Dominique-René de Lerma: Leopold Stokowski; Mystique and Civil Rights from the Podium

Leopold Stokowski

(Photo: George Grantham Bain)

William Levi Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony; American Symphony Orchestra; Leopold Stokowski. Conductor (Cover of original LP: American Decca DL 10077)

Dominique-René de Lerma:

Leopold Stokowski; Mystique and Civil Rights from the Podium

               He really was born as Leopold Anthony Stokowski in 1882, on 18 April.  His father's name was not Stokes or Stock, but Kopernik Jozef Bolesławicz Stokowski (1862-1924), a Scottish-Polish cabinet maker born in London, and his mother, from Ireland, was  Annie-Marion (Moore) Stokowski.  True, he had a Polish heritage and was even named for his paternal grandfather Leopold, was had been born in Poland in 1821,  moved to England by the early 1850s, and died in the English county of Surrey on 13 January 1879.  The family roots seem to go back to Lithuania, where the name had been Stokauskas.  In his mid-career rumors existed that his given name was Leonard or Lionel, but this is disproved by his birth certificate and those of his father and younger brother Percy James (1890-1978) and sister, Lydia Stokowski Fanshawe  (1883-1911), as well as the records of  the Royal College of Music, Royal College of Organists, The Queen's College, St. Marylebone Church, St. James's Church, and St. Bartholomew's.  He was not born in Kraków or Pomerania, as he sometimes claimed, but in London, as indicated on his birth certificate, at 13 Upper Marylebone Street in All Souls Parish.

               On 6 January 1896, age 13, he entered the Royal College of  Music where he was a classmate of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and Gustav Holst (1874-1934) -- just missing the chance to meet Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.   About 1898 he was chorister with brother Percy at St. Marylebone Paris Church, and became assistant organist to Walford  Davies (1859-1941) at the Temple Church.  When 16, he was elected to join the Royal College of Organists (25 June 1898). 

He organized the choir at St. Mary's Church on Charing Cross Road in 1900, training the boys' chorus and playing organ.  Stokowski was engaged to be organist and choir director at St. James's Church Piccadilly in 1902. The same year he also entered Queen's College, Oxford. His part-time study was arranged by Sir Hubert Parry, the director of the Royal College of Music and a full professor of music at Oxford. Stokowski received his Bachelor of Music degree on 19 November 1903.

In 1905 he was offered the job of organist and choir master at St. Bartholomew's Church, 44th and Madison Avenue, in New York City. The church's rector, the            Reverend Leighton Parks, had travelled to England in search of an organist for his church.    Stokowski, still young and unknown, inaugurated a series of organ recitals at St. Bartholomew's and was popular with the choir and congregation By 1907 he began recitals of works by Byrd and Palestrina, as well as organ reductions of the symphonies of Chaikovskiĭ and portions of Wagner operas.  He began to attract the notice of the parishioners, including J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family.  Through Maria Dehon, one of the sopranos in the church choir who often held musical parties in her home, Stokowski was introduced to the pianist Olga Samaroff (née Lucy Mary Olga Hickenlooper) who was already making a name for herself in New York's musical world.  She had made her debut with Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony in Carnegie Hall in January 1905 and later that year she performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Fritz Sheel.  Sometimes found himself in conflict with the rector and, eager to conduct, resigned his position at on 30 August 1908 and  sailed to Europe with Olga. 

While studying conducting in Paris, he heard that Cincinnati had a vacancy for its conductor.  In 1908, he wrote to Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (née Bettie Fleischmann), director of the board of the Cincinnati Orchestra Association, who had known Olga from her Cincinnati performances and family connections (not yet verified).  Olga also knew Charles Phelps Taft I (1843-1929), whose wife, Anna Sinton Taft, was a major force in Cincinnati's art life, and whose brother was president of the United States from 1909-1913.  The conductor of the  Orchestre Colonne (very probably the founder, Édouard Colonne, who died in 1910) was to conduct Olga in the first piano concerto of Chaikovskiĭ on 12 May 1909, but had fallen ill.  Following Olga's recommendation, Stokowski made his debut as conductor for the concert, without a fee.  Attending the event was Lucien Wulsin (1845-1912). When Dwight Hamilton Baldwin died in 1899, Wulsin became the company's president, but he also was a board member of the Cincinnati Orchestr, and he added his support for Stokowski's engagement. The next week, 18 May, Stokowski appeared at Queen's Hall, London, with the New Symphony Orchestra. The previous day, the Cincinnati press announced that Stokowski had been engaged as conductor. 

Cincinnati's orchestra had been established in 1895, consisting of soldiers stationed at Fort Washington, although previous instrumental and choral events had taken place, certainly including the visit of Theodore Thomas, touring with his orchestra.  The first concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, with 48 members,  was conducted by Frank Van der Stucken on 17 January 1895.  The next season there were 60 instrumentalists.   In these early years, Richard Strauß and Edward MacDowell had appeared as guests, and Mahler's fifth symphony received its American première, but financial problems prevented further growth in 1907.   Mrs. Anna Sinton Taft was the prime force behind a fund drive that revived the orchestra. 

               Leopold Stokowski was engaged to conduct a group of 77 handpicked players, following an interview on 22 April 1909, giving his first concert on 26 November 1909.  He had met Rachmaninoff in 1910, then  on his first American tour, and engaged him to perform his second piano concerto (21, 22 January) with the Cincinnati Orchestra.  During his three years, he initiated a series of pop concerts and established  a pattern followed in the rest career, performing works by contemporaries and with major soloists:

Aulin, Tor.  Concerto, violin, no. 3, C minor (Maud Powell) -- 1909

Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Concerto, piano, no,. 4, G major, 58 (Wilhelm Bachaus) -- 1912

Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Concerto, piano, no. 5, E-flat major (Ferruccio Busoni) -- 1911

Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Concerto, violin, op.61 (Fritz Kreisler) -- 1910

Chaikovskiĭ, Pytor.  Concerto, piano, no. 1, B-flat minor (Olga Samaroff) -- 1911

Charpentier, Gustave.   Louise: Depuis le jour (Frances Alda) -- 1912

Debussy, Claude.  Nocturnes, orchestra, nos. 1, 2 -- 1910

Debussy, Claude.  Prélude à l'apès-midi d'un faune -- 1912

Elgar, Edward.  Enigma variations -- 1912

Elgar, Edward.  Symphony, no. 2, E-flat major, op. 63 -- 1911

Glazunov, Alexander.  Concerto, violin, op. 82, A minor (Efrem Zimbalist) -- 1912

Liszt, Franz.  Concerto, piano, no. 1, E-flat (Ferruccio Busoni) -- 1910

MacDowell, Edward -- A maid sings light (Louise Kirkby) -- 1910

MacDowell, Edward -- Suite, orchestra, no. 2, op. 48 -- 1910

Puccini, Giacomo.  Madama Butterfly: Un bel dì (Frances Alda) -- 1912

Rachmaninoff, Sergei.  Der Toteninsel, op. 29 -- 1911

Rubinstein, Anton.  Concerto, piano, no. 4, D minor, op. 70 (Olga Samaroff) -- 1911

Saint-Saëns, Camille -- Samson et Dalilah: Printemps qui commence (Ernestine Schumann-Heink) --1910

Saint-Saëns, Camille.  Concerto, piano, no. 2, G minor, op,. 22 (Ernest Hutchenson) -- 1912

Sanford, Charles.  Symphony, no. 3, F minor  -- 1912

Schwarenka, Xaver.  Concerto, piano, no. 4, F minor (Xaver Schwarenka) -- 1911

Sgambati, Giovanni.  Symphony, op,. 16, D major -- 1911

Sibelius, Jean -- The swan of Tuonela -- 1910

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 1, E minor, op,. 39 -- 1910

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 2, D major, op,. 43 -- 1912

Sinigaglia, Leone.   Le baruffe chiazzotte overture, op.22  -- 1911

Strauß, Richard.  Don Juan, op. 20 -- 1911

Strauß, Richard.  Feuersnot: Love scene -- 1910

Strauß, Richard.  Salome: Dance of the seven veils -- 1910, 1911

Strauß, Richard.  Serenade, winds, op. 7, E-flat major -- 1911

Strauß, Richard.  Tod und Verklärung -- 1910

               After announcing their engagement on 8 April 1911, Stokowski and Olga Samaroff were married quietly on 24 April in St. Louis. Conflicts with the Board of Directors, however, led to his resignation in March 1912: They did not approve of his plans for a tour to New York or an expanded season.  He left Cincinnati on 12 April 1912 for Munich and was followed in Cincinnati by Ernst Kunwald, former conductor of the Berlin Philharmoniker.

This was a time when America assumed good musicians were all European.  Mme Samaroff  had actually been born in Texas in 1880 as Lucy Mary Olga Agnes Hickenlooper.  She had studied in Paris with Antoine François Mamontel as the first woman to enter the Paris Conservatory,  and in Berlin with Ernst Lediczka, but had failed to secure sufficient bookings on her return to the United States.  On the advice of her manager she adopted the new name.  In 1905 she became the first woman to appear at Carnegie Hall, where she hired Walter Damrosch to conduct her in Chaikovskiĭ's first piano concerto.  (Following a fall in 1925, she turned her attention to teaching (becoming the first American-born faculty member at Juilliard), numbering among her students Bruce Hungerford, William Kapell, Raymond Lewenthal, Eugene List, Thomas Schippers, Rosalyn Turek, Alexis Weissenberg, and Natalie Hinderas (née Henderson, the name change recommended by Samaroff).   She had already noticed Stokowski from his days at St. Bartholomew's and advocated his Philadelphia engagement.  With her encouragement, Stokowski adopted the accent he retained for the rest of his life, one that consistently confounded linguists.  They were divorced in 1923, following his infidelity.  Sonya (later Mrs. Willem Thorbecke and mother of  Noel, Johan, Leif and Christine)  had been born two years earlier.  Among her circle of friends were George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Parker, Thomas Edison, and Cary Grant.  They spent the pre-war summers in a Munich villa, as related by Donna Staley Kline in An American virtuoso  on the world stage (reprinted by the Texas A & M University Press in 2012).

               Stokowski sailed back to London for two concerts at Queen's Hall, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.  On 22 May 1912 he presented a program with soprano Lillian Nordica that he repeated 60 years later and, on 14 June, he offered an all-Wagner concert.

               The Stokowskis spent summers of 1912 though 1914 in the a suburb of Munich.  It was here he made his first Bach arrangements, with the pastorale from the Christmas oratorio (BWV 246) and the chorus, Wachet auf from the 140th cantata.  No one would ever suggest these and the many others that followed were historically informed, but the sheer glory of orchestral color, possibly a sonoric counterpart of the organ, demonstrated an understanding of the orchestra equal to that of any contemporary.  His performances were usually over-dramatic, no matter how modest the original, but have nonetheless survived the disdain of the purists and have come back to the halls and recording studios as important artifacts.   Stokowski was asked, late in his life, what Bach might have thought about his arrangements.  He replied "He might kill me, you know, or he might be pleased…we shall never know until I meet him in heaven, or wherever it is conductors go afterwards!.”

