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Home , Aaron Copland, Aleko (Rachmaninoff), Alexander Scriabin, Alexander Smallens, Anton Rubinstein, Benno Moiseiwitsch

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

Date:______

I, ______, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in:

It is entitled:

This work and its defense approved by:

Chair: ______

Reassessing a Legacy: in America, 1918–43

A dissertation submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN

in the Division of Composition, , and Theory of the College-Conservatory of Music

2008

by

Robin S. Gehl

B.M., St. Olaf College, 1983

M.A., University of Minnesota, 1990

Advisor: bruce d. mcclung, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

A successful and conductor, (1873–1943) fled at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution never to return. Rachmaninoff, at the age of forty-four, transformed himself by necessity into a concert and toured America for a quarter of a century from 1918 until his death in 1943, becoming one of the greatest of the day.

Despite Rachmaninoff‘s immense talents, musicologists have largely dismissed him as a touring virtuoso and conservative, part-time composer.

Rather than using mid-twentieth-century paradigms that classify Rachmaninoff as a minor, post-Romantic, figure, a recent revisionist approach would classify Rachmaninoff as an innovator. As one of the first major performer- in America to embrace recording and reproducing technology, along with the permanence and repetition it offered, Rachmaninoff successfully utilized media for twenty-five years. Already regarded as a conductor and composer of appealing music, Rachmaninoff extended his fame by recording and performing his own works, and those of others. Traditionally, scholars and critics have examined and classified composers according to their musical style, and that mode of classification has rendered

Rachmaninoff old-fashioned. Using a paradigm based on economic and social relations inverts the ―musical style‖ hierarchy, with Rachmaninoff now becoming one of the twentieth century‘s most progressive composers. Rachmaninoff, desiring a ―lasting, indestructible art,‖ achieved that goal through his recordings, preserved and reissued to this day, and through the ongoing performing and recording of his compositions enjoyed by audiences world-wide. Reassessing

Rachmaninoff‘s American career brings into bold relief his marketing and business dealings with

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Steinway and Sons, reception by American audiences and critics, and charitable fundraising and programming trends.

The in Washington now houses much of his American-era correspondence, concert reviews and programs, and documentary human interest stories. These items comprise the primary sources for this study, which reconsiders Rachmaninoff‘s position in the musical canon. Ancillary materials include listings of Rachmaninoff‘s concert and recital dates and locations in America, the and conductors with whom he performed, his repertoire, and works he recorded. A reassessment of Rachmaninoff‘s career and reception in

America reveals his true accomplishment as an innovator.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My interest in Sergei Rachmaninoff stems from first hearing and enjoying recordings of his music on the radio. Assuming that he spent his life and career in Russia, little did I realize that Rachmaninoff lived in America during the formative years of the recording and broadcasting industries, and his decisions regarding use of those media proved prescient. While attending a twentieth-century music history course taught by Dr. Robert Zierolf at the College-Conservatory of Music, I was drawn to a germ of an idea, on a long list of many, for an extra-credit research topic, ―Rachmaninoff in America.‖ After completing that project, Dr. Zierolf suggested that I may have a dissertation topic worth pursuing. Thanks to his advice and others, I spent many enjoyable hours reviewing the archives of materials from Rachmaninoff‘s tenure in America now placed in libraries in , Washington, DC, and College Park, Maryland.

I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue doctoral studies at the University of

Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music under a full university scholarship, and especially for the support of the Composition, Musicology, and Theory division, in particular Dr. Robert

Zierolf, Division Head, who also served as dissertation reader, and Dr. Edward Nowacki, Interim

Chairman. Dr. Mary Sue Morrow offered expert advice and counsel throughout my tenure, and

Dr. Jeongwon Joe provided valuable assistance preparing my dissertation proposal and the dissertation itself, serving as reader. I also greatly appreciate the friendship and encouragement of my classmates and colleagues active in the division during my years of coursework. In

v particular, I am extremely grateful for the expertise and patience of Dr. bruce d. mcclung who graciously served as my dissertation advisor. His expert editing, teaching, and coaching abilities, along with his remarkable knowledge of music in twentieth-century America proved most beneficial. I am indebted to his careful reading of my work; what deficiencies remain are mine.

I wish to thank the librarians, curators, specialists, archivists, and staff of the following institutions: The Rachmaninoff Archive, Library of Congress (Mark Horowitz, Kevin LaVine, and Patricia Baughman); International Archive at the University of Maryland (Donald

Manildi and Maxwell Brown); Wagner and LaGuardia Archives, LaGuardia Community

College, City University of New York (Steven Levine); the University of Cincinnati‘s Albino

Gorno Memorial Music Library and Langsam Library (interlibrary loan department and reference librarians); Halifax Historical Society and Museum, Daytona Beach, Florida (Fayn

LeVeille); Hamilton County Public Library, downtown Cincinnati branch;

Orchestra (Bridget P. Carr); Burton Historical Collection, Public Library (Mark

Bowden); Minnesota (Sandi Brown); Minnesota Historical Society Library, St. Paul;

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (Eddie Silva); nearly one hundred public librarians across the country who consulted reviews in local historic newspaper collections to determine concert venues; and special thanks to Henry Z. Steinway of Steinway & Sons for sharing his reminiscences and a personal tour of .

In addition, I wish to acknowledge the support and encouragement of my colleagues and friends at Cincinnati Public Radio (WGUC and WVXU), in particular CEO and General

Manager Richard Eiswerth; the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi; and former colleagues at Minnesota Public Radio.

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Finally, I thank my parents for instilling in me a life-long love of learning and an appreciation for music.

August 2008 Cincinnati, Ohio

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... v

LIST OF TABLES ...... x

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Chapter

1. LIFE IN RUSSIA AND COMING TO AMERICA ...... 12

2. 992 CONCERTS IN 221 CITIES ...... 41

3. RECEPTION BY CONDUCTORS AND FELLOW MUSICIANS ...... 70

4. RECEPTION BY AMERICAN AUDIENCES ...... 103

5. RACHMANINOFF: RECORDINGS AND RADIO ...... 129

6. CHARITABLE WORK ...... 157

7. CONCLUSION: FINAL TOUR AND AMERICAN LEGACY ...... 182

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 208

Appendix

A CATALOGUE OF RACHMANINOFF‘S WORKS ...... 231

B STEINWAY COMPANY ADVERTISEMENT FEATURED IN ...... 233

C NBC ARTIST SERVICES PRESS PACKET, 1932–1933 . . . . . 235

D AMERICAN CITIES IN WHICH RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED ...... 252

E RECITAL REPERTOIRE ADDED EACH SEASON IN AMERICA ...... 298

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F ORCHESTRAS WITH WHOM RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED IN AMERICA ...... 314

G CONDUCTORS WITH WHOM RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED IN AMERICA...... 322

H NEWSPAPER REVIEWS, 1918–1943...... 330

I AMPICO PIANO ROLLS RECORDED BY RACHMANINOFF, 1919–1929...... 340

J MUSICAL WORKS RECORDED ON GRAMOPHONE BY RACHMANINOFF, 1919–1942 ...... 344

K 1922 REPARATION OF FOOD REMITTANCE LIST (AMERICAN RELIEF ADMINISTRATION)...... 351

L ―TAGORE ON RUSSIA‖ LETTER TO THE EDITOR, NEW YORK TIMES ...... 353

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 2.1 AMERICAN CITIES IN WHICH RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED TEN OR MORE TIMES ...... 54

TABLE 2.2 WORKS PERFORMED WITH ORCHESTRA AND NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES ...... 67

x

INTRODUCTION

Sergei Rachmaninoff considered coming to America with trepidation, complaining to his cousin Zoya Pribitkova that all Americans thought about was business.1 Yet, of the many musicians who relocated to America in the first half of the twentieth century, it was

Rachmaninoff, the country-less Russian, who truly lived the American Dream. Arriving with his wife, two daughters, and few worldly possessions in 1918, he went on to perform 992 concerts in more than two hundred American cities and to capitalize on the nascent American recording industry. From his early and ongoing love of driving American cars to his final days spent in

Beverly Hills, the Russian American availed himself of every opportunity to both touch

American audiences and to provide for his family and many Russian émigrés plagued by financial hardship. At the end of his life, at the age of sixty-nine, both he and his wife became naturalized American citizens, participating in a ceremony at the

Court in . At that event he remarked, ―I am very happy to become a United States citizen in this land of opportunity and equality.‖2 At first a reluctant visitor, Rachmaninoff went on to spend twenty-five years in America combining his immense musical talent with his own brand of business acumen. By 1943 American standards, Rachmaninoff died a wealthy man with a total estate worth more than $700,0003 (today about $20 million), and Americans mourned him as one of the greatest twentieth-century musicians. Rachmaninoff‘s final resting place in

1Rachmaninoff referred to this ―accursed country‖ in a letter to his cousin during his initial tour in America in 1909. Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music, 2d ed., Russian Music Studies, ed. Malcom Hamrick Brown (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), 163.

2―Rachmaninoff a Citizen,‖ New York Times, 2 February 1943.

3―Rachmaninoff Estate has $119,955 Royalty,‖ New York Herald Tribune, 8 March 1947, quoted in David Butler Cannata, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Changing View of Symphonic Structure‖ (Ph.D. diss., , 1992), 12–13. 1

Valhalla, New York, remains the most popular grave in the cemetery, far surpassing that of New

York Yankees baseball legend .4

Today, Rachmaninoff serves as an enigma. On concert stages, leading piano virtuosos and symphony orchestras frequently perform his works to great acclaim, yet music history texts and conservatory classrooms virtually ignore him. Accused of being a post-Romantic, part-time composer, his commanding use of newly emerging recording technology has generally been overlooked. Chastised in the American press for his atypical stage demeanor, audiences still clamored for more of him. Initially critical of the music business in America, Rachmaninoff used it to his benefit like few others. Homesick for the Russia he had to leave, he nevertheless learned to appreciate America and its audiences. This dissertation explores the dichotomies associated with Rachmaninoff‘s life and reception in America, how the reluctant musician survived, flourished, and reinvented himself at a turbulent time in the world when émigrés were not always completely embraced in America. Ultimately, this examination of Rachmaninoff‘s life in

America offers a reappraisal of his American period and reassesses his place in twentieth-century music.

The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia necessitated Rachmaninoff‘s departure from Russia in late December 1917 with virtually no personal effects, at the mid-point of a flourishing career.

That lesson taught him to look for a permanent repository for his post-Russia documents early in his tenure in America. He and his family selected the Library of Congress to be the ultimate destination for his post-1918 letters, documents, and manuscripts. Charles Engel, Herbert

Putnam, and Edward Waters, heads of the Library of Congress music division, maintained cordial relations with Rachmaninoff and his wife during their time spent in America. In fact, within a year or two of his arrival, the Library of Congress asked him if he would submit a

4David Butler Cannata, Rachmaninoff and the Symphony (Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 1999), 25. 2 manuscript to be a part of the Library of Congress‘s permanent collection. Rachmaninoff declined because he had no manuscript in his possession. When he resumed arranging and composing, he did submit a piano transcription of the Minuet from Bizet‘s L’Arlésienne as his first Library of Congress contribution. Several years after his death, Rachmaninoff‘s widow contributed a large collection of his materials, accumulated since 1918, to the Library of

Congress. That collection, along with a second donation to the Library at the time of her death,5 now comprises the Rachmaninoff Archive at the Library of Congress.

Despite the existence of a substantive, accessible Rachmaninoff archive,6 few historians and musicologists have included more than a few paragraphs about Rachmaninoff in their twentieth-century music surveys.7 Robert Morgan devotes the most attention to Rachmaninoff with four paragraphs citing five of Rachmaninoff‘s major works, discussing his traditional approach to composing and his remaining ―outside the main currents of twentieth-century musical development,‖ yet asserting that Rachmaninoff was among the most successful in composing works that had an ―undeniably fresh, expressive appeal.‖8 refers to

Rachmaninoff‘s Symphonic on two occasions as a successful example of mid-century post-.9 Joseph Machlis mentioned Rachmaninoff in passing when discussing

Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky, although he does label Rachmaninoff as a ―major

5Mrs. Natalie Rachmaninoff died in New York on 17 January 1951.

6The Rachmaninoff Archive at the Library of Congress is officially designated as not yet fully processed.

7Prominent twentieth-century surveys include Joseph Machlis, Introduction to Contemporary Music, 2d ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979); Robert P. Morgan, Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America (New York: Norton, 1991); , Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction, 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002); Bryan Simms, Music of the Twentieth Century: Style and Structure (New York: Schirmer, 1986); and Glenn Watkins, Soundings: Music in the Twentieth Century (New York: Schirmer, 1995).

8Morgan, 111–13.

9Watkins, 170, 650. 3 figure.‖10 Eric Salzman devotes one sentence to Rachmaninoff, remarking that the ―older

Romantic tradition can be represented by Rachmaninoff,‖11 and Bryan Simms makes no mention of him. Scarcely more is communicated in general music history textbooks. Mark Evan Bonds in

A in Culture offers several sentences noting a handful of works and states that Rachmaninoff was ―an internationally renowned pianist and conductor.‖12 The eighth edition of A History of Western Music by J. Peter Burkholder and the late Claude Palisca and

Donald J. Grout focuses more attention on Rachmaninoff than previous editions, mentioning nearly a dozen of his major works and providing a musical explanation and example of his

Prelude in , Opus 23, no. 5.13

Several recent music history encyclopedias have begun to acknowledge Rachmaninoff‘s prominence. , the noted Russian music specialist, offers the most complete picture of Rachmaninoff in his multi-volume The Oxford History of Western Music.14 In both volumes 3 (―The Nineteenth Century‖) and 4 (―The Early Twentieth Century‖), Taruskin discusses a number of musical works, provides musical examples, and credits Rachmaninoff as

―the towering figure . . . who in addition to being the most prominent Russian composer of his generation was a world-renowned piano virtuoso and an outstanding conductor as well.‖15

Devoting portions of a dozen or more pages to Rachmaninoff, Taruskin stresses that

10Machlis, 213, 221, 228.

11Salzman, 76.

12Mark Evan Bonds, A History of Music in Western Culture, 2d ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006), 655.

13Other Rachmaninoff works cited include The Isle of the Dead, , Etudes-Tableaux, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and his four piano . J. Peter Burkholder, Donald J. Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 7th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006), 790–92.

14Richard Taruskin, Oxford History of Western Music (Oxford: , 2005).

15Ibid., ―The Early Twentieth Century,‖ 4:497. 4

Rachmaninoff enjoyed an excellent reputation as an interpreter, and many in the 1920s and ‘30s regarded him as the greatest living composer, ―precisely because he was the only one who seemed capable of successfully maintaining the familiar and prestigious style of the nineteenth- century ‗classics‘ into the twentieth century.‖16 presented in the new Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music17 make reference to Rachmaninoff, with one, in particular, exploring the difficulties of categorizing the many twentieth-century trends and developments inside and outside of the Austro-German construction of mainstream music history.18

Details about Rachmaninoff‘s life cannot be found in general music history books, only in music encyclopedias. Discussion about Rachmaninoff in various editions of the Grove

Dictionary of Music and Musicians has charted his reputation throughout the twentieth century.

The dictionary first profiled Rachmaninoff in its second edition in 1911, describing

Rachmaninoff as a ―pianist of repute, and one of the most talented of the younger school of composers. . . . Several of Rachmaninov‘s songs and pianoforte pieces, especially the famous prelude in C-sharp minor have attained immense popularity.‖19 The article for the third edition in 1934 added more information to his biography, citing that ―since the Russian

Revolution he has spent much of his time in America, revisiting Europe for concert tours‖ and updating his list of compositions.20 A change in tone came in the fifth edition in 1955, at the height of , when offered an addendum to Rosa Newmarch‘s original

16Ibid., 553.

17Nicholas Cook and Anthony Pople, ed., The Cambridge History of Twentieth Century Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

18Nicholas Cook and Anthony Pople, ―Introduction: Trajectories of Twentieth-Century Music‖ in ibid., 5.

19Rosa Newmarch, ―Rachmaninov, Sergei,‖ in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. J. A. Fuller- Maitland, 2d. ed. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1911), 4:11–12.

20Rosa Newmarch, ―Rachmaninov, Sergei,‖ in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. H. C. Colles, 3d. ed. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1934), 4:312.

5 biographical essays, dismissing Rachmaninoff‘s compositional output, Blum stated: ―His music is well constructed and effective, but monotonous in texture, which consists in essence mainly of artificial and gushing tunes. . . . The enormous popular success some few of Rakhmaninov‘s works had in his lifetime is not likely to last, and musicians never regarded it with much favour.‖21 Geoffrey Norris‘s extensive Rachmaninoff cataloguing begun in the 1970s resulted in a revised, favorable assessment of him in the 1980 edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, with the most recent 2001 New Grove Dictionary essay the most thorough.22

Aside from initial archival work in the 1950s by Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda resulting in their authorized biography, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music,23 and a 1992 doctoral dissertation by David Butler Cannata focusing on Rachmaninoff‘s symphonic structure,24 few researchers have explored the riches of the Rachmaninoff Archive, particularly with respect to Rachmaninoff reception in America. The dearth of scholarship about

Rachmaninoff after he left Russia had caused him to be misunderstood. In this study I address why American audiences were drawn to him in sold-out performances year after year. What was the appeal of this reserved Russian that fans from the to the junior high school in

Lawrence, Kansas, communicated with him, and that world-famous conductors working with a world-renown American orchestra, the Orchestra, championed him and his compositions? He became such a well-known ―American‖ figure that even the U. S. Treasury

21Rosa Newmarch and Eric Blom, ―Rachmaninov, Sergey,‖ in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Eric Blom, 5d. ed. (New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 1955), 7:27–28.

22Geoffrey Norris, ―Sergey Rakhmaninov,‖ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. , 2d. ed. (: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 20:707–18.

23Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music (New York: New York University Press, 1956).

24Cannata, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Changing View of Symphonic Structure.‖

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Department wrote him in 1942 explaining that it was soliciting statements from ―outstanding

Americans‖ to publicize the sale of war bonds in U.S. daily newspapers. As with nearly every request, Rachmaninoff obliged.25 I demonstrate that despite his allegiance to his Russian heritage, Rachmaninoff was much more integrated into the American musical scene and overall

American consciousness than has been previously assumed.

My research offers a fuller, richer understanding of Rachmaninoff the musician. It examines his construction in the press; his dealings with the recording industry, conductors, musicians, and audience members; his involvement helping numerous Russian expatriates and charities; and the concert artist touring scene in America during the inter-war period. In addition,

I examine the packaging and managing of Rachmaninoff by agents, conductors, piano manufacturers, and by Rachmaninoff himself. I explore Rachmaninoff‘s relationship with modern technology, particularly his willingness to embrace recording technology and his appreciation of radio, yet his aversion to allowing live radio broadcasts of himself performing, despite the advocacy from titans Sir and . My research demonstrates that even though Rachmaninoff‘s ties to his Russian past remained strong, he dedicated himself to surviving and flourishing in America.

My methodology is modeled on several excellent studies that examine the touring virtuoso culture in America: W. Porter Ware and Thaddeus C. Lockard‘s P. T. Barnum Presents

Jenny Lind: The American Tour of the Swedish Nightingale; S. Frederick Starr‘s Bamboula! The

Life and Times of ; and R. Allen Lott‘s From to Peoria: How

25In subsequent correspondence, the director of the U. S. Treasury thanked Rachmaninoff for his statement, but a copy of Rachmaninoff‘s specific remarks does not remain. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Sections A–P.

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European Piano Virtuosos Brought to the American Heartland.26 The prime research methodology utilized in these studies focuses on the examination of newspaper reviews from each of the cities visited by touring artists, as well as repertoire lists, letters, and other documents from the period. During visits to the Library of Congress Music Division, I examined the twenty-five boxes of materials comprising the Rachmaninoff Archive.27 Those boxes include correspondence to and from Rachmaninoff, concert/recital location lists, repertoire lists, program notes, magazine and newspaper articles and reviews from Russia, Europe, and America, notices of honors and awards, published interviews, unpublished short biographies, obituaries, and articles about Rachmaninoff after his death. In addition to the extensive number of published newspaper reviews, articles, and interviews contemporaneous with Rachmaninoff‘s American period, I draw on the wealth of correspondence located in the Rachmaninoff Archive, particularly letters from conductors, recording company executives, noteworthy individuals who heard Rachmaninoff perform, fan letters, government officials, Russian aid organizations, and

Soviet officials, among others. I also explored additional archival material on Rachmaninoff and the Steinway family and company at the International Piano Archives at the University of

Maryland and at the La Guardia and Wagner Archives, City University of New York. This archival research provides the foundation for my study.

26W. Porter Ware and Thaddeus C. Lockard, P. T. Barnum Presents Jenny Lind: The American Tour of the Swedish Nightingale ( Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980); S. Frederick Starr, Bamboula! The Life and Times of Louis Moreau Gottschalk (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); R. Allen Lott, From Paris to Peoria: How European Piano Virtuosos Brought Classical Music to the American Heartland (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

27Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Sections A–P. As of 2008, the Archive is not yet fully processed, hence no sections Q–Z. There are plans to reprocess the Rachmaninoff Archive, which may render inaccurate the current designations cited in this dissertation.

8

Published bibliographies on Rachmaninoff remain relatively few and, ironically, in

English, rather than Russian.28 Those who have written and published materials in Russian in the

Soviet Union, or utilized those Soviet publications, have been plagued by inaccuracies due to the censorship of some of the statements of Rachmaninoff.29 The cornerstone of Rachmaninoff literature for fifty years has been Bertensson and Leyda‘s biography Sergei Rachmaninoff: A

Lifetime in Music, which benefited from the cooperation of Rachmaninoff‘s cousin and sister-in- law, Sophia Satin, who also moved to America and later assisted with the organization of the

Rachmaninoff Archive. The biography had been unavailable for several years and prompted

Indiana University Press to choose something close to a diplomatic reproduction when they reissued it in 2001 so as not to confuse researchers with a new run of page numbers.30 Bertensson and Leyda organized Rachmaninoff‘s life chronologically, devoting a handful of pages to each year of his life. They drew on letters and documents from the Rachmaninoff Archive, which was still in the midst of being organized, as well as privately held correspondence. The scope of examining a seventy-year life allowed for only several pages for each year, and much remains to be discussed, particularly regarding his time in America.

Geoffrey Norris, in addition to his New Grove Dictionary article, partnered with another British scholar, Robert Threlfall, to catalogue the compositions of Rachmaninoff. They individually issued Rachmaninoff biographies, which primarily stress compositional output, with minimal

28In addition to native English speakers, foreign born scholars wrote and published their seminal Rachmaninoff studies in English, like Bertensson, as well as Alfred Swan and Katherine Swan, ―Rachmaninoff- Personal Reminiscences,‖ The Musical Quarterly 30 (1944): 1–19, 174–91.

29David Butler Cannata, review of Sergej Rachmaninoff, 1873–1943, zwischen Moskau und New York: Ein Künstler-biographie, by Maria Biesol, Notes, Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 50 (1993): 591.

30Bertensson, iv. 9 biographic details concerning his American years.31 In addition to Norris‘s compositional dating and cataloguing, he has also focused on Rachmaninoff‘s visits to London in his article

―Rachmaninoff‘s Reception in 1899–1938,‖32 first presented as a paper at the

International Rachmaninoff Symposium in 1993. Anne McLean‘s symposium paper

―Rachmaninoff: The Bohemian‖ discusses Rachmaninoff‘s membership in the New York

Musician‘s Club called ―The Bohemians.‖33 Both articles provided informative models for my research. For instance, Norris stresses the importance of conductor Sir Henry Wood who did more in England to foster Russian music and Rachmaninoff than any other conductor of his day.

In America, conductors Leopold Stokowski and during their tenures with the

Philadelphia Orchestra championed Rachmaninoff, and I explore that relationship in detail.

Other recent biographies include those by Barrie Martyn and Max Harrison.34 As the subtitles intimate (―Composer, Pianist, Conductor‖ and ―Life, Works, Recordings,‖ respectively), several chapters include overviews of the material I will discuss, but they do not offer the specific focus and depth of my study, nor do they propose a reappraisal of the American period.

To offer a sense of scope, my research does not examine Rachmaninoff‘s compositional output or offer a detailed review of his recordings. Other scholars and reviewers have discussed

31Robert Threlfall and Geoffrey Norris, A Catalogue of the Compositions of Sergei Rachmaninoff (London: Scholar Press, 1982); Robert Threlfall, Sergei Rachmaninoff (London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1973); Geoffrey Norris, Rachmaninoff, 2d ed., The Dent Master Musicians Series, ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Schirmer Books, 1994).

32Geoffrey Norris, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Reception in England 1899–1938,‖ Studies in Music from the University of Western Ontario 15 (1995): 49–58.

33Ann McLean, ―Rachmaninoff: The Bohemian,‖ Studies in Music from the University of Western Ontario 15 (1995): 95–106.

34Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Aldershot: Scholar Press, 1990); Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005).

10 his works and recordings.35 Neither do I focus on his conducting, his time in Russia, or his

Russian reception before, or after, his permanent departure. My research supports the thesis that though Rachmaninoff initially appeared as one unlikely to stay in America and warm to

American audiences and systems, he did exactly that, and American audiences flocked to him.

He constructed ways to flourish and ultimately live the American Dream. During twenty-five seasons performing in America, Rachmaninoff interacted with numerous conductors, fellow musicians, public figures, managers, recording executives, aid organizations, concertgoers, friends, and fans on American soil, and this study tells that story, demonstrating that

Rachmaninoff was much more than a dour, misunderstood Russian. He persisted with recording technology until the piano and orchestra could be accurately captured and preserved. As

Rachmaninoff remarked in 1931 concerning the gramophone, ― generations will be more fortunate in that the finest modern musicians, through their records, will be something more than names to those who come after them.‖36 In an era of modernism when composers broke from traditional forms and , Rachmaninoff believed that music must be loved, must speak from the heart, and be directed to the heart, to be lasting, indestructible art.37 A reassessment of

Rachmaninoff‘s life in America reveals that though driven by a desire to provide for his family in a new world, he proved to be an innovator, quickly recognizing the value of permanence for his art and craft.

35Barrie Martyn and Max Harrison offer detailed accounts and listings of Rachmaninoff‘s recordings, and Harrison provides analysis of compositions as does David Butler Cannata.

36Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―The Artist and the Gramophone,‖ The Gramophone 9 (1931): 526.

37David Ewen, ―Sergei Rachmaninoff: Music Should Speak from the Heart,‖ The Etude 59 (1941): 804 11

CHAPTER 1

LIFE IN RUSSIA AND COMING TO AMERICA

The thought of performing in America for a quarter of a century would never have occurred to Rachmaninoff living a comfortable life in Russia; however, politics would intervene, causing him in middle age to chart a new direction for his life and career. Ultimately, circumstances led him from Russia and required him to choose both a new country of residence and a specific livelihood to pursue, composing, conducting, or performing. Prior to making those decisions, Rachmaninoff spent the first forty-four years of his life in Russia. Unique experiences from his childhood, youth, and early adulthood equipped him to make those difficult decisions and laid the groundwork for tremendous success later in life. From his early student days attending piano recitals of the great , to playing for and receiving encouragement from Peter Tchaikovsky, to experiencing the failures and successes associated with his early compositions and conducting engagements, Rachmaninoff‘s musical life began in

Russia and was steeped in those familial and musical traditions.

Rachmaninoff remembered fondly his early years in the Russian countryside, despite early family hardship. It was near Novgorod at Oneg, about one hundred miles southwest of St.

Petersburg, on the last remaining estate of Lubov Petrovna Butakova and Vasily Arkadyevich

Rachmaninoff 1 that their second son, Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, was born on 20 March

12

1873.2 Each of his parents came from a wealthy family and brought not only financial assets to the marriage but modest musical talents as well. Sergei‘s paternal grandfather, Arkady

Alexandrovich Rachmaninoff, played the piano and had been a pupil of .3

Unfortunately, Vasily lacked the necessary business acumen to manage the family holdings, and the combined estates of his and his wife had to be sold. In 1881 the family moved to a small flat in St. Petersburg where the St. Petersburg Conservatory soon awarded young Rachmaninoff a scholarship to enroll and study piano with Vladimir Demyansky and Gustav Kross, the pianist who had given the first Russian performance of Tchaikovsky‘s Piano in B-flat minor in

1875.4 During the family‘s first months in St. Petersburg, Sergei‘s younger sister Sophia died during a diphtheria epidemic, and the strained marriage of his parents resulted in their separation.5 Sergei‘s maternal grandmother, Sofiya Butakova, provided consolation during these trying times, traveling from her home in Novgorod to spend time with Sergei in St. Petersburg.

Butakova bought a small estate, Borisovo, near Novgorod primarily to provide a special holiday respite for her favorite grandchild Sergei. Indeed, throughout his life Rachmaninoff would recall the comforting sounds of the Novgorod cathedral bells from his youth.6

1Geoffrey Norris, Rachmaninoff, 2d ed., The Dent Master Musicians Series, ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Schirmer Books, 1994), 1.

220 March 1873 reflects old Julian calendar dating. 2 April 1873 reflects Gregorian dating as utilized in the United States. Until 1918, used the Julian calendar, which was twelve days behind the Gregorian calendar in the nineteenth century and thirteen days behind in the twentieth century. Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music, 2d ed., Russian Music Studies, ed. Malcom Hamrick Brown (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), lii.

3Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005), 5.

4Norris, 2.

5The Rachmaninoff family included six children total: brother Vladimir, sister Yelena, Sergei, sister Sofia, sister Varvara who died in infancy, and brother Arkady. Bertensson, 4.

6Rachmaninoff musically memorialized the cathedral bells in his , Opus 24, as well as in The Bells, Opus 35, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. 13

His school work, on the other hand, suffered at the Conservatory. In the of 1885

Sergei failed all of his general subjects, and his student days in St. Petersburg ended abruptly.

Rachmaninoff‘s realized she needed to motivate her idle and distracted son, or his musical gifts would be wasted. She consulted with , a well-known pupil of Liszt, who was her husband‘s nephew. Siloti recommended his own former disciplinarian teacher

Nikolai Zverev. In the autumn of 1885, Rachmaninoff began lessons at the Moscow

Conservatory with Zverev, who agreed to take him on the recommendation of Siloti.

Rachmaninoff‘s hesitancy to move far from his mother and grandmother was exacerbated by the sudden death of his older sister, Yelena,7 who had earned an appointment as an opera singer at the in Moscow and would have provided him company while they were both far from home in Moscow. Zverev invited Rachmaninoff to live in his home as was his practice to several gifted Conservatory pupils.8

The strict routine and musical opportunities at the Zverev household benefited

Rachmaninoff, and his piano technique improved dramatically. Through his position in the

Zverev circle, Rachmaninoff gained access to the vibrant Moscow music scene, attending concerts and recitals throughout the city. Zverev also invited many Russian notables to his home to perform, such as and , two of Rachmaninoff‘s future teachers, and the influential composer Peter Tchaikovsky. Also, in 1885, four of Russian national composers were still living and active in either Moscow or St. Petersburg—Balakirev, Borodin,

Cui, and Rimsky-Korsakov.9 Years later Rachmaninoff would point to a Moscow recital series

7She died suddenly of pernicious anemia right before she was to leave for Moscow after a summer holiday in Voronezh. Norris, 3.

8Ibid.

