, harpsichord

Intermission

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Concert Champêtre for Harpsichord and Orchestra (1928) - Wanda Landowska

*** John Alden Carpenter: Carmel Suite - world premiere

+++ Prokofiev: Symphony no 6 in E-flat minor, opus 111 - USA premiere

Intermission

+ Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra opus 13 - Jacques Abram

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Prokofiev: Symphony no 6 in E-flat minor, opus 111 - USA premiere

Intermission

+ Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra opus 13 - Jacques Abram

Borodin: Prince Igor (1887): Polovetsian Dances - Stokowski arrangement

Schubert: Symphony no 8 in b minor - "Unfinished"

Intermission

+ Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra opus 13 - Jacques Abram

Borodin: opera Prince Igor (1887): Polovetsian Dances - Stokowski arrangement

Schubert: Symphony no 8 in b minor - "Unfinished"

Intermission

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major opus 77 - Isaac Stern

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde: Act II: Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

1. "Cebell" for trumpet
2. "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
3. "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
4. "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
5. "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Violin Concerto no 1 in C major Hob. VIIa/1 - Isaac Stern

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Prokofiev: Symphony no 6 in E-flat minor, opus 111

J. S. Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier - Prelude and Fugue in c minor BWV 847: Fugue - Stokowski transcription

Schubert: one of the Marches militaires D. 733 - Stokowski transcription

Arcady Dubensky: Trumpet Overture for 18 toy trumpets and 2 bass drums - Children of the Tenafly, New Jersey McKay School

Stravinsky: Circus Polka (1944)

Prokofiev: A Summer Day: "Playing Tag" Music for Children opus 65bis (1935)

Audience Sing-Along: Emmett: "Dixie", Schubert: Schwanengesang D.957: "Serenade"

Wagner: Lohengrin Act III: Prelude

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for String Orchestra in C major, opus 48: Waltz: Moderato, tempo di valse

Mozart: Three German Dances K. 605: "Sleigh Ride" - Stokowski transcription

Leopold Mozart: "Toy Symphony" (Cassation in G major for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo) - Stokowski arrangement played by children

Audience Sing-Along: Gruber: "Silent Night", Pierpont: "Jingle Bells"

Walter Hendl: "The Little Brass Band" (Walter Hendl was the Assistant Conductor of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York)

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935): Caucasian Sketches Suite no 1 opus 10 (1894): no 4 'Procession of the Sardar'

Encore: Haydn: Symphony no 101 in D major, The Clock: Movement 2 excerpt

Encore:Leon Jessel (1871-1942): Parade of Wooden Soldiers

[1950]

1. "Cebell" for trumpet
2. "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
3. "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
4. "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
5. "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

+ Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony no 6 in E minor - seems to be the 1947 version, which was further revised later in 1950

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All Suite on Pristine Classical 

J. S. Bach: Cantata no 174: "Ich liebe den Hochsten von ganzem Gemute" BWV 174: Sinfonia - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: St. John's Passion BWV 245 - "Es ist vollbracht" - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Chaconne in D minor - from Partita no 2 in D minor BWV 1004 - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

+++ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Mother of Us All: Suite:

• Prelude
• Second Interlude: Cold Weather
• First Interlude: A Political Meeting

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

J. S. Bach: Chaconne in D minor - from Partita no 2 in D minor BWV 1004 - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): The Mother of Us All: Suite:

• Prelude
• Second Interlude: Cold Weather
• First Interlude: A Political Meeting

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Stokowski's 1950 Mahler Symphony no 8 Music & Arts CD1130  

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612): Sacrae symphoniae Book 2: "In Ecclesiis Benedicite Domino"

Chorus of the Schola Cantorum, Westminster Choir - Stokowski transcription

+ Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Symphony no 8 in E-flat major "Symphony of a Thousand"

Frances Yeend soprano, Uta Graf soprano, Camilla Williams soprano, Martha Lipton mezzo-soprano,

Louise Bernhardt alto, Eugene Conley tenor, Carlos Alexander tenor, George London bass-baritone,

Chorus of the Schola Cantorum, Westminster Choir, Boys Choir of Public School number 12

Stokowski's first concert with the Houston Symphony Orchestra ⁶⁷

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: "Magic Fire Music" - Stokowski transcription

another work by Wagner

+ Carl Ruggles (1876-1971): Organum (1946) for orchestra

a concluding symphony

a piano concerto with Walter Hendl piano soloist - Perhaps the Grieg Concerto

Special memorial concert in memory of Max Reiter founder of the San Antonio Symphony who died 2 weeks previously and which Stokowski conducted only two works, beginning with the Allegetto movement of the Beethoven Symphony and concluding with Debussy

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92: Movement 2: Allegretto

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

Antonio Iglesias Álvarez   

Stokowski introduced the movement of the Beethoven Symphony no 7 in memory of Max Reiter founder of the San Antonio Symphony who died 2 weeks previously

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92: Movement 2: Allegretto

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

Intermission

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: "Magic Fire Music" - Stokowski transcription

+++ Antonio Iglesias (Álvarez) (1918-2011): First Adventure of Don Quixote

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

[1951]

J. S. Bach: Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

+ Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Symphony no 3 opus 42 (1948)

Wagner: Das Rheingold: "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act III (1867)

Wagner: Die Walküre Act III scene 3: Wotan's Farewell and "Magic Fire Music" - Stokowski transcription

Donald Steinfirst in the Pittsburgh Post-Dispatch wrote: "Riegger's work is difficult to grasp at one hearing. Its atonalities and acridities do not make it palatable. Yet one remembers that Bach lay domant for a hundred years and Wagner was often hissed, one can understand the need for a sympathetic understanding of contemporary music." ¹⁰⁵

the Pittsburgh Symphony concert hall, the Syria Mosque, was a Moorish style theater with 3,850 seats. As well as being too large for a symphony hall, also its oval shape, wider than deep, produced poor acoustics.

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

+ Arthur Honegger (1892-1955): Symphony no 3 "Liturgique" (1946)

+ Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Louisiana Story

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

The Pittsburgh Post-Dispatch wrote: "'La cathédrale engloutie' transcribed for orchestra by Stokowski was last played in Pittsburgh under Stokowski's baton in 1926." ¹⁰³

1. "Cebell" for trumpet
2. "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
3. "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
4. "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
5. "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

+ Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony no 6 in E minor 1950 version

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Rolf Liebermann  

Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999): Furioso (1947)

"its uncompromising wildness brought its composer Rolf Liebermann international fame"

+ Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Symphony no 3 opus 42 (1948)

Wagner: Das Rheingold: "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act III (1867)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Parsifal - Stokowski Synthesis of music from Act III - Stokowski transcription

Maestro Serebrier wrote: "Stokowski's Symphonic Synthesis of Act III includes the transformation music from the conclusion of the final scene and the final moments when Parsifal heals Amfortas's wound by touching it with his spear. Stokowski excluded the 'Good Friday Spell' music from his version because Wagner himself had already made a concert version of it"

Wallingford Riegger was present at the Washington and Baltimore concerts. Concerning Stokowski and Wagner, Weldon Wallace of the Baltimore Sun wrote: "one may regret the inflated sounds and extravagance of some of his effects; this was especially true last night in the orgiastic and inflated reading of the music from the third act of 'Parsifal'. But it is impossible to remain immune to the allurements of some of the timbres Stokowski secures and to be unresponsive to the physical impact." ¹¹⁷

Leopold Stokowski and Sir Thomas Beecham in 1951  

In the Spring and Summer of 1951, during the "Festival of Britain", Stokowski toured Great Britain conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation of Sir Thomas Beecham

Davis Theater Croydon  

It seems that Stokowski and the Royal Philharmonic on tour would perform not only in famous concert halls, but also in old movie theaters such as the Davis Theater, Crydon. Daniels quotes Denis Vaughan: "{Stokowski] insisted that for the whole tour around England in various old cinemas and so on that the stages be stripped entirely so rhat there were only walls to be seen - no curtains at all so that the sound would be as reverberant as possible..." ⁷

Wagner: Tannhäuser (Paris version 1861): Overture and Venusberg Music

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act III (1867)

+ Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): from the movie "Descobrimento do Brasil": Impressão moura

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E minor, opus 98

+ Carl Ruggles (1876-1971): Organum (1946) for orchestra

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Oliver Daniel writes ⁶: "[the 28 April concert] was in Bournemouth, where he was able to visit his mother in the nursing home. It would be his last visit, since she died September 23, 1952 at the age of 93."