The summer sojurns in Munich ended abruptly following the assassination on 28 June 1914 of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand, followed in two weeks by World War I.  Stokowski, still a British citizen, could have been arrested as an alien enemy.  He escaped, taking gold with him and the score of Mahler's eighth symphony, sailing from Rotterdam on the SS Noordam on 15 August, arriving in New York ten days later.  In 1915 he became an American citizen.

               Conductor Carl Pohlig left the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1912, dismissed when it was learned of his affair with his secretary, but also he had become the subject of poor reviews (Olga Samaroff found him to be "uninspiring"). Stokowski was free to accept an offer to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra beginning in the fall of 1912.   It was announced in October that he had accepted the appointment and, following four rehearsal days, made his debut concert on 12 October 1912.  The orchestra was then only a dozen years old. 

               Stokowski quickly showed his flair for the dramatic and experimental, with lighting that cast shadows of his head, but especially in various orchestral seating.  This rather much ended with the second violins exchanging places with the cellos replaced by the cellos, which has become customary in American orchestras, or with the winds to his right.  He encouraged free breathing for his brasses and woodwinds, and free bowing for the strings, resulting in a distinctively  seamless  legato.  He achieved new effects and balance in orchestral sound and was alert to acoustical differences in the halls.

Stokowski's years as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1912 to 1936 transformed this ensemble into one of the greatest in the world, noted for its precision, sonority, brilliance, and a particularly distinctive string tone.  He did not hesitate lecturing the audience on late arrivals (“A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. We provide the music, and you provide the silence”)  and for a time spelled his name Stokofski, seeking correct pronunciation.

               He achieved international recognition on 2 March 1916 in the Academy of Music with the first American performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony no. 8, then only six years old, performed with a thousand singers and an orchestra of 110 players.  The nine performances in Philadelphia and one in New York were sold out to enthusiastic crowds. This obligated raising the equivalent of $360,000 to cover the costs of the 1,200 performers needed, but it shot the orchestral into national notice,  requiring additional performances, with two private trains transporting the massive ensemble to New York for a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House.  Some ticket scalpers resold tickets for $2,100.

               Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra made their first recordings on 24 October 1917 in the Camden NJ studio of the Victor Talking Machine Company (later the Radio Corporation of America) of the Brahms fifth and sixth Hungarian dances, arranged by Albert Parlow (1824-1888), issued on 78rpm Victor 797, Victor 64753, RCA Victor RVC 1522 and on LP LSS LS 3. Earlier recordings had been made by Nikish and Beecham, but with a reduced orchestra.  The 1917 recordings by Stokowski and by Karl Muck with Boston were the first made with a full orchestra.  Their first electrical recordings were made in 1925.  With Dr. Harvey Fletcher of Bell Laboratories, Stokowski helped develop a binaural recording scheme. He was interested in the architectural design and acoustics of orchestra halls and was eager to contribute to plans to build a new hall for the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 1920s, to be called the "Temple of Music." He established a relationship with Edward W. Bok, managing editor at the Curtis Publishing Company, publishers of the  Saturday Evening Post and  Ladies Home Journal, who helped create an endowment for the orchestra resulting in the equivalent of $1,000,000 by 1919.  In March of 1922 Leopold Stokowski was the first recipient of the $10,000 "Philadelphia Award" created by Bok and awarded to the individual who rendered the most valuable service to the city in the preceding year.

               As a Christmas gift in 1925, Stokowski gave the Boks what might be the only recording he made as an organist: Bach's Passacaglia and fugue in C minor, issued on a Deo-Art roll, now held within his materials at the University of Pennsylvania.

               Of even greater significance was his encouragement of Mrs. Bok (née Mary Louise Curtis), heiress of the Curtis Publishing Company, to establish the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924, for especially talented music students who had developed beyond the training that was given them at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia.  Stokowski served as an advisor to the Board of Directors and conductor of the Curtis Student Orchestra during the school's younger days.

 Curtis  consistently produced major figures in performance (many of whom were engaged by the Philadelphia Orchestra) and composition.  The facilities were developed from three mansions on Rittenhouse Square.  The enrolment has been limited to fewer than 200 students, with the lowest acceptance rate of any American educational institution.  Among the major Black graduates were Gwendolyn Bradley, Vinson Cole, Anthony McGill, Nokuthla Ngwenyama, Eric Owens, Louise Parker, André Raphael, Muriel Smith, Kevin Short, and George Walker (Nina Simone, who was not accepted, obviously erred when claiming prejudice).   (On a personal note, when I was a Curtis student in 1949, I remember Mrs. Bok's arriving in her limousine every week -- a very short drive from her Rittenhouse mansion -- to serve tea in the Common Room to the students.  I never attended the ceremonies, which conflicted with my class schedule - not to anyone's discomfort -- although I might just as well have: The class was taught by a personal friend of Mrs. Bok who had not the slightest idea of the subject  (music history) in which my late arriving tea-drinking classmates at the time had little interest.  The same could be said for those who attended the lectures on Dante, taught by the head of Romance languages at the University of Pennsylvania (talk about overkill!).  In later meetings with my former classmates I had expected them to remain concerned with their performance, but I was struck by their innocence when it came to liberal-arts matters.  All I remember about French class was when one student asked Mme Louise Tabuteau if the  English word for mattress was derived from the French "maitresse."  The solfège class, taught by Anne-Marie Soffray, was excellent -- it had previously been taught by Mme Renée Longy, who became a very close friend when we were both engaged for the faculty at the University of Miami three years later.  As for my lessons with Marcel Tabuteau, this obligates coverage elsewhere.)

Earlier American higher-level institutions for the study of music (by current names):

1819 -- University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory

1857 -- Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University

1867 -- Boston Conservatory

1867 -- Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University

1867 -- New England Conservatory of Music

1875 -- Shenandoah University

1880 -- University of Michigan School of Music

1884 -- University of Southern California School of Music

1895 -- Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University

1901 -- Florida State University College of Music

1905 -- The Juilliard School

1912 -- Rice University

1914 -- Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, University of Texas

1915 -- Longy School of Music, Bard College

1916 -- Mannes College New School for Music

1917 -- Manhattan School of Music

1917 -- San Francisco Conservatory of Music

1920 -- Cleveland Institute of Music. Case Western Reserve University

1920 -- The Hartt School, University of Hartford

1921 -- Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

1921 -- Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University

               In 1921, Stokowski returned to the U.S. after a summer in Europe, leaving his wife in London where on 24 December she gave birth to Sonya Maria Noel Stokowski (later an actress, she married Willem Thorbecke by whom she had four children: Noel, Johan, Leif and Christine). They separated in January 1923 and were divorced on 30 June.

               On 18 May 1924 the first concert by The Philadelphia Band was held at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. This group of 120 men was organized and trained by Stokowski for Philadelphia's Music Week 1924. Known popularly as Stokowski's "Band of Gold" it was conceived as the largest and most highly trained military band in the United States.

               In January 1926 Stokowski married Evangeline Love Brewster Johnson (1897-1990), daughter of the late Robert Wood Johnson, founder of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company. They were married at the bride's home on Park Avenue in New York City after a courtship lasting only a few weeks (they were shared a common birth date -- 18 April). There had two children, daughters Gloria Luba, born 2 January 1927, and Andrea Sadja, born 26 October 1930. The marriage ended in 1937.  She later married Prince Alexis Zalstern-Zalessky (d. 1965).

               Marian Anderson, who had won a competition to perform with the New York Philharmonic in 1925,  gave her first Carnegie Hall recital in 1928.  Stokowski wrote to her manager-pianist, Billy King, in 1928 about the possibility of her performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and expressed  interested in seeing copies of the Black music in her repertoire (Marian Anderson Papers, University of Pennsylvania Library).  When she was refused use of Constitution Hall in 1937, the NAACP contacted a list of musicians to register their protest to the Daughters of the American Revolution, including Stokowski, Lawrence  Tibbett, Giovanni Martinelli, Lily Pons, Elisabeth Rethberg, Nelson Eddy, Geraldine Farrar, Kirstin Flagstad, Sigrid Onegin, Arturo Toscanini, Walter Damrosch, and José Iturbi.

Stokowski's concern for minority causes is evidenced in a letter he sent to Alabama governor Benjamin Meek Miller on 22 March 1933, asking for the freedom of the Scottsboro boys -- nine Black teenagers who had been falsely accused of raping two Anglo women in the internationally infamous 1931 case involving both anti-Black and anti-Jewish bigotry and a landmark decision in 1935 from the Supreme Court that outlawed the exclusion of Black jurors (Norris v. Alabama 254 U.S. 587).v. Alabama 254 U. S. 587

               Despite the Board's hesitation, in 1930 Stokowski scheduled Schönberg's Die gluckliche Hand and a full ballet performance of Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, with Martha Graham dancing (1930/IV/11, 12, 14), which was performed to sold-out houses in Philadelphia and New York.

Stokowski inaugurated a series of Youth Concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1932, designed to attract young people from ages thirteen to twenty-five with low ticket prices.  The concerts were enormously popular, with many people unable to secure admission.  A Youth Concert Committee was formed to help administer the concerts, the young people chose the music on the program, and a representative of this committee attended meetings of the Orchestra Board of Directors. From this beginning a Youth Movement was started, including a Youth Orchestra conducted by Sylvan Levin (1903-1996), a Youth Chorus conducted by Harl MacDonald (1899-1955), and informal groups meeting to play or study music. A drama group was formed as well, and in 1935 a magazine titled Youth was published documenting the activities of these various groups.

               In November 1934 Stokowski premiered William Levi Dawson's Negro folk symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra; it was the first performance by a major U. S. symphony orchestra of the work of a Black composer, but for the Rochester première of William Grant Still's Afro-American symphony in 1931. Given his willingness to modify the scores of Chaikovskiĭ, Wagner, and Beethoven, and with an awareness that Dawson, although a trombonist, had little experience in orchestration, it is quite likely that Stokowski made some modifications, with Dawson's approval.  The recorded version follows the revisions Dawson made after his 1952 sabbatical in Africa and was the first work Stokowski recorded with the American Symphony Orchestra.  The conductor stated "Dawson has succeeded in portraying the aspect of American life which is both vital and personal.  I believe this work to be a distinct achievement in American music."

About 1935, Stokowski visited the Cotton Club, selecting a seat near the stage.  Shortly before the show began, his presence was noted by Duke Ellington, who introduced himself.  When the show was over, they met again, and Stokowski invited Ellington to the following night's performance at Carnegie Hall.