9Known as the ―mighty little band‖ gathered around Balakirev. Richard Taruskin, ed., Oxford History of Western Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 3:468. 14 he attended in 1886 by the founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, composer and pianist

Anton Rubinstein, as seminal in his career. In the course of a seven-part Historical Concert series, Rubinstein traced the development of keyboard music through the history of piano literature including such works by J. S. Bach, F. Couperin, D. Scarlatti, W. A. Mozart,

Beethoven, , Liszt, and Russian contemporaries such as Balakirev, Glinka, and Liadov.10

The concept was patterned on the ―Historical Recitals‖ that Moscheles and Liszt had performed in 1837, Moscheles in London and Liszt in Paris.11 Rubinstein gave two performances of the same program in Moscow each week, and one in St. Petersburg, and Rachmaninoff attended both

Moscow performances, greatly enhancing his knowledge of keyboard repertoire.12 The disciplinarian Zverev rarely allowed his students a holiday with family, but in the spring of 1888

Rachmaninoff did visit his aunt Varvara Satin, his father‘s sister. When Rachmaninoff returned to the Conservatory, he passed his theory and composition examinations with the highest possible marks.

In the fall Rachmaninoff expanded his studies to include the piano class of Alexander

Siloti, with Taneyev (Scriabin was a classmate), class with Arensky, and his own composing,13 with Zverev overseeing his entire curriculum. Ultimately, Rachmaninoff‘s interest in composing provided a source of conflict with his mentor, Zverev, who wanted

Rachmaninoff to focus on his development as a pianist. In 1889 Rachmaninoff moved out of

Zverev‘s flat and moved in with fellow student Mikhail Slonov. For the new academic year

10Philip S. Taylor, Anton Rubinstein: A Life in Music, Russian Music Studies, ed. Malcom Hamrick Brown (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007), 269–71.

11Harrison, 17.

12Norris, 4.

13Ibid., 5.

15

Rachmaninoff moved to the home of his aunt Satin. He began composing in earnest that year, sketching portions of a in , a in , several movements, as well as a and two songs.14

In the summer of 1890 Rachmaninoff traveled with the Satins to Ivanovka, their estate in the Russian countryside about 280 miles southeast of Moscow, a place offering the company of family and friends as well as a retreat for creative inspiration.15 Most of his Russian compositions can be linked to time spent at Ivanovka. For nearly twenty years, Rachmaninoff would visit in spring and summer to rest, compose, and rejuvenate, arriving in time to see the lilacs bloom and sometimes staying until harvest. The estate contained two houses—the main house where the Satins stayed, and a second smaller house where Rachmaninoff would work. In

1910 it became his own home.

Rachmaninoff‘s final school years progressed successfully. In 1891 changes at the

Moscow Conservatory resulted in the resignation of Siloti. Two years earlier had succeeded Taneyev as director of the Conservatory, and relations had become strained between

Siloti and Safonov. Rachmaninoff, reluctant to be supervised by someone besides Ziloti, asked

Safonov for permission to take his final examinations in piano a year early. Safonov agreed and assigned Rachmaninoff to prepare Chopin‘s B-flat minor and Beethoven‘s ―Waldstein‖

14The string quartet movements were a Romance in G minor and a Scherzo in D major. He composed his six-part motet, Deus meus, as an examination exercise in February 1890. In spring he wrote two of his early songs, U vrat obiteli svyatoy (―At the gate of the holy abode‖) and Ya tebe nichevo ne skazhu (―I shall tell you nothing‖). Ibid., 7.

15Ibid.

16

Sonata.16 In May 1891 Rachmaninoff passed his piano examination with honors as well as his annual examinations in theory and composition.17

After an extended summer vacation at Ivanovka, then a prolonged illness and recovery,18

Rachmaninoff still needed to pass the composition examination, the final Conservatory hurdle. In

March 1892 the Conservatory committee gave Rachmaninoff and his classmates a subject for a one-act opera to compose and orchestrate in one month, with the best opera to be performed the end of May. The subject , based on Pushkin‘s poem Tsygany (―‖), was given to three candidates—Rachmaninoff, Leon Conus, and Nikita Morozov. Rachmaninoff quickly composed the two orchestral dances within a few days and completed the whole opera within four weeks. When he played the work before the Conservatory committee, its members awarded

Rachmaninoff a perfect score.19 Years later from his post at the College of Music in Cincinnati,

Ohio, Leon Conus reminisced about his fellow classmate:

The things that distinguished Rachmaninoff particularly from his fellow students were his prodigious facility and the rapid progress he made in all the branches of a musical education. In his frequent participation in the auditions, given in honor of great artists, such as Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, on the occasion of their visits to the Conservatoire, he astounded everyone by the remarkable development of his musical faculties. The ease with which he read at sight, his ear and his memory, were truly marvelous.20

Rachmaninoff‘s formerly estranged piano teacher, Zverev, sat on the committee, and immediately congratulated him and presented him with his gold watch as a memento, something

16Alfred and Katherine Swan, ―Rachmaninoff: Personal Reminiscences, Part I,‖ The Musical Quarterly 30 (1944): 14. Swan quotes Rachmaninoff‘s recollection of the specific works. Other biographers cite second-hand sources indicating Chopin‘s B-minor sonata and Beethoven‘s Appassionata as the examination pieces. Harrison, 32.

17Norris, 10.

18Rachmaninoff suffered from recurring fevers, which doctors thought might develop into typhoid.

19Ibid., 12–13.

20Swan quoted this from a published student paper of the College of Music in Cincinnati, but gave no date. Swan, 14–15.

17 that Rachmaninoff cherished for the remainder of his life. At times he needed to pawn it, but he was always able to buy it back. All three candidates received the award of gold medals, but the committee granted Rachmaninoff the highly prized Great Gold Medal. Only Taneyev and

Koreshchenko had ever been awarded that honor. Rachmaninoff received his diploma from the

Conservatory 29 May 1892, with his work performed at the graduation concert on 31 May where all graduates were awarded the noble term ―Free Artist.‖21

Two possible careers now lay before the nineteen-year-old Rachmaninoff—performing or composing. He chose to pursue the career of composer and sold his opera, Aleko, and several other works to the publishing firm of Karl Gutheil.22 He remained loyal to Rachmaninoff until the firm was taken over by in 1914 at Gutheil‘s death.23 After

Rachmaninoff‘s graduation, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow accepted Aleko for performance the following year, after Lent, 1893. In late summer 1892, while living in the Satins‘s apartment in

Moscow, Rachmaninoff composed a piano prelude in C-sharp minor. He publicly performed it at an Electrical Exposition concert on 26 September, and the piece attracted attention.24 A brief review published in Artiste positively reported on Rachmaninoff‘s efforts:

Exceptional interest was lent the concert by the participation of S. V. Rachmaninoff, who graduated this spring from the . . . . His performance of the first movement of Rubinstein‘s concerto was beautiful both technically and musically. A group of solo numbers, including a Prélude of his own composition, also aroused enthusiasm.25

21Bertensson, 46.

22Rachmaninoff also sold two ‘ pieces and six songs. Gutheil published the Prelude and Oriental for ‘cello and piano as Opus 2. Several of the songs were later included in the set of Six Songs, Opus 4. Gutheil published Aleko only in a vocal and piano score. Norris, 14.

23Harrison, 45.

24Ibid.

25Bertensson, 49.

18

Little did he realize that this small work would become his calling card, and its fame would precede him and haunt him later in life as he embarked on a performing career. One of the reasons Rachmaninoff regretted it was because international copyright did not extend to Russia at the time he composed it, and he received little financial return.26 Because Russia had not signed the 1886 Berne Convention, Russian publishers did not pay royalties. Gutheil published it the following year as the second of five , Opus 3. On Tchaikovsky‘s advice Rachmaninoff let those pieces go to Gutheil for only two hundred rubles, forty each.27 Its successful reception at the Electrical Exposition had offered Rachmaninoff encouragement during the lean months after graduation.

In the spring of 1893 Rachmaninoff assisted with preparations for the Aleko premiere, which took place at the Bolshoi Theater on 27 April 1893 and was a personal and professional success. Rachmaninoff‘s father and his paternal grandmother attended opening night.28

Tchaikovsky attended the final rehearsals as well as opening night, describing the work as

―delightful.‖29 Rachmaninoff would always appreciate Tchaikovsky‘s encouragement and reflected on it years later:

At one of the rehearsals Tchaikovsky said to me, ―I have just finished a two-act [sic] opera Iolanthe, which is not long enough to take up a whole evening. Would you object to its being performed with your opera?‖ He literally said that: ―Would you object. . .?‖ He was 53, a famous composer, but I was a novice of 20! . . . At the end of the opera Tchaikovsky, leaning out of the box, applauded with all his might, realizing how this would help a new composer.30

26During his performing years, concert goers would require Rachmaninoff to play the prelude as an encore at nearly every recital he was ever to play. Norris, 14–15.

27Harrison, 47.

28Bertensson, 54.

29Norris, 17–18.

30Ibid., 18. 19

Buoyed by the successful premiere of Aleko, Rachmaninoff enjoyed a productive summer composing his Opus 4 set of songs, his first two-piano suite, and a , ,

Opus 7.31

In autumn two of his most influential mentors died. Sverev, his former teacher and powerful influence on his pianistic career, died on 30 September at the age of 61. Several days after the funeral, Rachmaninoff traveled to Kiev to conduct the first two performances of Aleko.

When he returned to Moscow he heard the news that Tchaikovsky had died on 25 October 1893 at the age of 53. Rachmaninoff immediately began composing a couple of works dedicated to

Tchaikovsky, Trio élégiaque in and Fantaisie-tableaux. Rachmaninoff and performed the two-piano Fantaisie-tableaux on 30 November, while the trio, completed in mid-

December, was performed on 31 January 1894 by Rachmaninoff at the piano, Julius Conus on , and Anatoli Brandukov on ‘cello.32

Financial hardship forced Rachmaninoff to turn to teaching in addition to private piano lessons. Beginning in the spring of 1894, he taught music theory at the Mariinsky

Academy for Girls and remained there until 1901.33 For financial reasons he also composed undemanding, yet lucrative, piano duets, Six Duets, Opus 11, and the Morceaux de salon, Opus

10. On 20 March, his twenty-first birthday, Rachmaninoff‘s orchestral composition The Rock received its first performance at a concert in Moscow conducted by

Safonov. The death of Tchaikovsky had caused the postponement of its premiere.34

31Bertensson, 58.

32Harrison, 61.

33Ibid., 63.

34 Norris, 20. 20

Rachmaninoff subsequently turned to composing a large form work in early 1895, his Symphony in D minor, which he completed in August at Ivanovka. In the autumn of that year Polish Henryk Langiewicz convinced him to begin a three-month concert tour of Russia with an Italian violinist Teresina Tua, a Paris Conservatory graduate. Early in their tour

Rachmaninoff described her playing as ―nothing special; her technique is mediocre. To make up for it she plays wonderfully for the audience with her eyes and smiles. She is not a serious artist, though undoubtedly she has talent.‖35 In late November he withdrew from the touring obligation.

Alexander Glazunov and Sergei Taneyev persuaded Russian philanthropist and music publisher to include Rachmaninoff‘s First Symphony in a concert of the

Russian Symphony Orchestra.36 Glazunov had already conducted a performance of The Rock in

January 1896. Rachmaninoff offered no hint of a program other than its Biblical epigraph also used by Tolstoy at the beginning of Anna Karenina, ―Vengeance is mine; I will recompense.‖37

The symphony performance, finally scheduled for 15 March 1897 in the Hall of the Nobility in

St. Petersburg, proved a disaster.38 Noted composer and critic César Cui lambasted the premiere in the newspaper Novosti:

If there was a conservatory in Hell, if one of its talented students were instructed to write a programme symphony on the ―Seven Plagues of Egypt,‖ and if he were to compose a symphony like Mr. Rachmaninoff‘s, then he would have fulfilled his task brilliantly and would delight the inhabitants of Hell.39

35Ibid., 21.

36Ibid.

37Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30. Bertensson, 68.

38Now the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall. Norris, 22.

39Ibid.

21

The performance and reception of his work devastated Rachmaninoff. Years later

Rachmaninoff‘s wife remarked that Glazunov was drunk on the podium.40 Rachmaninoff himself wrote to friend and fellow composer Alexander Zatayevich a month after the premiere that he was ―amazed how such a highly talented man as Glazunov can conduct so badly. I am speaking . . . of his musicianship. He feels nothing when he conducts. . . . If a symphony is both unfamiliar and badly performed, then the public is inclined to blame the composer.‖41

Rachmaninoff retreated for the summer to the estate of family friends, the Skalons, and was unable to compose anything of consequence for two years.

At this low point in Rachmaninoff‘s career, a wealthy Moscow businessman, Savva

Mamontov, offered him a conducting job, engaging him as deputy to the principal conductor for the 1897–98 season of The Moscow Private Company, recently founded by

Mamontov to rival opera productions of the Imperial Theatre. Eugenio Esposito served as the principal conductor. One of the talented artists also appearing with the opera company that year was the unknown Fyodor Chaliapin, who would become the first great Russian opera star to gain world-wide acclaim.42 He and Rachmaninoff developed a life-long friendship. In

Chaliapin‘s memoirs he describes Rachmaninoff‘s role in his wedding to Italian ballerina Iola

Tornaghi in a tiny village church:

After the wedding we had a sort of Turkish feast, sitting about the floor, and playing all kinds of childish pranks. . . . At about six the next morning we heard an infernal noise under my window: my friends were playing us a concert on stove lids, iron oven doors, tin pails and penny whistles. . . . The conductor of this mess was Rachmaninoff.43

40Alfred and Katherine Swan, ―Rachmaninoff: Personal Reminiscences, Part II,‖ The Musical Quarterly 30 (1944): 185.

41Norris, 23.

42Harrison, 84.

43Bertensson, 83. 22

Esposito, on the other hand, decided to be as unhelpful as possible since he lacked conducting skills and feared for his job with Rachmaninoff on the scene. Esposito allowed Rachmaninoff only one rehearsal before the first performance and no instruction about the necessity of cuing the opera singers at points, and Esposito entered at the last moment to save the performance. Rachmaninoff quickly learned from his initial mistake and enjoyed a successful and critically acclaimed season as conductor. In future years, both the Bolshoi Theatre in

Moscow and the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg invited him to conduct.44

During the autumn of 1898, Rachmaninoff‘s pianist cousin Alexander Siloti toured

Europe, England, and America, and those performances profoundly affected Rachmaninoff‘s life and career, as well. Siloti included Rachmaninoff‘s Prélude in C-sharp minor in his touring repertoire and was surprised by its popularity in England and the United States, it being the most popular on the program. Since no copyright had been taken out for it in those two countries, publishers issued multiple editions at once and made large profits, none directed to

Rachmaninoff.45 London publishers even added fanciful titles to the prelude, such as The

Burning of Moscow and The Day of Judgment. Siloti did arrange for Rachmaninoff to perform and conduct in London the following spring.46

The Philharmonic Society of London invited Rachmaninoff to perform at one of its

Queen‘s Hall concerts, and his first concert engagement abroad took place on 19 April 1899. The

Society had hoped he would perform one of his piano concertos, but he regarded his first concerto as a student work, and his second concerto was far from complete. Instead,

44Norris, 24–25.

45Bertensson, 84.

46Harrison, 87.

23

Rachmaninoff conducted his own orchestral work The Rock and played his Elégie and the

Prélude in C-sharp minor from Opus 3.47 Although famous in London for only one prelude,

Rachmaninoff received encouraging and favorable press, particularly since Russian music was relatively new to London, establishing him as an international success. The Musical Standard described his piano playing as ―an object lesson to the many amateurs who know it [the Prélude] by heart‖ and his conducting: ―He succeeded in making the Philharmonic orchestra play as it has not played for many a long day.‖48 The Times praised his conducting technique, ―His command was supreme; his method, quietness idealized‖ as well as his orchestral writing, ―superb and original.‖49 The Musical Times continued in praising his composition, ―amazingly clever. . . occasionally impressive as mere combinations of , and the whole dazzling like the flashes from a brilliant gem.‖50 The Philharmonic Society asked him back to London the next year, but he did not return until 1908.

On Rachmaninoff‘s return to Russia, he attended the St. Petersburg première of Aleko.

Arensky had arranged a concert to commemorate the centenary of Pushkin‘s birth on 27 May

1899, featuring works inspired by his poetry, including Rachmaninoff‘s opera, which would conclude the concert. Rachmaninoff‘s good friend Chaliapin sang the role of Aleko.

Rachmaninoff greatly admired Chaliapin‘s acting abilities and his sensitive interpretation.

Chaliapin‘s artistry inspired Rachmaninoff later in his composing career when he composed

47Ibid.

48The Musical Standard, 22 April 1899, 244, quoted in Norris, 28.

49The Times, 21 April 1899, 15, quoted in Norris, 28.

50The Musical Times 40 (1899): 311, quoted in Norris with no additional citation details like author or title, 28.

24 many songs and two more .51 However, throughout much of 1899 Rachmaninoff still felt the ill effect of his symphony premiere and could not motivate himself to compose another large- scale work.

In 1897 Princess Alexandra Liven, a friend of Rachmaninoff, intended to lift his creative spirits and arranged for him to meet . Rachmaninoff shared several contradictory accounts of meeting his idol. In 1930 Rachmaninoff informed an interviewer of the positive affect the meeting had on him:

In the most difficult and critical period of my life, when I thought all was lost and it was useless to worry any more, I met a man who took the trouble to talk to me for three days. He restored my self-respect, dissipated my doubts, gave me back strength and confidence, and revived my ambition. He stimulated me to new work, and, I might almost say, saved my life. This man was Count Tolstoy. I was twenty-four years old when I was introduced to him.52

Rachmaninoff told to his friend Alfred Swan about the uncomfortable meeting, ―He made me sit next to him and stroked my knees. He saw how nervous I was. And then, at the table, he said to me, ‗You must work. Do you think that I am pleased with myself? Work, I work every day,‘ and similar stereotyped phrases.‖53 Rachmaninoff met Tolstoy again on 9 January 1900 in Moscow, and Chaliapin accompanied him. Tolstoy asked Rachmaninoff to play for him and afterwards asked, according to Chaliapin, ―Tell me, does anybody need music like that?‖54 Disheartened at the time, Rachmaninoff never returned to Tolstoy‘s Moscow house nor accepted the annual invitation to his country estate.55

51Norris, 29.

52Sergej Rachmaninov, ―Some Critical Moments in My Career,‖ The Musical Times 71 (1930): 557.

53Swan, 185.

54Bertensson, 88.

55Norris, 30.

25

Rachmaninoff‘s aunt and uncle Satin finally encouraged Rachmaninoff to seek medical attention for his low self-confidence and depression, recommending Dr. Dahl, a specialist in hypnosis. Dr. Dahl lived only a few doors from the Satins, and his treatment had benefited friends of the Satins. An accomplished amateur musician who played ‘cello in a quartet, Dr. Dahl engaged Rachmaninoff in extended daily conversations on a wide range of musical topics.56 A change of scenery also benefited Rachmaninoff, for in March he and

Chaliapin traveled to , in the south of the , a favorite retreat for artists to recuperate after a demanding season. They met frequently with members of the , Anton

Chekhov and , and Rachmaninoff encouraged composer by persuading Pyotr Jürgenson, the largest music publisher in Russia, to publish Kalinnikov‘s works. Chaliapin received the good news that he was invited to sing in Boito‘s at La

Scala in Milan. Rachmaninoff accompanied Chaliapin to Milan that summer and resumed work on his Second Piano Concerto.57

Rachmaninoff performed two completed movements, the second and third, of the Second

Piano Concerto on 2 December 1900 in Moscow. Since they were successfully received, he completed the first movement. Dedicating the concerto to Dr. Dahl, Rachmaninoff premiered the completed work the following year on 27 October 1901 at a concert of the Moscow

Philharmonic Society conducted by Siloti.58 Even the acerbic César Cui positively remarked several months after hearing the last two movements, ―Tell Rachmaninoff that . . . they made a thoroughly pleasant impression on me through their beauty, taste and elegance, undoubtedly

56It is not known if Dahl employed hypnosis with Rachmaninoff. Bertensson, 89–90.

57Harrison, 92–93.

58Bertensson, 96.

26 testifying to the composer‘s talent.‖59 The positive reception assured Rachmaninoff that he could indeed compose, and for his remaining sixteen years in Russia he successfully did so, ultimately writing thirty-nine of his forty-five works before leaving Russia.60

With the compositional juices now flowing in the spring of 1902, Rachmaninoff announced that he would marry his cousin Natalia Alexandrovna Satin. Rachmaninoff had been a frequent guest and at a times a live-in member of the Satin household since his Moscow

Conservatory days and had developed a close friendship with his cousin Natalia. Even so, news of their marriage shocked family and friends. 61 Orthodox Canon Law forbade first cousins to marry. Rachmaninoff also needed certification that he worshipped and attended confession regularly. His aunt Mariya Trubnikova arranged for him to see Father Valentin Amfiteatrov at the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in the Moscow Kremlin to help resolve some of the obstacles. Rachmaninoff also received advice to consider an army chapel ceremony where the priests answered to the military and not the Orthodox Synod. Prior to the wedding Rachmaninoff wrote friends, ―When I get to Moscow, several days will have to be spent squabbling with priests, and then I go off at once to the country in order to write at least twelve songs before the wedding, to make enough money to pay the priests and go abroad.‖62 On 29 April 1902 on the outskirts of Moscow, Rachmaninoff married Natalia in an army chapel of the Sixth Tavrichesky

Regiment. An extended honeymoon followed the wedding with the couple visiting ,

59Norris, 32.

60Appendix A contains a list of his forty-five works.

61Norris, 33.

62Bertensson, 97–98.

27

Venice, Lucerne, and Bayreuth, and not returning to Russia until August when they moved into the second house at Ivanovka, a wedding gift from the Satins. 63

In autumn the Rachmaninoffs moved to a flat in Moscow, and Sergei‘s composing, performing, and conducting career began to build. He received a lucrative contract to play his

Second Piano Concerto in Vienna and that season. In spring the couple welcomed their first daughter, Irina, on 14 May 1903, but illness struck the entire family and Rachmaninoff composed little during their summer stay at Ivankova. In August he began work on his new opera, The Miserly Knight, setting Pushkin‘s dramatic poem of the same name. This work occupied him until the following spring when he began work on another opera, Francesca da

Rimini. Rachmaninoff also accepted two conducting engagements, one for a series of operas at the Bolshoi the next season and another for several orchestral concerts of the Moscow Music-

Lover‘s Circle organized by Arkady and Mariya Kerzin.64

Critics warmly received his operatic conducting with the opening Bolshoi season performance of Dargomyzhsky‘s Rusalka on 3 September 1904. Rachmaninoff conducted the remaining Russian operas for the season including his own Aleko; Borodin‘s Igor;

Mussorgsky‘s ; Glinka‘s ; Rubinstein‘s Demon; and

Tchaikovsky‘s , The Queen of Spades, and Oprichnik. Rachmaninoff‘s good friend Chaliapin sang roles in several operas that season—Boris Godunov, Demon, Aleko, and

Eugene Onegin.65 Rachmaninoff also conducted a number of Russian orchestral music programs for the Moscow Music-Lover‘s Circle and received acclaim from critic Yuli Engel, who wrote

63Harrison, 103.

64Norris, 35–36.

65Ibid., 36–37.

28 for the journal Russkiye Vedomosti: ―In this realm of the symphony, the young conductor of the

Bolshoi showed an equally great talent. This is a conductor by God‘s grace.‖66

That season Rachmaninoff received one of the newly established ―Glinka Awards,‖ a prize of five-hundred rubles for his Second Piano Concerto. Mitrofan Belayev established these prizes, according to his will, to encourage Russian composers. The committee administering the awards consisted of Liadov, Glazunov, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Taneyev received the one- thousand ruble prize for his First Symphony. Along with Rachmaninoff, Arensky, Lyapunov, and Scriabin received the smaller prizes.67

Rachmaninoff completed during the summer of 1905. He then prepared to conduct another season at the Bolshoi Opera, opening night being the Moscow premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov‘s opera on 27 September 1905. Rimsky-Korsakov attended rehearsals and the performance, and because he was so impressed by Rachmaninoff‘s conducting, he asked him to also conduct his newest opera The Invisible City of Kitezh when it would be produced at the Bolshoi. However, Rachmaninoff decided that because of the increasingly uneasy political situation in Russia, he should end his employment with a state institution like the Bolshoi. In fact, due to the growing political disturbances throughout that year, he made the decision to leave Russia for a time. He resigned his post on 12 February 1906 after first premiering his own two operas with the Bolshoi, Francesca and The Miserly Knight.68

While traveling in Italy for an extended holiday in 1906, Rachmaninoff received news about several engagements to consider for the following season: conducting the Bolshoi season

66Yuli Engel in Russkiye Vedomosti, 20 March 1905, quoted in Bertensson, 110.

67Ibid., 109.

68Norris, 37–38.

29 for eight thousand rubles; conducting ten concerts for the Russian Musical Society for forty-five hundred rubles; conducting three Kerzin concerts for nine hundred rubles; and performing for a possible American tour.69 He considered the American offer because it would bring a good amount of money and it only demanded two months from his busy schedule.70 He decided to focus on conducting the orchestral concerts and rejected the opera season and the touring opportunity. However, in August news from Russia convinced him to cancel all of his concert engagements and avoid returning home for a time. Boris Jürgenson of the Jürgenson publishing firm wrote Rachmaninoff to say that the Russian Musical Society was in a state of chaos.

Rachmaninoff surmised that his concerts might not even take place, so he decided to remain in

Europe, traveling to where he hoped to compose.71

He focused on opera, this time taking an interest in Maeterlinck‘s play . He asked his friend Slonov to prepare the . He had completed the first act in piano score by the spring of 1907. In summer other work intervened, and by the time he resumed composing

Monna Vanna in early 1908 he discovered rights complications. Maeterlinck‘s contract with the music publishing firm run by Henri Heugel prevented Maeterlinck from issuing the international opera rights to Rachmaninoff or any composer other than Henri Fevrier, who was also composing a Monna Vanna opera. Rachmaninoff decided to redirect his compositional energies to symphonic writing. He chose to keep the completion of a new symphony from any of his friends and colleagues in Russia, though news of it was leaked in the Russian press.72

69At this time one American dollar approximately equaled the value of two Russian rubles.

70Bertensson, 122–23.

71Norris, 39.

72Ibid., 39–40.

30

With his productive stay in Dresden resulting in his Second Symphony and First Piano

Sonata, Rachmaninoff felt a sense of accomplishment and decided to return to Russia for the summer. Since the Rachmaninoffs were expecting their second child, Natalia left early for

Moscow on 10 May. Rachmaninoff needed to travel to Paris first to participate in Serge

Dyagilev‘s Saison Russe, the first showing of Russian art to the West through five concerts at the

Paris Opera. For the event, Rachmaninoff performed his Second Piano Concerto and conducted his Spring with Chaliapin singing.73 Spring had earned Rachmaninoff a second Glinka award.74

He then returned to Ivanovka to await the birth of his child. On 21 June 1907 Natalia gave birth to Tatiana, their second daughter. After resting through the summer, the family returned to

Dresden later in the year, and they entertained the Satins and Rachmaninoff‘s brother Vladimir at

Christmas. Rachmaninoff continued work on the final corrections to the Second Symphony.75

Rachmaninoff‘s busy 1907–‘08 season took him to , , Dresden, and

London. The Berlin concert in January 1908 included Serge Koussevitzky in his conducting debut with Rachmaninoff performing his Second Concerto. Rachmaninoff returned to Russia to conduct his second symphony‘s premiere in St. Petersburg on 26 January 1908, as well as the

Moscow premiere on 2 February. Critic Yuli Engel acknowledged Rachmaninoff‘s impressive career and new works:

After a year-and-a-half stay abroad, Rachmaninoff appears before the Moscow public as composer, conductor, and pianist. . . . Despite his thirty-four years he is one of the most significant figures in the contemporary music world, a worthy successor to Tchaikovsky. . . . This was confirmed most impressively by the new Symphony by Rachmaninoff.76

73Harrison, 133.

74Bertensson, 132.

75Norris, 41.

76Yuli Engel in Russkiye Vedomosti, quoted in S. V. Rakhmaninov, ed. T. E. Tzitovich (Moscow: Muzgiz, 1947), quoted in Bertensson, 144. 31

After the concerts, Rachmaninoff returned to Dresden to prepare the score for the publisher.

Before a summer return to Ivanovka, Rachmaninoff made a second appearance at Queen‘s Hall in London on 26 May to perform his Second Piano Concerto with the London Symphony

Orchestra conducted by Koussevitzky. This performance concluded a very successful concert season for Rachmaninoff as both composer and performer. He again heard from the Glinka

Awards committee that it awarded him the top prize of one thousand rubles for his Second

Symphony. Scriabin took the second place prize of seven hundred rubles for his Poem of

Ecstasy.77

In 1909 Rachmaninoff again seriously considered a concert tour to America. However, the agent Henry Wolfsohn, with whom Rachmaninoff communicated and negotiated, had recently died, on 1 June 1909, and the agency had been taken over by his wife.78 Born in

Germany, Wolfsohn had established the first musical bureau in America in 1884 and gained a reputation for his successful management of well-known vocalists and instrumentalists. Some of his celebrated clients included violinists and , and pianist Josef

Hofmann. Wolfsohn had planned a trip to Europe that summer of 1909 where he intended to visit all of the principal musical centers. He was planning concert tours for the 1909–‘10 season and was hoping to engage Rachmaninoff to tour America.79 Rachmaninoff assumed that with

Wolfsohn‘s death the tentative plans they made would be dismissed. However, by July

Wolfsohn‘s wife had finalized the , and Rachmaninoff would perform in America that autumn. He did not look forward to the tour, and his only consolation would be that he could

77Norris, 41.

78Bertensson, 156–57.

79―Henry Wolfsohn Dies of Pneumonia,‖ New York Times, 2 June 1909.

32 earn enough money from the ordeal to buy an automobile. Writing to his friend Nikita Morozov,

Rachmaninoff remarked: ―I can‘t tell you how much I want one. That‘s all I lack now–an automobile and a secretary!‖80

Rachmaninoff‘s first American tour started on 4 November 1909 in Northampton,

Massachusetts, and ended on 31 January 1910, in Buffalo, New York,81 and was met with ambivalent critical reviews, yet enthusiasm by the concert-going public. The only hesitation came from critics unfamiliar with Rachmaninoff‘s new Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor who claimed the work was too long.82 He had composed it during the summer at Ivanovka and dedicated it to . Rachmaninoff needed to learn and practice the piano part on board ship during his Atlantic Ocean crossing to New York. He did so using for the first time a silent piano.83 That premiere occurred on 28 November 1909 in New York at The New Theatre with conducting.

Rachmaninoff appeared with the top conductors and orchestras of the day in America that first trip. He made twenty-six appearances total, eight in recital and eighteen with orchestra, also conducting in seven of those orchestral concerts.84 He played his Second Piano Concerto with the Boston Symphony and at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, continuing the

Boston Symphony tour to Baltimore, New York City, and Boston. He made his American

80Rachmaninoff felt all the details came together too quickly, and he did not have time to finish his piano concerto and prepare for the tour sufficiently. He also did not look forward to the rigors and expectations associated with international tour. Bertensson, 159.

81Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 1.

82One critic explained that the work ―suffers from over length,‖ New York Daily Tribune, 17 January 1910, quoted in Norris, 44.