+ Carl Ruggles (1876-1971): Organum (1946) for orchestra

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

The Royal Albert Hall, home of the "Proms" Concerts  

The 16 May 1951 concert in the Royal Albert Hall with an audience of 6000 was Stokowski's first London concert since his 22 May 1912 London debut at the very beginning of his conducting career. It was also broadcast on the BBC Home Service.

Wagner: Tannhäuser (Paris version 1861): Overture and Venusberg Music

+ Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): from the movie "Descobrimento do Brasil": Impressão moura

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E minor, opus 98

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite opus 20

+ Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Symphony no 3 opus 42 (1948)

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Carl Ruggles in 1950  

+ Carl Ruggles (1876-1971): Organum (1946) for orchestra

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony no 2, opus 38 (1939)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Royal Festival Hall  

Stokowski's Royal Festival Hall debut

Concert broadcast on the BBC - part 1 on the Light Programme (later renamed "BBC Radio 2") and part 2 on the Third Programme (later renamed "BBC Radio 3")

National Anthem

J. S. Bach: Chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (from Cantata BWV140) - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Adagio for Strings opus 11 (1936-1938)

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (1913 version)

Broadcast live on the BBC Home Service

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Adagio for Strings opus 11 (1936-1938)

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (1913 version)

The Kurhaus of Scheveningen in the 1950s, a resort spa with a concert hall  

1951 Holland Festival concert

+ J. S. Bach: Chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (from Cantata BWV140) - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

+ Lukas Foss (1922-2009): Recordare (1948) - an elegy to Gandhi

+ Shostakovich: 24 Preludes opus 34 (1933): 14: Prelude in E-flat minor - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam one of the world's great concert halls with famous acoustics and a famous history  

thanks to Theo van der Burg for this photograph  

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Adagio for Strings opus 11 (1936-1938)

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony no 1, opus 9 (1906)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool  

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 4 in E minor, opus 98

Kenneth Leighton, said to be influenced by Goffredo Petrassi in Rome, his style is described as lyric and contrapuntal  

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Cantata BWV 208  Schafe können sicher weiden  (Sheep May Safely Graze) - Stokowski transcription

Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988): Primavera Romana Overture opus 14 (1951)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - probably the Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74 "Pathétique"

Frantisek Picha  

+ Shostakovich: 24 Preludes opus 34 (1933): 14: Prelude in E-flat minor - Stokowski transcription

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - probably the Stokowski transcription

Frantisek Picha (1893-1964) - student of Josef Suk: Stepancikovo Overture

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Pictures at an Exhibition - probably the Stokowski transcription

Stravinsky: Pastorale, for Violin with Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet and Bassoon

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959): Cello Concerto no 2 (1953)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Conrad Seaman, Dorothy Bund, Jane Bower, Mary Watkins, Wynette Betcher, Joseph Halliday, Nancy Lee Williams, John Beiswanger, Robert Reidel, Edmund Osbourne, Sidney Wildman, Charles Schraeder, David Bauman, Ruth Cotton, Lucille Nolte, Eleanore Carothers.

works of Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) published about 1585:

• Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
• O vos omnes
• Vere Languores
• Ave Maria

"O vos omnes" sung during Easter Holy Week: All you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see

if there be any sorrow like my sorrow

Ralph Lewandon in the Pittsburgh Press wrote: "The concert lasted only 25 minutes. The invited audience of about 200 packed the Chapel. In keeping with the devotional character of the occasion, singer and leader were unseen, performing behind the alter." ¹⁰⁶

Julian Carrillo  

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

*** Julian Carrillo (1875-1965): Horizontes: Poema sinfónico - world premiere

Nicoline Zedeler-Mix, Livio Mannucci cello, Ann Elizabeth Jones playing Carillo's harp-zither "...played somewhat like a zither, but strung to produce 97 tones to the octive" ⁸.

Carillo advocated the use of musical intervals smaller than half-tones, and composed works such as Horizontes in quarter, eighth and sixteenth-tones. Stokowski had commissioned and premiered several of Carrillo's works in the 1930s and 1940s.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 74 "Pathétique"

Encore: Carrillo Horizontes

+ J. S. Bach-Stokowski: Chorale Preludes - Stokowski transcriptions:

• "Christ lag in Todesbanden" BWV 718
• "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437
• "Nun Komm', der Heiden Heiland," BWV 62

Shostakovich: Symphony no 6 in B minor, opus 54

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

[1952]

concert included Herbert Elwell: Ode for orchestra (1950)

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

+ Julian Carrillo (1875-1965): Horizontes: Poema sinfónico

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Edmund Rubbra  

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Suite transcribed by Stokowski:

1. "Cebell" for trumpet
2. "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
3. "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
4. "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
5. "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

+++ Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986): Symphony no 5 in B-flat opus 63 (1947)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

+ Julian Carrillo (1875-1965): Horizontes: Poema sinfónico

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

of the Carillo work, Weldon Wallace in the Baltimore Sun wrote: "The new instrument is a harp/zither that can subdivide the usual 12-tone octave into 97 tones...the result was not at all like the highly dissonant or even atonal composers...it was not grating but sliding, not jarring but tantalizingly as it slithered about among the tones one is accustomed to." ¹¹⁸

Roger Goeb  

Columbia University Festival of Contemporary Music Sunday afternoon broadcast by CBS Radio

*** Alexei Haieff (1914-1994): Piano Concerto (1952) - Leo Smit piano - world premiere ⁵

*** Roger Goeb (1914-1997): Symphony No 3 - world premiere ⁵

§ Daniels writes: " [the concert] was to have taken place in Columbia's McMillan Theater but a strike by kitchen workers...[caused] the concert to be hastily moved to a quite unrehabilitated theater on Broadway at 65th Street"

Concert broadcast on the BBC Home Service

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Suite transcribed by Stokowski:

• "Cebell" for trumpet
• "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
• "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
• "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
• "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

J. S. Bach: "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

J. S. Bach: "Nun Komm', der Heiden Heiland," BWV 62 - Stokowski transcription

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899) BBC Chorus

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes

Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986): Symphony no 5 in B-flat opus 63 (1947)

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act I (1867)

Günter Raphael  

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Günter Raphael (1903-1960): Jabonah ballet suite opus 66 (1948)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Ulysses Kay  

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Hymn and Fuguing Tune

Ulysses Kay (1917-1995): Suite for Strings

John Lessard (1920-2003): Cantilena for Oboe and String Orchestra (1946) - Robert Bloom oboe

Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Study in Sonority

Alan Hovahaness: 30th Ode of Solomon - Warren Galjour baritone

Ben Webber  

Lou Harrison (1917-2003): Suite for Violin and Piano with Small Orchestra

Anahid Ajemian violin, Maro Ajemian piano

Elliott Carter (1908-2012): Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quintet (1950)

Vladimir Ussachevsky (1911-1990): Sonic Contours (1952)

Otto Luening (1900-1996):

• Low Speed (1952)
• Invention (1952)
• Fantasy in Space (1952)

Ben Webber (1916-1979): Symphony On Poems Of William Blake - Warren Galjour baritone

The works of Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening are of electronic tape music, not requiring a conductor - one of the pioneering concerts of this gendre.