               In 1927 he complained of neuritis and often switched hands with the baton -- some believed this was to develop dexterity (so also why he rehearsed with this right arm in a sling that vanished for the concert)  -- and he had also been a passenger in a New York taxi that had a accident.  He finally took a leave, touring  Europe and Asia with his wife from November 1927 to their return to New York on the SS Orinoco on 7 September 1928.  When he was  back on the podium, he began conducting with his hands, rather than a baton.  Several personnel changes were made, with nine players thought "too old, stale": clarinettist Paul Alemann, hornist Otto Henneberg, violinist Marius Thor, and oboist Edward Raho.  Also departing on the next few years, perhaps not voluntarily in every instance, were clarinettist Daniel Bonade, harpist Vincent Fanelli, trombonist Gardell Simons, bassist Fabien Sevitzky, violinists Max Pollikoff and Herman Weinberg, violist Sheppard Lehnhoff, cellist Milton Prinz, and English hornist Joseph Wolfe. New to the orchestra were Curtis students, some even before graduation: trumpeter Melvin Headman, clarinettist Robert McGinnis, and English hornist Robert Bloom.

STOKOWSKI'S PRINCIPAL INSTRUMENTALISTS IN PHILADLPHIA

[Larry Huffman has developed a detailed register on Philadelphia's players  at http://www.stokowski.org/Philadelphia_Orchestra_Musicians_List.html, on which the following is based.]

Concertmaster: Thaddeus Rich (1885-1969) 1906-1926; Michel Gustikoff (1893-1978) 1926-1927; Mischa Mischakoff (1895-1981), 1927-1929; the chair rotated        alphabetically from 1929 to 1935; Alexander Hilsberg (1900-1961), 1935-1951.

Viola: Wilhelm A. Diestel (1869-1926), 1908-1915; Henry Joseph Michaud (1882-?),   1915-1917; Alfred Lorenz (1878-?) 1917-1918; Émil Auguste Férir (1873-1949),            1918-1919; Samuel Belov (1884-1954), 1919-1920; Romain Joseph Verney (1878-1967) 1920-1925; Samuel Lifschey (), 1925-1955.

Violoncello: Herman Sandby (1883-1966), 1908-1916; Hans Kindler (1892-1949),   1916-1920;  Michel Penha (1888-1982) 1920-1925; Hanns Pick (1883-1957),   1925-      1926;  Willem Van den Burg (1901-1992) 1926-1935; Isadore Gusikoff (1901-1962), 1935-1939; Benar Heifetz (1899-1974) 1939-1943.

Double bass: Antonio Torel1ò i  Ros (1854-1959), 1914-1948.

Flute: Daniel Maquarre (1881-+1930),  1910-1918; André Maquarre (1875-1933),   1918-1921; William Kincaid (1895-1967), 1921-1960.

Oboe: Attillio Marchetti (1883-1965),  1913-1915; Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966),   1915-1954.

Oboe d'amore: Adrian Siegel ?-?) 1937-1953.

English horn: Peter Lamburtus Henkelman (1874-1949), 1901-1925; Victor Leoncavallo 1898-1981), 1926-1928 [fired mid-season];  Marcel Joseph Dandois (1890-1970),            1928-1929;  Joseph Wolfe (?-?), 1929; Max Weinstein (?-?)  1913-1932; Robert Bloom (1908-1994, 1932-1936; John H. Minsker (1921-2007),  1936-1959.

Clarinet:  Fred J. Van Amburgh (1883-?)  1912-1913; Robert Lindemann (1884-1977),   1913-1917; Georges Grisez (1884-1946), 1922-1923; Rufus Arey (1887-1966), 1923-1924; Daniel Louis Bonade (1894-1976), 1917-1922, 1924-1930; Louis de Santis (1880-before 1960) 1930-1931; Robert E. McGinnis (1910-1976),  1931-       1940.

Bass clarinet: Edmond Roelofsma (1875-1943), 1902-1920 [sic]; Paul Ernest Rudolph Alemann (1877-+1946), 1904-1930 [fired]; Lucien Caillet (1897-1985), 1916-1938;                Leon Lester (1910-2003), 1938-1966.

Contrabass clarinet: Frédéric Paul Palme (1872-?), 1925-1927.

Bassoon: Benjamin Kohon (1990-1964), 1912-1915; Julius Walter Guetter (1895-1937), 1922-1937; Sol Schoenbach (1915-?), 1937-1957.

Contrabassoon: Ferdinand del Negro (1921-1954).

Saxophone: Albert Aloysius Knecht (1884-1954) and George Henry Koehler (1879-?)  1917 and Walter Centennial Schrader (1876-?) 1917-1920.

Horn: Anton Horner (1870-1971),  co- 1929-1931; Arthur Isadore Berv (1906-1992,  co- 1930-1935,  1935-1936; Clarence Mayer (1879-+1943), co- 1931-1935, 1939-   1941; Mason Jones (1939-2009),  co- 1939-1941.

Trumpet: Henri C. Le Barbier (1873-+1940),  1909-1914; Harry Glantz (1896-1982),  1915-1917; Ernest S. Williams (1881-1947)   1917; Saul Caston (1901-1970),  1918-     1945.

Trombone: Otto Richard Elst (1878-+1947), 1906-1916; Gardell Howard Simons (`878-1945),  1917-1930; Simone Belgiorno (1888-+1931);  1930-1931 [fired mid-                       season]; Charles Gusikoff (1897-1966), 1931-1959.

Bass trombone: Paul P. Lotz (1870-1945) 1909-1922; Charles Edward Gerhard (1877-1953),  1922-1946.

Tuba: Charles Stanley Mackey (1907-1922)  1907-1915; Andreas Thomae (1856-1931)  1915-1921; Andrew Thomas  Philip A. Donatelli (1885-1954, 1923-1948.

Harp: Edna Phillips (1907-2003)  1930-1941, 1942-1946; Marjorie Tyre (1912-1981)  1938-1945.

Timpani: William Oscar Schwar (1875-1946),  1903-1946.

Percussion: Henry Mayer, Jr. (1873-1963), 1908-1909; Gustav Mayer (1879-+1943),  1916-1923.

WOMEN IN THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

[It has been customary that harpists have almost always been women.  The first non-harpist woman in American orchestras was cellist Dorothy Passmore in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, 1925 (see Women making music, by Jane M. Bowers and Judith Tick, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987).  The presence of a woman tubist or percussionist is particularly noteworthy.]

1930 -- Edna Phillips, harp

1935 -- Elsa Hilger, violoncello

1936 -- Lois P. Pulitz, violin

1938 -- Marjorie Tyre, harp

1943 -- Veda Ruth Reynolds, violin

1945 -- Marilyn Costello, harp

1952 -- Marcella de Cray, harp

1963 -- Barbara J. Sorlien, violin

1963 -- Margarita Csonka Montaro, harp

1964 -- Julia Grayson-Stanley, violin

1964 -- Winifred Schaefer Winograd Mayes, violoncello

1966 -- Barbara Haffner, violoncello

1967 -- Cathleen C. O'Connor Dalschaert, violin

1974 -- Martha L. Glaze-Zook, horn

1977 -- Gloria de Pasquale, violoncello

1979 -- Kathryn Annette Picht Read, violoncello

1979 -- Patricia Weimer Hess, violoncello

1980 -- Cynthia Williams Martindale, violin

1981 -- Kazuo Tokito, piccolo

1982 -- Barbara S. Rodescu Govatos, violin

1982 -- Holly Blake, contrabassoon

1983 -- Nancy R. Bean, violin

1984 -- Yumi Ninomiya Scott, violin

1988 -- Kiyoko Takeuti, keyboard

1989 -- Cynthia Louise Kolendo de Almeida, oboe

1990 -- Hirono Oka, violin

1992 -- Anna Marie Ahn Petersen, viola

1992 -- Kathleen A. White-Vigilante, bassoon

1994 -- Elizabeth S. Hainen, harp

1995 -- Elizabth Starr Masoundia, English horn

1997 -- Angela Anderson, bassoon

1998 -- Shelley A. Showers, horn

1999 -- Angela Zador Nelson, timpani

2001 -- Jennifer C. Haas, violin

2001 -- Lisa-Beth L. Lambert, violin

2002 -- Carrie Dennis, vola

2002 -- Elina Kalendareva, violin

2002 -- Miyo Kono Curnow, violin

2004 -- Rachel Ku, violin

2005 -- Juliette Kang, violin

2006 -- Carol Jantch, tuba

2006 -- Hai-Ye Ni, violoncello

2007 -- Dara Morales, violin

2007 -- Karri C. Ryan, viola'

2008 -- Amy Oshira Morales, violin

2008 -- Jennifer Montone, horn

2014 -- Yiying Julia Li, violin

PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA'S LATINO-BORN INSTUMENTALISTS

1914 -- Spain (Catalunia), Antonio Torelló i Ros, double bass

1917 -- Spain, Emilio Martin Meriz, violin

1922 -- Mexico, Genaro Martinez-Nava, viola

1923 -- Spain, Santiago Coratella, double bass

1996 -- Chile,  Roberto Diaz, viola

2000 -- Argentina, Daniel Matsukawa, bassoon

2003 -- Puerto Rico, Ricardo Morales, clarinet

BLACK INSTRUMENTALISTS IN THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

[Stokowski fought openly against racial discrimination in music but, during his Philadelphia years, the board would never have considered the engagement of any Black players, furthermore there were not any with the orchestral experience prerequisite even for audition by a major  orchestra.]

1969 -- Renard E. Edwards (ca. 1950-) viola

1971 -- Booker Rowe (1940-) violin

1993-1999 -- André Raphael Smith (ca. 1961-) assistant conductor

2010 -- Joseph H. Conyers (1981-) double bass

STOKOWSKI'S BLACK REPERTOIRE AND SOLOISTS:

Allen, Betty. 

               Mahler, Gustav.  Symphony, no. 2, C minor.  1965/IV/3 (New York, Carnegie Hall, rehearsal).  Helen Boatwright; American Symphony Orchestra.

Anderson, Marian. 

               Gruber, Franz.  Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht. [perhaps also Come all ye faithful, Jingle bells, Ave Maria, and Hark the herald angels sing]  1944.  Unidentified harp; Westminster Choir; New York City Symphony Orchestra.  Film, 16mm.  CD available from Patrick.Kittel@gmx.de.

Arroyo, Martina.  Betty Allen. Shirley Verrett, Louise Parker. 