83A silent piano is a standard piano with the option of engaging a damper devise to the strings, in order for a pianist to practice quietly. Rachmaninoff could prepare his concerto without disturbing other guests on the ship. Bertensson, 159–60.

84Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 1.

33 conducting debut with the , conducting his Second Symphony and

Mussorgsky‘s . He performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. In addition, he traveled to Buffalo, , and Chicago, as well as performing a recital at New York‘s and a concert with Modeste

Altschuler‘s Russian Symphony Society.85

Of all the American events, Rachmaninoff most looked forward to the New York

Philharmonic performance of his new piano concerto on 16 January, conducted by Gustav

Mahler. During that concert, Rachmaninoff and Mahler performed in front of the largest Sunday audience of the Philharmonic Society that season.86 Rachmaninoff remembered being impressed by Mahler:

At that time Mahler was the only conductor whom I considered worthy to be classed with Nikisch. He devoted himself to the concerto until the , which is rather complicated, had been practiced to the point of perfection. . . . Every detail of the score was important [to him]—an attitude too rare amongst conductors.87

Although he experienced a very successful time in America, Rachmaninoff declined additional

American contracts and returned to Russia. He reflected on his time in America in an interview with the magazine Muzykalni Truzhenik:

They forced me to play as many as seven encores. . . . The audiences are astonishingly cold, spoiled by the tours of first-class artists and forever looking for novelty, for something they‘ve never had before. Local papers are obliged to note the number of times you are recalled to the stage, and the public regards this as a yardstick of your talent.88

85While in America he performed only his second and third piano concertos with orchestra. Bertensson, 161–63.

86Norris, 43.

87Bertensson, 164.

88Rachmaninoff interview in Muzykalni Truzhenik, quoted in S. V. Rakhmaniov: Pisma, ed. Zaruya Apetianz (Moscow: Muzgiz, 1955), quoted in Bertensson, 165.

34

Rachmaninoff retreated again to Ivanovka the spring and summer of 1910 after the

Russian premiere of the Third Concerto in St. Petersburg. Declining an offer to conduct the St.

Petersburg Russian Musical Society the following season, Rachmaninoff preferred to compose, completing his Thirteen , Opus 32, and the unaccompanied choral work the Liturgy of

St. , Opus 31. During the 1910–11 season, he accepted a number of conducting engagements in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, , and Warsaw as well as performing the

Third Concerto at several other venues.89 The summer of 1911 included changes at Ivanovka, with Rachmaninoff now in charge of the estate‘s affairs. His parents-in-law, the Satins, who owned the estate, turned over its operation to two of their children Vladimir and Natalia,

Rachmaninoff‘s wife. Rachmaninoff enjoyed overseeing the day-to-day business affairs of the estate, which included the gardens, orchards, parkland, livestock, and the surrounding fields of rye, wheat, oats, and flax, among others. Despite being busy with his operational duties on the estate, Rachmaninoff still found time to compose, practice, rest, and socialize. Time at Ivanovka rejuvenated him.90

Prior to the outbreak of , Rachmaninoff engaged in very active seasons performing, conducting, traveling in Europe, and retreating to Ivanovka to compose. Having performed his own works, primarily, in the autumn of 1911 he began performing Tchaikovsky‘s

Piano Concerto No. 1.91 In the spring of 1912 Rachmaninoff finally received his , a

Lorelay, which had been delivered from Moscow, one of few seen in rural Russia.92 Thus began

89Norris, 44.

90Ibid., 45.

91Harrison, 180.

92Norris, 46.

35 his life-long love of the automobile.93 In the autumn of 1912 Rachmaninoff conducted the

Moscow Philharmonic with another great pianist soloist, Josef Hofmann, who performed concertos by Tchaikovsky and Liszt.94 The 1913–14 season was Rachmaninoff‘s most active to date when he performed thirty-six concerts in Russia and eight in England.95 The outbreak of war in 1914 created uncertainty and marked a series of sad events to come in Rachmaninoff‘s career.

In October 1914 he conducted a special concert in Moscow dedicated to Lyadov, who had died in August. Aside from Rachmaninoff‘s own Symphony No. 2, the concert program featured works only by Lyadov. Later that autumn Rachmaninoff engaged in a concert tour of south

Russian cities with Koussevitzky, performing his Second and Third Concertos in concerts aiding the war effort. His new sacred work, All-night Vigil, was first performed on 10 for another fundraising effort. Rachmaninoff received news that spring that a number of his friends and colleagues had died, Scriabin in April and Taneyev in June. Rachmaninoff had known

Taneyev for twenty-five years, dating back to his student days living at Zverev‘s house, and

Taneyev had greatly influenced Rachmaninoff, who penned a tribute, ―Through his personal example he taught us how to live, how to think, how to work, even how to speak, for he spoke in a particularly Taneyev way: concisely, clearly and to the point.‖96

The war persisted, and Rachmaninoff did not feel motivated to compose. In August 1914 he traveled to Tabov to be assessed for war work, a requirement. Ironically the tribunal took place in the town‘s , the concert hall given over to military interviews. He had

93In America he favored Fords, frequently owning the latest luxury model, such as a Lincoln, and shipping a car from America to his summer vacation home. One of his last cars in 1943 was a new Packard.

94Bertensson, 81.

95Harrison, 194.

96Rachmaninoff, ―S. I Taneyev,‖ Russkiye Vedomosti, 16 June 1915, quoted in Norris, 49.

36 favorably reviewed and inspected the school in 1909 on behalf of the Russian Musical Society.97

After being excused from active service on health grounds, Rachmaninoff planned another active performing season. When returning from a summer holiday in the southern Russian resorts of the

Caucasus, Rachmaninoff received news that his father, Vasily Arkadyevich, had died.

Rachmaninoff‘s father had spent part of the summer at Ivanovka. Even though his father had deserted the family, Rachmaninoff regularly sent him money and maintained a fondness for him.98

Rachmaninoff‘s grief for the loss of his father, the uneasy Russian political situation, and the effects of World War I extended into 1916 and 1917. On 15 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael, who was unwilling to accept the crown, and the three-hundred-year-old dynasty ended. Despite this devastating news,

Rachmaninoff continued to perform, primarily benefit concerts to aid the army. Yet, by 1 June

Rachmaninoff knew that he would be unable to work in this new environment. He wrote to

Siloti, his long-time friend and cousin, explaining that he had spent nearly his entire life-time earnings on his estate at Ivanovka, about 120,000 rubles:

I can kiss goodbye to that and I think that ruin is in the offing so far as that goes. . . . Everybody around me advises me to leave Russia for a while. But where to, and how? . . . Can I count on getting a passport to leave the country with my family, even if only to , Denmark, Sweden. . . . It doesn‘t matter where! Just somewhere!99

Siloti could offer no help to his friend, and Rachmaninoff resigned himself to remaining in

Russia.

97Ibid., 50.

98Harrison, 201.

99Rachmaninoff letter to Siloti, 1 June 1917, quoted in Norris, 51–52.

37

The on 24 and 25 October 1917 dramatically changed Russia, and

Rachmaninoff now lived as part of a collective, required to attend house meetings and take his turn with nighttime guard duty. At this time in late autumn he received an invitation to perform at concerts in . Welcoming this opportunity to leave Russia, he quickly accepted, hurrying to Petrograd to acquire the necessary visas for his family. Natalia and their daughters joined him several days later, and right before Christmas 1917, the entire family boarded the train for . Little did they realize they would never to return to Russia.100

Difficult decisions lay ahead, and a tremendous sense of loss plagued the family.

Communist authorities seized Rachmaninoff‘s beloved Ivanovka, eventually razing the large wooden house, and allowing the smaller house in which Rachmaninoff lived and composed to become derelict. Rachmaninoff‘s trip across to Sweden had to be made in a sledge, and at the Swedish boarder the family took an extensive train trip arriving in Stockholm on

Christmas Eve. With very few possessions and far from family and friends, they decided to relocate to Denmark in early January to join Nikolai Struve, whom they had first met in Dresden.

Struve, having recently emigrated from Russia, was a composer and member of the editorial board of Koussevitzky‘s Editions Russes de Musique and could assist the struggling

Rachmaninoffs.101

Without any of his family money and acquired wealth, Rachmaninoff had to reconsider his financial future. Realizing he could not depend on a reliable income from composing, nor did he feel he had command of sufficient non-Russian repertoire to conduct outside of Russia, he made the decision to support his family through full-time performing. Aside from preparing and

100Bertensson, 206–207.

101Norris, 53.

38 premiering his own works, Rachmaninoff‘s technique was rusty at this time and his repertory quite small. With Struve‘s assistance, Rachmaninoff rented the ground floor of a house in

Copenhagen and began to practice. His first performance of 1918 took place on 15 February in

Copenhagen with the Copenhagen Symphony conducted by Georg Holberg, featuring his own

Second Piano Concerto. In early March he returned to Stockholm to perform.102 His tour repertoire consisted of his Second Concerto, Liszt‘s First Piano Concerto, and Tchaikovsky‘s

First Piano Concerto. He performed these three concertos and recital programs of his own works in Malmo, , and Copenhagen to complete the concert season. In September he had added works by W. A. Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky, and gave fourteen additional Scandinavian performances in early autumn.103

Rachmaninoff received three lucrative offers to come to America for the 1918–‘19 season—one to perform twenty-five piano recitals and two to conduct major American orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In Boston, conductor had been proposed to succeed . Instead,

Gabrilowitsch, also an accomplished pianist of Rachmaninoff‘s generation and a student of

Anton Rubinstein, recommended Rachmaninoff. The Boston required

Rachmaninoff to conduct one hundred and ten concerts in thirty-six weeks. The Cincinnati contract asked for a two-year conducting commitment. through the

Metropolitan Concert Bureau proposed twenty-five piano recitals in various American cities.104

Rachmaninoff declined all three of the offers. The side of the 1918 cable he received in

102Harrison, 216.

103Norris, 54.

104Harrison, 217–18.

39

Copenhagen from the Wolfsohn bureau explaining the Cincinnati offer contains the penciled remark, ―conditions do not suit me.‖105 He would later reflect that he felt he did not know enough non-Russian orchestral repertoire to conduct full-length American orchestra seasons filled with the Austro-German concert staples demanded by American audiences. He was also wary of the long-term commitment in an unfamiliar country.

These contract offers, however, convinced Rachmaninoff that the American concert- going public had an interest in him, and perhaps his financial problems could be overcome. The primary obstacle was that he did not have enough money to transport his family to America.

Fortunately, Alexander Kamenka, a Russian banker and fellow émigré, loaned him the money for the journey. On 1 November the Rachmaninoff family boarded the Bergensfjord in Oslo and set sail on the ten-day journey to New York.106 The decades spent in Russia had prepared him for this moment. He had received instruction and encouragement from the most renoun names in the

Russian musical universe—Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Koussevitzky. He had experienced grave uncertainty as well as financial wealth and stability, only to lose all, again. The first morning in their New York City hotel room Rachmaninoff and his family woke to commotion and celebration. World War I had ended. It was Armistice Day, 11 November

1918. At the age of forty-five, when other great composer-pianists such as W. A. Mozart and

Liszt were either dead or had long stopped performing, Rachmaninoff launched a new career in an unfamiliar land.

105The offer required Rachmaninoff to conduct twenty-eight weeks. He would be paid $12,000 the first year and $15,000 the second. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, File ―Wo-.‖

106Norris, 54. 40

CHAPTER 2

992 CONCERTS IN 221 CITIES

From 1918 to 1943, Rachmaninoff crisscrossed the North American continent in extensive performing seasons winning over audiences and critics, year after year. Nearly every major concert hall in North America hosted a Rachmaninoff performance, even the White

House, the Bowl, and the Auditorium Theatre in Havana, Cuba.1 Occasionally,

Rachmaninoff appeared at lesser concert locations, too, like the Stockton, , High

School Auditorium,2 but he never regarded himself too superior for his audience. His artistic work ethic distinguished Rachmaninoff, who remarked that a performer should always give his best ―even if he is playing in the smallest town in the most terrible theater, even if the audience is only one person—the doorman, holding the keys, so he can lock the door.‖3 Upon his arrival in

America, Rachmaninoff needed to select a manager and a piano contract, develop a circle of trusted confidants, prepare repertoire, and determine concert engagements. This chapter explores

Rachmaninoff‘s business practices while concertizing; his concert and recital locations, repertoire, and trends in programming; and how he was successfully managed and marketed in

America.

New York‘s musical community warmly welcomed Rachmaninoff upon his arrival in

November 1918. The New York Times reported, ―Serge Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer, arrived with his family . . . was registered yesterday at the Hotel Netherland, in this city . . . and was welcomed by the colony of Russian artists now in New York, including the young

1The White House, 10 March 1924, 16 January 1925, 30 March 1927. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 59, 66, 74; , 17 and 18 July 1942, ibid., 174; Havana, Cuba, 16 December 1940, ibid., 161.

2Stockton California High School Auditorium, 12 February 1925, ibid., 63.

3Barrie Martyn, ―The Legacy of Rachmaninoff,‖ Clavier 32 (1993): 17. 41 composer, Serge Prokofieff, who got here before him by coming the other way around the world, by Siberia and the Pacific.‖4 Josef Hofmann and Fritz Kreisler, among others, were also in New

York and quickly offered greetings, advice, and money, and even suggested their favorite concert bureaus. One letter came from Dagmar Rybner offering assistance to help Rachmaninoff navigate the musical world of New York. A Danish-American musician, she had corresponded with Rachmaninoff before the war and received a telephone call the next morning from Mrs.

Rachmaninoff inviting her to come to the hotel. She immediately began work as his secretary in order to allow him to focus on concert preparation. Rybner described their awkward first meeting:

Soon, very timidly, he came in, with his equally shy younger daughter Tatiana. I understood his aversion to meeting strangers, yet after a few moments of halting conversation, I sensed his decision that I seemed to be a safe person and was to be trusted. He pointed to his piano covered with letters, telegrams, and messages and asked me to help him with ―all that.‖ From then on I took charge, unraveling the tangle of mail and telephone calls, and later attending to the mass of problems that he was unable to cope with, partly from not knowing the English language, as well as being unaccustomed to American ways. I saw that he had to be relieved of all details in order to prepare himself for his coming concerts, so I did all I could to bring order out of that chaos—and remained to keep his life running smoothly.5

Another New York music lover offered him a piano studio in which to practice.6 He gratefully accepted, so he would not disturb the Netherlander‘s other hotel guests. Concert managers as well as recording companies, piano, and player-piano companies all contacted Rachmaninoff.

His reputation had preceded him, thus easing his transition to American concert life.

4―Rachmaninoff Is Here: Composer Escapes from Russia to America to Rest and Work,‖ New York Times, 13 November 1918.

5Dagmar Rybner, recollections, quoted in Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music, 2d ed., Russian Music Studies, ed. Malcom Hamrick Brown (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), 214.

6Bertensson and Harrison both note this American admirer but do not cite her name. Bertensson, 215; Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005), 220. 42

Rachmaninoff‘s good friend and fellow pianist Josef Hofmann had paved the way for

Rachmaninoff in America in a number of ways. For one, Hofmann personally recommended

Rachmaninoff to a number of concert managers and bureaus, even though he liked to remind

Rachmaninoff how attentively he listened to Hofmann‘s advice and then made his own decisions.7 Only three years younger than Rachmaninoff, Polish-born Hofmann initially toured

America as a child prodigy and resumed his career in America as an adult in 1898. Several months after his return in 1898, he visited Philadelphia and was introduced to the prominent

Edward and Mary Bok. Edward served as editor of the Ladies Home Journal, a successful property of the Curtis Publishing Company. An accomplished pianist, Mary was the daughter and only child of Cyrus Curtis and displayed a keen interest in the city‘s musical life. Edward invited many leading writers and public figures of the day to contribute to the Journal. When readers suggested he feature monthly piano lessons, Bok asked Hofmann in 1901 to write a series of articles on piano performing, and he edited a successful music page for the next thirteen years. Readers, undoubtedly amateur pianists, submitted questions about piano performing that

Hofmann, the internationally renowned pianist, answered. Read by tens of thousands, Hofmann‘s articles fueled interest in piano performing and concert attendance, enlarging his own audiences as well as generating interest in Hofmann‘s contemporaries touring America.8

Mary Bok established the Curtis Institute of Music in October 19249 and selected

Hofmann, whom she and her husband regarded as the greatest living pianist, as the director of the piano department. In addition, he became the Institute‘s director in 1927. With these added

7Bertensson, 215.

8Gregor Benko, ―Introduction,‖ in Josef Hofmann, Piano Playing with Piano Questions Answered (Philadelphia: Theodore Presser Co., 1920; reprint, New York: Dover, 1976), vii–viii.

9Mary named the institute in honor of her father, Cyrus Curtis, who had a great interest in music. He died nine years later in 1933, and she became the chief beneficiary of his estate. 43 responsibilities, Hofmann dramatically limited his performing career in America.10 Though

Rachmaninoff eventually rivaled and surpassed Hofmann as the greatest pianist touring America,

Rachmaninoff always cited him as his choice for best pianist of the day.11

Like Hofmann, Rachmaninoff also played a significant role in nurturing amateur pianists, though unknowingly, long before landing on American soil. Decades before seeing

Rachmaninoff perform, hundreds of thousands of amateur pianists in America knew his name because of the sheet music to his Prélude in C-sharp minor. New York critics and columnists referred to it as the ―Flatbush‖ Prelude. A Time magazine music columnist explained that

Flatbush referred to the suburban section of , ―once thickly inhabited by hopeful piano students.‖12 Introduced to America in 1898, the prelude began to outsell Tin Pan Alley‘s song hits, and by the late five million copies had been sold. Its popularity reached fever pitch when Rachmaninoff himself came to America. Audiences expected and demanded it as an encore at every one of his performances. Although he did not always oblige, he did play it nearly one thousand times in America.13 To the American concert-going public, Rachmaninoff needed no introduction or initial marketing. His name and reputation had preceded him.

After arriving in November 1918, Rachmaninoff spent little time deliberating and quickly chose a manager and a piano company. Earlier in the year Rachmaninoff had communicated with

Charles Ellis, who managed the Boston Symphony Orchestra, when the orchestra had offered him a conducting contract. Satisfied with Ellis‘s efficiency and professionalism during the

10Ibid., viii.

11Voytek Matushevski, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Last Tour,‖ Clavier 32 (1993): 25.

12―Preludes,‖ Time, 31 October 1938, 22.

13Ibid.

44

Boston negotiations, Rachmaninoff signed a contract with Ellis‘s concert bureau.14 Highly regarded, Ellis also managed Jan Paderewski and Kreisler,15 and would be a trusted manager of

Rachmaninoff‘s early career in America and a friend to him for many years. Ellis evidently had been interested in looking to manage another charismatic piano virtuoso, because Paderewski was now turning his attention from performing to politics, and would become ‘s prime minister in 1918 and a chief framer of its constitution in 1919. On all of Rachmaninoff‘s

American tours, beginning in 1918, Ellis or one of his representatives would travel with him.16

Ellis wasted no time securing an exclusive contract with Rachmaninoff. His handwritten agreement letter, dated 16 November 1918, explained the specific details:

Hotel Netherland, and Fifty Street, New York I hereby engage Mr. Serge Rachmaninoff for not less than twenty pianoforte recitals, orchestral or miscellaneous concerts to be given in the United States or Canada between 1 December 1918 and 1 April 1919, it being understood that he will appear under no other management during the period of this engagement. I agree to pay Mr. Rachmaninoff for each concert given under this agreement on the day after the performance the sum of five hundred dollars and in addition fifty percent of the gross receipts from the sale of tickets in excess of one thousand dollars, except in cases where a fixed fee is accepted when the payment to Mr. Rachmaninoff shall be six hundred dollars and fifty percent of the sum received in excess of one thousand dollars. Mr. Rachmaninoff is to pay his own travelling expenses. Any concerts in excess of twenty shall be at the same rate per concert. Mr. Rachmaninoff will use the Steinway . By giving written notice to Mr. Rachmaninoff on or before 1 April 1919, this agreement can be extended to cover the season of 1919–20 on the same terms and conditions except that the minimum number of concerts shall be forty. Charles A. Ellis17

14Ibid., 212, 215.

15Geraldine Farrar, ―The Late Charles A. Ellis: Letter to the Editor,‖ New York Times, 16 March 1937.

16Harrison, 220.

17Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, Box C, File ―Ellis, Charles A.‖ 45

The next season another letter from Ellis to Rachmaninoff, dated 26 January 1920, outlined the financial return on several Midwestern engagements:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: I hope you enjoyed your trip to the west and suffered no inconvenience from the severe weather. I have today sent to the National City Bank, for your credit, a check for $1875.00, covering your engagements in Duluth, 20 January, and in , 22 January. The Atlanta Music Study Club has agreed to change the date of your engagement in that city to 18 February, as you desire. They ask what programme you will play. I will be very much obliged if you will let me have this programme by return mail if convenient. With best regards, yours very truly, C. A. Ellis18

One can deduce that the receipts from at least one of the two concerts exceeded one thousand dollars, thereby triggering the fifty percent payment of gross receipts in excess of one thousand dollars. Standard ticket prices of the day averaged one dollar. According to the Duluth News

Tribune, thirty-five hundred people had attended Rachmaninoff‘s recital in the Armory on 20

January.19 The Milwaukee Journal reported that the audience at the had been small, ―The Pabst was far from filled for his recital but it was as appreciative an audience as has ever assembled in Milwaukee to hear a pianist.‖20 Also, the arrangements for the Atlanta Music

Study Club engagement noted that Rachmaninoff was responsible for selecting his own recital repertoire, typical for his recital engagements.

As per his first contract with Ellis, Rachmaninoff exclusively performed on Steinway and

Sons pianos, and pianist and piano company remained loyal to each other for the next twenty- five years. Rachmaninoff maintained a life-long friendship with president Frederick Steinway

18Ibid.

19―Rachmaninoff Is Delight: Duluth Tenders Ovation,‖ Duluth News Tribune, 21 January 1920.

20No specific audience numbers were offered in the recital review. Richard S. Davis, ―Russian Pianist Plays at Pabst: Sergei Rachmaninoff Gives Varied Program before Small Audience,‖ Milwaukee Journal, 23 January 1920. 46 and his wife, and his business successors honored his Steinway commitment even through management changes and financially lean years for the company.21 Pianists like Rachmaninoff and Hofmann received special treatment from the Steinway company during Fred Steinway‘s tenure into the 1920s. They chose their own pianos, which were transported across the country at the company‘s expense. Steinway also paid for a traveling tuner. The company also maintained a

―lower‖ classification of its artists at this time where the company provided a free piano anywhere the artist performed, usually provided by a local dealer, and no complementary tuner.

Artists in this classification included , , , and

Sergei Prokofiev, among others.22

Around 1919, Steinway embarked on an aggressive advertising campaign under the leadership of Fred and a top ad company led by N. W. Ayer, whose firm already worked with

Montgomery-Ward, Proctor and Gamble, and Singer Sewing Machines.23 Incorporating the theme ―Instrument of the Immortals,‖ the campaign commissioned oil paintings of great performers and composers at their Steinways, performers such as Hofmann, Paderewski,

Rachmaninoff, and composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.24 Beneath the illustration appeared specially crafted promotional verbiage:

His moving fingers touch the Steinway into life—the master and his instrument are one—a sense of beauty fills the air—there is a hush of breathing while the listener drinks the beauty from each fleeting note. Perhaps the master is Hofmann, perhaps Rachmaninoff. Yesterday it might have been Paderewski. Half

21Bertensson, 215.

22D. W. Fostle, The Steinway Saga: An American Dynasty (New York: Scribner, 1995), 453.

23Ibid., 450.

24Steinway Hall, New York, currently houses five different original portraits of Rachmaninoff in its hallways and offices, three painted by Charles E. Chambers, one by Wayman Adams, and another by Constantine Andreievitch Somov. Steinway Hall also displays a large bust of Rachmaninoff by Sergei Konenkov. Personal tour with Henry Z. Steinway and author, 28 February 2008.

47

a century ago and Anton Rubinstein were kings. But whenever the time and whichever the master, the piano remains the same—Steinway, Instrument of the Immortals.25

Steinway spent large sums on advertising during the 1920s, and sales of the company rapidly rose.

Fred Steinway and his wife, Julia Cassebeer, graciously extended hospitality to artists, and their parties were anticipated events. During Fred‘s tenure, Steinway and Sons constructed the new Steinway Hall on West Fifty-Seventh Street across from Carnegie Hall. Rachmaninoff and his wife attended the gala dedication in October 1925. Fred died in 1927, and leadership of the company passed to Theodore E. Steinway, who was to navigate a significant downturn in the business during the . By the mid-1930s, the company needed to transfer the cost of piano and tuner transportation to the artist.26 Rachmaninoff traveled with three Steinway pianos, shipped by train via American Express—one for recitals, another brighter-toned instrument for concertizing with orchestra, and an extra instrument, if needed. He paid $2,000 to

$3,000 per tour for the piano transportation plus the expense of traveling piano tuner William

Hupfer.27

During Theodore‘s tenure at Steinway and Sons, the company both honored and capitalized on Rachmaninoff‘s fame by issuing a full-page advertisement in the New York Times on 24 March 1940, titled ―Rachmaninoff Gives his 1529th Recital.‖ It featured a photographic montage and caption paragraphs, such as this one:

The great artist, pianist, and composer tours America for the twenty-third time. Typical success was his final concert, to a sold out, excited house at

25Fostle, 452.

26Ibid., 465.

27Matushevski, 20.

48

Wellesley College, , in ‘s worst blizzard of the winter.28 Here Rachmaninoff warms fingers in the famous electric pad.29 Below, charming Wellesley girls go to seats on stage.30

At the bottom of the advertisement the company included promotional verbiage about its pianos:

―You can own a Steinway as perfect in tone and action, as exquisitely responsive, as ruggedly enduring, as the Steinway which Rachmaninoff plays—for only $98.50 down.‖31 Two weeks previous, on 10 March 1940, Steinway issued another full-page ad, ―Rendezvous on ,‖ with the same format of a photographic montage with captions under each photo, depicting a man and a woman visiting Steinway Hall, auditioning its pianos, and viewing phonographs in its record shop. One caption describing the Great Rotunda mentions Rachmaninoff, ―Here, also, are busts and statues of Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Berlioz, Paderewski. And here, in the center of the room is a Steinway Grand Piano, the Instrument of the Immortals.‖32 Additional full page

Steinway ads appeared in December 1938 and 1939 featuring one large picture, in one case a young girl next to a Steinway piano, and the other a Steinway grand, alone. Both included the

―Instrument of the Immortals‖ theme and cited Rachmaninoff as one of the immortals.33

Theodore Steinway and his wife enjoyed a very close relationship with the

Rachmaninoffs. Attendance of the Steinways and the Rachmaninoffs at public events made

28A Valentine‘s Day blizzard blanketed New England with a foot and a half of snow and gale force winds. Rachmaninoff‘s recital took place on 14 February 1940.

29Rachmaninoff traveled with an electric heating pad and would warm his hands and fingers before each performance.

30See Appendix B for complete advertisement. LOC. Section K; Articles, reviews, USA:1937–; File ―1939– 1940.‖

31Ibid.

32―Display Ad 285, No Title,‖ New York Times, 10 March 1940.

33―Display Ad 242, No Title,‖ New York Times, 11 December 1938. ―Display Ad 305, No Title,‖ New York Times, 3 December 1939.

49 news. For instance, the New York Times noted that ―many persons prominent in society and music circles will be among hosts‖ at the season-opening night of the with at Carnegie Hall in 1942. ―With Mr. and Mrs. Theodore E. Steinway will be Mr. and Mrs. Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Mr. and Mrs. Alexander W. Greiner.‖34 The

Steinway‘s son Henry Z. Steinway, a young man during Rachmaninoff‘s later years in America, recalled meeting Rachmaninoff at various social gatherings and being impressed:

What I remember most about Rachmaninoff was that he had what I guess we call charisma these days, of a strange kind. When he walked on the stage, I was young then and didn‘t know much, but I just thought, ―Wow, this is somebody,‖ before he sat down and did a thing. He was this big, tall, lugubrious looking guy, and then meeting him socially several times, I was enormously respectful and would listen when he was talking with others, that sort of thing. My mother and father knew him and often had dinners of some kind together.35

Henry shared that each year when Rachmaninoff returned from his summer vacation he would go to the Steinway Hall basement where the chief technician would have at least five or six new pianos for him to try in order to select his pianos for touring that season.36 According to

Alexander Greiner, Steinway Artist Manager, Rachmaninoff was easy to satisfy with the concert grand pianos he took on tour, because he knew exactly what he preferred:

The head concert technicians . . . Gustave Vaupel and later William Hupfer, knowing what Rachmaninoff wanted, carefully put aside some concert grands received from the factory which they thought Rachmaninoff would like. We also always kept the concert grands he had used the previous season, and he used some of them many seasons. At any rate, when Rachmaninoff came to Steinway Hall in the fall to make his selection it was, therefore, usually no great problem.37

34Alexander Greiner became a close friend of Rachmaninoff. Greiner, himself a Russian émigré, served as Steinway‘s artist manager. ―Opening Night by Philharmonic,‖ New York Times, 7 October 1942.

35Henry Z. Steinway became his father‘s successor as President and CEO of Steinway and Sons in 1955. Henry Z. Steinway, interview by author, Steinway Hall, New York, NY, 28 February 2008.

36Ibid.

37Alexander ―Sascha‖ Greiner, ―Pianists and Pianos: Recollections of the Manager of the Concert and Artists Department of Steinway and Sons from 1928 to 1957,‖ TMs (photocopy), 147, Steinway and Sons Collection, La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Queens, NY, Series 3, Box 04099. 50

Throughout his career, Rachmaninoff and the Steinways maintained a very cordial, and mutually beneficial, relationship.

Changes in the concert management system occurred in the 1930s and affected

Rachmaninoff. For economic reasons and to acknowledge the emerging media of recording and broadcasting, stand-alone concert bureaus began merging with broadcast companies. For instance, Arthur Judson, Inc., and the Metropolitan Musical Bureau merged with the Columbia

Concerts Corporation of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Another merger followed when the National Broadcasting Company‘s (NBC) Artists Service incorporated the RCA Victor booking service and the Civic Concert Services, Inc. Along with Fritz Kreisler, Rachmaninoff entrusted his professional management to the National Broadcasting Company‘s Artists Service beginning in January 1932. As the New York Times reported, ―the mergers placed virtually every prominent musical artist under the management of two organizations maintained by the two major radio broadcasting companies.‖38 Rachmaninoff would be under the management of

Charles Foley of Boston whom he already knew as the successor to his manager Charles Ellis when Foley took over for him in the early 1920s.39 Foley would also become Rachmaninoff‘s

United States publisher.40 Ironically, Rachmaninoff and Kreisler were notorious for refusing radio broadcasts of their concert performances, as the Times explained:

Although Kreisler and Rachmaninoff are two of the most famous musicians in the world, both have steadfastly declined to broadcast over the radio. George Engles [director of NBC Artist‘s Services] made it clear that management of their concert appearances by his bureau did not mean that they had changed their attitude toward the radio. He added, however, that if they should decide to broadcast in

38In addition to NBC, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was the other radio broadcasting company. ―Three Musicians Join NBC Bureau,‖ New York Times, 7 January 1932.

39Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1990), 380.