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

+ Claudio Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610) - as arranged by Stokowski

Mariam Stewart soprano, Dorothy Clark contralto, William Miller tenor, Bruce Foote baritone,

100 voice University of Illinois Oratorio Society Chorus, Paul Young director.

This concert was also recorded by the legendary engineer Bert Whyte, with at least the Beethoven being recorded in stereophonic sound; amazing for 1952.

From a contemporary newspaper: "STOKOWSKI TRIES SOUND EXPERIMENT. (Champaign, Illinois) Three dimensional sound recordings with Leopold Stokowski conducting the symphony orchestra are being made at the University of Illinois in a pioneering educational project. Stokowski conducted the University of Illinois student symphony orchestra in the first recording, the start of a library of stereophonic or 'three-dimensional' recordings." ¹⁸.

Music & Arts CD 1190  

J. S. Bach-Stokowski

Schubert

Wagner

*** Jacob Avshalomov (1919-2013): The Taking of T’ung Kuan - world premiere

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

This concert was also recorded in stereophonic sound by the legendary engineer Bert Whyte allowing the issue of the Avshalomov and Tchaikovsky on Music & Arts CD 1190.

Cala Recording CACD 0535  

"All-Russian Program"

+ Shostakovich: 24 Preludes opus 34 (1933): 14: Prelude in E-flat minor - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

- Colin Harvey offstage baritone taking the hymn part usually scored for the trombone

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

Nichola Rossi-Lemeni bass (Boris Godunov), Lawrence Mason tenor (The Idiot),

San Francisco Opera Chorus, Kurt Herbert Adler director, San Francisco State College Choir,

Roy Freeburg director, San Francisco Boys Choir, Madi Bacon director.

Two days after this series of concerts on 8 December and on 10 December, RCA Victor recorded Stokowski's remarkable performance of these scenes from Boris Godunov with the San Francisco cast. It was issued on LM 1764 LP and on CD issued by Cala Records on CACD 0535. Mussorgsky was one of the composers to whom Stokowski was particularly atuned.

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Boris Godunov: excerpts - Stokowski transcription

• Outside the Novodievichi Monastery
• Coronation of Boris
• Monks Chanting In The Monastery Of Choudov
• Siege of Kazan
• Outside the Church of Saint Basil; the starving people and the Idiot foretells the fate of Russia
• Death of Boris

Nichola Rossi-Lemeni bass, Lawrence Mason tenor, San Francisco Opera Chorus, Kurt Herbert Adler director, San Francisco State College Choir, Roy Freeburg director, San Francisco Boys Choir, Madi Bacon director.

+ Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008): Serenade

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

[1953]

Copland: Lincoln Portrait (1942)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Powell Weaver, a Kansas City-based composer and organist, with fellow organist Bethel Davis (1919-2003)  

J. S. Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Powell Weaver (1890–1951): The Vagabond symphonic poem

Wagner: " Die Gotterdammerung" - Act III Finale

Copland: Lincoln Portrait (1942)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Herbert Elwell (1898-1974) said to be the first American to study in France with Nadia Boulanger  

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Herbert Elwell: Ode for orchestra (1950)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Copland: Lincoln Portrait (1942)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Halsey Stevens (1908-1989): Suite no 1 (1945) - lyrical with fast changing rhythms

Henry Brant (1913-2008): Signs and Alarms (1954)

Lou Harrison (1917-2003): Canticle no 3 (1941)

Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990): Letters from Morocco for tenor and small orchestra - William Hess tenor

Jacob Avshalomov (1919-2013): Evocations - Herbert Tichman clarinet

Schubert

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Wagner: "Die Gotterdammerung" - Act III Finale

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

+ Bach: Chorale Prelude "Christ lag in Todesbanden" BWV 718 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Parsifal Good Friday Music, Act II

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, opus 36

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Ennio Porrino (1910-1959): Nuraghi (1952) - a tonal work which was inspired by a summer in Sardinia

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Gian Carlo Menotti in 1950  

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007): Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951)

Giulietta Simionato mezzo-soprano as Amahl's mother, Alvaro Cordova boy soprano as Amahl with choreography by George Balanchine.

Fartein Valen (1887-1952)  

+ Bach-Stokowski: Chorale Preludes - Stokowski transcriptions:

• "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437
• "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639
• "Nun Komm', der Heiden Heiland," BWV 62

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Harald Sæverud (1897-1992): The Ballad of Revolt (1943) opus 22A no 5

Fartein Valen (1887-1952): Churchyard by the Sea opus 20

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Oliver Daniel quotes Jon Embretsen: "...Valen was not popular with the concert public in Norway...[Stokowski] with his usual flair gave the Valen piece a superb rendition - so much so that in the end the audience was stunned, and there was this dead silence of several seconds before a thunderous applause broke out..." ¹⁹

Sibelius and Stokowski in a 1953 visit prior to the concert, which Sibelius also attended  

Sibelius Programme

Sibelius: Finlandia opus 26 (1899)

Sibelius: Symphony no 1 E Minor opus 39

Sibelius: Suite from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande opus 46

Sibelius: Symphony no 7 in C Major, opus 105

Guild Historical has issued GHCD 2341 containing this concert, but like other sources, the sound is poor, although they were able to made some improvements; yet the recording demonstrates the excellence of these performances and expains the audience acclaim.

Twentieth Century Concert Hall on CBS radio

Sponsored by the American Composer's Alliance ⁶⁶

Bach: Siciliano from Sonata for Violin and Clavier BWV 1017 - Stokowski transcription

Nicolai Berezowsky (1900–1953): Adagio from String Sextet Concerto (1940) (played by Stokowski "In Memoriam" to Berezowsky who had recently died)

Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Concerto for orchestra no 1 "Arevakal" opus 88 (1951)

Colin McPhee  

Programme of Canadian Composers

Pierre Mercure (1927-1966): Pantomine for Wind Instruments and Percussion

Alexander Brott (1915-2005): Violin Concerto - Noel Brunet violin

Colin McPhee (1900-1964): Tabuh-Tabuhan (1936) using 2 pianos and extensive percussion

Intermission

François Morel (1926- ): Antiphone

Godfrey Ridout: Two Mystical Songs of John Donne - Lois Marshall soprano

Healey Willan: Coronation Suite - Westminster Choir, John Finley Williamson director

Twentieth Century Concert Hall on CBS radio

Sponsored by the American Composer's Alliance

Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990): a composition

Roger Goeb (1914-1997): Concertino no 1, for orchestra (1949)

Twentieth Century Concert Hall on CBS radio

Sponsored by the American Composer's Alliance

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669): Tu mancavi a tormentarmi - Stokowski transcription

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989): Cantabile : for strings : Portrait of Nicolas de Chatelain

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Hymn and Fuguing Tune

Douglas S. Moore (1893-1969): Polka and Cakewalk from Cotillion Suite (1952)

Vladimir Ussachevsky (1911-1990)/Otto Luening (1900-1996): Incantation for Tapesichord

The Ussachevsky/Luening work required no conductor, since it was electronic music produced using magnetic tape recording: a "Tapesichord"

Twentieth Century Concert Hall on CBS radio

Sponsored by the American Composer's Alliance

concert conducted by Stokowski followed by the "Music Critics Workshop" organized by the American Symphony Orchestra League ⁷⁹.