               Wagner, Richard.  Die Walkürie: Ride of the Valkyries.  1961/IV/20, 21.  Carlotta Ordassy, Doris Yarick, Doris Okerson, Regina Safarty; Symphony of the Air.  LP:         RCA LM 1336, RCA LSC  2555, RCA LM 2555, Victor VSC  7077, RCA RB 16279, RCA  VICS 1301 (US), RCA SB 2148 (UK), RCA SRA 2168, RCA AGL1-5007, RCA LSC   5007, RCA RGC 1047, RCA RCL 1520.  CD: RCA BVCF 37015, RCA BVCC  38083.

Arroyo, Martina.  Parker, Louise. 

               Wagner, Richard.  Das Rheingold: Entry of the gods.  1961/IV/20, 21.  Symphony of the Air.  LP: Victor LM 1336, Victor LSC 2555, RCA LM 2555, Victor VCS       7077, RCA RB 16279, RCA SB 2148, RCA VICS 1301.  CD: RCA 09026 62597 2 (in 09026 68443 2), RCA BVCC 38004.

Arroyo, Martina. 

               Weber, Carl Maria von.  Der Freischütz: Leise, leise.  1967/XII/13.  American Symphony Orchestra.

Cordova, A. 

               Menotti, Gian Carlo  Amahl and the night visitors.  1953/V (Florence).  Giuletta Simonato; Orchestra del Maggio Musicale.

Dawson, William.                                               

               Negro folk symphony.  1934/XI/14, 16, 17.

Dawson, William. 

               Negro folk symphony.  1963/VI/2, 4.  American Symphony Orchestra.  LP: Decca 710077, Decca DL 10077, Decca SKA 4520l, Decca AXA 4520, Varese Sarbande         VC 81056, King SDL 15040.  CD: MCA MCAD2-9826A, DG 477 650-2, Chandos 9226 (1993).

Deep river . 1935/XII/5.  (arr. by Norman Luboff).  1961/VII/ 19, 20. Lubuff Choir; New Symphony Orchestra of London.  LP: RCA LSC 2593, RCA LM 2593, RCA SHP 2123,       RCA RA 2061, Quintessence 7019.  CD: RCA 09026 62599 2 (in 09026 68443 2), RCA BVCC  38015.

Duncan, Todd. 

               Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Symphony, no. 9, opus 125, D minor: IV. 1947/IV/12 (New York).  Charlotte Boerner; Nan Merriman; Donald Dame; Philharmonic     Symphony Orchestra of New York.  LP: LSSS  0019.

el-Dabh, Halim. 

               Fantasia-tahneel.  1958/XII/3 (New York, Metropolitan Museum, Rogers Auditorium).  Halim el-Dabh; Percussion Ensemble of the Manhattan School of Music;                Contemporary Music Society.  CD: The Stokowski Concert Collection.

Floyd, Alpha.

                Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Symphony, no. 9, op. 125, D minor.  1970/V3 (New York,. Carnegie Hall).  Westminster Choir; David Clatworthy, Dan Marek, Elaine     Bonazzi; American Symphony Orchestra.

Handy, William Christopher.

               St. Louis blues.  1936.  Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hayes, Roland.

               Unidentified spirituals.  1925/XII/26, 28.  Philadelphia Orchestra.

Howard University Chorus. 

               Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.  Ave verum corpus, K. 618.  Missa brevis, K. 65: Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei.  Kyrie, K. 341.  1955/XII/17 (Washington, Library of               Congress).  Sylvia Meyer, harp; National Symphony Orchestra.

Jones, Elayne. 

               Rogers, Bernard.  Fantasy for horn, timpani & strings.  1972III/25 (rehearsal).  Anthony Miranda, American Symphony Orchestra.  1972/III/26 (New York,                Carnegie Hall).

Kay, Ulysses. 

               Brief elegy.

Kay, Ulysses. 

               Suite for strings.  1952/X/26 (New York, Museum of Modern Art).   Contemporary Music Society. 

Mathis, Joyce. 

               Kodály, Zoltán.  Te Deum of Buda Castle.  1968/V/9.  Ivanka Myhal, Arthur Williams, Alan Ord; American Youth Orchestra.  LP: Audio Recording  EC 68006,  CD:    Music & Arts CD-771.

Matthews, Inez.  Matthews, Edward.  Holland, Charles.  David Bethea.  Robinson, Randolph.  Hines, Altonell.  Greene, Ruby.  Robinson-Wayne, Beatrice.  Dorsey, Abner.

               Thomson, Virgil,  Four saints in three acts (abridged).  Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra.  1947/VI/25.  CD: RCA Victor Gold Seal 68163.

Parker, Louise. 

               Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Symphony, no. 9, op. 125, D minor. 1971/IV/30 (New York, Trinity Church).  Phyllis Curtin, Douglas Hill; Trinity Church Choir; American Symphony Orchestra.

Parker, Louise. 

               Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Symphony, no. 9, op. 125, D minor: IV.  1972/IV/23, New York, Carnegie Hall.  Helen Boatwright, Richard Shadley, Douglas Hill; Yale           Glee Club; American Symphony Orchestra.

Parker, Louise. 

               Mahler, Gustav.  Symphony, no,. 2, C minor.  1971/IV/6 (New York, Philharmonic Hall).  Janette Moody; Westminster Choir; American Symphony Orchestra.

Still, William Grant. 

               Afro-American symphony: III, Scherzo.  1940/XI/13,  Matrix XCO 29250.  78rpm: Columbia 11992-D (1994).  LP: LSSA 6.  Also performed on tour 1938.

Still, William Grant.

               Ebon chronicle.  1936.  Philadelphia Orchestra.

Still, William Grant.

               Plainchant for America.  1942/III.  James Pease, baritone; Philadelphia Orchestra.

Still, William Grant.

               Symphony, no. 2, G minor.  1937/XII/10, 11, 14.  Philadelphia Orchestra.

Still, William Grant.             

               Fanfare for the 99th Fighter Squadron. 1945/VII/25 (Hollywood Bowl).  Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Tyler, Veronica.  

               Mahler, Gustav.  Symphony, no. 2, C minor.  1967/XI/3.  Philadelphia Orchestra; Maria Lucia Godoy; Singing City Choirs.  CD: Memories 4495/97, Arkadia CDG1               749, LSCD 26.

Tyler, Veronica. 

               Bach, Johann Sebastian.  Magnificat, S. 243: Et exultavit spiritus meus.  Quia respexit humilitatem.   Mahler, Gustav.  Symphony, no. 2, C minor.   1967/XII/3        (Philadelphia, Academy of Music).  Maria Lucia Godoy; Singing City Chorus; Philadelphia Orchestra.  CD: Memories HR 4495/97, Arkadia CDG1  749.1, JLSS LSCD  26.

Verrett, Shirley. 

               Falla y Matheu, Manuel de.  El amor brujo.  1960/II/12 (Philadelphia, Academy of Music).  Philadelphia Orchestra.  LP: JLSS 0001/2, Longanesi/I grandi concerti           GCL 61, Columbia MS 6147, Columbia Y 32368, CBS (UK) 61288, Columbia 5479, CBS SOCO 108, CBS 30AC330/1, Columbia OS 158, Columbia RL 171, RR 309,             CD: CBS MPK 46449, CBS SBK 89291, Sony 64340.

Watts, André. 

               MacDowell, Edward.  Concerto, piano, no. 1, op. 23, D minor.  1966/XI/20 (New York, Carnegie Hall). 

Williams, Camilla. 

               Mahler, Gustav.   Symphony, no. 8.  1950/IV/4 or 9 (New York, Carnegie Hall).  Carlos Alexander, Louise Bernhardt, Eugene Conley, Frances Yeend, Martha          Lipton, George London, Uta Graf; Boys Choir from P.S. no. 12; Westminster Choir; Schola Cantorum; Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York.  LP: OTA                SAT 6, JLSS 0006/8, Penzance PR 19.  CD: Music & Arts CD-280 [date error 1950/IV/6], Arkadia CDG1 761.1, NYP 9801/12, Arkadia 78586, Archipel ARPCD 0108,                Quadromania 222124-444, Music & Arts CD-1130.

Winters [Whinsonant], Lawrence.  Anne Brown. 

               Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Symphony, no. 9, op. 125, D minor.  1941.XI/11 (New York, Cosmopolitan Opera).  William Horne, Winifred Heidt, Westminster Choir;                               NBC Symphony Orchestra. 

Winters [Whinsonant], Lawrence.  Louise Burge.  Eva Jessye Choir. 

               Still, William Grant.  And they lynched him on a tree.  1942/IV/14 (New York, NBC Studio 8-H, broadcast [Rodzinski had been hesitant to program the work, as    NBC was in broadcasting it] ).  Collegiate Choir. 

NOTABLE PREMIÈRES AND REPERTOIRE

[He conducted an estimated 2,000 works not previously performed. Works by Dawson, Key, and Still are listed above.]

Beach, Amy.  Gaelic symphony (1915/III/12,13)

Beach, Amy.  Symphony, E minor (1919/I/7)

Berg, Alban.  Wozzeck  (1931/XI/24)

Berg, Alban.  Wozzeck [excerpts]  (1920/XI/7, 8)

Chávez, Carlos.  Horsepower (1932/III/31)

Cowell, Henry.  Synchrony (1932/IV/1, 2)

Garcia Caturla, Alejando.  2 Cuban dances (1932/I/1, 2)

Gramatte, Sonia.  Elegy, Danse moracaine, and Konzertstuck  (1929/XI/1, 2)

Howe, Mary.  Sand (1934)

Ives, Charles.  Symphony, no. 4 (1965)

Levidis, Dimitros.  Poem for electrical instrument [martenot]  (1920/XII/19, 20)

McColin, Frances.  Adagio (1933)

Milhaud, Darius.  Concerto, percussion. (1931/I/1, 2)

Mosslov, Alexandr.  Iron foundry, op. 19 (1931/X/31)

Mussorgskiĭ, Modest.  Boris Godunov (1929)

Pickhardt, Ione.  Mountains (1933)

Powell, John [not a Black composer].  Negro rhapsody (1923/III)

Powell, John.  3 Virginia country dances (1932/IV/1, 2)

Prokofiev, Serge. Pas d'acier (1931)

Rachmaninoff, Sergei.  Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini (1934)

Rachmaninoff, Sergei.  Symphony, no. 3 (1936)

Rachmaninoff. Sergei.  Concerto, piano, no. 4 (1934)

Schönberg, Arnold.  Concerto, piano (1944)

Schönberg, Arnold.  Concerto, violin (1940)

Schönberg, Arnold.  Die glückliche Hand (1930)

Schönberg, Arnold.  Guerrelieder  (1932./IV/8, 9, 20)

Schönberg, Arnold.  Pierrot lunaire (1932)

Shilkret, Nathaniel.  Concerto, trombone (1945, Tommy Dorsey, trombone)

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 4 (1932)

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 5 (1921)

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 6 (1926)

Sibelius, Jean.  Symphony, no. 7 (1926)

Stravinky, Igor.  Le sacre du rpintemps (1922); as ballet with Martha Graham (1930)

Stravinsky, Igor.  Oedpius rex (1931)

Varèse, Edgard.  Ameriques (1926)

Varèse, Edgard.  Arcanes (1927/IV/8, 9)

Varèse, Edgard.  Hyperprism (1924/XI/7, 8)

Villa-Lobos, Heitor.  African dances  (1928/XI/23, 24)

Webern, Anton.  Passacaglia  (1927/III/4, 5)

Webern, Anton.  Symphony, no. 1 (1931/X/31)

               Because of disputes with management, aired in the press for two years, and despite its yielding to all of his requests, Stokowski began giving more of the podium to his assistant, Eugene Ormandy from 1936 to 1941, who was still under contract in Minneapolis.  Stokowski announced his resignation on 2 January 1938, but had been granted permission to take the orchestra on a 35-day tour in 1938, financed by RCA Victor, to 33 concerts in 27 cities, from Boston to Toronto, from Holdredge NE to San Francisco, and he agreed to give 20 concerts as co-conductor.  Since 1932 he had rented a studio and apartment from the Philadelphia Art Alliance at 1716 Rittenhouse Street, but moved to Hollywood in 1936, living then in Beverly Hills, at 9330 Beverly Crest Drive (which sold in 2006 for $7,450,000).