40Harrison, 220. 51

the future, their performances would be over the National Broadcasting Company.41

NBC Artist‘s Services continued to build on the reputation of Rachmaninoff, marketing his persona in order to sell tickets. They created a press packet of print materials for the next

1932–33 season with Engles himself listed as contact person. The packet of fourteen articles, simply titled ―Press Material on Sergei Rachmaninoff 1932–1933,‖ contained instructions to local managers, ―Before releasing these stories to the newspapers, be sure to make the necessary insertions. It is suggested that only one story be sent out at a time.‖ A table of contents was listed at the of the typewritten packet, followed by the individual articles. Appendix C contains all of the articles from the NBC Artist Services press packet:

1. Rachmaninoff–Biography 2. Modern Music Must Return to Fundamentals, Says Rachmaninoff 3. Rachmaninoff Laughs Last 4. Rachmaninoff Talks about Composing 5. A Snapshot of Rachmaninoff 6. Close-up of Rachmaninoff 7. Rachmaninoff as Composer 8. Rachmaninoff Now a Resident of the United States 9. Josef Hofmann is Greatest Pianist, Says Rachmaninoff 10. ―Play My Music Just as You Choose,‖ Says Rachmaninoff 11. Rachmaninoff Believes Poor Teaching Spoils Musical Prodigies 12. Rachmaninoff Talks on the Bells of Russia 13. Rachmaninoff Admires the of Ferdy Grofé 14. Best Symphony Orchestras Here, Says Rachmaninoff42

Newspaper and magazine writers, editors, and reviewers often quoted the articles and represented the spirit articulated in these press releases. The fifth article, titled ―A Snapshot of

Rachmaninoff,‖ described his rise to prominence and his atypical stage demeanor:

41―Three Musicians Join NBC Bureau,‖ New York Times, 7 January 1932.

42Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K: Articles, reviews, USA: 1937– ; File:―Post–1950.‖

52

His full name is Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff, but you never find it spelled the same in two newspapers. Rated one of the greatest living Russian composers is a noted pianist and conductor as well, and as pianist will be here ______at ______. Tall, austere, aristocratic in bearing, dignified, aloof and commanding on the concert platform. You might expect crashing dissonances, modernist music, from under those steely fingers and powerful biceps. Instead come delicacy, great emotional feeling, heart-searching, singing tone. ―Music must reveal the emotions of the heart,‖ says Rachmaninoff. He makes it do it. Born in the province of Novgorod, Russia, 1873. Showed talent at the age of four. Entered the Petersburg conservatory at nine, at twelve transferred to the Moscow Conservatory. Is identified with the Moscow ―school of composers,‖ and while an undergraduate in Moscow, composed his first opera, ―Aleko.‖ Won the coveted gold medal, quarreled with his teachers and left. His first concert tour revealed him as a pianist of amazing gifts. Invited to London to conduct one of his own at a concert of the Philharmonic Society, which transformed overnight his national reputation into international fame. His symphonies later played by all the great orchestras of the world. Often with himself as soloist. Returned to Russia to become conductor of the Moscow . The forced him out of his native land. Confiscated his estates. Rachmaninoff and his family escaped into Sweden, thence to the United States. Makes his home now in New York and has a summer home in Switzerland where he does most of his composing. Is married and has two beautiful daughters. Enjoys his concert tours, which are always enormously successful. Thousands of his admirers have never heard of his really important works, know him as the composer of ―Rachmaninoff‘s C-sharp Minor Prelude.‖43

Various themes emerged in NBC‘s marketing of Rachmaninoff. For instance, the idea of

Rachmaninoff as Romantic ―genius‖ permeates many of these press releases, as well as his rise to fame as a self-made man, a story. His ―rags to riches‖ story would be more appealing to the American public than his true aristocratic upbringing, although his family had lost its wealth while Rachmaninoff was a young boy. Marketers also stressed to potential audience members that Rachmaninoff‘s music and programming would be appealing, ―not modern or dissonant‖ like works of other Russian composers, Prokofiev or Stravinsky, for instance. In press release thirteen, ―Rachmaninoff Admires the Jazz of Ferdy Grofé,‖ NBC articulated the uniqueness of a Russian who loves ―American‖ music and his being reborn

43Ibid.

53 through American jazz. Article fourteen, ―Best Symphony Orchestras Here, Says

Rachmaninoff,‖ highlights the fact that a ―foreign‖ pianist had endorsed American orchestras as the best in the world. Rachmaninoff did truly make this claim on numerous occasions, and his marketers appropriately stressed this point. In addition to his tremendous talents at the keyboard, clever marketing, and many favorable articles in the press fueled interest in him for decades.

During his extensive touring schedule in North America from 1918 to 1943, he performed in forty-two of the then forty-eight states in the United States, as well as in Canada and Cuba.44 According to documentation in the Library of Congress archive derived from concert reviews and Rachmaninoff‘s own personal schedules, he played in two hundred twenty- one cities in North America.45 The total number of Rachmaninoff concerts in America during these twenty-five years was 992, with 798 of those being recitals—piano solo or —and 194 appearances with symphony orchestras where he played, and in a few cases conducted his symphonic repertoire.46

He crossed the continent numerous times performing in cities large and small, and returning to many cities in subsequent years. Table 2.1 indicates those cities in which he played more than ten performances as well as the number.

Table 2.1, American cities in which Rachmaninoff performed ten or more times

New York City, 115 Boston, 54 Philadelphia, 54 Chicago, 48 Washington, DC, 38

44No Rachmaninoff performances were given in Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, or Wyoming. (Neither did he perform in Hawaii or Alaska, which both attained statehood in 1959.) Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Chart 2.

45See Appendix D for a complete list of cities.

46Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, subsection 3.

54

St. Louis, 26 Baltimore, 25 Pittsburgh, 25 , 24 Detroit, 22 Brooklyn 19 , 18 , 18 Buffalo, 15 Cincinnati, 14 Toronto, 14 Montreal, 13 Providence, 13 Minneapolis, 12 (and St. Paul, 4) Milwaukee, 11 New Haven, 11 Rochester, NY, 11 Seattle, 1147

Of course, in many instances Rachmaninoff reached smaller towns only once, locales such as

Altoona, Pennsylvania; Boise, Idaho; Corpus Christi, ; Durham, North Carolina; Fargo,

North Dakota; Little Rock, Arkansas; Muncie, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Oberlin, Ohio;

Palo Alto, California; Racine, Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; and Wheeling, West Virginia. For concert-goers in many towns, a Rachmaninoff appearance was often regarded as the highlight of the year and in some cases, of a lifetime.48

Rachmaninoff traveled by train throughout his tenure in America, and the complications caused by back-to-back engagements in different cities occasionally prevented him from lingering after a performance to enjoy the company of concert-goers and well-wishers. At times

47Ibid., Section D/E1, chart 3.

48For example, the Toledo Times explained the Rachmaninoff sensation: ―When two thousand concert- goers left the Coliseum yesterday afternoon at the conclusion of the recital by Sergei Rachmaninoff, great Russian composer, Toledo had listened, applauded, and appreciated perhaps the greatest artist ever to visit the city.‖ F. W. H., ―Toledo Applauds Master Composer: Two Thousand Approve Concert Work of Sergei Rachmaninoff,‖ Toledo Times, 28 November 1921. Concert reviews and audience reception will be examined in Chapter 4.

55 he even needed to leave before an orchestral concert concluded, as he explained to Leopold

Stokowski on 8 November 1934:

Dr. Leopold Stokowski Constitution Hall Washington, DC

My Dear Mr. Stokowski: I have to leave tonight before you finish your program, in order to catch my train for Pittsburgh, where I play tomorrow night. I do not want to go without expressing my deep appreciation of the friendly interest and helpful cooperation you have shown for my new work and especially my admiration for your performance of it. With all good wishes, believe me Yours sincerely, Sergei Rachmaninoff49

Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra had just collaborated on the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini on 7 November in Baltimore and that night, 8 November, in Washington.50 In major cities he would stay at a hotel for a night or two at a time since he often scheduled two performances on subsequent days in the same city. His correspondence files contain stationery from the finest hotels active in America throughout the

1920s, ‘30s, and early ‘40s: The Brown Palace Hotel, Denver; Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco;

Hotel Muehlebach, Kansas City; Hotel Nicollet, Minneapolis; The Garden of Allah, Hollywood;

The Biltmore, Los Angeles; Hotel Statler, Detroit and Boston; The Seneca, Rochester; Olympic

Hotel, Seattle; Auditorium Hotel, and Ambassador Hotel, Chicago, to name a few.51 Since

Rachmaninoff spent so much time traveling, he utilized moments in his hotel room to continue to conduct business as well as to correspond with friends and family, on occasion.

49Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1: Correspondence of SR, S–; File: ―Stokowski, Leopold.‖

50Section D/E1, 120.

51Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1: Correspondence of SR, S– (numerous folders).

56

Financially, Rachmaninoff drew impressive ticket sales figures throughout his twenty- five-year tenure in America. In 1925 Time magazine published the income tax payments of one hundred famous Americans. Rachmaninoff and Paderewski appeared as the only musicians on the list, with Rachmaninoff‘s income tax listed as $8,026; trailing Paderewski at $16,161; yet ahead of Babe Ruth, $3,432; , $3,340; and William Howard Taft, former United

States President who was serving as Chief Justice, $1,723.52 When the Depression struck several years later, many musicians and managers were concerned, as Time reported in 1930, ―Many big names have deteriorated in value in the past two years. . . . Almost the only old-time top-fee artist definitely to hold his own is violinist Fritz Kreisler. . . . Pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff also commands top prices and full houses.‖53 At the end of the 1930–31 season, the National

Broadcasting Company‘s Artists‘ Service reported that nationwide, ten million dollars had been spent in the United States that season, by more than ten million people going to hear concerts.

Though the figures were not record-breaking, they were ―surprisingly optimistic considering the

Depression.‖ Pianist Jan Paderewski drew the largest business with five hundred thousand dollars. Next best were Fritz Kreisler, John McCormack, and Rachmaninoff.54 Indeed, all four artists went on to attain multi-million-dollar careers, with Paderewski topping five million dollars, McCormack and Kreisler four million each, and Rachmaninoff, whose performing tenure was the shortest, earned two and a half million.55

The demand for Rachmaninoff appearances never waned in America. In fact, requests for concerts exceeded his stamina or desire for travel. Two requests came from remote regions—

52―Publicity,‖ Time, 14 September 1925, 8–9.

53―Market,‖ Time, 17 February 1930, 34.

54―Season‘s Business,‖ Time, 4 May 1931, 25.

55―Music‘s Moneybags,‖ Time, 21 September 1942, 44.

57

Hawaii and Mexico. Ralph Julian MacBrayne wrote from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, on 29

March 1927 asking Rachmaninoff to consider coming to Honolulu during the 1927–28 season for a series of three recitals under his management. ―Not knowing your American Management places me in the awkward position of having to trouble you with this inquiry. . . . I can assure you our people are profoundly desirous of having the honor of hearing you. We will await your decision with the confident feeling that you will not regret having spent a few short days in the loveliest paradise this side of the beyond.‖56 Although an attractive option, Rachmaninoff declined. Later in Rachmaninoff‘s career, Marks Levine, manager of the concert division for

NBC, hesitantly broached the subject of a Mexico trip for Rachmaninoff in a letter to his home in

Beverly Hills dated 15 July 1942:

I hope you are having a Summer and that you will have a nice pair of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. I have been wanting to write to you for some time about a little matter, but I purposely waited until such a time as Mr. Haas would be in Hollywood so that you could discuss it with him and give him the answer to send to me. For the past two months I have been receiving letters from a new management in Mexico City inquiring if you would be available for three or four concerts. I tried to discourage them, but evidently this is not easy to do. I suggested that the only time you would be available would be next April and they answered they would be willing to engage you for next April. I wrote them that I would want a minimum of four concerts at $2500 American dollars each, although I knew it was too high for them. The reason it is too high is because their hall, although very beautiful, is not large. It seats only 1800 people. The prices are in Mexican pesos which, of course, are not very good in comparison with American money so that even if they charge ten pesos, if they can, it is only two dollars. Still I took a chance. They wrote back and said they are willing to guarantee four concerts at $1500 American dollars each (started with $800) and pay two railroad tickets and all expenses in Mexico. This is not too bad if you are interested at all. People always enjoy Mexico City, and you might enjoy it too. At the present time your last concert is in Houston, Texas, on March 27 and from there it is only about 36 hours to Mexico City, so that you could arrange

56Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, M–, Folder: ―M.‖

58

these concerts from about to 17 and at the same time have a trip and a vacation. I think Steinways have good pianos there if you don‘t want to bring your own, because several Steinway artists have been there in the past few seasons. I don‘t know how difficult or how easy it will be to send pianos next season to Mexico City. Please let me know if you are interested at all and if so, what should be the minimum terms I should accept. With best regard to you and Mrs. Rachmaninoff, Marks Levine57

A postscript on a letter dated 24 July 1942 from Levine to Rachmaninoff explained the outcome of the Mexico request:

Mr. Haas has given me your decision about Mexico City, which is just what I expected. When I wrote to you, I did not mean that you should accept $1500 per concert. I intended to stick to $2500. I merely wanted to know if you were interested at all, but I think that your statement that the altitude is too high and the fee is too low is not only humorous but quite correct.58

Subsequent letters from Levine to Rachmaninoff in the summer of 1942, planning for the 1942–

43 season, indicated that Rachmaninoff now commanded a guaranteed base pay of twenty-five hundred dollars per recital, rather than the initial five hundred dollar base when he came to

America in 1918.59

When Rachmaninoff first briefly toured in American during the 1909–10 season, he performed only his own compositions in recital and with orchestra. With orchestra he featured his second and third piano concertos, and in recital he included such works as his in

D minor, Opus 28, Préludes from Opus 23, and assorted works from Opus 3 and Opus 10. In

1918 he expanded his recital repertoire to include works by other composers. At his first 1918

57Ibid., File: ―Levine, Marks 1940–43.‖

58Ibid.

59Letter dated 13 August 1942 from Levine to Rachmaninoff: ―There‘s no reason why there should not be a guarantee of $2500 for the recitals in San Francisco and Los Angeles.‖ Letter dated 16 September 1942 from Levine to Rachmaninoff: ―The Los Angeles recital for March 14 has been definitely signed on a percentage with a minimum guarantee of $2500.‖ Ibid.

59 recital on 8 December in Providence, Rhode Island, he performed Mozart‘s Andante from Sonata in A major, K. 331; Beethoven‘s Sonata in D major, Opus 10, no. 3; Chopin‘s in C- sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 1; Chopin‘s Waltz in A-flat major, Opus 42; Chopin‘s in C minor, Opus 40, no. 2; Liszt‘s Rhapsody No. 12 in C-sharp minor and several of his own works by request.60 Throughout that season he also included Haydn‘s in ;

Beethoven‘s Thirty-two Variations in C minor; Liszt‘s Rhapsody No. 2 with a by himself; as well as Godowsky arrangements of works by Jean-Francois Dandrieu and Jean-

Baptiste Lully; Carl Tausig arrangements of and Johann Strauss; and several all-Russian programs featuring his own works as well as those of and Nikolai

Medtner.61

For each of the next twenty-four seasons in America, he added new recital repertoire.62

For instance, for the second season he added works by Charles Alkan, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt,

Mendelssohn, Anton Rubinstein, Paul de Schlözer, and . In the third season he included additional selections by J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Daquin, Debussy, Grieg,

Medtner, , W. A. Mozart, Moussorgsky, Robert Schumann, Scriabin,

Tchaikovsky, and Weber. For his fourth season he expanded his recital repertoire with selections by Beethoven, Chopin, Dohnanyi, Grieg, Handel, Liszt, Medtner, Robert Schumann, and

Tausig‘s arrangement of Weber‘s ―Invitation to the Dance.‖ He also added his own piece,

60Those requested works included his Prélude in C-sharp Minor, Opus 3, and his Humoresque, Opus 10. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, 7.

61Dandrieu: Le Caquet; Lully: Gigue in E minor; Scarlatti: from Sonata in D minor, L. 413, and Caprice from Sonata in , L. 375; Strauss: Forest Murmurs Waltz and One Lives But Once Waltz; Medtner:Three ―Fairy Tales‖ from Opus 20 and 26; Scriabin: Three Études from Opus 42, Eight Preludes from Opus 11, and Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor, Opus 19. Ibid., 8, 10.

62Barrie Martyn has compiled Rachmaninoff‘s recital repertoire, noting the new additions to each season. That list is reprinted in Appendix E. Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor, 387–95.

60

Daisies, and his arrangements of Bizet‘s Minuet and Kreisler‘s Liebesleid.63 He expanded his repertoire by a similar number of pieces each year until the very last five or six years when he added just a handful of new works each year. (See Appendix E for a complete list of works added each season to Rachmaninoff‘s recital repertoire.)

Within a few years of relocating to America, Rachmaninoff received an invitation from the White House, home to amateur pianist and ardent admirer Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, the First

Lady of the United States. He would play at the White House on three different occasions during the Coolidge administration. His first performance occurred on 10 March 1924. Mrs. Coolidge opened a series of Lenten musicales in the East Room with Rachmaninoff as the first attraction.64

He played Felix Mendelssohn‘s Capriccioso, Opus 14; a nocturne, waltz, and scherzo by

Chopin, the specific keys are not noted; his own famed Prélude in C-sharp minor; his arrangements of ‘s Minuet from l’Arlesienne and Moussorgsky‘s Hopak; Liszt‘s

Liebestraum, No. 3 in A-flat major; and Liszt‘s Rhapsody No. 2 with a cadenza by himself.65

Mrs. Coolidge graciously responded to Rachmaninoff a week later on 17 March 1924:

The White House My Dear Dr. Rachmaninoff: The photograph which you autographed for the President and me has come and I hasten to express to you our appreciation and thanks. It will be one of the treasures which I shall take away with me when I go. I shall never forget your kindness in coming to play for me. The President was sorry that affairs of state kept him from hearing you play. Again, I thank you. Most sincerely yours, Grace Coolidge66

63Ibid., 387–89.

64―The White House Week,‖ Time, 24 March 1924, 1.

65Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 59.

66Ibid., Section B2: Correspondence to SR, C–; File ―Coolidge, Mrs. Calvin.‖

61

His second White House performance took place on 16 January 1925. He performed a nocturne, , waltz, and ballade by Chopin; Tchaikovsky‘s Humoresque in G, Opus 10, and Troika in E major, Op. 37; his own arrangements of Moussorgsky‘s Hopak and Kreisler‘s Liebesleid;

Moritz Moszkowski‘s La Jongleuse, Opus 52, no. 4; and Liszt‘s arrangement of Charles

Gounod‘s Fantasy.67

He returned for a third performance at the White House on 30 March 1927. The program included Carl Tausig‘s arrangement of Schubert‘s Andantino and Variations; Felix

Mendelssohn‘s Etudes in F major and A minor; Chopin‘s Rondo in E-flat major, Opus 16; Waltz in A-flat major (either Op. 64, no. 3; Op. 69, no. 1 or Op. 42); a nocturne (unspecified); Waltz in

C-sharp minor, Opus 64, no. 2; his own Etude-Tableau in A minor, Opus 39 (no. 6 or no. 2) and an arrangement of Bizet‘s Menuet from l’Arlessiene (Suite No. 1); and a Tausig-arranged Johann

Strauss Waltz, ―Man leb nur einmal.‖68

In addition to Rachmaninoff‘s desire to add to his recital repertoire each year, another trend emerged in his programming. He felt a strong allegiance to Liszt and particularly Chopin, performing their music in nearly every recital in America. In interviews with Etude magazine,

Rachmaninoff explained the appeal of Chopin to him:

It seems somewhat astonishing that since the time of Chopin no master has arisen to enrich the literature of the piano in such magnificent manner. With all due respect for Liszt, whose works form such a very important step in the advance of pianistic art, Chopin still remains at the zenith. His exquisite sense of tone color, his gorgeous and his always pianistic realization of the possibilities of the keyboard make his works a kind of Bible for the pianists. When you know Chopin you know practically all that can be done in the way of producing pianistic effects of high artistic value. . . . Would that another Chopin might arise to bring new pianistic beauties to the world. Notwithstanding all the playing I do during the course of the year, I

67Ibid., Section D/E1, 66.

68Ibid., 74.

62

find myself continually playing Chopin at home, just for the sheer pleasure of the thing. There is a delight in letting one‘s fingers run through his perfectly molded passages.69

When selecting repertoire, Rachmaninoff drew from his experiences listening to Anton

Rubinstein perform his thirty-six ―historical concerts‖ over two years in Russia, playing more than eight hundred compositions. Rachmaninoff attended as a young pianist and the impressions lasted a lifetime:

How truly the artist is measured by his repertoire we may learn from Rubinstein. He played everything inimitably, but two of the which one remembers most vividly as characteristic of his programs are the Appassionata of Beethoven and the B-flat Minor [sonata] of Chopin. They correspond to the greatness of the man, and into such works he poured his mighty spirit.70

Both sonatas became staples of Rachmaninoff‘s recital repertoire. As a child, Rubinstein had visited Chopin at his house and heard him play. Rubinstein devoted three of his lecture-concerts to Chopin and would say of his compositions, ―They are divine, every note divine.‖71

Rachmaninoff shared that enthusiasm, explaining that from the time he was nineteen years old he felt his greatness:

I marvel at it still. He is today more modern than many moderns. It is incredible that he should remain so modern. His genius is so tremendous that not any composer of today is more modern in style, and he remains for me one of the greatest of the giants.72

In addition to Rachmaninoff‘s own works, those of Beethoven and Liszt, Chopin held an honored place for Rachmaninoff in his recital repertoire.

69Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―How Russian Students Work,‖ The Etude 41 (1923): 298.

70Florence Leonard, ―In Interview with the Renowned Composer-Pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff,‖ The Etude 50 (1932): 240.

71Ibid.

72Ibid.

63

For orchestra concerts, Rachmaninoff continued to perform his own concertos nearly ninety percent of the time. He initially featured Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18 and

Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Opus 30, and occasionally Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Opus 1.

His first performance of that revised concerto took place in New York City on 28 January 1919 with the Russian Symphony Orchestra Society of New York conducted by Modest Altschuller.73

By 1927 Rachmaninoff had composed Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor Opus 40 and premiered it with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music on

18 March 1927, repeating a performance the next day in Philadelphia and on 4 April, and touring with Stokowski and the Philadelphians to New York‘s Carnegie Hall on 22 March 1927, The

Auditorium in Washington, DC, on 29 March 1927, and in Baltimore on 30 March 1927.74 He then stopped performing that concerto, primarily because it was not enthusiastically received by audiences and critics.75

Rachmaninoff composed Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43, for piano and orchestra in 1934, and he again turned to Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra for the premiere, this time on 7 November 1934 at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore with a repeat performance the next day at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.76 Its huge success caused it to immediately become the centerpiece of his orchestral appearances replacing his other concertos for a time. By the 1936–37 season, his Piano Concerto No. 2 returned to his orchestral engagements.77 In addition to actively performing the Rhapsody and Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, he

73Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, 11.

74Ibid., 75.

75Harrison, 255.

76Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, 120.

77Ibid., 134–36. 64 revised Concerto No. 4 and re-introduced it on tour with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene

Ormandy on 17 October 1941. Following performances at the Academy of Music in

Philadelphia, they performed on 21 October in Constitution Hall, Washington, DC; 22 October at

Lyric Theatre, Baltimore; and 11 November at Carnegie Hall. He also included it in a program with Theodore Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on 6 and 7 November 1941.78 In summary, his most-performed works with orchestra in America were Piano Concerto No. 2, eighty performances; Piano Concerto No. 3, forty-three; and

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, thirty-seven times.79

Early in his American tenure Rachmaninoff occasionally performed concertos by Liszt and Tchaikovsky. During his second season, he played Liszt‘s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major at the following engagements: 3 November 1919 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music; 17 November 1919 again with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra and Monteux at the Brooklyn Academy of Music;80 22 and 27

February 1920 with the Symphony Orchestra of the New York Philharmonic conducted by Josef

Stransky at Carnegie Hall; and 7 March 1920 with an orchestra conducted by Richard Hagemann at the Metropolitan Opera House.81 He played Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor on 26 February 1920 with the Symphony Orchestra of the New York Philharmonic conducted by Josef Stransky at Carnegie Hall82 and the following season with the New York

Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch at Carnegie Hall on 1 January 1921,

78Ibid., 172.

79Ibid., Section d, chart 4, 1.

80Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, 21.

81Ibid., 24.

82Ibid.

65 repeating it the next day with conducting, then with Damrosch and the same orchestra in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music on 20 January 1921.83 For the next sixteen years, he stopped performing the concertos of others and featured only his own works with orchestra, perhaps due to the desire of both orchestra and box office to showcase a composer offering definitive performances of his popular works.

In October 1937 in Music Hall, Cincinnati, Rachmaninoff for the first time in America performed a concerto by Beethoven. On 29 and 30 October he played Beethoven‘s Piano

Concerto No. 1 in Opus 15 before intermission and his Rhapsody after intermission with

Eugene Goossens conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.84 He did not feature that

Beethoven concerto again until the next season on 8 November 1938 at Carnegie Hall with the

Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.85 On 3 November 1939 he played it again, this time with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dmitri Mitropoulos at Northrop

Auditorium, Minneapolis. He also added Liszt‘s for piano and orchestra to that program.86 Beethoven‘s concerto returned to additional Carnegie Hall programs on 10 and 12

January 1940, this time with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir John

Barbirolli.87 He performed it again at Orchestra Hall in Chicago with conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 22 October 1940.88 Late in his career he introduced yet another concerto to his repertoire, Robert Schumann‘s Concerto in A minor, Opus 54. He

83Ibid., 34.

84Ibid., 142.

85Ibid., 151.

86Ibid., 154.

87Ibid., 157.

88Ibid., 164.

66 performed it on 28 and 30 November 1941 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Bakaleinikoff at the in Pittsburgh.89 He also performed the Schumann concerto on 4 December 1941 at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit with the Detroit Symphony

Orchestra conducted by Victor Kolar.90 In his last concerto performances with orchestra on 11 and 12 February 1943, he played Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 on the first half of the program and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for the second half.91

To summarize his performing repertoire with orchestras in America, Rachmaninoff played only ten works from 1918 to 1943:

Table 2.2, Works performed with orchestra and number of performances

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18 8092 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Opus 30 4393 Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43 37 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Opus 1 22 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Opus 40 13 Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Opus 15 12 Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major 5 Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Opus 23 4 R. Schumann: Piano Concerto A minor, Opus 54 3 Liszt: Totentanz 1

For the vast majority of engagements, he played his own five works for keyboard and orchestra.

Early in his American tenure, he performed Tchaikovsky‘s concerto four times and Liszt‘s Piano

Concerto No. 1 five times. Toward the end of his career he included Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto

89Ibid., 172.

90Ibid., 173.

91Ibid., 183.

92This figure includes thirteen performances of the concerto during Rachmaninoff‘s initial American visit during the 1909–‘10 season.

93This figure includes three performances of the concerto during Rachmaninoff‘s initial American visit during the 1909–‘10 season.

67

No. 1 twelve times; Robert Schumann‘s Piano Concerto three times; and Liszt‘s Totentanz once.94 Remarkably, Rachmaninoff introduced two major piano concertos into his repertoire when he was nearly seventy years old, age sixty-four for Beethoven‘s concerto, and age sixty- eight for Robert Schumann‘s. When other performers might consider coasting toward retirement relying on their successful existing repertoire, Rachmaninoff, whose talents were still in peak form, chose to challenge himself and his audiences with something new.

Correspondence between Rachmaninoff and conductors reveals very cordial relationships when discussing repertoire to program. Audiences found most of his works for piano and orchestra tuneful and popular, and those works attracted an audience who bought tickets. He was, after all, the master interpreter of his own pieces. Compared to other touring piano virtuosos during this period, Rachmaninoff could also uniquely claim to be a successful composer, and that, no doubt, appealed to concertgoers and conductors as well. Few individuals in twentieth- century America were active composer-performers,95 and conductors and orchestra managers no doubt wished to capitalize on the opportunity for their patrons to experience a performance by such a renowned artist.

By the end of his twenty-five years performing 992 concerts in 221 cities, Rachmaninoff reigned alone as the titan of the keyboard in America. Hofmann, though still living, battled personal problems and offered inconsistent performances. Paderewski did not perform as regularly and died in 1941.96 Through the assistance of astute managers, Charles Ellis, Charles

Foley, and NBC Artists Services, Rachmaninoff‘s fame continued to grow and build as they

94Ibid., all program lists.

95George Gershwin, for one, died in 1937. spent a brief time in America as a touring piano virtuoso from 1918 to 1920 before returning to full-time composing. Josef Hofmann‘s compositions did not receive the same critical and popular acclaim as Rachmaninoff‘s did.

96 Matushevski, 18.

68 marketed him and gave audiences what they wanted, the opportunity to see and hear, first hand, the artistry of Rachmaninoff playing tuneful, recognizable works composed by himself and drawn from the nineteenth-century concert canon of piano works. Steinway and Sons recognized the talent of Rachmaninoff, as well, and formed a mutually beneficial partnership. Rachmaninoff consistently performed and toured in America year after year, through the Roaring Twenties, the

Great Depression, and World War II,97 and his technical and artistic prowess did not wane.

Drawing audiences from the far reaches of the American continent as he traveled to meet them,

Rachmaninoff did not disappoint, only if he neglected to play his famed Prélude. Audiences flocked in record numbers to his recitals and appearances with American orchestras and, together with Rachmaninoff, wrote a unique chapter in the history of piano performance in America.

97 Rachmaninoff‘s first concert tour, post World War I, did feature his rendition of the ―Star Spangled Banner,‖ but after that season he did not specifically tailor his repertoire to reflect major national or world events. 69

CHAPTER 3

RECEPTION BY CONDUCTORS AND FELLOW MUSICIANS

During his quarter century in America, Rachmaninoff collaborated with all of the top orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland

Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra,1 and claimed to the press that American orchestras were the best in the world.2 He performed with more than thirty conductors, Walter Damrosch, Serge Koussevitsky, , Eugene Ormandy,

Artur Rodzińsky, and Leopold Stokowski, to name a few.3 Correspondence between

Rachmaninoff and various conductors reveals that they, too, admired Rachmaninoff and sought his engagements, even his autograph. The Philadelphia Orchestra remained Rachmaninoff‘s preferred orchestra with which to premiere his works and record, and its conductors, Stokowski and then Ormandy, served as his trusted advocates and dedicatees of his post-1918 compositions.

In addition, Rachmaninoff befriended, competed with, and occasionally performed with other great touring virtuosos such as Josef Hofmann and Fritz Kreisler. Rachmaninoff also interacted with a few composers and arrangers of the day, such as , Percy Grainger, Ferde

Grofé, and . This chapter examines how conductors, musicians, and composers working in America reacted to Rachmaninoff, his talent, artistry, and success; how he responded to them; and how he utilized his newly established contacts to assist other Russian expatriate musicians.

1See Appendix F for complete list of orchestras with whom Rachmaninoff performed in America from 1918 to 1943.

2―Rachmaninoff Says America Leads the World in Music,‖ New York Times, 6 January 1929.