Enrique Jorda San Francisco Music Director 1954-1963  

Stokowski opened the San Francisco Symphony 1953-1954 season. The New York Times wrote:

"With Leopold Stokowski on the podium, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra opened its 'Season of Decision' last night. This is the season at the conclusion of which, according to Howard K. Skinner, the orchestra's General Manager, it is hoped that a decision can be reached on a successor to Pierre Monteux as permanent conductor" ⁷⁸

Stokowski programmed a relatively conservative programme, with his best works. Eventually, however, Enrique Jorda was appointed San Francisco Music Director beginning with the 1954-1955 season, rather than Stokowski.

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899) with chorus

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes

San Francisco Opera Chorus, Kurt Herbert Adler director in Sirènes

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Stokowski had the woodwinds seated at stage front to the right for this concert ³¹

soloists: Arthur Wittemore and Jack Lowe pianists

Walter Piston (1894-1976): Toccata (1948) originally commissioned by the French National Orchestra

Chou Wen-chung (1923- ): Landscapes "based on three traditional Chinese melodies associated with three ancient Chinese poems"

"Chou is credited by Nicholas Slonimsky to be one of the first Chinese composer who has attempted to translate authentic oriental melo-rhythms into the terms of modern Western music." ²⁷

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

"Annual Christmas Carol Hour" broadcast Christmas eve on CBS radio

Concert of Christmas carols - Eileen Farrell soprano and Robert Shaw Chorale

[1954]

Emmanuel Bondeville (1898-1987): Illuminations no 2 - Ophélie (1931)

Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975): For the fallen: Berceuse

Uuno Klami (1900-1961): Karelian Rhapsody opus 15 (1927)

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Stokowski often improved the acoustics in halls in which he performed, but not in the old Constitution Hall, Washington. "January 1954: Washington. [Leopold Stokowski] wanted a large curtain removed from the stage of Constitution Hall in Washington. He said he'd been complaining about the thing for years because it ruins the acoustics of the place. Eventually he capitulated and played before the undisturbed drapes..." ²⁰

of the Baltimore concert, Weldon Wallace in the Baltimore Sun wrote: "The first half of the evening featured four works by living composers...none of these was modern in a harsh, jagged way. None of them had distinctive profile, but they were rewarding in their own way, especially as played last night." ¹¹⁹

Harald Sæverud (1897-1992)  

Harald Sæverud (1897-1992): The Ballad of Revolt (1943) opus 22A no 5

Howard Hanson (1896-1981): Pastorale for oboe, harp and strings opus 38

Uuno Klami (1900-1961): Karelian Rhapsody opus 15 (1927)

Bach: Chorale, "Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", BWV 478 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Mozart: Piano Sonata no 11 in A major, K 331: Movement 3 Alla Turca "Turkish March"

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Herbert Elwell (1898-1974): The Forever Young (1952)

Wagner: Das Rheingold: Alberich's curse and "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla" - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Twentieth Century Concert Hall - broadcast by CBS radio

+++ Charles Ives (1874-1954): A Set of Three Short Pieces: Hymn, Largo cantabile

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus for harp and string orchestra (1939)

Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances for Orchestra BB 68

Josef Foerster (1859-1951): Sarabande - Maurice Wilk violin

Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)  

Otmar Nussio (1902-1990): Danze di Majorca (1949)

Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968): Preludio a un altro giorno (1952)

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) Suite

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Steinfirst in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "The Nussio Majorcan dance proved to be pleasant, bright-colored, and strongly rhythmic and not much else." ¹⁰⁸

Harold Coletta, left and Eddie Grosso soloists in Ives  

Twentieth Century Concert Hall - broadcast by CBS radio

Charles Ives (1874-1954): Holiday Symphony: Washington’s Birthday

"Jews Harp" soloists: Harold Coletts (usually NBC viola), Eddie Grosso amateur musician.

Paul Creston (1906-1985): Partita for Flute, Violin & Stings opus 12

soloists: Maurice Wilk violin, Julius Baker flute

CBS radio and Stokowski received extensive nationwide newspaper coverage of their search for musicians playing the "Jews Harp" for Ives's Washington's Birthday score. When the story died down, Stokowski issued a press release saying he might have to cancel the concert due to a lack of a jews harp musician. The search and audition of musician candidates received continued daily newspaper coverage for one week prior to the concert, seemingly effective publicity for the 21 February 1954 concert. Photographs of the winning musicians, shown above, were printed by newspapers nationwide.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

François Morel (1926- ): Antiphone

Claude Delvincourt (1888-1954): Pamir (1938)

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): English Folk Song Suite (1923)

Peter Mennin - he also succeeded William Schuman as head of the Juilliard School  

Twentieth Century Concert Hall - broadcast by CBS radio

Robert Kurka (1921-1957): Elegy for English horn & Strings: In memory of Mrs. Hepburn (1948)

Peter Mennin (1923-1983): Fantasia for String Orchestra (1947)

Walter Piston (1894-1976): Fantasy for English Horn, Harp & Strings (1953)

featured artists in the Piston work: Harry Shulman English horn (of the NBC orchestra), Gloria Agostini harp

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Suite transcribed by Stokowski 3 of the following (not identified):

1. "Cebell" for trumpet
2. "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
3. "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
4. "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
5. "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

Gala all-Norwegian Concert sponsored by the Norwegian Government

Fartein Valen (1887-1952): Churchyard by the Sea opus 20

Harald Sæverud (1897-1992): The Ballad of Revolt (1943) opus 22A no 5

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911): Carnival in Paris, Episode for Orchestra opus 9 (1872)

Arne Eggen (1881-1955): Liti Kersti Suite: Bjorgulv the Fiddler

Ludvig Irgens-Jensen (1894-1969): Partita Sinfonica

+++ Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): Lyric Pieces, opus 54, no 6: Bell Ringing - as arranged by Stokowski

David Monrad Johansen (1888-1974): Voluspaa opus 15

Øivin Fjeldstad conducted the Klaus Egge Piano Concerto no 2 with Robert Riefling piano to conclude this programme of Norwegian music

Concert broadcast on the BBC Home Service

Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006): Beckus the Dandipratt opus 5 - Comedy Overture

Reinhold Glière (1875-1946): Concerto for Coloratura and Orchestra opus 82

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971): Symphonic studies for Orchestra (1938)

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Malcolm Arnold (later Sir Malcolm) was present in the audience

Leopold Stokowski conducts Arnold Bax in a 1954 BBC telecast  

Televised concert by the BBC introduced by Stokowski

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Arnold Bax (1883-1953): Tintagel (1919)

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Suite transcribed by Stokowski:

• "Cebell" for trumpet
• "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
• "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
• "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
• "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

Concert broadcast on the BBC Home Service

William Schuman (1910-1992): Circus Overture

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus for harp and string orchestra (1939)

Arnold Bax (1883-1953): Tintagel (1919)

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

This was Stokowski's first and only concert performance in Belgium

Bach: Toccata and Fugue, D minor, BWV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Kurt Leimer at about the time of this concert  