In December of 1937, Evangeline Johnson filed suit for divorce from Stokowski, desiring a more stable home life for their daughters.  Stokowski denied the charge of "extreme cruelty"  but did not contest the suit.   His name had linked romantically to Greta Garbo [1905-1990, née Greta Lovisa Gustafsson] and several cryptic telegrams in the Stokowski Papers allude to her career, quite apart from their vacation time together on Capri in March 1938.

His cinema career began in 1937 when he appeared in The big broadcast of 1937 [https://vimeo.com/1008B02411; conducting  Ein' feste Burg at 1:44:25, followed immediately by the "little" G minor fugue, 1:09:00 to 1:12:09, both arranged by Stokowski], and in One hundred men and a girl [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcFMv8DWAc;  Chaikovskiĭ, Symphony, no. 5, extract of fourth movement, and Libiamo from La traviata (arranged), with Deanna Durbin, soprano, to 8:42]. 

Meetings regarding plans for an animated feature with a classical music score took place in Walt Disney's studio in 1938. On 25 January 1939 Stokowski enthusiastically signed a contract (originally without a fee) with Walt Disney for Fantasia, appearing in and conducting  for what would become Walt Disney's Fantasia, a largely animated concert that at first was to have been limited to Paul Dukas' L'apprenti et les sorcier -- an effort to regain Mickey Mouse's popularity -- but was enlarged to become a full-length feature film.  The music was recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 3-7April 1939 (but for the Dukas, recorded at the Culver Studios) and the film opened on 11 or 13 November 1940 at New York's Broadway Theater (proceeds went to the British War Relief), running for 109 weeks, and Pittsburgh's Fulton Theater, Boston's Majestic, San Francisco's Geary, Cleveland's Hanna, Chicago's Apollo, and halls in Philadelphia, Detroit, Minneapolis, Washington, Buffalo, and Baltimore), all of which had to be fitted for stereophony.  It was originally not financially successful because the war eliminated European markets, but has since been reissued several times, in different formats, and even with a new sound track. Before the final repertoire was selected, consideration was given to Stravinsky's L'oiseau de feu, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G minor and Troika, Paganini's Moto perpetuo, Debussy's La mer, Mussorgsky's Song of the flea (sung by Lawrence Tibbett) and Pictures at an exhibition,  Carpenter's Adventures in a peramulator, Don Quixote by Strauß, Debussy's Clair de lune, and the opening of the third act of Die Walküre by Wagner .

1) Narration by Deems Taylor

2) Toccata and fugue, BWV 565, G minor (Bach, arr. by Stokowski)

3) Nutcracker (Chaikovskiĭ, extracts)

4) L'apprenti et le sorcier (Dukas, after Die Zauberlehrling by Goethe, 1797) [A sampling appears 7:29-7:55 on The best soundtracks in film, at http://www.musicme.com/#/The-Philadelphia-Orchestra-Leopold-Stokowski/Videos/7.html?res=vidweb, the 85-piece orchestra was selected by Stokowski from Hollywood instrumentalists.

5) Le sacre du printemps (Stravinsky; abridged) [The composer subsequently objected to its use].

6) Intermission

7) Symphony, no. 6, op. 68 (Beethoven, abridged to 22 minutes)

8) Danza delle ore (from La gioconda, by Ponchielli) 

9) Nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Mussorgskiĭ, arr. by Stokowski)

10) Ave Maria (Schubert, arr. by Stokowski)

               Other films in which Stokowski appeared include Carnegie Hall (1947), with Walter Damrorch, Jascha Heifetz, Harry James, Vaughn Monroe, Jan Peerce, Gregor Piatigorsky, Lily Pons, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rodzinaki, Artur Rubinstein, Risë Stevens, and Bruno Walter (on VHS cassette from Bel Canto Society and on DVD [K 199] from Kino Video), a concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recorded in 1962 with his arrangement of the Toccata and fugue in G minor of Bach, Brahms' Haydn variations and the Capriccio espagnole of Rimsky-Korsakov (VHS VAI 69603), and within The art of conducting (BBC/IMG Artists Production VHS 4509-95038-3 and Telearc DVD 0927 42667 2). 

               Stokowski organized a concert in 1939 to benefit the Hollywood Committee for Polish Relief.  In Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Committee for Polish Relief was chaired by Stokowski's friend, Mary Louise Curtis Bok ( Evening Bulletin, 6 Dec. 1939).

Already in 1920, music by Black composers began to appear on Stokowski's programs, in this instance Listen to the lambs by R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943), performed 25 March 1920 at the national meeting in Philadelphia of the Music Supervisors Conference, although conducted by Peter Lukin, then music dean at Northwestern University.  On either side of Christmas 1925, he engaged Roland Hayes to perform unidentified spirituals with the Philadelphia Orchestra, assuring the tenor that he sought to provide performances of works by Black composers.  Stokowski's first performance of a work by a Black composer was in 1937, with Still's second symphony (Stokowski and the Stills had met each other before 1942, when their daughter, Judith Anne Still, had been born and when Still wrote Those who wait, for Stokowski).  The performances of Still's And they lynched him on a tree and Plain chant for America both were performed in 1942 during World War II, very possibly in an effort to unite Americans.  The performance of Plainchant for America was broadcast on 14 and 20 March 1942 (In a similar gesture, less than a month before Pearl Harbor, he engaged Anne Brown -- fresh from the première of Porgy and Bess -- and Lawrence Wisonant -- not yet known as Winters -- to be soloists in the Beethoven ninth with the NBC Symphony Orchestra).  The baritone soloist  in Plainchant was James Pease (1916-1967), whose diction Carl Van Vcchten found to be "very poor" in a letter to Verna Arvey, 29 March 1943 (CVV013,Duke University Library).   A soloist in the former work was Rosa Louise Burge (1908-1986).  In a letter to Alain Locke (SL026, Duke University Library) of 19 November 1944, Still stated he disliked her musically and personally and had not approved of her performance of And they lynched him on a tree, further that at a meeting with him and Stokowski, she had offended them both.

               As late as about 1971, when he was guest conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he met T. J. Anderson, then composer-in-residence.  After examining some of Dr. Anderson's scores, he expressed an interest in providing a performance of one but, he explained, his repertoire had been fixed for the next five years.  Stokowski was then 89 years old.

               In 1938, William Grant Still wrote to Stokowski regarding his opera, just completed,  Troubled island: "This opera is the dream of my life, and no one but you thought it worth hearing."   It had been twice submitted to the Metropolitan Opera for possible production.  The response: "in advising you that, to our regret, we do not see our way to accept this work, we should like to point out that this conclusion should be in no way be taken as implying any criticism as to the artistic merit of the work."  The hope for production of this opera seemed not to be in vain when the New York City Symphony Orchestra  was established at the City Center.  It was in an interest in establishing an orchestra for middle-class workers (in contrast to the Philharmonic's more seasoned and often wealthier audiences) New York Mayor Fiorello Enrico La Guardia (1882-1947) secured Stokowski's aid in 1944 in forming the New York City Symphony Orchestra.  With admission at a modest cost, the concerts were so successful that some were standing room only. 

               [La Guardia, of Italian-Jewish parentage, was in office from 1934-1945.  Although a Republican, he strongly supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt and had socialist inclinations (pro-labor and immigration, e.g.)  When his opponent accused La Guardia of being anti-Semitic, La Guardia offered a public debate in Yiddish, and won the election. He fought the gangsters who had defamed Italian-Americans and closed New York's bawdy burlesque theaters.  When an impoverished lady was fined $10 for stealing a loaf of bread, La Guardia supposedly stated "I'm fining everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread in order to eat!," collecting $47,50.  A lover of music, he was a member of the music fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha. An amateur conductor, he established the High School of Music and Art in 1936, now named for him.]

               Stokowski was interested in the production of Troubled island.  A fund was established to support the presentation of this previously unheard work, provided by La Guardia, Newbold Morris (president of the New York City Council), Eleanor Roosevelt (honorary chair), and others.   Stokowski, to whom Troubled island was dedicated, shared his enthusiasm with Laszlo Halasz (who conducted the work when Stokowski moved to California) and producer Eugene Bryden was convinced it would be exceptionally well received.  The composer was confident of the work's success and he anticipated a significant change in his life.  The sordid details regarding the fate of Troubled island is recounted -- intrigue by the music critics before the production not to support this work by a "colored boy" -- along with a rich panorama of the Harlem Renaissance, in Just tell the story, by Judith Anne Still and Lisa M. Headlee (Flagstaff: The Master-Player Library, 2006,  ISBN 1-877873-02-0.  Stokowski and critic Howard Taubman both had become aware of the critics' projected a priori  reception and alerted the composer.   The words of the critics carried more weight in the end, unfortunately, than the response of the audience, who called for 22 curtain calls at the premère  (see http://wikipedia.org/Troubled_Island).  Carl Van Vechten nevertheless wrote Still on 1 April 1949 [CVS016, Duke University Library] that the libretto would have been "better served with a more favorable direction." 