3See Appendix G for complete list of conductors with whom Rachmaninoff performed in America from 1918 to 1943. 70

American orchestras in the early twentieth century endured growing pains, as some orchestras were still in the process of being organized and reorganized. Up through the 1920s,

New York City served as home to two competing orchestras, the older Philharmonic Symphony

Society of New York, which would be renamed the Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony

Society Orchestra of New York organized by in 1878 to rival the

Philharmonic. Damrosch had been the conductor of the Philharmonic before he resigned to create the new orchestra. When Leopold died in 1885, his son Walter took over the Symphony

Society Orchestra and continued the competition with the Philharmonic.4 The talented conductor

Theodore Thomas, who conducted his own orchestra in New York in the late nineteenth century as well as conducting the Philharmonic, left in 1891 to found the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, taking some of the Philharmonic musicians with him.5 Walter Damrosch convinced Andrew

Carnegie to fund the construction of a new concert hall. On 5 May 1891 both Damrosch and

Peter Tchaikovsky conducted at the inaugural concert of the new music hall, which would be renamed Carnegie Hall several years later.6 After a series of conductors, the Philharmonic attracted to conduct from 1909 until his death in 1911, followed by Josef

Stransky until 1920, then beginning in 1921 shared duties with multiple guest conductors. Rachmaninoff performed with all of the famed conductors working in New

York early in the twentieth century— Damrosch, Mahler, Stransky, and Mengelberg. In 1927 the

4Joseph Horowitz, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005), 151–52.

5Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Conductors (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967), 193.

6Horowitz, 153–54.

71

Philharmonic and the New York Symphony Society merged, and not until 1930 did the orchestra, again, have a formidable primary conductor, Arturo Toscanini.7

Younger orchestras than the New York Philharmonic attained stability and success more quickly in the twentieth century, particularly the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the

Philadelphia Orchestra. Following the terms of conductors Max Fiedler and Karl Muck in

Boston, when Rachmaninoff declined the offer to succeed Muck the orchestra hired Henrí

Rabaud for the 1918–19 season, followed by Pierre Monteux from 1919–24, and then the lengthy tenure, 1924–49, of Serge Koussevitzky, whom Rachmaninoff knew from their early careers in

Russia and Europe.8 In 1930 Koussevitsky suggested that Rachmaninoff choose a group of his

Etudes-Tableaux to be given to Ottorino Respighi to orchestrate. The commissioned by Koussevitsky would be published by his firm, and premiered and conducted by him and the Boston Symphony.9 Rachmaninoff endorsed the idea, chose his favorite works from

Opus 33 and 39, and shared the programmatic ideas behind the works with Respighi who replied,

―I am really very pleased to be orchestrating these admirable compositions, and I hope you will be pleased with me.‖10 Rachmaninoff thanked Respighi for his work, and orchestras performed the work throughout Rachmaninoff‘s tenure in America.11 In Philadelphia Leopold Stokowski conducted from 1912 until 1938. Eugene Ormandy arrived in 1936 and conducted until 1980.12

7Ibid., 278.

8Ibid., 296–97.

9Bertensson, 262.

10Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Respighi.‖ English translation, from French, in Bertensson, 263.

11Harrison, 280.

12Ormandy became a co-conductor with Stokowski in 1936 and was named music director in 1938. 72

Rachmaninoff, as performer, appeared regularly with these orchestras in New York, Boston, and

Philadelphia, especially during his early tenure in America.

Rachmaninoff‘s first appearance with orchestra during the 1918–19 season occurred on

12 January 1919 with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony Society Orchestra, known particularly for championing Russian and French music. The Philharmonic, on the other hand, was known at that time known for its Germanic tradition. Also during his first season,

Rachmaninoff collaborated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Henrí Rabaud for a pair of concerts in Boston, 31 January and 1 February 1919, as well as a tour to Washington, Baltimore,

Philadelphia, and Brooklyn, 3–7 February.13 In addition, Rachmaninoff traveled with Damrosch and the Symphony Society Orchestra to Pittsburgh on 27 February 1919.14 On 28 and 29 March

1919, Rachmaninoff and Leopold Stokowski first performed in Philadelphia at the Academy of

Music, a that would continue nearly twenty years.15 Rachmaninoff and Damrosch performed together numerous times from 1919 to 1924, then again in 1932.

Beginning early in his American tenure, Rachmaninoff would ask for favors of his established colleagues in America to help less-fortunate Russian musicians and artists looking to established themselves outside of Russia. Damrosch obliged in a 10 December 1919 letter to the

Honorable Robert E. Lansing of the State Department in Washington, DC:

Dear Mr. Secretary: So distinguished a man and musician as Mr. Sergei Rachmaninoff, greatest of living Russian composers, needs no introduction to you from me. But he has asked me for it, and therefore I give it to him. He wishes to bespeak the courtesies of our State Department, in order to obtain a passport for a friend and colleague of his, Michael Press—a very fine

13Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 11–12.

14Ibid., 13.

15Ibid.

73

violinist, who is, like himself, a refugee and victim from the horrors of Bolshevism, and who wishes to find a refuge in this country. He would be a welcome addition to our musical colony, and I should personally be glad if through the State Department he could obtain permission to come to America. Very sincerely yours, Walter Damrosch16

Damrosch‘s admiration for Rachmaninoff would last throughout the conductor‘s long lifetime as demonstrated in a letter dated 27 November 1939:

My Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: I do not go to many concerts these days, but when I saw the announcement of yours at which you not only play, but that also your First Symphony [recte First Concerto, Second Symphony, and Paganini Variations]17 would be performed, I of course came to hear it all. Needless to say your music gave me an evening of intense interest and great enjoyment. The young Rachmaninoff proved himself so genuinely the father of the present. I do not know how well you played the piano in those days, but today your touch and the nobility of your interpretations overtop all others. The Scherzo of the Symphony I found especially ravishing, and as for the Paganini Variations, they made me long to become a pianist in order to be able to play them. Could you not take me on as a pupil? I am only seventy-seven and would like to make my debut as a pianist at eighty, and with those Variations! Very cordially yours, Walter Damrosch18

Rachmaninoff appreciated the gesture from Damrosch and responded on 29 November 1939,

―My dear Mr. Damrosch, your kind letter touched me deeply and made me very happy. It made me especially happy to receive such praise from the dean of American music. Sincerest thanks!‖19

16Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence to SR, C–, File ―Damrosch, Walter.‖ Press did come to America in 1923 and taught at the Curtis Institute of Music. Gdal Saleski, Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2006), 236.

17This concert occurred on 26 November 1939 at Carnegie Hall, with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Rachmaninoff performed his Concerto No. 1 and his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This was the first of three Sunday evening concerts devoted to Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 155.

18Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, C–, File ―Damrosch, Walter.‖

19Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―D.‖ 74

Rachmaninoff developed a particular loyalty to the Philadelphia Orchestra with Leopold

Stokowski and later Eugene Ormandy. Rachmaninoff and Stokowski had first performed together when Rachmaninoff briefly visited America during the 1909–‘10 season. Twenty-nine- year-old Stokowski, soon to begin his first season with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, booked Rachmaninoff to appear with the orchestra during that season. On 21 and 22 January

1910, Stokowski and Rachmaninoff performed his Piano Concerto No. 2 in Music Hall,20 and the

Cincinnati Enquirer reported that there appeared an instant rapport between the two.21 The national reputation of Stokowski and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra grew quickly.

However, clandestine symphony management struggles in both Cincinnati and Philadelphia caused Stokowski to contemplate leaving Cincinnati and forced conductor Carl Pohlig to tender his resignation with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Stokowski accepted the Philadelphia job and began conducting there with the 1912–13 season.22 His tenure with the orchestra would last until

1941. In 1936 he became co-conductor with Eugene Ormandy, who was named music director in

1938. However, Stokowski would share the podium on occasion with Ormandy until 1941.23

Philadelphia audiences, too, developed an early appreciation for Rachmaninoff. Carl Pohlig had invited him to perform and conduct there in November 1909, several years before Stokowski

20Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55, Section D/E1, Program Lists, 1.

21Oliver Daniel, Stokowski: A Counterpoint of View (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1982), 65–66.

22Ibid., 104–106, 110.

23John Ardoin, ed., The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999), 50.

75 arrived.24 Of all the new music Stokowski would go on to champion and premiere in

Philadelphia, audiences seemed most attuned to Rachmaninoff‘s.25

In 1919 Rachmaninoff and Stokowski rekindled their rapport through numerous performances and established a unique relationship. Rachmaninoff dedicated his first major composition since leaving Russia to Stokowski, who offered Rachmaninoff a letter of appreciation on 17 March 1927:

You have made me very happy by offering to dedicate the score of your three Russian Songs to me. The more I am able to penetrate into the inner spirit of your Concerto [Concerto No. 4] and these Russian Songs the more I love this music. For me they are two of the finest of all your creations, and I am very proud to be associated with their performance, and to have the dedication of the Russian Songs, which have so much of the beautiful old simple poetic spirit of Russia which I love and admire so much. Yours sincerely, Leopold Stokowski26

Rachmaninoff chose Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra to offer the premieres of all of his post-Russia orchestral works: Piano Concerto No. 4 and Three Russian Folk Songs on 18 March

1927; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini on 7 November 1934; and Symphony No. 3 on 6

November 1936.27

Stokowski took an active interest in the newly emerging recording industry. He began studying electronics and traveled to the Bell Laboratory in New York, as well as to labs in Paris and Berlin. Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded together with Rachmaninoff as early as 1924 when they collaborated with the Victor Talking Machine Company on two movements of Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 utilizing the very early acoustical method

24Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55, Section D/E1, Program Lists, 1.

25Daniel, 234.

26Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, S–, File ―Stokowski, Leopold.‖

27Daniel, 234.

76 of recording.28 In 1929, during the electronic era of recording, they recorded a performance of the complete Piano Concerto No. 2. In a 1930 interview with Gramophone magazine,

Rachmaninoff confirmed that he felt ―most satisfied with those records made during the past three years. These include my own Piano Concerto No. 2, which I recorded with the Philadelphia

Symphony Orchestra under Stokowski‖ and various works for the solo piano.29 In 1934

Rachmaninoff also recorded his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Stokowski and the

Philadelphia Orchestra.

In addition to interest in the recording industry, Stokowski promoted radio broadcast opportunities for his orchestra. His entry into broadcasting, however, followed other orchestras.

The New York Philharmonic had begun broadcasting educational concerts in 1922. The Boston

Symphony Orchestra regularly broadcast as well. Stokowski, though, was not pleased with the audio quality, regarding the sound too compressed. In October 1929 he agreed to a deal with the

Philco Company to present the first commercially sponsored symphonic broadcasts in America, carried on fifty stations of the National Broadcasting Company.30 After rigorous broadcast engineering study and experimentation by Stokowski, the Philadelphia Orchestra offered a series sponsored by Philco over the Columbia Broadcasting System beginning 12 October 1931.

Throughout the 1930s, and at the recording controls, Stokowski continued to experiment and fine-tune the broadcasting and recording processes. In 1933 the National Academy of Science invited him to give a public demonstration of his findings at Constitution Hall, in Washington

DC, while the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Alexander Smallens performed on stage of

28Ibid., 304–305.

29Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―The Artist and the Gramophone,‖ The Gramophone 9 (April 1931): 526. In 1992 RCA Gold Seal re-mastered and reissued Rachmaninoff‘s recordings onto compact disc as ―Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Complete Recordings,‖ RCA 09026 61265 2, and disc 8 contains his second piano concerto.

30Ibid., 306.

77 the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Stokowski gave additional demonstrations of the stereophonic process at the Hollywood Bowl in 1935 and at Carnegie Hall on 9 April 1940. He invited Toscanini and Rachmaninoff to the Carnegie demonstration where the stereophonic recording was played.31 The New York Times reported that Rachmaninoff, when asked, offered his opinion of such enhanced music:

[It is] a marvelous thing, considered from the standpoint of demonstration, but sometimes unmusical because of the loudness. Take that ―Pictures at an Exposition.‖ Why, I didn‘t know what it was until they got well into the piece. Too much ―enhancing,‖ too much Stokowski. I would like to hear more music without enhancement, perhaps some of the things I know well. Then I might be able to say something.32

Throughout the long-standing, loyal relationship of Stokowski and Rachmaninoff, they were not afraid to speak frankly about differences of opinion regarding recording and broadcasting.

One irritation for Stokowski in their decades-long association concerned Rachmaninoff‘s refusal to allow live radio broadcasts of their performances. Stokowski even shared his frustration with when they were collaborating on the motion picture Fantasia in

1938, reviewing music selections and trying to decide if they wanted to feature a pianist.

Stokowski suggested Rachmaninoff or Paderewski and played recordings of Rachmaninoff‘s

Piano Concerto No. 2 and some additional piano pieces by him. Stokowski offered that in case

Rachmaninoff would not agree, they could get to perform. Disney responded,

―I don‘t know anything about music, but I have heard of Rachmaninoff for a long time.‖

Stokowski then explained his frustration:

31Ibid., 311–13.

32―Sound Waves ‗Rock‘ Carnegie Hall as ‗Enhanced Music‘ Is Played,‖ New York Times, 10 April 1940.

78

He might not want to do it. He is very hard to persuade. If he doesn‘t want to do something, he doesn‘t want to do it. Paderewski played over the radio yesterday for the first time in his life. Rachmaninoff has never played over the radio. I‘ve tried over and over again to persuade him, but he won‘t do it. If Paderewski is already playing over the radio, we might be able to have him play something for our picture.33

Ultimately, Disney abandoned the idea of involving a pianist. Despite the occasional disagreement, Rachmaninoff and Stokowski, ever the innovative conductor who embraced new compositions as well as new media, enjoyed a fruitful and productive relationship during the latter‘s extensive Philadelphia Orchestra tenure.

Rachmaninoff began a decade-long association with Eugene Ormandy when Ormandy conducted the Minneapolis Symphony, and they first performed together in 1932 at Northrop

Auditorium in Minneapolis. Ormandy arrived in Philadelphia in 193634 and developed an even closer working relationship with Rachmaninoff, as they performed, recorded and premiered

Rachmaninoff‘s last composition. On 21 August 1940 Rachmaninoff invited Ormandy to his home to share a preview of this final work:

My dear Mr. Ormandy: Last week I finished a new symphonic piece, which I naturally want to give first to you and your orchestra. It is called ―Fantastic Dances‖ [Symphonic Dances]. I shall now begin the . Unfortunately my concert tour begins on 14 October. I shall have to do a great deal of practice and I don‘t know whether I‘ll be able to finish the orchestration before November. I would be very glad if, upon your return, you would drop over to our place. I would like to play the piece for you. We are staying at the Honeyman Estate, Huntington, , and it is only forty miles from New York so that you can easily reach us. Very sincerely yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff35

33Stokowski and Disney Fantasia meeting notes, 14 September 1938, quoted in Daniel, 384.

34In 1936 Stokowski and Ormandy became co-conductors in Philadelphia. Ormandy was named music director in 1938 with Stokowski continuing to share the podium until 1941. Ardoin, 50.

35Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―Ormandy, Eugene.‖

79

Ormandy programmed Rachmaninoff‘s Symphonic Dances for the 1940–41 Philadelphia

Orchestra season and offered the premiere on 3 January 1941. The front page of the score bears the inscription, ―Dedicated to Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.‖36

Ormandy valued his friendship and association with Rachmaninoff and asked him for a special favor in a letter dated 29 December 1941:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff, The attached picture was given to me for Christmas by someone who knows of my admiration for you and Toscanini. This was, I think, the finest present anyone could give me. In view of the fact that I have never seen a picture of you two together and there might be very few of them, I would like to have a few words by you and by Toscanini on this picture, inscribing it to me, so I am sending it to you first because Toscanini is going to be here in two weeks and then I can ask him to do the same thing. I hope you will not disappoint me. Hoping that you and Mrs. Rachmaninoff as well as your daughter and granddaughter37 are having a wonderful holiday, with kind greetings to you all, I am, Cordially yours, Eugene Ormandy38

The enclosed photograph featured Rachmaninoff on the left and Toscanini on the right.

Rachmaninoff simply signed it, ―To Mr. Eugene Ormandy, Sincerely, Sergei Rachmaninoff,

Dec. 31, 1941.‖ However, on the boarder of the photo to the left of the image, Rachmaninoff added another handwritten note, ―An American visiting had his picture taken standing next to the famous statue of of Belvedere. He sent his picture to his wife, and that she

36―Eugene Ormandy: A Centennial Celebration,‖ curated by Marjorie Hassen, Otto E. Albrecht Music Library, University of Pennsylvania (accessed 16 June 2008), .

37Rachmaninoff had two daughters, but here Ormandy is referring to Irina and her daughter, Sophie, who lived in New York. Rachmaninoff‘s other daughter, Tatiana, lived in France and later Switzerland and had a son, Alexander.

38Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, M–, File ―Ormandy, Eugene.‖

80 might make no mistake wrote under it: ‗I am at the left.‘ S.‖39 Ormandy, pleased with

Rachmaninoff‘s gesture, responded on 7 January 1942:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: Please forgive the typewritten note, but I just got back from New York and Toscanini is waiting for me at the rehearsal. Still, I want to thank you so much for your signature on the picture, and even more so for the very humorous and modest remark ―on the left.‖ Only a great man like yourself can be so modest. With your permission, I shall show the picture to Toscanini today, and further shall have the picture as well as your remark framed. Thanking you again, and with affectionate greetings, I am, most cordially, Eugene Ormandy40

Rachmaninoff, a perfectionist himself, no doubt appreciated the disciplined approach to music making and the consistent sound Ormandy drew from the Philadelphia Orchestra. More than simply offering the lush ―Philadelphia Sound,‖ Ormandy understood every nuance of the music he conducted and comprehended the score on an intuitive, emotional level. Rachmaninoff regarded the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Ormandy‘s leadership, as the best orchestra in the world.

In addition to frequent appearances with major orchestras on the East Coast,

Rachmaninoff traveled extensively to appear with nearly every professional orchestra in the country. He frequently collaborated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its long-standing conductor Frederick Stock, who in 1905 succeeded the symphony‘s founding conductor,

Theodore Thomas, and continued with the symphony until 1942. Rachmaninoff had complete confidence in Stock, as he indicated in a letter dated 16 October 1935:

39Ibid.

40Toscanini signed the photo, ―To Eugene Ormandy with fervent friendship, Arturo Toscanini, January 12 – 42,‖ on 12 January 1942. The photo in the Archive file is a copy of the original. A note added by Sofia Satin states that the snapshot of Rachmaninoff and Toscanini was made in Lucerne, Switzerland, in August 1939, ibid. In 1987 Mrs. Margaret Ormandy donated Maestro Ormandy‘s many personal and professional papers and documents to the University of Pennsylvania Library and the collection is housed in the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library. However, the original signed photo of Rachmaninoff and Ormandy is not in the Ormandy Archive.

81

Referring to your letter of 8 October. I wish to tell you that the orchestra material of my ―Rhapsodie‖ is in the hand of my publisher Carl Fisher whom I have asked to communicate with Mr. Voegeli [Chicago manager] concerning the delivery of it to Chicago. As for the other numbers of the program—I leave the choice to you because I am sure you would make it as interesting as you do it usually.41

On 7 November 1935 in Chicago, Rachmaninoff gave the first performance of his

Rhapsody with Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On the program Stock also included Rachmaninoff‘s Symphony No. 2 and Liadov‘s Eight Russian Folk Songs, Opus

58.42 Rachmaninoff also performed on numerous occasions with the Cincinnati

Symphony Orchestra, , Detroit Symphony, Minneapolis Orchestra,

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the San Francisco

Symphony.

Always concerned for his less fortunate Russian friends, Rachmaninoff appealed to fellow Russian Ossip Gabrilowitsch, conductor of the Detroit Symphony, to program

Nikolai Medtner and Alexander Siloti, struggling to gain a foothold outside Russia.

Gabrilowitsch responded on 9 April 1921, sharing the realities of scheduling artists with

America orchestras:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff, I have today your communication of April 7, informing me that Siloti is coming to America. Previously you spoke of Medtner and expressed the wish that I should engage him as soloist for Detroit. It is unfortunately impossible for me to use both of these pianists, because we have, as you know, such a limited number of concerts in Detroit—only half as many as Philadelphia or Chicago, for instance. Neither Siloti nor Medtner have any drawing power so that the Directors of the Detroit Symphony Society would be unwilling to engage them at all, unless it were just to please me and I would have to undertake the full responsibility for the success of their appearance. Under the circumstances it is possible for me to use

41Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―S.‖

42Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 126. 82

only one of them, and I am writing to ask which one you prefer to have appear in Detroit, Medtner or Siloti? I will be glad to follow your wishes in this matter. With kindest regards, very sincerely yours, Ossip Gabrilowitsch43

Medtner was the one who appeared in Detroit, with Rachmaninoff apparently recommending him over Siloti. After years of negotiating an American touring contract for him, Rachmaninoff succeeded, arranging a 1924–25 tour managed by Arthur Judson. In addition to performing

Medtner‘s C-minor piano concerto44 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Medtner also performed his concerto with Gabrilowitsch and the Detroit Symphony in January 1924.45 Medtner returned to Europe and ultimately settled in

London in 1935. Siloti moved to New York in December 1921, living there until his death in

1945. He embarked on American concert tours in 1922 and 1923, organized by George Engles and supported by Steinway and Sons. Siloti joined the faculty of the Julliard Graduate School and taught there until 1942.46

American orchestras added to their number during Rachmaninoff‘s time in America. The founder of the , William Andrews Clark, Jr., had originally asked

Rachmaninoff to be its first music director in 1919, but Rachmaninoff declined the offer since he had recently moved to New York and selected a performing career.47 He performed several times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic late in his career, including two engagements at the

43Ibid., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, F–, File ―Gabrilowitsch, Ossip.‖

44At this point in his career, Medtner had composed one piano concerto (Opus 33). He completed his second piano concerto, also in C minor (Opus 50), in 1927, and his third concerto, in E minor (Opus 60), in 1943. Barrie Martyn, ―Medtner, Nicolas,‖ Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 28 June 2008), .

45Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995), 167.

46Charles Barber, Lost in the Stars: The Forgotten Musical Life of Alexander Siloti (Oxford: Scarecrow Press, 2002), 197, 207.

47William E. Conway and Robert Stevenson, William Andrews Clark, Jr.: His Cultural Legacy (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), 35.

83

Hollywood Bowl in July 1942. The National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC was founded in 1931 with conducting until 1949, and Rachmaninoff appeared with that group. Kindler communicated directly with Rachmaninoff on 7 August 1940, ―If this will suit your plans, I think it might be best, for our concerts in Washington and Baltimore, to select the

Second Concerto as your solo work. Trusting that this will suit you, and with kind regards.‖48

Rachmaninoff cordially responded on 13 August 1940, ―My dear Mr. Kindler, thank you very much for your kind letter of August 7, and for informing me of your selection. I shall make a note of the fact that I shall play my Second Concerto with you in Washington and Baltimore.‖49

Clear and direct communication between conductor, Rachmaninoff, and orchestral management occurred on most occasions; however, misunderstandings occasionally took place.

Disappointed that Rachmaninoff apparently declined an offer to perform with the Cleveland

Orchestra, Artur Rodziński intervened and thought he needed to persuade Rachmaninoff in a letter dated 2 February 1940:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff, It was indeed a great personal disappointment to me to learn from Mr. Vosburgh [Cleveland Orchestra manager], today, that you were unwilling to appear with the Orchestra in one of our Sunday afternoon concerts in the large Hall of the Public Auditorium. We have given three of these concerts with Flagstad, Martinelli, and Kreisler, with audiences as high as 8,700 persons. The Auditorium has a most excellent amplification system, and Mr. Kreisler was most enthusiastic over the concert. I am informed that we turned away hundreds of persons at the time of your appearance with the Orchestra here this season. I am positive that the large musical public would be thrilled to death if we might announce that you were to appear with us next season. I shall greatly appreciate your reconsidering this possibility.

48Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, K–, File ―Kindler, Hans.‖

49Ibid., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―K.‖

84

With deep affection, I am, very sincerely yours, Arthur Rodziński.50

Rachmaninoff responded on 22 February 1940 with the following explanation:

Dear Mr. Rodzińksi: I am awfully sorry that I hadn‘t answered your letter of 2 February until today. But I only returned on the fifteenth, and in order to have answered your letter, I had to see Marks Levine of N.B.C., who came to see me only last night. From my discussion with him I found out that the concerts to which you were referring were with the orchestra, presumably under your conducting. I refused because I thought it was to be a recital. Now I gave my consent to Levine who will arrange the further details. Sincerely yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff51

Rodziński, pleased with the response, offered his appreciation to Rachmaninoff on 4 March

1940:

My dear Mr. Rachmaninoff, I was very happy to have your letter of February 22, and I am doubly happy that the misunderstanding concerning the proposed concert for next season has been cleared up so that it is now possible for you to accept the engagement with us. Naturally, I am greatly delighted that we shall have the pleasure of your appearance with the Orchestra again, and shall look forward to the occasion. With kindest regards, I am, sincerely yours, Artur Rodziński52

On 2 March 1941 Rachmaninoff appeared with Rodziński and the Cleveland Symphony

Orchestra performing both his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Beethoven‘s Piano

Concerto No. 1. Rodziński also programmed Beethoven‘s Egmont and Richard

Strauss‘s Till Eulenspeigel’s Merry Pranks.53

Prior to conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, Rodziński had served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and had programmed Rachmaninoff‘s Five Etudes, orchestrated

50Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Rodziński, Artur.‖

51Ibid., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―R.‖

52Ibid., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Rodziński, Artur.‖

53Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 166.

85 by Respighi. Uncertain of the , Rodziński wrote directly to Rachmaninoff on 18 October

1932:

Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: I intent to perform this season your Five Etudes, orchestrated by Mr. Respighi. I would appreciate it very much if you would let me know the metronomic tempi of every movement. With kind regards, and thanking you for this information as soon as possible, Dr. Artur Rodziński54

Rachmaninoff wrote his instructions on the back of Rodziński‘s letter, perhaps for his secretary to transcribe a return letter to Rodziński. Rachmaninoff simply listed numbers one through five, drew a quarter or eighth note after each, and indicated the specific metronome marking after an equal sign:55

1. Quarter note = 92 2. Quarter note = 126 3. Quarter note = 52–54 or Eighth = 80–84 4. Quarter note = 138–44 5. Quarter note = 8056

Conductors, in addition to performers, could be sensitive to a harsh concert review printed in a local newspaper. Such was the case when Eugene Goossens conducted the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on tour with Rachmaninoff in Chicago at Northwestern

University, and a reviewer criticized, not Rachmaninoff, but Goossens. He explained his dilemma to Rachmaninoff in a letter dated 26 November 1937:

Dear Maestro: First let me tell you again how proud and happy we of the Cincinnati Orchestra were to be associated with you in the recent concerts in Cincinnati and

54Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Rodziński, Artur.‖

55Ibid.

56Rachmaninoff‘s metronome markings have not been incorporated in subsequent editions. Malcolm MacDonald, ed. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances; Five Études-Tableau, Full Orchestral Score (London: Boosey and Hawkes, 2005), 149–253.

86

Chicago. Our collaboration will remain one of the outstanding artistic experiences of my career. I am enclosing for you a venomous and obviously malicious cutting from the Chicago Herald Examiner, in which grave statements are made by a young woman called Janet Gunn concerning the nature of my accompanying of your ―Rhapsodie.‖ As you well know, it is beneath the dignity of an artist to enter into an altercation with any critic, especially if she be, as is the case in this particular instance, the daughter of a particularly prejudiced father who also happens to be a critic himself.57 Nevertheless, the allegations which she makes are of such a serious nature that, for my own protection, I should very much like to have ten words from you in writing, saying that you were satisfied with the orchestral support we gave you at this particular Chicago concert. I shall not make any public use of your letter nor shall I implicate you in any undignified arguments. So you need have no fear about writing me the lines in question. I am going to impose one more favor upon you by asking you to send me a signed photograph as a souvenir of our collaboration. Your affectionate Eugene Goossens58

Goossens enclosed the clipping of the newspaper review and underlined the offensive comments:

. . . sad to say, Rachmaninoff‘s performance of his notable and difficult composition was not as electrifying as the one we enjoyed a season or two ago in Orchestra Hall. He was hampered by inadequate orchestral accompaniment and the incompetent direction of Mr. Goossens. At several cues in the score Mr. Goossens was caught flat-footed on the upbeat, causing Rachmaninoff to ad lib, nod his head, and wait for the orchestra to join in the business of making music. . . . The Cincinnati Symphony, like its conductor, is patently not first rate. They are not a persuasive musical aggregation of well drilled talent. With the proper, unrelenting discipline of a fine leader, they could diminish the unpleasant squeaking and scratching propensity of the string sections, produce better tone in the woodwind , and, in general, eventually approach the veteran standard.59

57Janet Gunn‘s father was Glen Dillard Gunn, pianist and prominent Chicago music critic for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Herald Examiner. Glenn Dillard Gunn Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

58Perhaps Goossens wanted a ―letter of reference,‖ of sorts, from Rachmaninoff to vouch for Goossens musical abilities. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, F–, File ―Goossens, Eugene.‖

59Janet Gunn, ―Rachmaninoff Hailed as Symphony Soloist,‖ Chicago Herald Examiner, 24 November 1937. Underlined clipping in Goossens file of Rachmaninoff Archive, LOC.

87

Edward Barry reviewed the concert for the Chicago Daily Times and offered a less-critical assessment of Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody performance, ―By his forthright, often harsh, but always characterful, performance of his own glitteringly brilliant Rhapsody, Mr. Rachmaninoff brought down upon his head a prolonged ovation.‖ Barry, however, also found fault with

Goossens‘s orchestral performances on the program, Handel‘s Overture to the Occasional

Oratorio, Prokofiev‘s Symphony No. 1, and R. Strauss‘s , ―The organization reflects admirably the cleanness and incisiveness which is so obviously a part of the leader‘s personality, but its tonal qualities in the first two offerings (and, less noticeably, in the third) left quite a bit to be desired.‖60 Rachmaninoff offered an encouraging response to Goossens in a later dated 11

December 1937:

Dear Mr. Goossens: I have your letter of 26 November and I quite agree with you that ―it is beneath the dignity of an artist to enter into an altercation with any critic.‖ Furthermore, I do not see how any remark made by any newspaper reviewer could endanger the position of an artist of your reputation and I do not believe that you need any ―protection.‖ In conclusion I wish to tell you that in respect of public reception and the quality of the performance I would not hesitate to repeat the same performance with you tomorrow. Sincerely yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff61

Goossens, pleased with Rachmaninoff‘s remarks and a signed photographed, thanked

Rachmaninoff on 18 December 1937:

Dear Maestro: It was really nice of you to bother to reply to my letter about the Chicago incident, and I am glad to think that you consider the matter sufficiently unimportant to do nothing further about it. I have therefore left it ―in status quo,‖ and shall only carry the one great outstanding memory away with me regarding

60 Edward Barry, ―Two Headliners Launch Music Study Concerts,‖ Chicago Daily Tribune, 24 November 1937.

61Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―D.‖

88

that concert— namely, the honor and joy I experienced in collaborating with you in the Beethoven and your own work. The photograph occupies an honored place on my study wall, though I don‘t attempt to hide from you the fact that Mrs. Goossens is madly jealous! I have told her, however, (to console her), that the fact that you even troubled to send me a photograph was indirectly a tribute to her. I do hope, dear friend, that I shall have the pleasure of renewing our artistic association in the very near future. Yours very sincerely, Eugene Goossens62

In addition to friendships with leading conductors working in America, Rachmaninoff maintained a close association with two of the top performers of the day, Fritz Kreisler and Josef

Hofmann. Violinist Kreisler and pianist Rachmaninoff rarely performed on the same stage in public; rather, they performed and recorded together for RCA Victor in 1928.63 One known joint public appearance took place in New York City at Madison Square Garden in 1933. Walter

Damrosch arranged a festival orchestra made up of players from the city as a benefit concert for the Musicians Emergency Fund with Kreisler and Rachmaninoff as the celebrity soloists.