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Kurt Leimer (1920-1974): Piano Concerto no 2 (1948) - with the composer at the piano

Tchaikovsky: Capriccio italien opus 45

Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Statements for Orchestra (1935)

Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999): Furioso (1947)

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Boris Blacher (1903-1975): Orchestral Variations on a Theme by Paganini opus 26

Falla: El sombrero de tres picos: Suite arranged by Stokowski

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Vespro della Beata Vergine SV 206: "Sancta Maria ora pro nobis" - Gabriella Carturan soprano

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612): Sacrae symphoniae Book 2: "In Ecclesiis Benedicite Domino" - Stokowski transcription

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Beatus Vir RV 597 - with organ and Choir

Gabriella Carturan mezzo-soprano, Carlo Tagliabue baritone, Giovanni Spina tenor, Choir of La Fenice

Stokowski conducting in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy  

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): L'estro armonico - Concerto grosso opus 3 no 11 in d minor RV 565 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade opus 35 (1888)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Bicentennial Celebration of Columbia University

this seems to be the only Stokowski - New York Philharmonic concert of the 1950s following his departure as Co-Principal conductorof the orchestra in 1949.

Daniel Gregory Mason (1873-1953): Chanticleer Overture festival overture for orchestra, Op 27

Otto Luening (1900-1996): Symphonic Fantasia no 2

Douglas Stuart Moore (1893-1969): Symphony no 2 in A major

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908): Concerto no 2 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, opus 23 - Gary Graffman

Bela Bartok (1881-1945): Dance Suite BB 86a

Stokowski rehearsing the Boston University Symphony in Carmina Burana  

Normand Lockwood (1906-2002) a student of Respighi: Prairie (1953) with chorus

Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

The Boston University Symphony, Symphonic Chorus, Newton Boys' Choir

Student soloists: Gwendolyn Belle mezzo-soprano, John Colleary baritone, Elmer Dickey tenor, Kenneth Shelton baritone, Ruth Ann Tobin soprano

Although the first performance of Carmina Burana was in Frankfurt in 1937, the published score was not available in the USA until 1953. The USA premiere took place in a little-noticed San Francisco concert given by the University of San Francisco's Schola Cantorum under Giovanni Camajani ²¹. Thor Johnson conducted the second USA performance at the Cincinnati May Festival 5 May 1954 ²¹. The November 1954 Stokowski/BU concerts seem the third USA performance prior to a number of leading orchestras adding in the work to their repetoire in 1955.

Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

The Boston University Symphony, Symphonic Chorus, Newton Boys' Choir

Student soloists: Gwendolyn Belle mezzo-soprano, John Colleary baritone, Elmer Dickey tenor, Kenneth Shelton baritone, Ruth Ann Tobin soprano

Carnegie Hall performance was sponsored by Contemporary Music Society.

Paul Henry Lang of the New York Herald-Tribune, often critical of Stokowki wrote: "Orff prefers melismas, microscopic fragments which are repeated, at times endlessly. There is not development, musical or psychological, of the kind we find in even the most avant guarde music, and everything is pared down to a primordial simplicity of music" ¹²⁰

Robert Cogan when a composition professor at the New England Conservatory  

+ Robert Cogan (1930- ): Fantasia for Orchestra (1951)

+ Henri Barraud (1900-1997): Offrande à une ombre, pour orchestre, à la mémoire de Maurice Jaubert (1942)

Stravinsky: Apollon musagète ballet (1928/1947)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

• "Cebell" for trumpet
• "The Fairy Queen" Pastorale
• "The Fairy Queen" Hornpipe
• "Dido and Aeneas": Dido's Lament: "When I am laid in earth"
• "The Fairy Queen" Largo and Allegro

+ Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Sinfonia Antarctica (Symphony no 7 written in 1952)

Stravinsky: Apollon musagète ballet (1928/1947)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899) with chorus

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

[1955]

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Roy Harris (1898-1979): Symphony no 7 (1952)

Jack Frederick Kilpatrick, Cherokee heritage composer  

concert included:

Jack Frederick Kilpatrick (1915-1967): Invocation and Ritual

Jack Frederick Kilpatrick was a native american composer who often used themes inspired by his Cherokee heritage including in Invocation and Ritual.

Concert was also intended to include Lou Harrison (1917-2003): Symphony on G (Symphony no 1) written in 1952 using Harrison's variation on Schoenberg's 12 tone system, but Stokowski cancelled due to lack of two harps and the work by Kilpatick (then composing in Dallas) was substituted. Lou Harrison, who had taken a bus from California to be present expressed his disappointment.

local newspapers described the choice of Kilpatrick: "Stokowski explained that he loved Kilpatrick's music, and he ordered that the program be changed. The program was almost ready to go to press but that made no difference to the great Stokowski who ordered the program changed." ¹⁰⁹

Rimsky-Korsakov: Dubinushka opus 62

- Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral arrangement of the traditional folk song "The Little Oak Stick"

+ Shostakovich: Symphony no 10 in E minor opus 93

William Schuman (1910-1992): Prayer in Time of War, 1943

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Vision From High Rock opus 123

Hovhannes's comments seem to refer to this Detroit premiere and the famous 31 October 1955 premiere of Mysterious Mountain, listed below.

Andrzej Panufnik (1914-1991): Symphony for Peace (1951) - Lutnia Singing Society

Panufnik later replaced his Symphony for Peace with his Sinfonia Elegiaca Symphony no 2 which used the first two movements from the Symphony for Peace.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Dubinushka opus 62

- Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral arrangement of the traditional folk song "The Little Oak Stick"

+ Shostakovich: Symphony no 10 in E minor opus 93

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque: Movement 3: Clair de Lune - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Mein Jesu! was vor Seelenweh" BWV 487 - Stokowski transcription

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

This was the occasion when Stokowski's broadcast was cut off the air. The Miami Daily News wrote: "Stokowski, here for a concert at the Miami Beach Auditorium and another tonight at the Dade County Auditorium was being interviewed backstage at the Miami Beach Auditorium. Announcer John Prosser read 'Leopold Stokowski was born in 1882...' Stokowski shouted 'No, no, no, that is not true, I was born in 1887!' Prosser read on 'He was born of a Polish father and an Irish mother...' Stokowski shouted 'That's a lie! My mother was not Irish! Where did you get that stuff?'. There was a scuffle and then the broadcast was cut" ¹⁰²

Bach: "Mein Jesu! was vor Seelenweh" BWV 487 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 9 in D minor, opus 125

Bach: Cantata BWV208  Schafe können sicher weiden  (Sheep May Safely Graze) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

+++ Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

Soloists: Soloists: Angelica Tuccari soprano, Antonio Pirino tenor, Raffaele de Falachi baritone, Margherita Salvi soprano, Aurelio Oppicelli baritone

Morton Gould in about 1945  

Handel: Chandos Anthem no 2 in d minor HWV 247 - Overture in D minor - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Ibert: Féerique (1924)

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Sinfonietta (1936)

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67

Falla: El amor brujo (1916) - Oralia Dominguez mezzo-soprano

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act I (1867)

Gottfried von Einem known in particular for his operas  

Gottfried von Einem (1915-1996): Meditationen Two Pieces for Orchestra opus 18

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Percussion Concerto opus 109 (1930)

Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983): Variaciones Concertantes opus 23 (1953)

Werner Egk (1901-1983): French Suite after Rameau (1949)