It was not to be conducted by Stokowski, but by Halasz.  For a time there was consideration of having Alexander Smallens conduct Troubled island, probably only on the basis that he had conducted Porgy and Bess, but the implication disturbed Still, who saw no relationship between his opera and that of Gershwin.  When the board wished to reduce the budget for the second season Stokowski objected and resigned, moving to California where he founded the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, leaving behind plans to première Troubled island, which the composer had dedicated to Stokowski. As for the New York City Symphony, Stokowski was followed by 34-year old Leonard Bernstein

               The Department of State distributed a recording for broadcast of the dress rehearsal on the Voice of America, but this was judged technically blemished.  Plans for a tour were dropped and funds for the production were returned to the donors.  The opera was not heard again, but for its 60th anniversary at the Schomburg Center.  The staging by South Shore Opera Company of Chicago, despite lacking Still's distinct orchestral colors, offered proof of the need for a major production.  In1945 Stokowski stated that  "Still is one of our greatest American composers.  He has made a real contribution to music" (Baltimore Afro-American 1945./V/21).  Still offered his appreciation for Stokowski's interest in a letter of 27 November 1948, but asked that his scores from prior to 1926, from his "growing period," not be considered.  He was pleased with Stokowski's performance of the Afro-American symphony (Rudolph Dunbar this was the work Gershwin had wanted to write but never did).  Stokowski replied ": I think it would be good for the public to realize how great is your achievement, and that while you are in every way an American, you are of African origin and that your music is a fusing of African ancestral power in you with your American birth and environment ... How mysterious and yet how definite is this source.  It is strange how many people seem to be so far away from it and not to have any contact with it."  In 1952, Still wrote Stokowski, "I'm very glad that I did not become discouraged over the many things that happened after Troubled island was presented in 1949 -- since then I have finished two new operas.  One [Costaso] has a colorful Western setting and is an expression of faith.  The other [Mota] is set in Africa, with native choruses, and so on ... I think I learned a great deal from seeing Troubled island staged and hope that it (this new knowledge) will be evident whenever the new operas are done."   Neither work has yet been produced.

Throughout his career Stokowski showed a strong interest in young musicians, both women and men.  He auditioned thousands of them and kept his notated comments.  (A violinist who auditioned told me that after playing cited passages from the Chaikovskiĭ fourth symphony, Stokowski closed the music and ask the violinist in what key was the work.  "I think it was minor," was the reply.  He was not called back). 

               It is also revealing to recall the rehearsal of the that same work in Miami, 1955.  Toward the end of the first movement, Stokowski held the orchestra on the D-flat in the final statement of the initial theme before moving directly into to the next measure.  The first flutist, seated immediately in from the Stokowski, was alone in stubbornly holding on to the D-flat, and then asked, with pencil ready to mark his part accordingly, "Maestro,  are you not going to give the third beat?"  Stokowski leaned forward, asking "Are you a professor?"

               In 1940, his contractual affiliation in Philadelphia now ended, he founded the All-American Youth Orchestra, the 90 members were between the ages of 18 and 25, one-fifth were women.  This came about not only to offer a contrast to current Nazi propaganda about Hitler's youth, but in reaction to the refusal of RCA's David Sarnoff to sponsor a South American tour conducted by Stokowski, yet funded one with Toscanini.  Stokowski then signed with William Paley of RCA's rival, Columbia, to record works that RCA had wanted him to record with his new orchestra. The 15,000 applicants went through a network of audition levels, ending with an ensemble of about 100 instrumentalists (including a few from the Philadelphia Orchestra).  He commented "I would not exchange this orchestra for any other orchestra in the world. These young people are phenomenal. Technically they are the equals of any musicians. And they have the enthusiasm of youth. They are so sensitive, so quick. With them the playing of music is not just a job. They have a love for it."

               Plans for a tour of Latin America had been formulated by February of 1940, when Stokowski wrote Eleanor Roosevelt for her blessings in the venture.  With at least some of the funding coming partly from Stokowski, the orchestra  visited  Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, July during the summer of 1940 just as Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra had returned. In 1941 they toured fifty-four U.S. cities, Canada, and Tijuana Mexico, finding time for several recording sessions. With the U.S. entry into the Second World War the orchestra was disbanded [a roster would identify many who later had major careers]. 

Following are among available recordings of the orchestra:

Music & Arts CD 841

               Dvořák: Symphony, no. 9, E minor

               Sibelius: Symphony, no,. 7, op. 105

               Ravel: Boléro                     

Music & Arts CD 845

               Brahms: Symphony, no. 4, E minor, op. 98

               Strauß: Tod und Verklärung

Music & Arts CD 857

               Beethoven: Symphony, no. 5, C minor, op. 68

               Brahms:  Symphony, no. 1, op,. 68, C minor

Naxos Historical 8.112019

               Bach-Stokowski: Transcriptions

Columbia LP: M-432, AM-432, MM-432, MM 432

               Chaikovskii: Symphony, no. 6, B minor

Leopold Stokowski Society of America LSSA-6

               Sibelius: Symphony, no. 7, op. 107, C major

               Schumann-Stokowski: Kinderscenen, op. 15: Träumerei

               Cowell: Tales of our countryside

Creston: Symphony, no. 1, op. 20: Scherzo

               Gould: Latin-American symphonette, no. 4: Guaracha

               Still: Symphony, no. 1: Scherzo        

               From 1941 to 1944, Stokowski was conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble created for Arturo Toscanini (roster available at http://www.oocities.org/vienna/strasse/1937/nbcplayers.html), whose approach to music was very distanced from that of Stokowski.  Whereas the latter continued the 19th-century tradition of lushly sonorous and individualistically creative conducting, Toscanini's intent was faithful respect for the exact notations of the composer.  There could hardly have been a greater contrast on the podium.  Toscanini stated there were three great assassins: Hitler, Mussolini, and Stokowski.  Toscanni's leave was due to a management conflict, during which time he was guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Whereas Toscanini's repertoire was limited to a few composers, Stokowski led the NBC Orchestra into new works by Prokofiev, Schönberg (much to Toscanini's disgust -- this was after all his orchestra), Antheil, Hindemith, Stravinsky, Holst, and Vaughan Williams.  Stokowski's adventurous programming gave far more emphasis to American-born composers, a political statement balanced by Toscanini's facing the audience, leading them in singing The star spangled banner.  Toscanini in 1942 made reference to  "that orrible man and dishonest artist.  I cannot look at his stupid face without shuddering."

               Toscanini returned to the NBC orchestra in the spring of 1942 when accepting an invitation from the U.S. to conduct a series of benefit concerts for the war effort.  This led to a bitter  disagreement over which conductor would give the American première of the seventh symphony of Shostakovitch.  When Toscanini was selected, Stokowski was incensed and severed all relationships with the NBC orchestra.

               Under Alfred Wallenstein's direction, the orchestra comprised of members from the Los Angeles Philharmonic,  but while retaining some of the key players, Stokowski auditioned younger instrumentalists from the film studio orchestras.  The 24th season began with 11,000 in the audience.  Seated in the front row were Stokowski's bride, Gloria Vanderbilt, along with Lana Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Chaplin, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward G. Robinson.  The repertoire for his two summers at the Hollywood Bowl included notice of music by composers mostly active for the cinema, the première of George Antheil's Heroes of today, Nathaniel Shilkret's trombone concerto with Hoyt Bohannon as soloist (Stokowski had previously given the première in New York with Tommy Dorsey), and Virgil Thomson's film music, The plow that broke the plains.

               In April of 1945 Stokowski married Gloria Vanderbilt (1924-) in Mexacali, Mexico . She had just emerged from an abusive first marriage to Pat di Cicco (1909-1978, film producer) The family had been aware of Stokowski since his days as organist at St. Bartholomew's.  They had two sons, Leopold Stanislaus, born 22 August 1950 (who became a respected landscape gardener) and Christopher, born 31 January 1952 (a recluse, living under an assumed name since the 1970s). She was photographed with their two sons while Stokowski was busy rehearsing the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra.  He took exception to this paparazzo invasion of privacy and received a published apology. (Yet another contretemps came when Stokowski heard the announcer prelude the broadcast of his second Miami concert, saying the conductor was born in 1882 and that he had an Irish mother.  Stokowski denied both comments, interrupting the announcer and terminating the projected broadcast.)  This marriage too ended in divorce after 10 years. People who knew Stokowski at this time, including his biographer Oliver Daniel and secretary Wendy Hanson, spoke of his strong attachment to his sons, his need to be involved in their lives, and his desire for their well being during a difficult divorce and custody suit (In 1967, Gloria Vanderbilt was to become the mother of Anderson Hays Cooper, news reporter for CNN).

His next appointment came in 1946 as principal guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic, prompting the resignation of Artur Rodzinski.  This included conducting the orchestra's summer activities, then known as the New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra, with still more additions to his discography: Billy the kid (Copland), The white peacock (Griffes), and works by Khachaturian, Messiaen, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Sibelius, Schönberg, Vaughn Williams, Chaikovskiĭ, Mozart, and Wagner.  When the Philharmonic appointed Dimitri Mitropolous as its chief conductor in 1950, Stokowski set out on a 20-year series of tour engagements: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (a 1951 tour of Britain on the invitation of Sir Thomas Beecham), the Philharmonia, Berlin Philharmoniker, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Netherlands' Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (Hilversum),  Orchestre National de France,  Česká Filharmonie, and yet other  orchestras in Austria, Denmark, and Portugal.  In the winters, when he remained active in the United States,  he made his first stereo recordings in 1954 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and from 1947 to 1953 recorded with His Symphony Orchestra, a unit consisting mainly of members of the NBC and Philharmonic orchestras.   He returned to the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1954 now without NBC affiliation and known as the Symphony of the Air.

               The Contemporary Music Society was founded in 1952 by John Coburn Turner, Oliver Daniel, and Leopold Stokowski, among others. Stokowski conducted a concert under its auspices on 22 February 1953 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York performing Charles Ives' The unanswered question, Halsey Stevens'  Suite No. 1, Henry Brant's  Signs and alarms, Lou Harrison's  Canticle No. 3, Peggy Glanville-Hicks'  Letters from Morocco, and Jacob Avshalomov's  Evocations.

               Ima Hogg (1882-197), philanthropist and daughter of the Texas governor,  chaired the board of the Houston Symphony Orchestra.  She contacted  Stokowski's manager at the time about his availability to move to Houston in 1955.  Schulhof urged Stokowski to accept the position,  following Efrem Kurz' dismissal.  Announcing that he was going to establish an orchestra in "Hooston," he ignored a history that began in 1913.  The citizens were uncomfortable when he expressed an interest in meeting a "real" cowboy as they were attempting a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan public image.  The idea of building another orchestra appealed to Stokowski and he hoped to be able to raise his sons in Texas. As he had with earlier orchestras he refined the sound, premiered contemporary works and recorded extensively with EMI and Everest.  The first racial problem arose almost immediately in 1956. when the Board of Directors denied Stokowski's request to engage double bassist Benjamin Patterson (b. 1934), a graduate of the University of Michigan.  Following Houston's refusal because of race, Patterson left the United States to become principal bassist with the Halifax Symphony Orchestra, then for two years with the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra, stationed in Stuttgart,  remaining in Germany following his discharge.  He resigned this post in 1961 with a second racial matter:  The board refused to engage Stokowski's selection, mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-2010), as soloist.  A graduate of Houston's HBCU Southern University, she was to appear in Schönberg's Gurrelieder.  Two White choral groups refused to perform with her on the same stage.  This took place  The event took place early in Verrett's career.  Although she did not make her debut with the Metropolitan Opera until 1968 (as Carmen), she had appeared with the New York City Opera in 1958 as Irina in Kurt Weill's Lost in the stars and in Cologne in 1959 in Nabokov's Rasputins Tod.  Stokowski was not fully  informed of the matter at first, but  he saw to it that it was publicized nationally -- he openly labelled as racist  -- causing the orchestra substantial embarrassment as he offered his resignation. 