Kreisler performed Beethoven‘s on the first half of the program and

Rachmaninoff played his Concerto No. 2 to close the concert. This concert served as the grand finale to five such benefit concerts planned by Damrosch that season with more than sixteen thousand people attending, and thirty-thousand dollars generated for the Musicians Emergency

Fund.64

Rachmaninoff described his recording relationship with Kreisler in a rare interview with

Gramophone magazine. In the interview Rachmaninoff talked about his recordings that most

62Ibid., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, F–, File ―Goossens, Eugene.‖

63Recording sessions on 28/29 February, 28 March, 14/15 September, and 20/21 December, 1928, resulted in three Rachmaninoff-approved issued recordings—Beethoven: Sonata Opus 30, no. 3; Grieg: Sonata No. 3, Opus 45; and Schubert: Sonata (Duo) D574. Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005), 397–98.

64Olin Downes, ―16,000 Hear Kreisler and Rachmaninoff at the Final Concert in the Musicians‘ Fund Series,‖ New York Times, 4 April 1933.

89 satisfied him, and he mentioned two sonatas for violin and piano performed with Kreisler, the

Grieg C-minor and Beethoven G-major Sonatas:

Do the critics who have praised those Grieg records so highly realize the immense amount of hard work and patience necessary to achieve such results? The six sides of the Grieg set we recorded no fewer than five times each. From these thirty discs we finally selected the best, destroying the remainder. Perhaps so much labour did not altogether please Fritz Kreisler. He is a great artist, but does not care to work too hard. Being an optimist, he will declare with enthusiasm that the first set of proofs we make are wonderful, marvelous. But my own pessimism invariably causes me to feel, and argue, that they could be better. So when we work together, Fritz and I, we are always fighting.65

After seeing the paragraph in print, Rachmaninoff wrote his interviewer, Nora C. Barr Adams, who published under a pseudonym Norman Cameron, concerned that his comments about

Kreisler might be misinterpreted as criticism:

My dear Miss Adams, Thank you very much for the copy of the April ―Gramophone‖ and your letter of April 1 which was forwarded to me by my secretary from New York. It gave me a great pleasure to read the interview, except for one paragraph in it concerning Mr. Kreisler, which came as a great shock to me. Could it be cleared up? It is a misunderstanding. I am not only a personal friend of Mr. Kreisler but also a great admirer of his genius as an artist, and never for a moment did I intimate to criticize him about his not liking to repeat records when playing for the gramophones. What I meant as a joke has become a serious criticism of his work in general—―but does not care to work too hard.‖ Now I repeat that I never meant to say such a thing, and should therefore greatly appreciate your leaving this paragraph out completely in case you should want to publish this interview again in other magazines. Thanking you in advance, Sergei Rachmaninoff66

In a previous letter to Rachmaninoff dated 1 April 1931, Adams had shared her admiration for him, ―It has indeed been a privilege to write about an artist to whose genius I owe such an

65Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―The Artist and the Gramophone,‖ Gramophone 9 (1931): 526.

66Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―A.‖

90 unfailing source of beauty, courage and consolation as I find in your playing and wonderful music.‖67 She then responded to Rachmaninoff‘s dissatisfaction on 3 May 1931:

Dear M. Rachmaninoff, Thank you very much for your letter. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that you feel that the paragraph about Mr. Kreisler may have created a false impression. Myself, I fully realized that you intended the remarks in question as a joke, and you may be glad to know that everyone who has discussed the article with me has interpreted that particular paragraph in a humourous way. But I do very clearly understand and appreciate your point of view about the matter, and I am writing to the Editor of The Gramophone asking him to publish part of your letter to me in his next issue in order to correct any misapprehension that may have arisen. In any case, the fault is entirely mine, for not expressing the paragraph in such a way that there could have been no doubt as to its meaning. You will realize, I am sure, that nothing could have been farther from my mind than to write anything likely to cause annoyance to yourself or to Mr. Kreisler. I do most sincerely regret any worry or inconvenience that matter may have caused you, and will, of course, suppress the paragraph in the event of the article‘s being republished. Yours sincerely, N. C. Barr Adams68

Adams convinced the Gramophone editor to issue a ―correction,‖ although she was not pleased with the result and wrote again to Rachmaninoff on 2 June 1931:

Dear M. Rachmaninoff: I send you herewith a copy of the June Gramophone containing on page 27 an extract from your letter to me about the paragraph concerning Mr. Kreisler in the interview published in April. I may add that I am not responsible for the form in which this appears. I made it quite clear to the Editor in my letter to him that I was entirely to blame for any misunderstanding which might arise in connection with the reference to Mr. Kreisler, and I am sorry to see that he has felt called upon to treat the matter rather flippantly. Possibly, however, my own almost reverential respect and admiration for yourself has inclined me to exaggerate the importance of this. In any case, I should like to express my appreciation of the very kind and generous attitude shown in your letter to me over a matter that must have caused you considerable annoyance, and most sincere regret for my own responsibility in this. Very sincerely, N. C. Barr Adams69

67Ibid., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―A.‖

68Ibid.

91

The Gramophone editor had printed the reply, titled ―Rachmaninoff and Kreisler‖:

No one in his wits would have inferred from the paragraph on p. 526 (April) about Kreisler that Rachmaninoff was speaking seriously about his colleague‘s optimism or his laziness; but since its publication he has written to his interviewer, ―I am not only a personal friend of Mr. Kreisler but also a very great admirer of his genius as an artist, and never for a moment did I intend to criticize him. My sentence about his not liking to repeat records when playing for the gramophone, which I meant as a joke, has become a serious criticism of his work in general. . . . I never meant to say such a thing.‖ Of course he didn‘t; but the interviewer wants us to explain the matter, so we do.70

In addition to Kreisler, Rachmaninoff maintained a close friendship with pianist Josef

Hofmann, lasting throughout Rachmaninoff‘s tenure in America. They exchanged numerous letters and notes, sometimes very touching, at other times critical of their own talent or that of the other. In a letter dated 11 January 1930, Hofmann must have enclosed a concert review in his greeting to Rachmaninoff:

My dear Rachmaninoff: From the enclosed, you will gather that besides being a poor pianist, rotten piano teacher and director, I am at the head of a musical detective bureau. Just the same—kindest greetings and best wishes for a Happy New Year to you and yours, As Ever, Josef H.71

The two greatest pianists of the day had a friendly rapport and did not hesitate to encourage each other or offer a critique. Rachmaninoff responded on 14 January 1930:

Dear Mr. Hofmann: How fortunate that you have a musical detective bureau! Thanks to it I had a chance to read the newspaper criticism of my playing, which my manager failed to show me because the critics have ―pinched‖ me. What a delight you gave me with your Suite and how marvelously you played it! The first part only seemed to me a trifle monotonous.

69bid.

70―Rachmaninoff and Kreisler,‖ The Gramophone 9 (June 1931): 27.

71Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, H–, File ―Hofmann, Josef.‖

92

Am I allowed to make one more remark? Why the second half Valse was played not in the same character as the first one? The first one was so beautiful! I hope you are not angry with me? Always yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff72

Several months later, 31 March 1930, Rachmaninoff asked Hofmann for help with another Russian friend and showed his appreciation for Hofmann‘s thoughtfulness:

My dear Mr. Hofmann: Upon my return to New York I found a letter from , Balletmaster, whom certainly you know at least by the name. This is the same Fokine who has created famous Diagileff‘s , Scheherazade, Cock [sic] d’Or, Polovetzki Dances, etc. Last winter Mr. Fokine was directing some productions in Hollywood and expects to come back to New York in a near future. Mr. Fokine asks me to find out from you whether the Curtis Institute would not be interested to engage him to teach its students plastic, style, , dances, etc. Of course, I do not need to recommend to you Mr. Fokine: his name and reputation speak for himself. I only ask you to be kind enough and tell me frankly and shortly—are you interested in Mr. Fokine‘s art and experience, yes or no. If yes—I shall write him and tell him to get in touch directly with you, if no—I will tell him that it would be useless to bother you. Sincerely yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff PS: I was greatly touched that you came to my recital in Philadelphia.73

Hofmann was not able to provide Fokine a post at the Curtis Institute. However, Fokine did enjoy success in America. Beginning in the late 1930s, the Ballet Theatre of New York employed him to present revivals of ―‖ and ―,‖ and due to those successes, the company commissioned him to create new ballets—―Blue Beard‖ and ―La Belle Hélène‖ set to the music of Offenbach and a restaged version of ―.‖74

72Ibid., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―Hofmann, Josef.‖

73Ibid.

74―Fokine Dies Here; Father of Ballet,‖ New York Times, 22 August 1942.

93

In 1937, on the occasion marking Hofmann‘s golden jubilee, Rachmaninoff sent

Hofmann a congratulatory telegram, and Hoffmann responded with a telegram of his own on 9

December 1937:

Very dear Rachmaninoff, your beautiful telegram to me on the occasion of my golden jubilee is one of the most prized possessions and makes me feel that perhaps my fifty years of endeavors have not been in vain. I hope to see you and your dear lady soon. With warmest greetings and my most sincere admiration, believe me as always, your Josef Hofmann.75

Rachmaninoff received a unique request from another pianist who toured in America,

Paul Wittgenstein. Wounded during the First World War, his right arm had to be amputated. Not to be deterred from performing, he commissioned composers to write works he could play with only one hand. Many composers wrote for him, including , Sergei Prokofiev,

Maurice Ravel, and .76 Ravel‘s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand became the best known, and Wittgenstein premiered it in Vienna in 1932 and performed it with American orchestras in subsequent years. Wittgenstein wrote Rachmaninoff a heartfelt request on 18

October 1941:

My dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: Some time ago I heard you play over the radio your Capriccio [Rhapsody] on a theme of Paganini.77 Apart from the marvelous playing, I was so impressed by the work itself, that I conceived a plan, which might seem preposterous, but which, I thought, in the worst of cases can‘t do any harm. Therefore, without any preludes, I am taking the liberty of asking you: Would you like to write a concerto (or something concerto-like) for me? That I would be happy beyond measures, if a composer who, apart from everything else, knows our instrument and all its possibilities as you do, would write something for me, needs no assurance.

75Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, H–, File ―Hofmann, Josef.‖

76Ronald Kinloch Anderson and Katherine K. Preston, ―Wittgenstein, Paul,‖ Grove Music Online (accessed 25 June 2008), .

77When listening to radio Wittgenstein would have heard a recording of Rachmaninoff playing his Rhapsody, not Rachmaninoff performing live on radio. 94

But I thought that you too perhaps might be somewhat tempted by such an idea. Ravel said to me appropos of his concerto written for me that he liked difficulties, ―Je me joue des difficultees.‖ If anyone would be able ―de se jouer,‖ to play with these difficulties and to make the most of half the means (I mean of one hand), it surely is you. As I think that everything should frankly be told from the beginning: a fee, which would conform to your fame and which you would be entitled to demand, such a fee I, having had to immigrate and having lost a considerable part of my fortune, am not anymore in a position to offer. What I can offer you in point of fee, could scarcely tempt you to give up so much of your precious time and work, as would be necessary in this case. If I could at all hope you would want to do it, what could induce you would mainly be the task itself. In case you should at all consider this preposition of mine—not in any way accepting it, but just taking it into consideration—I would suggest that I should come to you and play to you for an hour or so. I dare to presume that you would know my name; but I don‘t think you ever heard me play. I could make it possible any time suitable to you, if would be kind enough to let me know the day and the time before hand. But I repeat: my playing to you and your listening to it does not in any way commit you to anything! You can say ―I don‘t like your playing‖ or ―I like your playing, but I don‘t feel at all tempted to write something for you‖—and not the slightest offense! In heartfelt admiration, Paul Wittgenstein78

Rachmaninoff did not compose such a work, and it is not known if Wittgenstein ever played for him. His secretary typed a copy of the reply, dated 21 October 1941, on the reverse side of

Wittgenstein‘s letter:

My dear Mr. Wittgenstein: I opened your letter in the absence of Mr. Rachmaninoff, who at present is on his concert tour. As soon as he returns to New York your letter will be presented to him. However, I shall in all fairness, warn you that Mr. Rachmaninoff is not in the habit of giving auditions to anybody. Very truly yours, Secretary to Mr. Rachmaninoff79

78Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, W–, File ―Wittgenstein, Paul.‖

79Rachmaninoff did not compose any works specifically for left hand. Ibid.

95

Although Rachmaninoff‘s hectic practicing and performing schedule in America prevented him from time to compose during the concert season, he did take an interest in a number of American composers and arrangers such as Robert Russell Bennett, Ferde Grofé, and

Paul Whiteman, in a letter dated 29 October 1949 to Serge Bertensson who was preparing his seminal biography on Rachmaninoff, described several meetings with Rachmaninoff:

Mr. Serge Bertensson, Earlier in my life I had the great pleasure of making friends with him and, like everyone who was exposed to his beautiful personality, I count the minutes spent with him as very precious. Our first meeting was at a time when Mr. Fritz Kreisler and I were working something out together, and we happened by chance to meet in a studio. . . . I was at that time working on the arrangements for ―Of Thee I Sing‖ with music by George Gershwin. I had to excuse myself rather early during the afternoon because I had to begin work on the overture for the play. Mr. Rachmaninoff asked me when I had to finish it, and I told him that the orchestra was rehearsing it the following afternoon at 4:00 PM [mid-December 1931]. He looked at me very gravely and said, ―That is too little time,‖ and he was perfectly right, but he understood already that that was show business in the U. S. A. Later on, when he was doing his symphonic dances, he wanted to use a tone in the first movement and got in touch with me to advise him as to which of the saxophone family to use and just how to include it in his score— his experience with being extremely limited. I therefore, considered him as my pupil, or at least so I boast to my friends. At that time he played over his score for me on the piano and I was delighted to see his approach to the piano was quite the same as that of all of us when we try to imitate the sound of an orchestra at the keyboard. He sang, whistled, stomped, rolled his chords, and otherwise conducted himself not as one would expect of so great and impeccable a piano virtuoso. Some days later we had lunch together at his place in Huntington, Long Island. When he met my wife and me at the railroad station he was driving the car and after driving about one hundred years, he stopped the car, turned to me, and said, ―I start on A sharp?‖80 I said, ―That‘s right,‖ and he said, ―Right‖ and drove on out to his place.81

80Composing for the requires E-flat transposition.

81Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―Bennett, Robert Russell.‖

96

Rachmaninoff utilized the alto saxophone in the first movement of his Symphonic Dances, and the composition is one of very few orchestral works to feature the instrument.

Rachmaninoff became interested in Ferde Grofé when he heard a ―jazz‖ orchestra in a

London restaurant perform a number of Grofé‘s arrangements, including one of his famous prelude.82 Rachmaninoff had performed in London on 10 March 1932 at the start of an expanded

European summer holiday and no doubt heard the dance orchestra at that time.83 On his trip back to America for the fall season, he spoke to ship reporters about the arrangements, and his observations appeared in the New York Times:

Serge Rachmaninoff, who returned yesterday on the Europa, refused to discuss the new compositions he has been working on in Switzerland this summer. He talked freely on the subject of Ferde Grofé, young American composer who has won his admiration. Grofé is a writer of popular songs. Rachmaninoff said he was delighted with the jazz arrangements which Grofé has made of certain classical works, particularly of Rimsky-Korsakoff‘s ―Coq d‘Or‖ and his own C-sharp minor prelude. He heard the jazz transcription of the latter by accident, walking in on an orchestra that happened to be playing it, and confessed that he was enchanted. As for ―Coq d‘Or‖ he believes that Rimsky- Korsakoff, whom he knew well, would have applauded the new version. Rachmaninoff said that if possible he will attend the Paul Whiteman concert in Carnegie Hall on Nov. 4 when Grofé‘s ―Grand Canyon‖ will be played.84

Two weeks later Grofé wrote a letter of appreciation to Rachmaninoff, dated 24 October 1932:

My Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: I take this opportunity of expressing my sincere appreciation for your interest in my works. At this late date I would like to convey to you my disappointment, when some years ago I was afforded an opportunity of meeting you, which was made possible by your manager, Mr. Foley, with you, Mr. Kreisler and myself, but due to a previous Whiteman recording date at the Victor, Co., I was forced to cancel our meeting.

82Bertensson, 288–89.

83Rachmaninoff‘s only other European performance that season took place in Paris on 16 March 1932. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, File ―American Concerts 1930–35,‖ 92.

84―Rachmaninoff Back; Lauds Work of Grofé,‖ New York Times, 10 October 1932.

97

I have read with interest your recent interview given the press, upon your return from Europe, where in you gave praise to my musical endeavors, and to say the least, I have never been honored quite so much, especially from a genius such as you. Your kind words will assist and encourage me to do better things in the realm of music. Your accomplishments and world recognition will always tend to guide me in the field of music, in my endeavors to reach the pinnacle which you have held and always will hold in the hearts of the American people. It is my fondest hope, that I will be given an opportunity of personally expressing to you my sincere gratitude at some future date. Very sincerely yours, Ferde Grofé 85

On 4 November, Grofé, Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff attended the highly anticipated Carnegie

Hall event, Whiteman‘s ―Fourth Experiment in Modern American Music,‖ which featured

Grofé‘s Grand Canyon Suite. The New York Times took note: ―Sergei Rachmaninoff, who has said that he finds Grofé‘s work interesting, was in the audience to prove it.‖86

English composer and arranger Percy Grainger lived in White Plains, New York, throughout the 1920s and ‘30s, and communicated with Rachmaninoff on 15 March 1924 about the compositions Grainger would present in concert:

Dear Master: On the evening of at Bridgeport, , and on the evening of April 30 at Carnegie Hall, The Bridgeport Oratorical Society and I are giving a concert with Orchestra at which two of your ―Songs of the Church,‖ (Laude the Name of the Lord, To the Mother of God) will be sung by the unaccompanied chorus of three hundred voices. I am conducting the orchestral pieces which comprise works by and myself; and Mr. Frank Kasschau, the conductor of the Bridgeport Oratorical Society, is conducting the a capella numbers. He is a very fine artist and an intense admirer of your genius and is most anxious to give these two works of yours in the best possible manner. I am wondering whether you could find time during the early part of April to let Mr. Kasschau and me call upon you in order that we might learn as exactly as possible all your express wishes about these two glorious compositions of yours that we are so keenly looking forward to present at our concerts. If you

85Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, F–, File ―Grofé, Ferde.‖

86―Whiteman Regales in Modern Music,‖ New York Times, 5 November 1932.

98

could give us a few minutes of your time, both Mr. Kasschau and I would most deeply appreciate it. In greatest admiration, Always cordially yours, Percy Grainger87

Grainger and Rachmaninoff were not able to meet that April because Rachmaninoff had planned to leave for his summer holiday in Europe. His final performance of the season occurred on 10

March 1924 at the White House,88 then he sailed for Europe in late March, arriving in Naples on the Duilio on 5 April.89 In Grainger‘s writings, he noted the audience response to

Rachmaninoff‘s works on the occasion of the 28 and 30 April performances, ―The Grieg and the Rachmaninoff Songs of the Church made a great appeal under Mr. Kasschau‘s ripping training and leadership. Both these collections are examples of ideal writing, and show off to the best advantage any decent that tackles them.‖90 Regarding Rachmaninoff‘s skills as a pianist, Grainger, himself a successful touring pianist in America, observed that the greatest performers, like Rachmaninoff, were composers, who perhaps possessed a greater gift of

―understanding‖ when interpreting a composition.91

In addition to public and professional interaction with composers, conductors, and musicians in America, Rachmaninoff developed a private, off-stage friendship with a pianist who would become a performing superstar of the next generation, Vladimir Horowitz. In the 1920s

87Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, F–, File ―Grainger, Percy.‖

88Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, File ―American Concerts 1920–25.‖

89Bertensson, 235.

90Malcolm Gillies and Bruce Clunies Ross, eds., Grainger on Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 162.

91Malcolm Gillies and David Pear, Portrait of Percy Grainger (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2002), 172.

99 and ‘30s, the Rachmaninoffs traveled to Europe at the conclusion of each American performing season for a summer holiday to rest and sometimes compose. He and his wife usually rented a house near Paris, and then in 1930 they built a summer home in Switzerland called ―Senar,‖ named for Rachmaninoff and his wife, Sergei and Natalia Rachmaninoff. Pianist Vladimir

Horowitz and violinist each lived a few miles away and would visit

Rachmaninoff‘s house and read sonatas together. In his correspondence Rachmaninoff noted when the Horowitzs arrived for their summer holiday and that they would play four-hand piano arrangements. Rachmaninoff wrote his manager asking him to send Godowsky pieces for four hands.92 Rachmaninoff‘s guests also included Toscanini and his wife, who were Horowitz‘s father- and mother-in-law. When world politics again intervened with the build-up to the Second

World War, Rachmaninoff left Europe for the last time in the summer of 1939 and began visiting his friends who now lived in a Russian colony established in Hollywood.93

In 1941 the Rachmaninoffs themselves moved from New York to Beverly Hills, where

Horowitz, his wife, and daughter lived nearby, becoming frequent visitors, playing duets in

Rachmaninoff‘s music room.94 Serge Bertensson, also living in the neighborhood, occasionally visited and witnessed several ―concerts‖ with the two pianists. One program included

―a Mozart sonata, Mozart‘s D-major Piano Concerto, and Rachmaninoff‘s Second Suite for two pianos. It is impossible to word my impression of this event. ‗Power‘ and ‗joy‘ are the two words

92Bertensson, 287, 329.

93Ibid., 354.

94In addition to Rachmaninoff, a number of prominent Russian émigrés settled in Hollywood—, Jr., Vladimir Horowitz, Vladimir Sokoloff, and , among others. According to , ―Hollywood during the war was a more intellectually stimulating and cosmopolitan city than Paris or Munich had ever been.‖ In Rachmaninoff‘s case, he liked the weather and enjoyed the company of Russian friends, Chaliapin and Horowitz, in particular. Mann quoted in , Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts (New York: Harper Collins, 2008), 50.

100 that come first to mind—expressive power, and joy experienced by the two players, each fully aware of the other‘s greatness.‖95

During their time in California, Rachmaninoff and Horowitz appeared together visiting

Walt Disney, and that occasion in 1942 was captured in a photograph and short article published in the Musical Courier:

Two of Walt Disney‘s longtime and devoted fans, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz, have just visited the Disney studios in Hollywood to see an especially arranged showing of the artist‘s newest creation, Bambi. Part of the program was the running of Disney‘s early film, Mickey’s Opry House, in which the tiny hero was seen as a concert pianist playing Rachmaninoff‘s most famed Prelude.96 Its composer told Walt, ―I have heard my inescapable piece done marvelously by some of the best pianists, and murdered cruelly by amateurs, but never was I more stirred than by the performance of the great maestro Mouse.‖ Bambi delighted Rachmaninoff and Horowitz both with its entertaining subject and beauty of treatment.97

For being initially reticent about a new life in America, Rachmaninoff, who performed with all of the great orchestras and conductors in the country, was immortalized by the most popular American icons of the day, Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney. Dozens of conductors sought his engagement and high opinion. In particular, he developed an unparalleled relationship with the Philadelphia Orchestra at its peak under Stokowski and Ormandy. Rachmaninoff publicly shared his admiration for a select number of performers and arrangers working in

America, and they returned the adulation. However, Rachmaninoff saw mixed results for his attempts to find performing opportunities for his Russian expatriate friends. None of

95Bertensson, 371.

96Officially called The Opry House, the 1929 cartoon features Mickey playing a montage of . After the opening phrases of Rachmaninoff‘s Prelude, the studio pianist segues into phrases of childhood melodies, such as ―The Mulberry Bush,‖ next to Liszt‘s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, and back to Rachmaninoff‘s Prelude.

97Musical Courier, July 1942. Clipping located in Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909– File ―Magazine Articles, 1918–43.‖

101

Rachmaninoff‘s colleagues from his generation achieved the fame and popularity that he did.

Indeed, conductors and performers recognized the supreme talent of Rachmaninoff, the performer, which never diminished during his twenty-five years in America.

102

CHAPTER 4

RECEPTION BY AMERICAN AUDIENCES

The abundance of written reviews and articles about Rachmaninoff in the daily press fueled interest in him throughout his life in America. Nearly every city offered at least two widely read newspapers, with large cities like New York and Boston boasting six to eight major newspapers throughout the Rachmaninoff era. In addition to regular newspaper and music magazine articles promoting and reviewing a major artist‘s appearance, general interest magazines also offered in-depth treatment of classical music, magazines such as Collier’s,

Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Time, and Vogue.1 During Rachmaninoff‘s early years in America, the opinion of critics differed at times from popular opinion of audience members, which never waned. A number of American critics, accustomed to reviewing touring virtuoso pianists Josef Hofmann and Jan Paderewski, among others, did not always know how to ―read‖

Rachmaninoff whose physical appearance, demeanor, and ―Russianness‖ seemed particularly foreign, initially, and his own works and classic appeared out-of-date to the musical modernists. This chapter explores how critics and the concert-going public perceived

Rachmaninoff, the performer; how the American public altered its view of Rachmaninoff from

―cultural other‖ to ―American,‖ long before he actually became a U. S. citizen; and how

Rachmaninoff‘s own views about America and its music audiences developed over his lengthy tenure in the country, ultimately resulting in his citizenship.

1 Elizabeth O. Toombs, ―America Must Have a National Conservatory, Says Rachmaninoff,‖ Good Housekeeping 74 (1922): 70, 132–34. Charleton Smith, ―Pianos for Two: Rachmaninoff, the Piano Buster, and Hofmann, the Piano Builder, Are the World‘s Top Performers,‖ Esquire 6 (1936): 94, 206– 209; ―Prelude,‖ Time, 31 October 1938, 22; ―Rachmaninoff Festival: Series Marks Thirtieth Anniversary of His Debut in U.S., Newsweek, 4 December 1939, 40; Howard Taubman, ―Musical Triple-Threat,‖ Collier’s 104 (1939): 54, 61–62; Victor Seroff, ―The Great Rachmaninoff,‖ Vogue, 1 April 1943, 43, 88. The Vogue article was written and planned before Rachmaninoff‘s death, but the April issue appeared in print several weeks after his death in March.

103

Rachmaninoff‘s appearance and stage demeanor often drew comment from critics, reviewers, and, occasionally, fellow musicians. Unlike Paderewski before him, who possessed long, unkempt hair, Rachmaninoff wore his hair short and close cropped, causing a number of reviewers to describe Rachmaninoff as possessing a ―convict‘s haircut.‖ In addition,

Rachmaninoff was unusually tall, six feet three inches. Some described Rachmaninoff‘s tall, serious, well-dressed, and well-groomed visage as regal, but others were less charitable, including Igor Stravinsky. In his youth he often saw Rachmaninoff perform in Russia, Stravinsky being nine years younger than Rachmaninoff, and once derisively described Rachmaninoff as a

―six-and-a-half-foot-tall scowl.‖ Ironically, though both living in Russia at the same time and later neighbors in Switzerland, they did not actually meet until late in life in Hollywood.2

Eugene Ormandy reflected on his initial impression of Rachmaninoff‘s physique, ―When I first looked at him, when I first talked to him, I was afraid of him. He was so powerful. When he looked at you he was so much taller than almost anyone I knew at that time that it took a while until I realized that he was a very warm person.‖3

Another of Rachmaninoff‘s physical features also drew the attention of critics and fans, as well as comparison to fellow piano virtuoso Josef Hofmann. Rachmaninoff possessed hands larger than most, spanning an eleventh on the keyboard as easily as the average hand spans an octave.4 In contrast, Hofmann had smaller hands for which Steinway crafted a special piano with the keys slightly narrower than the standard width. The length of the Hofmann piano keyboard

2Igor Stravinsky and , Conversations with Igor Stravinsky (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1959), 42.

3Tim Page, ―Guests in the House,‖ in The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music, ed. John Ardoin (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999), 180.

4―Rachmaninoff Festival: Series Marks 30th Anniversary of His Debut in U. S.,‖ Newsweek, 4 December 1939, 40.

104 was seven-eighths of an inch shorter than the standard forty-eight inches.5 Hofmann had toured

Russia extensively before Rachmaninoff came to America and regarded Rachmaninoff as a dear friend. Rachmaninoff, in turn, dedicated his Piano Concerto No. 3 to Hofmann in 1909. Initially it hurt Rachmaninoff that Hofmann never played the concerto, until Rachmaninoff realized it was too difficult for Hofmann to perform due to the large chords demanding wide stretches of the fingers. Hofmann once explained the reason to Steinway artist manager Alexander Greiner, and he shared the conversation with Rachmaninoff who replied, ―Josef is right. I only now realize that I wrote it for an elephant!‖6 Rachmaninoff regarded Hofmann as his greatest contemporary, favoring his playing over Paderewski‘s.

Hofmann and Rachmaninoff differed in a number of additional ways, although both possessed great pianistic talents. In contrast to Rachmaninoff, Hofmann was a very poor sight reader. Greiner explained that Rachmaninoff came to his home when a recording of his

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini was first released, to listen to it with Greiner.7 Hofmann called Greiner that same evening to socialize, and Greiner invited Hofmann to join him and

Rachmaninoff:

When Hofmann arrived we went to the dining room adjoining our living room and Rachmaninoff put the pocket score of his ―Rhapsodie‖ on the dining-room table and the three of us sat down—Hofmann on Rachmaninoff‘s right and I on his left. My wife put on the record. After a few minutes, when Rachmaninoff turned the pages of the score, I felt Rachmaninoff‘s foot on mine. I looked up from the score at Rachmaninoff who looked at me with a queer expression on his face. The piece over, Hofmann left. ―Did you notice,‖ said Rachmaninoff to me, ―that Josef did not follow the score?‖

5 Richard K. Lieberman, Steinway and Sons (New Haven: Press, 1995), 164–65.

6Alexander ―Sascha‖ Greiner, ―Pianists and Pianos: Recollections of the Manager of the Concert and Artists Department of Steinway and Sons from 1928 to 1957,‖ TMs (photocopy), 85, Steinway and Sons Collection, La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Queens, NY, Series 3, Box 04099.

7Most probably this meeting occurred in 1935. Rachmaninoff premiered the work in November 1934 and recorded it several weeks later in early 1935. 105

I replied that I did. ―Hofmann is not a good sight reader,‖ I told Rachmaninoff. ―Not a good sight reader!‖ exclaimed Rachmaninoff. ―He could not follow at all!‖8

Like Rachmaninoff, Hofmann also composed a number of piano concertos, symphonies, and piano pieces, although according to Greiner, ―None of them are of real interest.‖9 Hofmann composed under the pseudonym Michel ―Dvorsky‖ which is the Polish translation of the name

―Hofmann.‖ Despite being a poor sight reader, Hofmann had an extraordinary memory and possessed the talent of being able to repeat on the piano what he had just heard someone else play.10 Unlike Rachmaninoff, Hofmann never practiced more than an hour a day, and some days not at all. Hofmann told Greiner that the great Anton Rubinstein advised him to ―learn as many pieces as possible until he was about thirty years old, even if he did not intend to play them at that time. Years later all he would need would be to go over these pieces and it would astound him how these pieces, learned while he was young, remained in both memory and fingers.‖ Since

Rachmaninoff came to full-time piano performance later in life, he practiced regularly throughout the remainder of his career, usually at least two hours every day, one hour on scales, first slowly, then very fast. He also spent additional time each day on passages from the pieces he played on tour, first very slowly, then as fast as possible.11

Just one month after arriving in America in 1918, Rachmaninoff began his extensive touring schedule solely as a concert pianist, traveling initially to Providence, Rhode Island, then to Boston on 15 December 1918. Critics and fans fondly remembered his 1909 Boston

8Greiner, 79.