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet ballet opus 64 - Stokowski's selection from Prokofiev's Suites no 1 and 2:

• no 6 from Suite no 1 opus 64a: Romeo and Juliet
• no 6 from Suite no 2 opus 64b: Dance of the Girls with Lilies
• no 7 from Suite no 2 opus 64b: Romeo at Juliet's Grave

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - transcription by Stokowski

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Bach: Cantata BWV208  Schafe können sicher weiden  (Sheep May Safely Graze) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

+ Karl Hartmann (1905-1963): Symphony no 2 (1946)

Boris Blacher (1903-1975): Orchestral Variations on a Theme by Paganini opus 26

Hessischer Rundfunk "Week of New Music"

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Hymne au Saint Sacrement (1932)

+ Ernst Krenek (1900-1991): Concerto for Cello opus 133

Stravinsky: Mass (1948) with mixed chorus

+ Karl Hartmann (1905-1963): Symphony no 2 (1946)

*** Hans Werner Henze (1926-1912): Quattro poemi (1955) a premiere and commissioned for this concert

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Ernst Krenek composed in a relaxed version of the twelve-tone technique after studying with Webern  

Bach: Chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" BWV 645 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

+ Ernst Krenek (1900-1991): Concerto for Cello opus 133

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K 550

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Concert of the 1955 Vienna Music Festival

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881): Khovanshchina arranged by Stokowski: Act IV, scene 2 Entr'acte

+ Max Haager (1905-1984): Chaconne for Orchestra (1947)

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Stokowski returned to the Hollywood Bowl for the first time since 1946 to conduct the concluding concert of 1955 'Symphony Under The Stars'. It was "Leopold Stokowski's 37 appearance on the Hollywood Bowl stage" ¹²¹

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet ballet Suite no 2 opus 64b: Romeo at Juliet's Grave

+ Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

+ Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

soloists included a young Marilyn Horne (born 1934) soprano, Marni Nixon soprano, Richard Robinson tenor, Heinz Blankenburg baritone

Roger Wagner Chorale

"The Sunken Gardens of Santa Barbars's Old Spanish Courthouse, sketched here, will be the scene of the Pacific Coast Music Festival September 10 through 18 under the baton of Leopold Stokowski Music Director in four outdoor symphony concerts" ¹¹¹  

Pacific Coast Music Featival

Handel: Concerto Grosso in G minor, HWV 324 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: 'Siciliano' from Sonata for Violin and Clavier BWV 1017

Bach: "Mein Jesu! was vor Seelenweh" BWV 487 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Prelude in B minor BWV 869 from Book I of the "Well-Tempered Clavier" - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Preludio in E - from Partita no 3 in E major BWV 1006 - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Serenade in D major K. 239 "Serenata notturna"

Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Concerto no 5 for piano and strings opus 98 no 3

*** Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Hymn and Fuguing Tune number 10 (1955) - billed as world premiere

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (1899)

Joaquin Rodrigo: his most famous work Concierto de Aranjuez was composed in 1939  

Pacific Coast Music Featival

concert included: ¹¹⁰

William Schuman (1910-1992): Symphony for Strings - Symphony no 5 in Three Movements (1943)

Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999): Zarabanda lejana (1926) arranged for orchestra

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Concerto Grosso no 2 (1952)

Pacific Coast Music Featival

William Lawes (1602-1645): Consort Sets in Six-parts: Six-part Fantasy and Air no 1 - Stokowski transcription

Matthew Locke (1621-1677): Suite no 1 in G minor - Stokowski transcription

Henry Purcell (1659-1695): King Arthur: Excerpts - arranged by Julian Herbage

John Humphries (1707-1745): Concerto in D minor, opus 3 no 10 - Stokowski transcription

William Billings (1746-1800): Lamentation Over Boston

Supply Belcher (1752-1836): How Swift the Moments Fly

Jacob Kimball (1761-1826): Leicester and Hark What News the Angels Bring

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C major opus 48

Pacific Coast Music Featival

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Percussion Concerto opus 109 (1930)

Charles Ives (1874-1954): The Unanswered Question (1908)

Bela Bartok (1881-1945): Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta BB 114

Stravinsky: Mass (1948) with 160 voice Roger Wagnor Choral mixed chorus

The Stravinsky Mass was dedicated by Stokowski to New York music critic Olin Downes who died 22 August 1955. Downes was a strong advocate of contemporary music.

Sibelius: The Tempest opus 109: Berceuse

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Serenade to Music (1938)

Television Broadcast: This is a 30 October 1955 final rehearsal prior to the 31 October 1955 first concert beginning Stokowski's tenure as Music Director of the Houston Symphony. The rehearsal was televised nationally on NBC's 'Wide, Wide World', and was also the Houston Symphony's first telecast

*** Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Mysterious Mountain Symphony no 2 (1955)

this is the rehearsal prior to the world premiere

First Houston Symphony concert with Stokowski as Music Director

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act I (1867)

*** Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Mysterious Mountain Symphony no 2 (1955)

Hovhaness's compostion Mysterious Mountain was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and given its world premiere coinciding with the beginning of Leopold Stokowski's tenure. The compostion had uniformly positive reviews following the concert and went on to become perhaps Hovhaness's most popular composition.

Intermission

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Daphnis et Chloé, Suite no 2

Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor opus 68

Leopold Stokowski in 1955  

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

+ Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704): Médée Passacaglia - Stokowski transcription

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

+ Charles Ives (1874-1954): The Unanswered Question (1908)

Intermission

+ Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956): Esther: Dances

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

+ Bach: Orchestral Suite no 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067: Badinerie - Stokowski transcription

+ Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

+ Charles Ives (1874-1954): The Unanswered Question (1908)

Intermission

*** Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Symphony no 6 (1952) - premiere; probably Cowell's least-performed symphony

Henry Cowell was present for this premiere

Tchaikovsky: "Romeo and Juliet" Overture Fantasy - Stokowski arrangement

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Intermission

+ Howard Hanson (1896-1981): Piano Concerto in G major - Rudolf Firkusny piano

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

Stokowski performed and recorded the music of Aram Khachaturian throughout his career including this USA premiere of this 19 minute Festive Poem depicting people celebrating Soviet rule (Khachaturian survived the Stalin era)  

+++ Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978): Festive Poem (1950) - USA premiere

+ Shostakovich: Symphony no 10 in E minor opus 93

Intermission

+ Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Dance Rhythms

George Enesco (1881-1955): Romanian Rhapsody no 1, opus 11 (1901)

All Sibelius Programme commemorating the composer's 90th birthday

Sibelius: Finlandia opus 26 (1899)

Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite opus 22: "The Swan of Tuonela" opus 22 no 2

Sibelius: The Tempest: Berceuse opus 109 (1926)

+++ Sibelius: Hymn of the Earth opus 85 - USA premiere

mixed chorus: the Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

Sibelius: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 43 (1902)

Mozart Programme

Mozart: Ave verum corpus in D major K. 618

Mozart: Missa brevis no 9 in B-flat major K. 275: excerpts

Mozart: Canon for Six Voices in D major: K. 347

Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major K. 299

Mozart: Serenade no 10 for winds in B flat major K. 361/370a "Gran Partita"

[1956]

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K 550

Bach: Chaconne in D minor - from Partita no 2 in D minor BWV 1004 - Stokowski transcription

+ Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Réveil des Oiseaux (1953)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919) as adapted by Stokowski