               After his 1958 tour of the Soviet Union, paying ten concerts with three different Russian orchestra, he was invited by Eugene Ormandy to return to Philadelphia on 12 February 1959 to guest conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music.  He took this occasion to make amends with Verrett, who was engaged as soloist Falla's  El amor brujo (reissued on Sony CD64340 in 2011 and CD 197115 in 2012).  The remainder of the program consisted of Mozart's overture to Le nozze di Figaro, Respighi's  I pini di Roma, and Shostakovich's  Symphony no. 5.  The audience gave him an enthusiastic standing ovation,  welcoming him back after nearly twenty years absence. He was pleased, saying the orchestra was the same as he had left it.

               In 1960, Following the sudden death of Dimitri Mitropoulous in November 1960, Rudolf Bing of the Metropolitan Opera invited Leopold Stokowski to conduct the Opera's upcoming performance of Puccini's Turandot, scheduled for 24 February 1961, cast with Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, and Anna Moffo. A few days before the end of December, Stokowski fell and broke his hip while playing with his sons. Although he was in pain during rehearsals and used crutches to enter the orchestra pit, the performance was highly praised by the critics, despite errors in the brass section entrances, attributed to their inability to see the baton-less conducting.  This was one of his infrequent appearances in the opera house.   A performance at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House followed on 22 March.

Stokowski opened the 1961 Edinburgh Festival in August with a performance of Schoenberg's  Gurrelieder with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union.

               The next year, now 80, he founded the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City in 1962. As he had done with the All-American Youth Orchestra, Stokowski auditioned and hired young musicians, many of them women and minorities, to play alongside  a few seasoned hands.  He conducted this orchestra without pay and personally cared for some of its deficits.  With this orchestra and the Schola Cantorum of New York and the Gregg Smith Singers in Carnegie Hall on 26 April 1965, at age 83, he gave the world première of the fourth symphony by Charles Ives, a long-held desire (the finale, Largo maestoso is on the internet at https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3ksJ94QSU [duration: 8:24], filmed for telecast).  This involved two months of rehearsals, three conductors, and special funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. The recording followed shortly thereafter  (Columbia LP MS 6775, CD reissue of 2007 on Sony Masterworks MPK 46726).  Cellist Janet Frank recalled experiences from this time in "When maestros were maestros" (https://theamericanscholar.org/when-maestros-weremaestros): Members of the American Symphony Orchestra for Ives' Robert Browning overture met at midnight at the Manhattan Studios (accommodating the various schedules of students and freelancers, among whom were concertmaster Murray Adler, violinist James Carter,  cellists Barbara Reisman and Charlotte Moorman (later arrested for performing bare-breasted), clarinettist Joe Rabbai, hornist Tony Miranda, and  timpanist Elaine Jones.  "Orchestras can be like military units," she comments, "but Stokowski's approach was to invite, not command.  He was more like a mentor than a general."  After one rehearsal he organized a softball game in Central Park's Sheep Meadow, near the Tavern on the Green.  Stokowski, immaculately dressed as always, wore a" proper afternoon suit with tie,"threw out the first ball and served as umpire.  The women's team were dubbed "Beethoven's Bunnies," and the men "Wolf's Gang."  She remembered he would arrive, chauffeur-driven from his Fifth Avenue apartment, just south of the Guggenheim, in a 1920 or early 1930 Packard, always arriving a half-hour early and noting which of the musicians were already practicing.  At one point he temporarily advocated the use of a "vertical viola," played like a cello.  When the American Symphony Orchestra performed the Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an exhibition at a children's concert (usually conducted by Joseph Egger or David Katz), the music was accompanied by slides projected on Carnegie Hall's wall (perhaps selected by Stokowski?).  To illustrate the Ballet of chicks in their shells, swimming sperm cells were projected, gales of laughter were forthcoming from those from the Bronx School of Science, all on the front row.

               (Personal note: It was during this period I was a guest of Michael P. Hammond (1932-2002), then dean of the State University of New York-Purchase (1968-1977), then president to 1980, dean of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music (1981-2001), unanimously appointed head of the National Endowments (he died at the end of his first week in Washington).  A long drive down a tree-lined street ended with arrival at a large informal residence. On entering,  I noted the door mat that read "The Stokowskis" -- Michael had been associate conductor to Stokowski of the American Symphony Orchestra and, after Stokie returned to England in May 1972, Michael moved into the home.  Our paths would cross again in 2001 when I was on the search and screen committee to find a replacement for Robert Dodson, who had moved to Oberlin.   I had the pleasure of welcoming Michael back to his undergraduate alma mater, but he left Rice for the National Endowments.  The replacement for Dean Dobson was an enormously gross administrative blunder (not noticed as much by the students as by the faculty), whose total  ineptness was finally corrected with the appointment of Dean Brian Pertl, former ethnomusicologist for Microsoft).

On 1 May 1972, a few weeks after Stokowski had celebrated his 90th birthday, he submitted his resignation to the Board of Directors of the American Symphony Orchestra. He was moving back to England where he had contacts in the recording industry at London-Decca and where he could continue to guest conduct the London Symphony Orchestra.

                Some members of these early groups followed Stokowski throughout his career. Among these were Natalie Myra Bender, who worked as Stokowski's assistant and sometime copyist for many years, and Natalie's friend Faye Chabrow, particularly after 1955. She and his Jack Baumgarten took care of his household and assisted with his affairs until the time of his death. In an interview Oliver Daniel conducted with Bender (5 June 1979) she discusses Stokowski's response to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the anti-war demonstrators at Ken State University.

               He bought an old farmhouse in Nether Wallop in central Hampshire and made plans for its renovations, but in 1975 he was in the process of building a house near St. Paul de Vence on the Riviera in France, which Stokowski named Con Brio. There he met Marc Chagall and admired Matisse's chapel. The house was completed in 1976 and Stokowski spent time in France whenever he was not working on recordings in England..

                              In August 1973, he was invited by the International Festival of Youth Orchestras to conduct the International Festival Orchestra, numbering 140 of the world's finest young musicians, in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall, London.  He gave his last première in 1973 when, at the age of 91, he conducted Havergal Brian's 28th Symphony in a BBC radio broadcast with the New Philharmonia Orchestra.   This last appearance in England was with that orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 May 1974 when he conducted a memorial tribute to conductor Otto Klemperer (1885-1973). 

               His very last public appearance took place during the 1975 Vence Music Festival in southern  France, when, on 22 July 1975, he conducted the Rouen Chamber Orchestra in several of his Bach transcriptions.  Stokowski continued to make recordings even after he had retired from the concert platform, mainly with the National Philharmonic, another 'ad hoc' orchestra made up of first-desk players chosen from the main London orchestras.  In 1976, he signed a recording contract with CBS Records that would have kept him active until he was 100 years old (he made 20 recordings during his last five years).  He was preparing to record the second symphony of Rachmaninoff with the National Philharmonic when, on 13 September 1977, he died of a heart attack in Nether Wallop, Hampshire.  He was buried in a private ceremony. at in the Marylebone Cemetery in London, the eulogy delivered by his friend, former Prime Minister Edward Heath. His materials are held by the University of Pennsylvania and are particularly reveal Stokowski's interest in electric instruments and his plans to start an electric orchestra in California in 1938 and 1939. Included in Stokowski's notes on this project are lists of instrumentation, programs, repertoire, and budgets for the orchestra, which he hoped would be able to rehearse and perform at the University of California-Berkeley. He was also intensely interested in the relationship between color and sound and his correspondence with his attorney in Philadelphia, Joseph Sharfsin, includes a drawing for a trademark "COLORHYTHM" with Stokowski's instructions to register the trademark.

Although Stokowski's collection of scores and transcriptions (University of Pennsylvania's Kislak Collection of Rare Books and Manuscrits  Ms. Coll. 350 and Ms. Coll. 351) was safely preserved, some of his personal papers and effects were reportedly lost from the deck of a ship while being sent from England to the United States. The papers in the Pennsylvania collection come from four sources: 1) correspondence and notes laid into Stokowski's scores plus a few other items, including awards and memorabilia; 2) donations from individuals with whom he corresponded, notably Sylvan Levin, Edna Phillips, and Boris Koutzen; 3) Stokowskiana collected by The Curtis Institute of Music, added in 1997 and 1999; and 4) materials discovered in a trap door to the side of the firebox in the living room of the home Stokowski built in 1937 at 9330 Beverly Crest Drive, Beverly Hills, California.   This last group of papers, donated to the University of Pennsylvania in July 1999 by the owner of the house, Stephan Simon, comprises incoming correspondence; carbon copies of Stokowski's outgoing correspondence; a few photographs; his notes on plans to form an electric orchestra; notes on housekeeping, employees, and gardening; bank statements; royalty statements; insurance records; and contracts. These date from ca. 1937-1946, (although some of the contracts are as early as 1925), including recording contracts with the Victor Talking Machine Company (1929, 1930) and RCA Victor (1935, 1937-1940).  His executor, Herman Muller, sought to place the collection of Stokowski's music in an institution where it would be accessible to students and scholars. The Curtis Institute of Music received the collection on 8 May 1979. Shortly afterwards, in the fall of 1980, Curtis accepted the donation of Robert L. Gatewood's collection of Stokowski recordings and Gatewood's work on a comprehensive Stokowski discography (cataloged separately as Ms. Coll. 383). Other individuals made smaller donations of letters, memorabilia, photographs, and paintings of Stokowski to the Stokowski Collection at the Curtis Institute. In 1997 the Trustees of the Curtis Institute of Music decided to donate these scores and papers to the University of Pennsylvania, which holds the scores and papers of Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Eugene Ormandy and the scores and papers of contralto Marian Anderson. Since their arrival there, they have been augmented by additional donations including the Oliver Daniel Research Collection on Leopold Stokowski comprised of research materials for Daniel's 1982 biography (Ms. Coll. 382). Although the amount of original correspondence the Leopold Stokowski Papers is small, some of it is of great interest. Included is a typed letter to Curtis Bok dated 29 July 1941 following Stokowski's final break with the Philadelphia Orchestra in which Stokowski is supportive of the Orchestra, and therefore keeping his silence about the politics surrounding it. Stokowski, always forward looking, writes excitedly about his new venture, the All-American Youth Orchestra. The letter is signed "Prince," Stokowski's nickname in the Bok family. Stokowski wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt in February 1940 to gain her support and interest in the South American tour he was planning with the All-American Youth Orchestra. The most extensive correspondence in the collection are Stokowski's letters to his assistant conductor, Sylvan Levin, from 1929-1953, comprising over 100 items discussing details of management and rehearsals for the Philadelphia Orchestra; the preparation for Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex; and notes on singers and instrumentalists. Stowkowski's letters to Robert Gordon Sproul, president of the University of California, Berkeley, detail his plans to form an Electric Symphony Orchestra and his plans to rehearse and perform on the Berkeley campus in 1938. There is an autograph letter from Eugene Ormandy, dated 1 June 1937 regarding Stokowski's plans to conduct in Budapest that summer. There are also a few personal letters, including five letters from Stokowski to his daughter Sonya, dated 1937 to 1939 expressing his interest in her plans and his concern that her activities not be publicized for fear that she might be kidnapped (in the aftermath of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping). Among the most interesting items is Stokowski's audition book, used during his years with the American Symphony Orchestra.  Several hundred photographs are arranged chronologically.   Awards and memorabilia include the parchment scroll designed and executed by Violet Oakley which forms part of the Philadelphia Award given to Stokowski in 1922 by Edward W. Bok. The Bok family donated the Duo-Art Aeolian roll, with Stokowski performing the Bach Passacaglia, a Christmas gift from 1925. 