9Ibid., 78.

10Ibid., 79.

11Ibid., 91.

106 appearance and enthusiastically received him again. The critical acclaim impressed

Rachmaninoff‘s manager, Charles Ellis, who sent a reassuring telegram to Rachmaninoff‘s wife who had stayed behind in New York City:

16 December 1918, 10:40 AM, Boston, Massachusetts Madame Sergei Rachmaninoff 11 East 92 Street, New York Concert here Sunday very successful, indeed beautiful performance. Great audience and very great enthusiasm. Fine press this morning. C. A. Ellis12

Every major Boston newspaper contained an extensive, positive review and commented on

Rachmaninoff‘s physical appearance:

He returns the same introspective figure, tall, a trifle more stooped, his close- cropped hair a little more gray, still indifferently awkward in walk with a suspicion of a limp, with the air of a man who had suffered, who had seen strange and terrible things, who could not yet escape memory of them. Yesterday afternoon at Symphony Hall he sat and communed with his piano, drew from it its secrets, surprised it in many confessions hidden even from those more celebrated, and confided to it images of a musical mind which spanned the periods of Mozart and Liszt and gave each a just and illuminating beauty.13 . . . Of course, his hearers—filling everything but the stage—could not get enough of him.14

Thus began a decades-long obsession in America both with how unusual Rachmaninoff looked on stage and how spectacularly he performed.

12Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1909–1920.‖

13The recital program included Mozart: Sonata in A, K. 331; Beethoven: Sonata in D, Opus 10, no. 3; Chopin: Nocturne in c-sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 1, Valse in A-flat major, Opus 42, Polonaise in C minor, Opus 40, no. 2; Rachmaninoff: Preludes in G, Opus 32, and B-flat, Opus 23; Transcriptions of Lilacs, Opus 21, and de W. R.; and Liszt Rhapsody No. 12 in C-sharp minor. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, 7.

14 ―Rachmaninoff is a Master Pianist,‖ Boston Post, 16 December 1918, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1909–1920.‖

107

In addition to Rachmaninoff‘s physical attributes, his being tall, stooped at the piano, possessing short hair, and large hands, audience members and critics observed his unique on- stage demeanor and lack of mannerisms. He possessed no long hair to fling when performing, neither did he respond with dramatic, appreciative gestures when audience applause greeted him on stage. Rachmaninoff‘s walk onto the stage was not one of a typical extrovert showman. He rarely smiled or overtly acknowledged the audience and often appeared aloof. Rachmaninoff always presented himself as traditionally well dressed and formal with a certain air, causing

Rachmaninoff‘s friend and Steinway artist manager Greiner to nickname him ―the general‖:

Among many Russian musicians [in America] Rachmaninoff was certainly the most outstanding, and his bearing and personality were so impressive that I once inadvertently replied, when asked by one of his Russian friends, as to when he was expected to arrive from Europe, ―The ‗general‘ arrives on the Queen Mary on September 20th.‖ The Russian friend of Rachmaninoff laughed and remarked that it was a most appropriate rank for Rachmaninoff. He was the ‗general‘ of all the contemporary Russian musicians. Since then this ‗rank‘ was invariably applied to Rachmaninoff when we spoke of him.15

Initially, critics compared and contrasted Rachmaninoff to Hofmann and Paderewski, the only great pianists they had seen perform. For instance, the music critic writing for the

Binghamton, New York, newspaper in January 1921 observed that ―the two other great pianists,

Paderewski and Hoffman, depend largely on their hair manes and mannerisms for their appeal to popular applause. . . . Rachmaninoff has no mannerisms. . . . Making music is a business with this business man who looks more like a financier than an artist.‖16 Later in the year, on 28

November 1921, the Toledo Times also utilized the ―businessman‖ analogy and explained how

Rachmaninoff did not typify how a great artist should appear:

15Greiner, 128.

16―Rachmaninoff Proves His Mastery of Music,‖ Binghamton Press and Leader, 26 January 1921.

108

In the first place, the genius belies all the rules as to how geniuses should look and act. He is unusually tall in stature, spare, close shaven and with close trimmed hair and looks not unlike any successful businessman of Toledo‘s streets, and he acts about as diffident when called upon to appear before the footlights to acknowledge the storms of applause. But when he is seated at his instrument, ah, there he is at home, crouching above the keyboard with elbows wide outstretched he plays, and those who hear think not of him but of his music. The works of the great composers take on a new and most unwonted beauty, as if unheard before, so individualistic is his treatment. ‗Tis said that Liszt played thus with elbows outspread to get the weight of touch so necessary to the depth of tone evoked without mere notice.17

Harvey B. Gaul, reviewer for the Pittsburgh Post, heard a number of Rachmaninoff recitals by the time of his 7 December 1922 review. Gaul described Rachmaninoff‘s non-traditional appearance and how his musical personality overcame any physical distraction:

On he lumbered last night with a portfolio bulging full of queer keyboarders, and he hunched himself at the instrument, a shocking example of piano deportment, as any fifty cent teacher will tell you, and played like a god. There was the same saturnine quizzical look on his face that makes you wonder is he a Sphinx, satyr, or simple-bodied soul. He is probably the masculine Mona Lisa of the pianistic species. Some men go through life jauntily wearing a halo where their Bare-to-hair should glisten, but Rachmaninoff radiates personality, that indefinable ―atmosphere,‖ and whether you approve of his readings or not, you approve of him.18

Although offering an unflattering description of Rachmaninoff‘s physical appearance, John

William Rogers of the Dallas Times Herald respected Rachmaninoff‘s genius:

A huge-boned, gangling hachet-faced man with the shortest hair seen hereabouts since was in our midst, ambled across the stage of McFarlin Auditorium last evening. Sitting down at the concert Steinway he entered into intimate communion with the piano. The result was some two hours

17F. W. H., ―Toledo Applauds Master Composer: Two Thousand Approve Concert Work of Sergei Rachmaninoff,‖ Toledo Times, 28 November 1921, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K. Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920–1924.‖

18Harvey B. Gaul, ―Rachmaninoff Recital,‖ Pittsburgh Post, 7 December 1922, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920–1924.‖

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of music which very likely left a lifetime impression upon every member of his Dallas audience.19

At a time early in Rachmaninoff‘s American tenure, a reviewer did not understand or appreciate Rachmaninoff‘s performance, or him, as a person. In 1922 a critic in Raleigh, North

Carolina, focused on Rachmaninoff as foreigner, as ―cultural other,‖ repeatedly emphasizing

―Russia‖ and ―Russian‖ along with stereotypical images of a barbaric, fatalistic people, not comprehendible by Americans:

Breathless, bewildered, overwhelmed Sergei Vasilyevitch Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist and composer led a thousand men and women through a program of piano music at the auditorium last night. Music that looked familiar on the printed sheet, but music that as it flowed from under the powerful fingers of the Slav became barbaric . . . and over [other] worldly. Here and there the Russian eluded his audience altogether. . . . There is no romance in the gaunt gray Russian. There is no blood of fanciful lightness in him. He is the embodiment of the stolid somberness, the fantastic fatalism of his people that over shadows all the things that have come out of that country through the medium of Russian literature and Russian music. . . . He is not a romantic figure. . . . The close cropped Russian can only be morose and somber. He knows not how to laugh and the piano was made for laughter. Genius he no doubt is. None can hear that solemn dirge of exile that his Prelude is and doubt it. A people given easily to gaiety can give as easily the due admiration of this apostle of sorrow, can recognize and applaud the technical perfection of his playing, can be overwhelmed under the power of his relentless massing of sound, but further can it go. Rachmaninoff and Russia are a thing beyond.20

Such unflattering reviews appeared infrequently, however. In town after town, large and small, critics and audience members did focus on Rachmaninoff‘s unusual, severe stage presence, but also marveled at the otherworldly music he drew from the piano.

19John William Rogers, ―Rachmaninoff Recital Exciting Experience for Dallas Audience,‖ Dallas Times Herald, 13 December 1936.

20 ―Russian Pianist in Concert Here: The Somber Rachmaninoff Beyond the Comprehension of Many,‖ Raleigh News and Observer, 10 January 1922. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920–1924.‖ 110

In addition to his physical appearance, Rachmaninoff‘s technique, tone production, and musicality elicited comment from critic and audience member. His daily practicing of scales and repertoire gave Rachmaninoff tremendous technical facility, yet he did not rely solely on showy demonstrations to impress audiences. In lyrical passages Rachmaninoff could display a musicality, a warmth, and power, rarely seen in other performers, ―As is usual with the master, there was a marked absence of fireworks, a forgetting of the performer in the thing portrayed and a sensing of the quiet atmosphere of power which surrounded the music.‖21 As a Topeka reviewer described, Rachmaninoff was a supreme interpreter and could make the piano sing with a beautiful tone:

Rachmaninoff was indeed the supreme pianist. He drew the most ravishing tone from his instrument that can be imagined. He sang upon the piano; his legato was perfection itself; there was an entire lack of mannerisms to detract from his interpretations; he was there to play and he played—he was the perfect musician.22

Rachmaninoff adroitly communicated his own musical personality, and his interpretative powers did not diminish with age. Edward Moore reported in the Chicago Tribune on 5 February

1922:

He played Chopin, the most elderly and studio-worn Chopin, and renewed its youth; he played his own compositions with a charm that no one else has ever equaled; he soothed with gentle and sent up the fireworks of virtuosity…. Rachmaninoff is one of the reasons why musical critics like their job.23

21F. W. H., ―Toledo Applauds Master Composer: Two Thousand Approve Concert Work of Sergei Rachmaninoff,‖ Toledo Times, 28 November 1921, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K. Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920–1924.‖

22C. S. M., ―The Rachmaninoff Recital,‖ Topeka Daily State Journal, 25 January 1925, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1924–1930.‖

23Edward Moore, ―Rachmaninoff Plays and Critics Find It Compensation Enough,‖ Chicago Tribune, 5 February 1922.

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Olin Downes, writing for the New York Times late in Rachmaninoff‘s career, reminded concertgoers that Rachmaninoff remained a complete musician:

The dimensions and the demonstrations of the audience gave proof of the exceptional hold that Rachmaninoff has upon the public of this day. This in- fluence is due to his unique qualities as a creative and interpretive musician, his impressive personality, and his prowess as a virtuoso; and it holds because of his gifts and his sincerity as an artist.24

Year after year, Rachmaninoff continued to please large audiences and win over critics with his technique and musicianship.

Rachmaninoff‘s recital programming appealed to audiences and caused reviewers to take note. They had become accustomed to the repertoire of Paderewski, primarily, whose programs were ―long and strenuous.‖ Adam Zamoyski, Paderewski biographer, described a typical

Paderewski program:

[It] would begin with a longish work by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms or Mendelssohn, followed by a group of shorter pieces by Bach, Scarlatti, Handel, and other composers. After this he would play a sonata—usually one of the great Beethoven sonatas, although he often performed the Chopin and Schumann sonatas. This would be followed by yet another lengthy work before the interval. The second half of the recital would begin with a Chopin group, including longer pieces like the ballades and even a sonata as well as a series of shorter ones. . . followed by a few popular pieces by Brahms, Schumann, Paderewski, Rubinstein or others, and the recital usually ended with one or two rousing works by Liszt.25

The Hartford Courant reported on 5 December 1921, that Rachmaninoff made a piano recital worth attending:

There was a time once, when a piano recital seemed to have terrors for many people and audiences were not always as large as the concert hall would accommodate. But Parson‘s Theater last evening could not well have held more people than were crowded into it to hear Sergei Rachmaninoff play, and the splendid audience gave the great pianist a royal reception.

24Olin Downes, ―Ormandy Conducts Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in First of Three Concerts,‖ New York Times, 27 November 1939.

25Adam Zamoyski, Paderewski (New York: Atheneum, 1982), 246.

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Mr. Rachmaninoff as composer and player is no stranger here. He played here with the Boston Symphony when that orchestra gave one of his large works; he has been heard in recital. His quality is known and appreciated and last evening‘s playing undoubtedly added to the esteem in which he is held by Hartford music-lovers. His varied program served to show his powers admirably and his interpretations were most attentively followed and most heartily applauded.26

On the program that season Rachmaninoff performed ballades by Liszt, Grieg, and Chopin in addition to a nocturne, waltz and scherzo by Chopin, Etude Capriccio by Dohnanyi, Elegie and

Polka de W. R. by himself, Tarantella by Liszt, and Kreisler‘s Liebesleid.27 Rachmaninoff could win over audiences to the repertoire he performed as a 1922 Pittsburgh reviewer observed:

He is the one man who can defy the canons of program building and win ovation after ovation for it. His recital was more than a lesson for students; it was a master player preaching to the professors and they were the ones who applauded him longest and loudest. If by any chance you should pass the music hall this morning you will still see the audience there asking for encores. It was the most stimulating recital of the season.28

This particular recital in Pittsburgh featured no works by J. S. Bach or Anton Rubinstein, neither did it contain lengthy works by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, or Mendelssohn, all staples of a traditional early twentieth-century piano recital, thus Rachmaninoff ―defied the canons of program building.‖ Instead, he performed Medtner‘s Improvisations, Opus 32; Weber‘s Rondo

Brilliante, Opus 62; a polonaise, nocturne, and waltz by Chopin, as well as his Sonata in B-flat minor, Opus 35; Rachmaninoff‘s Melodie and from Opus 3; Moszkowski‘s La

Jongleuse, Opus 52; Liszt‘s Etude in A-flat major; and the transcription by Andrei Schulz-Evler of ―The Blue Danube Waltz.‖ Rachmaninoff featured music by Chopin, Liszt, and himself in

26―Splendid Recital by Rachmaninoff,‖ Hartford Courant, 5 December 1921, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920 –1924.‖

27Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 38.

28Harvey B. Gaul, ―Rachmaninoff Recital,‖ Pittsburgh Post, 7 December 1922, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920–1924.‖ 113 nearly every recital in America, also displaying a fondness for Beethoven, adding a sonata nearly every year throughout the 1920s and early ‘30s. As a comparison, Josef Hofmann‘s recital repertoire was more extensive than Rachmaninoff‘s, having once played 255 works in twenty- one recitals during the 1912–13 season, though Hofmann ultimately favored Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt, as did Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff offered few works by French contemporaries,

Poulenc and Ravel, none by fellow Russian composer-pianist, Prokofiev, but Rachmaninoff did occasionally include the more tonal works by Scriabin. Though Rachmaninoff did not follow a strict recital pattern, he usually featured a complete sonata near the beginning of the program, one by Beethoven (occasionally by W. A. Mozart, R. Schumann, or Chopin), followed by a collection of Chopin‘s works. The second half of the program began with several of

Rachmaninoff‘s preludes, études, or arrangements, followed by Liszt selections, and concluding with an arrangement by Tausig. (See Appendix E for a list of Rachmaninoff‘s recital repertoire.)

A Rachmaninoff performance pleased most every listener, most every time; however, occasionally he disappointed with an encore decision, as Richard Stokes reported in the St. Louis

Dispatch on 17 March 1923, ―Rachmaninoff Hissed for Refusing Encore: Faint Sibilations

Heard When Pianist Proves Obdurate at Symphony Concert‖:

The pianist explained later that it is this year‘s fashion—a mode which had not previously reached St. Louis—for soloist at symphony concerts to decline encores. There may have been an additional factor. Other soloists may choose such extras as please them, but when the public importunes Mr. Rachmaninoff it is demanding a specific piece. This is one of his own compositions, the Prelude in C-Sharp Minor. But he detests that ubiquitous creation of his twentieth year with a peculiar aversion. It is a Frankenstein that hunts at his heels across oceans and continents. He can escape the monster only by giving no encores at all.29

29Richard L. Stokes, ―Rachmaninoff Hissed for Refusing Encore,‖ St. Louis Dispatch, 17 March 1923, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1920– 1924.‖ 114

Rachmaninoff rarely failed to give encores. It is not known if he was feeling poorly or was dissatisfied with the concert arrangements that night in St. Louis.

Audiences enthusiastically received Rachmaninoff throughout his tenure in America.

Hundreds and hundreds of positive headlines and reviews greeted Rachmaninoff in city after city, describing the Rachmaninoff experience as thrilling and magical and noting the packed auditoriums each numbering thousands of patrons:

―Great Russian Pianist Enthuses Large Audience,‖ Atlanta Constitution, 12 January 192230

―Rachmaninoff Plays: Famed Russian Pianist Enthralls with Colossal Art,‖ Los Angeles Times, 7 February 192531

―Rachmaninoff, Giant of Piano, Thrills Hearers,‖ Chicago Evening Post, 6 February 192832

―Rachmaninoff‘s Genius Thrills,‖ Washington Herald, 5 November 193133

―Rachmaninoff Plays to Throng at Carnegie Hall,‖ New York Herald Tribune, 7 November 193134

―Great Spell Cast by Rachmaninoff,‖ Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 9 January 193235

―Rachmaninoff Plays at Best: Russian Pianist Pleases Large Audience at First of Concert Series,‖ Cleveland Press, 31 October 193436

30―Great Russian Pianist Enthuses Large Audience,‖ Atlanta Constitution, 12 January 1922.

31Francis Kendig, ―Rachmaninoff Plays: Famed Russian Pianist Enthralls with Colossal Art,‖ Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1925.

32Karleton Hackett, ―Rachmaninoff, Giant of Piano, Thrills Hearers,‖ Chicago Evening Post, 6 February 1928.

33―Rachmaninoff‘s Genius Thrills,‖ Washington Herald, 5 November 1931.

34Jerome D. Bohm, ―Rachmaninoff Plays to Throng at Carnegie Hall, New York Herald Tribune, 7 November 1931.

35James Gray, ―Great Spell Cast by Rachmaninoff: Spirit of Great Russian‘s Personality Dominates Symphony Concert,‖ Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 9 January 1932.

36Denoe Leedy, ―Rachmaninoff Plays at Best: Russian Pianist Pleases Large Audience at First of Concert Series,‖ Cleveland Press, 31 October 1934.

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―Rachmaninoff Pleases Crowd of Nearly 6000: ‗High Priest of Music‘ Is Generous in Response to Encores,‖ Columbia Missourian, 14 November 193537

―Rachmaninoff, Titan of Piano, Displays Magic: Thrills Audience Even Before He Is Seated on Stage,‖ Milwaukee Sentinel, 27 November 193538

―Rachmaninoff Gets Great Reception at Symphony Concert,‖ St. Louis Daily Globe- Democrat, 29 November 193639

In one instance Rachmaninoff‘s manager, Charles Foley, provided Rachmaninoff and his wife a compilation of New York City newspaper reviews after an early November 1934 appearance in

Carnegie Hall and at the top of the page wrote, ―I guess it‘s unanimous.‖ The large sheet included clippings of reviews from the New York Herald Tribune, ―Russian Pianist Acclaimed in

Brilliant Repertory of Classic Compositions,‖ 4 November 1934; the New York Sun, ―Pianist in

Fine Form at Carnegie Hall,‖ 4 November 1934; the New York World-Telegram, ―Rachmaninoff

Is Cheered: Russian‘s Piano Recital One of the Most Engrossing Heard Here in Recent Years,‖ 5

November 1934; the Sonntagsblatt Staats-Seitung und Herold, ―Sergei Rachmaninnoff,‖ 4

November 1934; and the Jewish Morning Journal, 5 November 1934, reported in Yiddish:

―Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer and pianist gave the first recital of the current season in Carnegie Hall this past Saturday. The hall was very full. In attendance were the most famous people in the music world.‖40

37 W. G., ―Rachmaninoff Pleases Crowd of Nearly 6000: ‗High Priest of Music‘ Is Generous in Response to Encores,‖ Columbia Missourian, 14 November 1935.

38C. Pannill Mead, ―Rachmaninoff, Titan of Piano, Displays Magic: Thrills Audience Even Before He Is Seated on Stage,‖ Milwaukee Sentinel, 27 November 1935.

39Harry R. Burke, ―Rachmaninoff Gets Great Reception at Symphony Concert,‖ St. Louis Daily Globe- Democrat, 29 .

40The Jewish Morning Journal comments appeared under the column heading ―In the Music World.‖ Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1934– 1935.‖ Appendix H contains a sample listing of additional reviews from Rachmaninoff‘s American tenure.

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In addition to accolades received in the press and concert hall, the University of Nebraska chose to bestow on Rachmaninoff the university‘s first honorary doctorate in music. On 12

November 1921, Paul H. Grummann, the Director of the University of Nebraska, School of Fine

Arts, in Lincoln, wrote to Rachmaninoff, ―I should like to have the University of Nebraska confer the degree of Doctor of Music upon you, who so richly deserve the honor.‖41 The Lincoln

State Journal reported on 24 January 1922 that University honored him in a special convocation:

―I am very sorry that my poor English prevents me from telling how proud and glad I am. I thank you very much for this honor.‖ In his brief speech, Sergius Wasihiewitsch Rachmaninoff expressed appreciation of the degree of doctor of music conferred upon him Tuesday morning by Chancellor Avery in the name of the University of Nebraska. Rachmaninoff was an hour late in reaching the university, owning to delay in train service between Topeka and Lincoln. The degree was conferred upon Rachmaninoff as a distinguished composer, interpreter, and scholar.42

Print reviews commenting on Rachmaninoff‘s dour countenance on stage became so common and widespread that reports to the contrary began attracting headlines. On 12 February

1934, the Hartford Daily Times published a report explaining that Rachmaninoff can be happy, too:

Sergei Rachmaninoff is not the gloomy man most people picture him to be. His sister-in-law who was here at his concert Sunday afternoon says he is jovial with his family and friends. For years the legend has been abroad that the tall, stooped music master never laughs. His audiences have found this easy to believe, for on the concert stage he hardly ever deigns to smile—unless it be that he smiles within. Newspapers always speak of him as austere, melancholy, jeremianic. In Chicago not long ago two women reporters, non-plussed by his reticence in an interview, described him as ―Rachmaninoff the Gloom‖ and they took notice of ―his raven black coat.‖

41Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, C–, File ―Gr.‖

42―Russian Composer, Rachmaninoff, Is Honored by the University of Nebraska at Convocation Tuesday Morning,‖ Lincoln State Journal, 24 January 1922.

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―He‘s not at all gloomy,‖ said Miss Sofia Satin (pronounced Sa-teen). ―In public he is modest and reticent, and people think he is gloomy. He has a good sense of humor and he can laugh heartily. You should see him when he and Chaliapin get together. Chaliapin is always up to pranks and Rachmaninoff often laughs until the tears stream down his face.‖43

In contrast to his serious stage demeanor, Rachmaninoff appeared happy and relaxed among close friends and colleagues. Leon (Lev) Conus, Rachmaninoff‘s long-time friend from his conservatory days, relocated to America in 1935 to accept the post of Professor of Piano at the

College of Music in Cincinnati, which he held until his death in 1944 when his widow, Olga, assumed the post.44 Conus married Olga Kovalevsky in 1911, and they spent many evenings in

Russia with Rachmaninoff and Medtner. The Conuses fled to France at the time of the Russian

Revolution, and with other composers and musicians formed Paris‘s Russian Conservatory. They reunited with Rachmaninoff when he spent summers near Paris in the 1920s and early 1930s, and saw each other in America when Rachmaninoff‘s frequent tours took him through the Midwest.

Olga recalled how Rachmaninoff smiled and laughed with those he knew but was ―very shy with those he does not know. And if a stranger comes into the room, immediately, he has this mask on his face.‖45 After performing a recital in Cincinnati, in 1942, Rachmaninoff and his wife lingered an extra day to spend time with the Conuses. News of that occasion, as well as the contrast in

Rachmaninoff‘s demeanor, appeared in the Cincinnati Times Star:

Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer and pianist, who was the Artist Series attraction in Taft Auditorium Monday night, and Mrs. Rachmaninoff remained in Cincinnati Tuesday night for an informal recital in the College of

43―Rachmaninoff Not Gloomy, His Sister-in-Law Says; Pianist Laughs Heartily ‗And You Should See Him When He and Chaliapin Get Together,‘‖ Hartford Daily Times, 12 February 1934.

44Olga Conus, ―A Symphony of Memories,‖ University of Cincinnati, 11. (Photocopy of an undated article which appeared in a University of Cincinnati pamphlet or newsletter, pages 6 to 11. ―CH‖ is noted at the end of the article. Olga is interviewed, and the article remarks that she is 83 years old and serves as Professor Emeritus of Piano.)

45Ibid., 7.

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Music auditorium by five pupils of his long-time friend Leon Conus, master teacher of piano at the college. The personification of sedateness in his concerts, the famous musician and artist was ―all smiles‖ as he sat with his wife and hosts and listened for ninety minutes while Conus‘s pupils excelled in their performances ―anything they ever had done in recitals,‖ according to their instructor‘s report. Rachmaninoff smiled and spoke approvingly to the pupils as they finished playing and left the stage, and later for them and other students of the college autographed pictures of himself which the students carried from their dormitory rooms to the auditorium.46

As those who knew him best reported, Rachmaninoff was not austere after all. Howard Taubman interviewed Rachmaninoff in 1939 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of his first appearance in

America and observed that if Rachmaninoff‘s ―threefold prowess as composer, pianist and conductor do not speak eloquently enough, he has nothing more to say. That is why he seems to be austere and aloof. That is why he more than any other musician of his reputation, has kept his private life to himself. He believes that the public judges the artist by what he does.‖47

Although leading a private, guarded personal life, Rachmaninoff did occasionally share information with the press about his daughters and grandchildren. Readers clamored for information that humanized the stoic performer. On 9 July 1933 revealed

Rachmaninoff‘s summer plans, ―Rachmaninoff Has Vigorous Notions on Granddaddying‖:

Sergei Rachmaninoff, the great Russian composer and pianist . . . is not composing this summer. Neither is he giving recitals; he is devoting himself to the serious business of being a grandfather. . . . In one of his rare interviews Rachmaninoff discoursed in a whimsical manner on the business of grandfathering his 7-year-old granddaughter, Sophie, who lives in Paris except when she is visiting her grandfather at , his summer home. Sophie is the daughter of Irina Rachmaninoff and the Prince Wolkonsky, and it is her grandfather‘s hope that she may have inherited some of his taste for music, though he hopes that Sophie will not have to undertake the arduous life of a concert artist.

46―Noted Composer Hears Recital at Music College,‖ Cincinnati Times Star, 14 January 1942.

47Howard Taubman, ―Musical Triple-Threat,‖ Collier’s, 16 December 1939, 54.

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―Grandparents should represent the cake of life to children,‖ said the famous pianist. ―Children should be disciplined, of course, and trained to meet life, but let that be the duty of parents. Between grandparents and grandchildren there should be nothing but the happiest of relationships. Grandfathers should not be associated, in the child‘s mind, with anything unpleasant, such as ‗don‘ts,‘ or lessons or taking medicine.‖ . . . The composer-pianist, however, did not attempt to conceal his pride in the fact that Sophie seems to have a musical bent and is endowed with perfect pitch.48

Rachmaninoff enjoyed time with both of his grandchildren—each daughter had a child. On 24

September 1924 Irina Rachmaninoff had married Peter Wolkonsky, who had died suddenly in

August 1925 several weeks before Sophie was born on 2 September. Rachmaninoff‘s other daughter, Tatiana, married Boris Conus49 on 8 May 1932 and bore a son, Alexander, in early

1933.50 The idea of the ―serious‖ Rachmaninoff as a doting grandfather appealed to reviewers and their readers. William King of the New York Sun reported the ―Christmas Doings of Some of

Our Concert and Operatic Notables‖ on 21 December 1940:

Three generations of the Rachmaninoff family will gather about a big tree in the pianist-composer‘s West End Avenue apartment on Christmas Day, and the tall and dignified Sergei himself will play Santa Claus and pass out the presents. Two weeks later there‘ll be a second celebration, this one a la Russe. The Russian Christmas, you know, comes a fortnight after ours, and the Russian-American Rachmaninoffs observe both of them—which makes the Rachmaninoff grandchildren among the luckiest in town!51

48William G. King, ―Rachmaninoff Has Vigorous Notions on Granddaddying,‖ Washington Post, 9 July 1933.

49Boris was the son of Jules Conus who was the brother of Leon (Lev) Conus, friends of Rachmaninoff from their student days. Robert Walker, Rachmaninoff (London: Omnibus Press, 1984), 31.

50Sophie‘s daughter, Natalia Wanamaker Javier, resides in Central America. Alexander Conus, who uses ―Rachmaninoff‖ as his rather than Conus, resides at Villa Senar, Hertenstein, Switzerland. Natalia and Alexander serve as the legal representatives for the two branches of the surviving Rachmaninoff family.

51William G. King, ―Christmas Doings of Some of Our Concert and Operatic Notables,‖ New York Sun, 21 December 1940.

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Though maintaining Russian traditions in his household and a loyalty to his native land,

Rachmaninoff in the late 1920s began to appreciate America and its audiences. On 6 January

1929, the New York Times reported that Rachmaninoff was impressed with American audiences:

Serge Rachmaninoff told his Paris interviewers that New York had become the musical capital of the world. American concert audiences, he said, were bigger and more appreciative of good music than those of any other country. ―Year by year, the thing that impresses me more and more about America,‖ the pianist said, ―is the wonderful improvement in public taste and appreciation that has taken place within an astonishingly short period of time. When I first went to America in 1909 audiences were not one-tenth as large or as discriminating as they are now.‖ New York has replaced Berlin as the bright particular heart of music, Rachmaninoff added, and Philadelphia possesses one of the greatest orchestras the world has ever heard.52

Rachmaninoff acknowledged that the audience mattered most to him, not the professional critic.

Newsweek magazine reported on 4 December 1939 that after a concert Rachmaninoff defers to the masses, not the critics. ―Taken individually the people in an audience may all be poor critics of music, but as a complete body the audience never errs. It is never wrong in its reaction to a performance.‖53

Rachmaninoff‘s attitude toward American citizenship evolved more slowly than his appreciation for American audiences. News about Rachmaninoff‘s concerts, life in America, and positive attitude toward the country appeared regularly in publications across the country, causing many to assume he had become an American citizen by the mid-1920s. The president of the League for American Citizenship, Nathaniel Phillips, assumed so, and in a letter dated 26

January 1926 he asked for Rachmaninoff‘s endorsement of the work of the League, helping foreign born in America obtain citizenship, ―I know that it would mean a great deal. . . if we

52―Rachmaninoff Says America Leads the World in Music,‖ New York Times, 6 January 1929.

53―Rachmaninoff Festival: Series Marks 30th Anniversary of His Debut in U. S.,‖ Newsweek, 4 December 1939, 40.