Phillip Lamdro of the Christian Science Monitor wrote of this Messiaen performance: "Messiaen's is not merely to spin polyrhythmic counterpoint, but through our limited system of musical notation to create 'living' music. It does not sound like any other music one may have heard since it is as far removed from academic formualas as it is from revolutionary ones." ¹²²

Stokowski programmed a memorable 1956 performance of Carmina Burana which he was then to record with Capital Records in 1958

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 1 in C major, opus 21

+ Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

Virginia Babikian soprano, Jack Waggoner tenor, Guy Gardner baritone, Howard Hartmann baritone

Stokowski employed a mixed chorous of 150 singers: the Houston Symphony Chorale ²⁴

for the last 2 concerts of the Houston 1955-1956 season, Stokowski programmed innovative repetorie including Orff's "Trionfo di Afrodite" and works by Brazilian composer Mozart Camargo Guarnieri and local composer Paul Holmes

Mendelssohn: Ruy Blas Overture opus 95

Schumann: Symphony no 2 in C major opus 61

+ Carl Orff (1895-1982): Trionfo di Afrodite

Virginia Babikian soprano, Audre Lokey soprano, Jack Waggoner tenor, Guy Gardner baritone

Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

Paul Holmes (1923-2007) University of Texas composer commissioned by the Houston Symphony  

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): L'éventail de Jeanne (Jean's Fan) ballet (1927)

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993): Dansa negra (1946)

Oscar Espla (1886-1976): Don Quijote velando las armas (1924)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Boléro (1928)

*** Paul Holmes (1923-2007): Fable (1956) premiere of a work commissioned by the Houston Symphony

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, opus 36

Phillip Lamdro of the Christian Science Monitor wrote: "Espla composed a Fantasia consisting of a Prelude, Dance, and Final Scene, all based on one simple theme. Scored for large orchestra, the work is free in form and contains massive tonal effects." ¹²³

This concert, with a programme - which would only be devised by Stokowski - concluded the Houston Symphony 1955-1956 seasaon.

Oscar Espla (1886-1976) said to be mainly self-taught as composer  

Stokowski's first concert performance in Spain

Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999): Homenaje a la Tempranica (1939) - a lyrical work

Oscar Espla (1886-1976): El sueño de Eros in B-flat minor (1912)

Conrado del Campo (1878-1953): Fantasia Castellana

Conrado del Campo had been for many years principal conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974): Saudades do Brasil opus 67 (1921): movement 3: Botafogo

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

encore: Morton Gould (1913-1996): Latin-American Symphonette - Symphonette no 4 (1940): Tango

Blagoje Bersa (1873-1934) a Croatian composer  

Bach: Chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (from Cantata BWV 80) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Boléro (1928)

Blagoje Bersa (1873-1934): Suncana polja ("Sunny Fields")

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

While in Yugoslavia, Stokowski was a particularly active tourist, since he could not take his fee in dinars out of the country ²⁵

The Serbian composer Petar Konjovic is perhaps best remembered for his operas of nationalistic folk themes 

Bach: Chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (from Cantata BWV 80) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Wir glauben al' an einen Gott" BWV 437 - Stokowski transcription

Petar Konjovic (1883-1970): song from "My Country": Chestnut Wood

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Boléro (1928)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

"Zurich June Festival" which took place 1 June to 3 July 1956 ¹¹³

Beethoven: Leonore Overture no 3, opus 72b

Mozart: Symphony no 40 in G Minor, K 550

Kurt Leimer (1920-1974): Left Hand Concerto (1952) - with the composer at the piano

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Boléro (1928)

Frank Forrest (Frank Hayek) as opera tenor  

Empire State Music Festival in Ellenville, New York 75 miles north of New York City

This mini-festival was funded primarily by Frank Eugene Forest (1896-1976), (born Frank Hayek) who made his fortune founding a drug company, changed his stage name to Frank Forest and pursued an opera singing career in Italy and the USA. With the Empire State Music Festival, he wanted to create a music festival that would avoid the usual opera repertoire, and to present "brand-new works or very, very old ones." ³⁰

Fully staged production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Carl Orff's incidental music

+ Carl Orff (1895-1982): incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream

cast and chorus: Basil Rathbone - Oberon, Nancy Wickwire - Titania, Red Buttons - Bottom, Alvin Epstein - Puck, the Shawangunk Choraliers ²⁸

The Shakespeare play, normally taking nearly three hours was reduced to the span of two hours by some heavy cuts ²⁹.

Miles Kastendieck in the Christian Science Monitor wrote:"A professional cast starring Basil Rathbone as Oberon and Red Buttons as Bottom gave a fair account of the text. Neither star was completely in character. It remained for Alvin Epstein as Puck to come closest to a full realization of his role." ¹²⁵.

Robert Helps (1928-2001)  

Fromm Music Foundation Award Winners Concert

*** Bernhard Heiden (1910-2000): Memorial (1955)

Bernhard Heiden was a student of Paul Hindemith and for three decades was Chair of the Composition Department at the Indiana University School of Music,

*** Robert Helps (1928-2001): Symphony no 1 movement 2: Adagio (1953)

Helps began composing in his teens, and studied with Roger Sessions. Helps also had a successful career as a concert pianist.

+ Leon Kirchner (1919-2009): Toccata for Strings, Solo Winds, and Percussion (1955)

*** Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959): Piano Concerto no 4 "Incantation"

This concert completely of new music illustrates the breadth of Stokowski's repetoire, unmatched by any other conductor of his era. Stokowski's view in assessing new scores is shown by an account of Anthony Morss: " I had heard that Ormandy hired people to winnow through the enormous piles of scores that were sent to him, because he just hadn't the time to read them all. I asked Stokowski if he did that and he said, no, because he was always afraid of some assistant's dismissing out of hand a crude, primitive genius like Moussorgsky, who was enormously original but who wrote in a way that might seem illiterate. Stokowski was searching for that kind of rugged individuality, and he couldn't trust any other person not to miss a rough-hewn genius." ²⁹

Programme of the 14 October 1956 Symphony of the Air concert  

*** Charles Ives (1874-1954): Robert Browning Overture

- that this Ives work was a world premiere in 1956 shows the continuing lack of recognition of Ives only 2 years after his death

*** Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Symphony no 3

Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244-63: "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" - Stokowski transciption

- Bach played in memory of Philip Sklar, Principal bass of the Symphony of the Air and longtime of the NBC Symphony who had died 3 weeks earlier on 26 September 1956.

*** Kurt Leimer (1920-1974): Piano Concerto no 4

+++ Werner Egk (1901-1983): French Suite after Rameau (1949)

Opening of the Houston Symphony 1956-1957 season, Stokowski's second season as Music Director

Handel: Chandos Anthem no 2 in d minor HWV 247 - Overture in D minor - Stokowski transcription

Brahms: Symphony no 2 in D major, opus 73

Sir Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941): Solemn Melody for organ and orchestra (1908)

Davies was one of Stokowski's teachers at the Royal College of Music

William Rice: Concerto for Wind and Percussion

William E. Rice (1921-1987) was a Houston composer who studied at Yale and Indiana University, and who was present for the premiere of his work.

Wagner: Tannhäuser (Paris version 1861): Overture

Bach: Cantata BWV208  Schafe können sicher weiden  (Sheep May Safely Graze) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Ich ruf' zu dir" BWV 639 - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 41 in C major, K. 551

Michael Tippett (1905-1998): The Midsummer Marriage (1954): Ritual Dances

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake ballet opus 20: excerpts selected by Stokowski:

Introduction, Waltz, Pas de deux from Act I, two scenes from Act II, Danse Espagnole from Act III and concluding with the Dance of the Little Swans and Finale from Act IV

Stokowski begins a Beethoven cycle

Stokowski wrote the programme notes for each concert of the Beethoven cycle.