               The Leopold Stokowski Society of America was founded by Robert M. Stumpf II in 1983, issuing remastered recordings of previously unavailable performances and publishing a journal, Maestrino.  The society was later known as  The Leopold Stokowski Club until 2000, after which Mr. Stumpf continued the publishing of his documentation on the internet.  Of particular value his massive chronological repertoire registers for 1909 through 1940.

Stokowski's stand on racial matters was always in focus. He felt, as did Dvoŀák, that the heart of American music rested in Black roots, which the composer should emulate, and he had boundless admiration for  the jazz improvisations of Black artists, matters which are discussed by James L. Conyers, Jr. in American jazz and rap; Social and philosophical examinations of Black behavior (Jefferson NC: McFarland, 2000) and Primitive modernism; Black culture and the origins of Transatlantic modernism (by Sieglinde Lemke, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

                                                                                                                                                                                          

AWARDS, held within the University of Pennsylvania Library

1922 -- Philadelphia Award

1954 -- Academy of Musical Recorded Arts and Sciences honorary membership

1959 -- Philadelphia Orchestra Pension Foundation honorary life membership

1963 --  George Frideric Handel Award 1966 -- American Council for Nationalities Service. Golden Door Award 1966 -- Antonin Dvořák medal 1966 -- Philadelphia Orchestra, silver plaque 1967 -- Anton Weber medal 1967 -- National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences 1967 -- National Federation of Music Clubs citation 1969 -- Veterans Administration Voluntary Service certificate 1972 -- National Music Council citation

1972 -- American Composers Alliance Laurel Leaf Award

1972 -- Silhouettes in Courage certificate

1978 -- Claude Debussy medal

1978 -- National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Hall of Fame Award

1979 -- National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Hall of Fame Award

n.d -- Philadelphia Music Foundation Award

n.d. -- Album of the Year-Classical. The World of Charles Ives

n.d. -- Heitor Villa-Lobos medal

n.d. -- Help Hospitalized Veterans certificate

n.d. -- International Association of Concert Managers certificate

n.d. -- Philadelphia  Honorary Citizen Certificate

n.d. -- Prix mondial du disque de Montreux

BIBLIOGRAPHY (selected)

"$30,000 is sought for all-Negro opera" in New York times (1945/VI/3).

"Negro performers brighten the decades"  in Pittsburgh courier (1960/IX/17) sect. 3, p7.

Chasins, Abram.  Leopold Stokowski, a profile.  New York: E. P. Dutton; Da Capo Press,1979.

Daniel, Oliver.  Stokowski; A counterpoint of view.  New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co. 1982.

Ewen, David.  Dictators of the baton.  Chicago: Ziff-Davis, 1945.

Eyer, Ronald F.  "The Philadelphia Orchestra" in Musical America (1937/I/25).

Haffner, Herbert.  Genie oder Scharlatan?'Das aufregende Leben des Leopold Stokowski. Berlin: Parthas Verlag, 2009.

Hunt, John.  Leopold Stokowski; Discography and concert register.  London: John Hunt, 1996.

Johnson, Edward, ed.  Stokowski : Essays in analysis of his art.  London: Triad Press, 1973.

Knight, John.  "Leopold Stokowski explores Debussy's orchestral colors" in Instrumentalist, v50n9 (1996/IV).

Kupferberg, Herbert. Those fabulous Philadelphians.  New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1969.

Levett, Harry.  "Stokowski gets first race press confab" in California eagle (1943/VI/3). 

Marks, Robert W.  "Orient colors Stokowski's vista" in Musical America (1937/I) p25;  (1928/IX/15).

McGinn, Robert E. "Stokowski and the Bell Telephone Laboratories: Collaboration in the development of high fidelity sound reproduction" in Technology and culture        (1983/I).

O'Connell, Charles. "Leopold Stokowski" in The other side of the record.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.                                                                                                                                                                                

Opperby, Preben.  Leopold Stokowski. Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Midas Books, 1982.

Pogue, Samuel F. "Some unpublished letters of Stokowski" in Notes, v46n1 (1989/IX)  [at the University of Cincinnati Libraries].

Reis, Claire.  Composers, conductors, and critics.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1955.

Robinson, Paul. Stokowski.  London: MacDonald and Jane's, 1977.

Samaroff, Olga.  An American musician's story.  New York: W. W. Norton, 1939.

Schonberg, Harold.  The great conductors of the USA.  New York: Simon & Schuster. 1943.

Smith, Catherine Parsons, ed.  William Grant Still, a study in contrasts.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000 (Music of the African diaspora).

Smith, Rollin.  Stokowski and the organ. Hillsdale NY: Pendragon Press, 2004.

Smith, William Ander.  "Leopold Stokowski"  American National Biography.

Smith, William Ander.  "Leopold Stokowski: A re-evaluation" in American music, v1n3 (Fall, 1983/fall) p23-37.

Smith, William Ander.  "Stokowski at one hundred" in South Atlantic quarterly (1982) v81n3.

Smith, William Ander.  The mystery of Leopold Stokowski. Rutherford NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990.

Smith, William Ander. "Leopold Stokowski: A re-evaluation"  in American music (1983/fall).

Smith, William Ander. "Stokowski at one hundred"  in South Atlantic quarterly, v81n3 (1982).

Spencer, Jon Michael, ed.  The William Grant Still reader.  Durham: Duke University Press, 1992 (Black sacred music; A journal of theomusicology, vol. 6, no. 2).

Still, Judith Anne, ed.  Just tell the story; Troubled Island, ed. by Judith Anne Still and Lisa M. Headlee.  Flagstaff: The Master-Player Library, 2006.

Still, Judith Anne, ed.  William Grant Still and the fusion of cultures in American music.  2nd ed.  Flagstaff: The Master-Player Library, 1972.

Still, Judith Anne.  William Grant Still; A bio-bibliography, by Judith Anne Still, Michael J. Dabrishus, and Carolyn L.  Quinn.  Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996 (Bio-              bibliographies in music, no, 61).

Still, Judith Anne.  William Still, a voice high-sounding.  Flagstaff: The Master-Player Library, 1990.         

Still, William Grant.  "Leopold Stokowski as I know him"  in War worker, v1n9 (1943.XI) p6, 8.

Still, William Grant.  "Troubled island; The Voice of America radio interview" in William Grant Still; an oral history, edited by Judith Anne Still.  Flagstaff: The Master-        Player Library, 1998, p51-67.

Stokowski, Leopold.  "An interpretation of modern music" in Arts and decoration (1922/XI).

Stokowski, Leopold. Music for all of us.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1943.

Taubman, Howard.  Music on my beat. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943.

Toccata.  v1-? (1979/I-1998/winter).

Wister, Frances Anne. Twenty-five years of the Philadelphia Orchestra, 1900-1925. Philadelphia: Edward Stern & Co., 1925.

                                                   

------------------------------------

Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com


Comments by email:

1) Hello Bill, I thought I'd point out a premiere by Stokowski during his Philadelphia years that is missing from Dr. DeLerma's list. Stokowski conducted the first performance of Henry Hadley's Othello Overture with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 12/26/19. At that time Hadley was nearing the height of his fame, and was already considered the most prominent and important American composer. You can hear a modern performance of it on YouTube. Wishing you all best,  JMW  [John McLaughlin Williams]

2) Leopold Stokowski and Zubin Mehta, more than any other two,  expanded the presence of African Americans in contemporary classical music. The Negro Folk Symphony is surely one of the most deserving of all neglected compositions by African American composers.  [John Malveaux]  

3) Wow! I need to print out this and read!!! It occurred to me that the Leopold Stokowski Club may be interested.

http://www.classical.net/~music/guide/society/lssa/index.php  Also

http://www.stokowski.org/Leopold_Stokowski_Discography.htm  Mike  [Michael S. Wright]

4) Dear Mike,  Many thanks for the urging!  After spending so much time getting all the Stokie data together, I had hoped the results would be of interest elsewhere and, in the process, alert the innocents to Bill's terribly important site.  I'll certainly follow your leads (there's also a very dedicated Stokie worker in the U.S.).  While I don't think the BBC music magazine would be interested in the article, I hope to alert them to Bill's work which, as you know, gives a lot of attention to the U.K.

            While working on this, I put aside what I hope to live long enough to finish (an unrealistic aspiration) -- a totally new history of Black music, unlike Eileen's now aging book in that I wish to use the actual music (mostly available on the internet) as a central issue, with a much stronger orientation on liberal-arts and sociological matters.  As part of this, I have spent many weeks on the British 18th-century scene that I had hoped would have been complete in advance of Chi-chi's February visit for the BBC, but even now I am not finished with the Emidée dynasty.  This is now an opportunity even so  for me to introduce you two, should that not have happened already.  I must also see that Jeff Green and Hilary Burrage are alerted to her interests.  Are there any other Brits who should be signalled?

            I've thought so very often of our trip to Truro.  That was a wonderfully memorable experience!

Dom  Dominique-René de Lerma  http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com