Beethoven: Symphony no 1 In C Major, opus 21

Beethoven: Triple Concerto in C Major, opus 56

soloists: Lois Zabel Banke (University of Texas music professor) piano, Raphael Ray Fliegel Concertmaster, Marion Davies Principal cello

Beethoven: Symphony no 2 in D major opus 36

University of Texas 1956-1957 Fine Arts Festival

"...The minor annoyance of hissing steam pipes caused the maestro, in a regrettable display of temperament, to delay the opening of the concerts some 45 minutes..."

Bach: Chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (from Cantata BWV 80) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: Cantata BWV 208: Schafe können sicher weiden (Sheep May Safely Graze) - Stokowski transcription

Bach: "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 - Stokowski transcription

Beethoven: Symphony no 2 in D major opus 36

Kent Kennan (1913-2003): Night Soliloquy (1936) for solo flute, piano and strings

Kennan was professor of music at the University of Texas, Austin

Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941): Solemn Melody (1909) for cello and orchestra

Davies was one of Stokowski's teachers at the Royal College of Music; the music was scheduled, but not played due to the delay in opening the concert.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake ballet opus 20: excerpts selected by Stokowski:

Introduction, Waltz, Pas de deux from Act I, two scenes from Act II, Danse Espagnole from Act III and concluding with the Dance of the Little Swans and Finale from Act IV

  Stokowski at the 15 November 1956 University of Texas concert

Stokowski continues a Beethoven cycle

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture opus 62

Beethoven: Piano Concerto no 4 in G major, opus 58

soloist: June Stokes (Pantillon) piano

Beethoven: Symphony no 3 in E-flat major, Opus 55 "Eroica"

Stokowski rehearsing the Houston Symphony Orchestra  

Reinhold Glière (1875-1956): Symphony no 3 in B minor, opus 42 "Ilya Mourometz" - as abridged by Stokowski

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto no 2 in G minor, opus 63 (1935)

soloist: - Fredell Lack violin (she was Professor of violin at the University of Houston)

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances as arranged by Glazunov and Stokowski

Stokowski continues a Beethoven cycle

Beethoven: Leonora Overture no 3, opus 72b

Beethoven: "Three Equali" for four trombones, opus 30

Beethoven: Symphony no 4 in B flat, opus 60

Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, opus 67

Stokowski continues a Beethoven cycle

Beethoven: Incidental music to Egmont opus 84

soloist: Margaret Blackburn soprano

Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, opus 68 "Pastoral"

soloists: Lois Townsend soprano

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): L'Enfance du Christ opus 25 (1854)

soloists: Audrey Lokey soprano, Jack Waggoner tenor, Jack Dickinson baritone, Philip Maero baritone, Yi-Kwei Sze bass

Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

this concert was also broadcast locally

[1957]

Daniel Barenboim in 1957  

This was a benefit concert for "UNISOMI" as it called itself, related to the United Nations, with the objective of 'World Peace through World Music'

Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung" - funeral march

Stokowski played this music in memory of Arturo Toscanin who had died four days earlier.

Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 - Stokowski transcription

Mozart: Symphony no 41 in C major, K. 551

Intermission with a speach by Dr. Everett R. Clinchy on "World Brotherhood"

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no 1 in D-flat major, opus 10 (1912)

- a 14 year old Daniel Barenboim makes his debut at this New York concert with a 74 year old Stokowski at the beginning of Barenboim's performing career.

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod - Stokowski transcription

encore: Wagner: "Die Götterdämmerung": Act III Interlude: Siegfried's funeral march - Stokowski transcription

This Wagner funeral march was played in memory of Arturo Toscanini who died 19 January 1957

Stokowski continues a Beethoven cycle

Beethoven: Overture to Creatures of Pometheus opus 43

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, opus 61

soloist: Zino Franescatti violin

Beethoven: Symphony no 7 in A major, opus 92

Programme for the 12 March 1957 concert with the Hovhannes premiere  

This concert was "in tribute to the city of Bombay, India" and recorded for broadcast in India under US State Department sponsorship ³⁷

John Stafford Smith: Star Spangled Banner

National Anthem of India

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Préludes I, no 10 "La cathédrale engloutie" - Stokowski transcription

César Franck: Symphony in D minor (1888)

- the performance of the Franck received remarkably negative reviews ('melodramatic', 'stressful' ³⁷)

*** Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Ad Lyram opus 143

soloists: Melba Petzold soprano, Ruth Porter contralto, Alan Messer tenor, Henry Bennick baritone

Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

This work of about 12 minutes was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and called for a 4 solo voices,

large chorus, full symphony orchestra, and a string quartet. It is set to poetry by the Roman poet Horace.

Melba Petzold soprano, Ruth Porter contralto, Alan Messer tenor, Henry Bennick baritone

Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936): Pines of Rome (1916)

soloist: Raymond Weaver Principal oboe

Richard Arnell (1917-2009): Ceremonial and Flourish

this Arnell work for brass was commissioned to mark the occasion of Sir Winston Churchill’s visit to Columbia University in 1946.

Natalie Bender (1919-1988?): Oboe Soliloquy - (Stokowski's assistant)

Carlos Chavez (1899-1978): Toccata for Percussion Ensemble

In 1939, avant-garde composer John Cage asked Chavez to compose a piece for Cage's percussion ensemble with which Cage was touring the West Coast. This toccata, rather than for keyboard or strings is for percussion including multiple drums and gongs.

Wagner: Lohengrin (1850): Act I: Prelude

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 5 in E minor, opus 64

Beethoven Cycle concluded

Beethoven: Symphony no 8 in F major, opus 93

Beethoven: Symphony no 9 in D minor, opus 125

Jean Hinkle soprano, Annette Dinwoodey contralto, Rudolph Petrak tenor, Jay Froman bass

Houston Symphony Chorale, Alfred Urbach director

Second season of the Empire State Music Festival in Ellenville, New York 75 miles north of New York City

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Canticum Sacrum ad Honorem Sancti Marci Nominis (1955) - dedicated "To the City of Venice" which Stravinsky admired and where he was eventually buried.

Carl Orff (1895-1982): Carmina Burana (1936)

Stokowski began his Summer 1957 European tour in Vienna

Society 'Musikfest' concert of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Mozart: Symphony no 41 in C major, K. 551

Dvorak: Symphony no 9 in e minor opus 95 'From the New World'

Stokowski programmed two works by Stravinsky which he was scheduled to record with the Berlin Philharmonic after this concert

Falla: El amor brujo (1916)

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) as adapted by Stokowski

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Stravinsky: Petrushka (1911 version)

the Musikverein, Vienna on of the world's greatest concert halls  

Falla: El sombrero de tres picos: Suite arranged by Stokowski

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899) with chorus

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes

Kurt Leimer (1920-1974): Piano Concerto no 4

Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) as adapted by Stokowski

Stokowski's first concert with the London Symphony Orchestra (other than his 1912 London debut concert !).  Stokowski was to perform and record many programmes with this orchestra over the next 17 years)

Broadcast live on the BBC Home Service

Stokowski recorded the Ravel and Debussy works at the time of this concert

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Roman Carnival Overture opus 9

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Rapsodie espagnole (1907)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Nocturnes (1899)

• Nuages
• Fêtes
• Sirènes - BBC Women's Chorus