121 could count on such a letter from you. Such a statement telling why the foreign born in our midst owe it to themselves as individuals and as a people to become American citizens. . . coming from you, would be a mark of distinct approval.‖54 Rachmaninoff replied on 28 January 1926, dispelling Phillips‘s assumption that he was already an American citizen:

Although I have the greatest admiration for the American Nation, its Government and Institutions; although I am profoundly thankful to the people of the United States for all they have done for my countrymen during their darkest years of distress, I do not consider that under existing international situations I could renounce my country and become the citizen of the United States. Under the circumstances I doubt that I could help you in your campaign and I beg to ask you to excuse me for not sending you the requested statement.55

In 1933 Rachmaninoff continued to express his loyalty to Russia as shared with Henry Beckett writing for the New York Evening Post on 26 December:

When recognition of Soviet Russia was announced, Mr. Rachmaninoff feared that the Washington Government might deport the refugees from Russia. He is relieved because no action of this kind has been taken. He himself is here legally, but he never has taken steps to become a citizen. ―My attachment to the old Russia is too strong,‖ he said. ―If good Americans cannot understand how I feel, then I am sorry, but still it seems right to me to remain as I am.‖56

Even though the U. S. had been his home for many years, by the late 1930s Rachmaninoff still had not applied for citizenship, and as Time magazine reported on 31 October 1938, he

―considers himself a permanent Russian refugee. A mournful-visaged, crop-headed aristocrat, who was dispossessed of his Russian estates by the revolution of 1917, he is even sicker of

54Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, K–, File ―L.‖

55Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―P.‖

56Henry Beckett, ―Rachmaninoff as Seen by His Own Piano Tuner,‖ New York Evening Post, 26 December 1933.

122

Russia‘s present government than of his besetting Prelude. Asked recently what kind of government would attract him back to Russia again, Rachmaninoff replied: ‗A better one.‘‖57

A year later, in 1939, the war in Europe convinced Rachmaninoff to finalize American citizenship. On 1 December 1939, the New York Times published an story from

Philadelphia, dated 30 November, ―Rachmaninoff Picks U. S.; He Will Become Citizen‖:

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist-composer-conductor, announced today that he intended to become an American citizen. Asked if recent Russian events influenced his decision, Mr. Rachmaninoff, who will appear as soloist with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra tomorrow night, replied: ―Don‘t ask me to talk about Russia.‖58

On 1 December 1939 in the Philadelphia Record, Arthur Bronson offered a more detailed account of Rachmaninoff‘s decision, explaining that Rachmaninoff had been ―Staatenlos‖

(without a country) for twenty-one years:

Sergei Rachmaninoff. . . has now lost hope of returning to his native Russia. He will become an American citizen. He would not discuss Russia‘s invasion of Finland. It was evident, however, from his attitude to reporters‘ questions, that recent events had struck deep. The Russian patrician who lost all his estates when he fled his country during the Revolution, in 1918, had always dreamed a change might come. ―Now I have lost hope,‖ he said sadly yesterday at the Academy of Music. . . . Rachmaninoff, tall, gaunt-faced hair close-cropped, is 66. He has been living in America for most of the last 21 years. ―America is my favorite country, after Russia,‖ he said. It has magnificent orchestras, the finest automobiles, and the handiest of drugs called ―new skin‖ over the tips of his fingers, to protect them when playing.59 . . . There were rumors about that Rachmaninoff was ready to retire. ―That was a fairy tale,‖ he said, ―composed by the reporters. At the end of a concert season I am tired, not retiring.‖60

57―Preludes,‖ Time, 31 October 1938, 22.

58―Rachmaninoff Picks U.S.,‖ New York Times, 1 December 1939.

59―New skin‖ is an antiseptic liquid bandage, which is waterproof and flexible.

60Arthur Bronson, ―Rachmaninoff Will Become American Citizen: Loses Hope of Returning to Russia,‖ Philadelphia Record, 1 December 1939.

123

Even though Rachmaninoff was not yet officially a naturalized citizen, the U.S. government regarded him as an ―outstanding American.‖ On 2 November 1942, the Treasury

Department contacted Rachmaninoff requesting a special favor of him. Vincent F. Callahan,

Director of Radio and Press, War Savings Staff, explained the request:

We are preparing a new newspaper feature for the promotion of War Bonds in which we want to use a statement from a different outstanding American each day for a period of two to three months. We would be most appreciative if you would give us a short signed statement for use in this new feature which will go out to all weekly and daily newspapers in the country. This statement should be very short, totaling between fifty and one hundred words in all. It would be most helpful if you were to write out the statement in your own handwriting on your personal stationery, and mail to us unfolded so that we can make an exact reproduction of the letter in mat form for the newspapers. We would prefer no date or salutation. I am enclosing a proof sheet of our first series of messages which will soon be released in mat form to cover 10,000 dailies and weeklies throughout the country to give you an idea of the way in which we plan to use your statement. We sincerely hope that you will find it possible to favor us with such a statement in the near future.61

Rachmaninoff complied with the request, as noted in a subsequent letter from Callahan on 30

November 1942, ―Thank you so much for sending along that very fine statement pertaining to

War Bonds. It will be most helpful in developing our newspaper feature which will be released to dailies and weeklies throughout the country.‖62 Rachmaninoff‘s testimonial was probably used in the December 1942 month long, nation-wide Victory Loan campaign with its goal of nine billion dollars. December 7 marked the one-year anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. The sale was to be the only major government financing until February 1943. The sale got off to a fast start and exceeded the goal by more than three billion dollars.63

61Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, T–, File ―United States of America.‖

62Ibid.

63―Half-Way Mark Reached in Drive for 9 Billion, Says Morgenthau,‖ New York Times, 5 December 1942. ―Victory Loan Over Goal by 3 Billion,‖ New York Times, 29 December 1943. Since the testimonials published were 124

On 2 February 1943, the New York Times reported that Rachmaninoff‘s citizenship had been finalized, ―Rachmaninoff a Citizen: 69-Year-Old Pianist is ‗Very Happy‘ Over

Naturalization‖:

Sergei Rachmaninoff, 69-year-old composer and concert pianist, took part with Mrs. Rachmaninoff and 218 other persons yesterday in a ceremony the musician said made him very happy. The couple was part of a group to be newly admitted to citizenship in the United States Naturalization Court, at 641 Washington Street. ―I am very happy to become a United States citizen in this land of opportunity and equality,‖ Mr. Rachmaninoff said later. Both he and his wife are to leave tomorrow on a concert tour that will take them across the continent. They have bought a house at Beverly Hills, California, which they intend to make their permanent home. Both are natives of Russia.64

Like Rachmaninoff, a number of famous musicians of his generation emigrated to the

United States becoming loyal American patriots and citizens. For instance, Igor Stravinsky‘s turning point on citizenship came at a similar moment in world history as Rachmaninoff‘s. He had been living and working in Paris, and due to the successive deaths in 1938 and 1939 of his elder daughter, wife, and mother, and the impending occupation by the Nazis, Stravinsky wanted to quickly leave Paris and Europe and move to America ―where life was still orderly.‖ He had become a French citizen in 1934 and called France his ―second motherland.‖65 However, when he came to America in 1939, settling in Los Angeles in 1941, he transformed into a World War

II American patriot, registering for defense work, participating in gas rationing, and joining in a broadcast for the U. S. War Department. Stravinsky became an American citizen in 1945.66

to be copies of handwritten comments and signatures, electronic historical newspaper databases do not contain copies of those advertisements.

64―Rachmaninoff a Citizen,‖ New York Times, 2 February 1943.

65Joseph Horowitz, Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts (New York: Harper Collins, 2008), 48.

66Ibid.

125

Another exiled Russian, Serge Koussevitzky, settled in the United States in 1924 when he took over as conductor of the Boston Symphony. He acquired American citizenship in 1941. At a special ―I am an American day‖ concert, he told a large audience, ―I believe there is no other country today like America, where freedom of life, that vital factor for the happiness of humanity, is preserved.‖67 Though not Russian, Leopold Stokowski, foreign-born contemporary of Rachmaninoff with whom he worked closely, took a unique approach to his citizenship. He and his first wife chose to emphasize their exotic, foreign names and personas, playing up his

Polish surname. His pianist wife, Olga Samaroff, was actually born Lucy Hickenlooper in

Texas.68 Born in London in 1882, Stokowski lived in the United States since 1905 and applied for naturalization papers in Cincinnati in 1914 with his citizenship finalized in 1915. During

World War II he led Red Cross and USO benefit concerts on both coasts, as well as army bands from Fort Dix, New Jersey, to San Pedro, California.69 Rachmaninoff and his contemporaries appreciated the freedoms associated with their new citizenship.

Rachmaninoff‘s reputation in America started strong and never wavered. By 1939, when many reviewers marked the thirtieth anniversary of his 1909 appearance in America, a CBS poll asked Americans which living composers were most likely to be played one hundred years hence. The public gave Rachmaninoff third in a list of ten names. Only and

Richard Strauss were ahead of him; those after him included Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and

67Ibid., 188, 195.

68Stokowski‘s brother Percy shared that Leopold was a quarter Polish, English, Scottish, and Irish. Though of Polish extraction, his father was actually born in London. Joseph Horowitz, ―The Stokowski Era‖ in The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music, ed. John Ardoin (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999), 38.

69Horowitz, 184.

126

Shostakovich.70 In 1939 reviewed the momentous Rachmaninoff Cycle, a series of three concerts in Carnegie Hall celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Rachmaninoff‘s first

American concerts,71 ―When Rachmaninoff appeared for the first time on the stage to play his concerto most of the audience rose in his honor, from those on the floor to those near the roof.

Their admiration for him and their enjoyment of his music were more evident there than words can make them here.‖72 Rachmaninoff‘s appreciation for America started faintly and built throughout his lifetime. In a rare interview given late in his life to Victor Seroff, Rachmaninoff reflected on what he enjoyed about America:

―This is the only place on earth where a human being is respected for what he is and for what he does, it does not matter who he is or where he came from. Even in France, one heard often the words ‗dirty foreigner.‘‖ Rachmaninoff leaned forward, and his eyes were somber. ―I was walking once on a street in Paris with my wife when a cab-driver, who heard me speaking to her in Russian, leaned out and spat at us ‗salles étrangers!‘. . . . Perhaps you don‘t think that is important. It is the beginning and the end for me.‖ . . . I broke the silence by asking him what else he liked about America. ―Their orchestras,‖ he said, and his heavy face lit up. ―I am a musician—and orchestras mean everything to me.‖ He cupped his hands behind his ears and closed his eyes. ―I can hear how the Philadelphia Orchestra sounds or the Boston Orchestra. Just to go and hear them play is the greatest pleasure. Naturally, I love to play with them. German and Austrian orchestras have been praised and much written about, but—‖ he shook his head emphatically, ―none can be compared with an American orchestra.‖ Rachmaninoff‘s third reason for liking America is its cars. He sighs when he speaks of them, and there is an expression in his eyes like that of a young girl swallowing ice-cream. ―They are the best in the world.‖ He smiled suddenly. ―If one must have a hobby—American cars might be mine.‖73

70―Rachmaninoff Festival: Series Marks 30th Anniversary of His Debut in U. S.,‖ Newsweek, 4 December 1939, 40.

71On 26 November, Rachmaninoff performed his Concerto No. 1 and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Philadelphia Orchestra his Symphony No. 2; on December 3 he played his Concertos No. 1 and 2 and the orchestra his Isle of the Dead, Opus 29; and on December 10 he conducted his Symphony No. 3 and The Bells, Opus 35.

72Olin Downes, ―Ormandy Conducts Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in First of Three Concerts, New York Times, 27 November 1939.

73Victor Ilyich Seroff, ―The Great Rachmaninoff: The Famed Pianist Answers Some Questions on the Stage of Magic,‖ Vogue, 1 April 1943, 88. 127

Even late in his life, in failing health, and with the country embroiled in war and gas rationing,

Rachmaninoff‘s thoughts turned to his car in response to an inquiry from Paul H. Schmidt offering assistance:

My tires are all checked and both licenses are in my name. The car is at present in dead storage at the Beverly Hills Hotel Garage. All I need is a new plate for the car. I also have an ―A‖ rationing card. If your friend could get me additional gasoline I would be very happy. The woman who works with us will leave us as soon as we arrive and it will be very difficult to find someone. Therefore, we will have to get our provisions ourselves and with my Packard I won‘t get very far with three gallons per week! With kindest regards, very sincerely yours, Sergei Rachmaninoff74

Though native to another place and time, Rachmaninoff learned to appreciate what a typical American of the 1940s might also value—driving one‘s own automobile, listening to a great American orchestra, and most importantly, residing in a land of freedom and opportunity.

American audiences, in large numbers, responded to the opportunity to witness and enjoy

Rachmaninoff‘s artistry in their very own hometowns throughout Rachmaninoff‘s extensive

American tenure. Though seemingly obsessed with his appearance and undemonstrative stage demeanor, audience members rarely departed a Rachmaninoff performance disappointed.

Frequently compared to the other great piano virtuosos of his era, Paderewski and Hofmann,

Rachmaninoff‘s consistency lasted to his final days and earned him the highest regard, for he remained true to his inner muse and the audience he so valued.

74Letter dated 31 January 1943 to Paul H. Schmidt, 473 16th Street, Santa Monica, California, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―S.‖ 128

CHAPTER 5

RACHMANINOFF: RECORDINGS AND RADIO

At a time of tremendous advances in recording and broadcasting technology,

Rachmaninoff appeared an enigma. He became an innovator in the recording industry, yet he never embraced radio broadcasting. He supported recording technology from the start, being one of the first great performers to record exclusively and extensively. However, he persistently declined opportunities to perform on radio, despite persuasion from a broadcasting legend whom he greatly admired, conductor Leopold Stokowski. When making recordings he felt comfortable recording alone in a studio, yet he regarded performing in a studio for a live radio broadcast unnatural, deprived of the physical connection with an audience. He recognized and valued the permanence and prestige recordings afforded, but also prized the ephemeral, thrilling qualities associated with an audience hearing a master performing in person. He championed performing in a public, concert hall venue, yet his perfectionism may have contributed to his aversion of live, radio performance. In addition to his extensive performing schedule in America,

Rachmaninoff recorded regularly during his long tenure and left behind a legacy few can rival.

This chapter examines Rachmaninoff‘s relationship with the recording industry, RCA Victor in particular, how he worked, what he recorded, and how he was promoted; his interaction with conductors, promoters, and press regarding his performance over radio; and audience reaction to

Rachmaninoff‘s recorded output.

Beginning in 1919, concurrent with recording for the gramophone, Rachmaninoff agreed to make piano rolls for ‘s Ampico reproducing piano, at the suggestion of Fritz Kreisler. At that time Ampico was the most sophisticated of competing companies at rendering dynamics and the subtle distinctions between melody and accompaniment. Due to the

129 initial limitations of gramophone recording technology up through the mid-1920s, many classical artists in Europe chose not to record but to make piano rolls at the Edwin Welte factory in

Freiburg utilizing the Welte-Mignon system. Those artists included Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev,

Grieg, Paderewski, among others.1 From March 1919 to February 1929, Rachmaninoff cut thirty- five rolls, coordinating twenty-nine of them with his gramophone recordings. For this one and only project in America, Rachmaninoff played a piano other than a Steinway, a Mason and

Hamlin six feet, six inch grand. At Rachmaninoff‘s first Ampico session on 17 March 1919, he produced nine rolls. Those works included his arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner;

Tchaikovsky‘s ―Troika‖ from , Opus 37; and seven of his compositions, Mélodie

Opus 3, no. 3; Préludes Opus 3, no. 2, and Opus 23, no. 5; Polichinelle Opus 3, no. 4; and Humoresque Opus 10, nos. 3 and 5; and Polka de V. R.2 Rachmaninoff met with the directors of Ampico, and after listening to a completed master roll of his Prélude in G minor

(Opus 23, no. 5), he shared his satisfaction, ―Gentlemen, I have just heard myself play.‖

According to Adam Carroll, who headed a division of Ampico, Rachmaninoff‘s remark caused a

―sensational rise of Ampico stock on Wall Street.‖3

Although published reviews and sales information for piano rolls of the era appear to be scarce, piano show rooms selling Ampico reproducing pianos proudly featured Rachmaninoff in their advertisements beginning in 1919. One particular ad touted, ―Rachmaninoff plays exclusively for the Ampico Reproducing Piano‖ and included a facsimile of Rachmaninoff‘s handwritten endorsement and a translation of the Russian:

1Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005), 222–23.

2Ibid., 222–24. For the complete listing of Rachmaninoff‘s thirty-five Ampico selections, see Appendix I.

3Arthur Ord-Hume, : The History of the Mechanical Piano and How to Repair It (New York: A. S. Baines, 1970), 97. 130

I have never before recorded for any reproducing instrument. Now I have played my works for the Ampico because of its absolute faithfulness of reproducing and its capacity to preserve beautiful tone painting. It goes far beyond any reproducing piano in these particulars, which a pianist must demand in considering a perpetuation of his art.4

Also in 1919, the New York Times described a new trend in piano sales:

Something of a change has come over the piano trade in the shape of leadership for the player type where formerly uprights and grands had the first call. Manufacturers report now that there are 70 per cent more player pianos sold than of the other two makes. . . . Two years ago it was stated yesterday, conditions were just the reverse. Seventy per cent of uprights were sold to the remaining 30 percent of the grand and player types. The popularity of the player pianos is ascribed to the demand from working men who are receiving high wages and can now afford to have music in their homes.5

For the next decade, Ampico newspaper advertisements continued to showcase and capitalize on

Rachmaninoff‘s relationship with the company. For instance, in December 1922 Ampico issued the newspaper advertisement ―The Ampico for Christmas‖:

Do you know the Ampico? Have you heard it? If not, do so at once—hear it in our warerooms, for it is impossible to describe it. When it plays from the recording of Rachmaninoff, it is Rachmaninoff, or when it plays the latest dance numbers recorded by the Original , it is as if those gifted artists were actually seated at the piano. Every kind of music ideally played at your instant command.6

In addition to the Ampico recording session in March 1919, Rachmaninoff cut piano rolls during ten sessions in New York: 5 March 1921, 6 April 1922, 13 April 1923, 13 November 1923, 14

4Display Ad 38: ―Rachmaninoff Plays Exclusively For The Ampico Reproducing Piano,‖ New York Times, 20 October 1919.

5―The Trend in Pianos,‖ New York Times, 9 August 1919.

6This advertisement encouraged readers to visit Frank J. Hart‘s Southern California Music Company at 332-334 South Broadway, Los Angeles, and their other stores in Long Beach, Riverside, and San Diego. Display Ad 109, ―The Ampico for Christmas,‖ Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1922.

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January 1925, 22 December 1925, 1 February 1927, 27 March 1928, 4 April 1928, and 1

February 1929.7 (See Appendix I for the list of works Rachmaninoff recorded for Ampico.)

The reproducing piano enjoyed its prime during the 1920s before the widespread popularity of phonograph records and radio surpassed it. Often issued as both singles and in groups of pieces on jumbo rolls, Ampico priced works according to length of piano roll. Initially

Ampico numbered each roll and provided a letter suffix indicating the price. During the early

1920s, a roll might indicate one price letter and by the end of the decade another letter system would be used. Finally, in December 1929 the company dropped appended letters altogether.8

Concurrent to Ampico using Rachmaninoff to sell its reproducing pianos, record companies,

Edison then Victor, utilized his name to sell gramophones.

Within a few months of arriving in America, Rachmaninoff also began making recordings for . Four gramophone recording sessions for the Thomas Edison

Company all took place in April 1919 in New York City, within one week, on the 18th, 19th,

23rd and 24th. He recorded eight works—Chopin, Waltz, Opus 42; Chopin, Waltz, Opus 64, no.

3; Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S244; W. A. Mozart, Sonata K. 331 (Andante grazioso);

Scarlatti-Tausig, Pastorale (based on Sonata L413/K9); his Prelude in C-sharp minor, Opus 3, no. 2; Barcarolle, Opus 10, no. 3; and Polka de V. R.9 Edison offered Rachmaninoff an upright piano for the recording sessions. Thomas Edison, a great inventor but no musical expert, recognized his error, writing in his personal notebook after the Rachmaninoff sessions that using an upright ―seems wrong for this powerful player.‖ Having no other significant pianists

7Harrison, 390–98.

8Elaine Obenchain, The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls (New York: American Piano Company, 1977), vii, 15.

9Harrison, 391. 132 recording for him, Edison quickly released the Rachmaninoff performances even before they agreed on a contract. At the time few piano recordings were available on disc, and

Rachmaninoff‘s sold well. Surprisingly, Edison delayed submitting an acceptable contract to

Rachmaninoff until the following April 1920, and Edison ignored Rachmaninoff‘s request to issue only takes approved by him. Rachmaninoff recorded three different performances of each piece and chose only one of the three for issue. Edison released all three of each, offending

Rachmaninoff. By the time Edison submitted a contract to Rachmaninoff, he had already signed with the Victor Talking Machine Company on 22 April 1920.10

From 1920 to 1942, Rachmaninoff recorded as an exclusive Victor artist, Victor Talking

Machine Company being the predecessor of RCA Victor. In contrast to the Edison Company,

Victor possessed experience recording and managing classical artists, such as ,

Fritz Kreisler, the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karl Muck, and the Philadelphia

Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. The contract Victor offered Rachmaninoff requested twenty-five selections over a span of five years. Victor gave him fifteen thousand dollars annually as an advance against royalties, with the contract renewed and revised in subsequent years.11 In addition to his many solo recordings, he collaborated with another great touring virtuoso of the day and his good friend, violinist Fritz Kreisler, to record three violin sonatas for Victor.12 Years later, Rachmaninoff reflected on his early decision to record in an interview published in The Gramophone magazine in 1931:

I agree that piano recording was not always so successful as it is today. Twelve years ago, when I was making my first records with Edison in America,

10Ibid., 226.

11Ibid., 227.

12Grieg: No. 3 in c minor, Opus 45; Schubert: Violin Sonata in A, Opus 162, D. 574; and Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8, Opus 30, no.3.

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the piano came out with a thin, tinkling tone. It sounded exactly like the Russian balalaika, which, as you may know, is a stringed instrument resembling the . And results produced by the acoustical process in use when I began to record for ―His Master‘s Voice‖13 in 1920 were far from satisfactory. It is only the perfecting of electrical recording during the last three years combined with recent astonishing improvements in the gramophones themselves that has given us piano reproduction of a fidelity, a variety and depth of tone, that could hardly be bettered.14

Though a perfectionist, Rachmaninoff embraced recording from the start along with its initial limitations.

Just as the piano served as the prime source for entertainment and edification in the nineteenth-century home, so the phonograph assumed an elevated position in the early twentieth- century household, at least in America. The gramophone record‘s popularity initially concerned professional musicians because of the ease of supplying a large amount of music to consumers without much effort, as well as consumers‘ acceptance of the early audio imperfections.15

Indeed, Rachmaninoff, and other early gramophone recording artists, contended with the limitations of 78 rpm records. Approximately four-and-a-half minutes of music fit on each side of a record; most classical selections last much longer. Therefore, many of the solo piano repertoire discs contained short, encore-length pieces, the repertoire that record company managers also viewed as most appealing to consumers. In order to record longer orchestral works and facilitate the many side and record changes, conductors identified positions in the score where side breaks would be less obtrusive. Eugene Ormandy recalled that stopwatches

13The Gramophone magazine, a British publication, used the name of the Victor Corporation‘s European affiliate, ―His Master‘s Voice‖ or H.M.V.

14Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―The Artist and the Gramophone,‖ Gramophone 9 (1931): 525.

15For instance, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov refused to record and feared that records would undermine his music. Colin Symes, Setting the Record Straight: A Material History of Classical Recording (Middletown, CT: Press, 2004), 25, 39.

134 were utilized to annotate scores to ensure performances fit within the sides of 78 rpm records.16

In addition to the length limitations, early recordings prior to 1925 offered primitive audio fidelity. These early ―acoustic‖ gramophone discs were rendered by a recording coupled to a cutting stylus. In contrast, the ―electrical‖ recording system, begun in 1925, provided higher quality audio by utilizing sonic energy converted to electrical energy through the use of a microphone.17 Rachmaninoff transitioned from the acoustical era into the electrical recording era.

From the beginning, Rachmaninoff thoroughly reviewed and critiqued his own recorded performances before he allowed Victor to issue them as commercial recordings. Learning from his Edison experience, Rachmaninoff required that Victor destroy versions that he did not approve. Though Victor managers and Rachmaninoff disagreed on the quality of performance in the recording sessions, Rachmaninoff being much more critical, they always deferred to him. C.

G. Child, Director of the Recording Laboratory for Victor tactfully responded to Rachmaninoff‘s requests on 26 May 1920:

I have your letter of May 20th in regard to the last records. I am sorry you did not find more of them to your satisfaction as there were some that we here think very good. You say there are but four records. Of the list which we have as approved by you we have the following selections: Valse [Opus 12, no. 2, Grieg] Elfentanz [Grieg] Troika [Tchaikovsky] Valse in [Opus 69, no. 2, Chopin] Prelude in G major [Opus 32, no. 5, Rachmaninoff] Prelude in G minor [Opus 23, no. 5, Rachmaninoff] We like your Lilacs [Opus 21, no. 5] very much if it is agreeable to you to use it. Will you kindly, if convenient, let me know by return mail if I have the selections all right now. I am enclosing our check for $7500, the guarantee for the first half of the year, as arranged by our contract. We shall be very glad to repeat

16Ibid., 40.

17Harrison, 224.

135

for you at any time any of the selections which you have made which you think you can improve or which should be improved, and we can arrange for some time on the 30th of June.18

Ultimately, Rachmaninoff rejected the May performances of the waltzes, and those specific recordings were not issued by Victor. As Child indicated, Victor paid Rachmaninoff fifteen thousand dollars in 1920, a significant sum to supplement his touring income. His performing contract arranged with Charles Ellis called for five hundred dollars per concert with an additional fifty percent of the gross receipts from the sale of tickets in excess of one thousand dollars, with

Rachmaninoff paying traveling expenses.19

The Victor Company quickly released gramophone records of the recordings

Rachmaninoff approved and issued newspaper advertisements featuring him to sell records and the company‘s ―Victrola‖ record player. For instance, by 1 September 1920, Victor had released

Tchaikovksy‘s Troika recorded in May. On 1 September 1920, a New York Times advertisement included Rachmaninoff‘s recording, priced at one dollar and seventy-five cents, on a twelve inch disc, number 74630.20 In November 1920, Victor issued Rachmaninoff‘s Prelude in G major,

Opus 32, no. 5, for the same price.21 Rachmaninoff recorded Mendelssohn‘s ―Spinning Song‖

(Song without Words, Opus 64, no. 4) on 3 November 1920, and on 5 February 1921, Victor issued an advertisement focusing completely on Rachmaninoff and included his photograph,

―Rachmaninoff Himself Chose the Victor‖:

18Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―RCA Victor.‖

1916 November 1918 letter from Charles Ellis to Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, Box C, File ―Ellis, Charles A.‖

20Display advertisement 50, ―Out Today: New Victor Records for September,‖ New York Times, 1 September 1920. For a complete listing of the entire Rachmaninoff discography, see Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1990), 451–97.

21Display advertisement 65, ―Just Out: New Victor Records for November,‖ New York Times, 2 November 1920.

136

Rachmaninoff knows music. Knows how to compose it, how to play it— and how it should be reproduced. It is significant that the great composer-pianist in the light of previous experience has chosen to associate himself with the other famous artists of the world who make records for the Victor. Hear Rachmaninoff‘s Victor Record of Mendelssohn‘s ―Spinning Song‖ played on the Victrola and you hear the great pianist exactly as he wishes you to hear his own work. Victrolas $25 to $1500. New Victor Records demonstrated at all dealers on the 1st of each month.22

Victor also cleverly promoted Rachmaninoff‘s performances at Carnegie Hall, ―Rachmaninoff

Plays at Carnegie Hall February 10, 11, and 26: Hear This Famous Victor Artist!‖:

Extraordinary interest attaches to this Rachmaninoff recital because of the double opportunity it affords the music-loving public. It is a privilege in itself to hear this great pianist, and added importance is given to the event in that it enables you to compare his wonderful art with his Victor Records. Attend this concert and note the individual qualities that distinguish Rachmaninoff‘s exquisite interpretations. Then go to any Victor dealer and hear the Victor Records by Rachmaninoff. Note how faithfully his performances are portrayed on the Victrola. It is because of this absolute fidelity that Rachmaninoff makes Victor Records; that the greatest artists of all the world are Victor artists.23

The Victor Company recognized early on that it needed to educate and convince consumers of the benefits of this new recording technology. Using famous artists like Rachmaninoff significantly eased the way for Victor to attract the attention of music lovers.

Charles O‘Connell joined the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1924, became the head of the artist and repertoire department of the RCA-Victor Corporation, then its music director until 1944. For nearly twenty years he worked in the service of Victor and recorded music, specifically during Rachmaninoff‘s tenure with the company. The company moved through various name changes and mergers: Victor Talking Machine Company, Audio-Vision

22Display Advertisement 37, ―Rachmaninoff Himself Chose the Victor,‖ New York Times, 5 February 1921.

23Display Advertisement 94, ―Rachmaninoff Plays at Carnegie Hall February 10, 11, 26,‖ New York Times, 8 February 1921.

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Appliance Company, RCA Victor Company, RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc., and the RCA

Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America. For the last thirteen years of O‘Connell‘s tenure, he served as music director for Victor Red Seal records, responsible for virtually every

Red Seal record made in America.24 Among other duties, he negotiated recording contracts with the artists and their managers, chose the repertoire to be recorded by each artist, supervised musically all important Red Seal recordings, and obtained the artists‘ approval.25 O‘Connell reflected on first encountering Rachmaninoff in the Victor studios:

My first meeting with Rachmaninoff was at Victor‘s New York studios. Everyone there was considerably in awe of him, as indeed I was, and though he had been in the studios for half an hour, no one had dared approach him. He sat at one end of the room ―like patience on a monument,‖ his hands hidden in a specially designed muff that was connected to a nearby electric light circuit. He neither spoke nor put forth his hand when I came up to him, but turned on me a smile which, though faint, was of such gentleness and warmth and understanding that I have never forgotten it. I was there to make things easier and pleasanter for him; actually it was he who made them easy and pleasant for me. Subsequently I learned that he did not like to talk before he played, and I discovered too that his hands were always remarkably cool and as smooth as a girl‘s. They were also extraordinarily powerful, and Rachmaninoff, almost alone among the great pianists, had what romantic people like to describe as the ―artistic‖ hand—long, slender and tapering. . . . eventually I realized that he was not in the least concerned with the technicalities of recording and would take my word that a given record was a good record only because he was quite indifferent to its quality as a recording. He was concerned solely with his own performance and rarely would permit the publication of any record in which his own playing was not flawless.26

24The RCA Red Seal label flourished after 1929 when the Radio Corporation of America acquired the Victor Talking Machine Company. The prestigious classical brand developed primarily from its Victor roots producing recordings of the great tenor Enrico Caruso. Early acoustic recording methods were better able to reproduce voice than instruments. With the advent of electrical recording methods in 1925, instrumental recording fidelity greatly improved. ―About RCA and RCA Red Seal,‖ Sony BMG Masterworks, (accessed 30 June 2008), . Appendix J lists all of Rachmaninoff‘s approved recorded works issued by RCA Victor.

25Charles O‘Connell, The Other Side of the Record (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1947), viii–ix.

26Ibid., 166–67. 138

In 1928 Rachmaninoff partnered with Fritz Kreisler to record violin sonatas by

Beethoven, Grieg, and Schubert for Victor. During New York City sessions on 28 and 29

February, and 28 March, the duo recorded Beethoven‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Opus 30, no. 3. They met in Berlin on 14 and 15 September to record Grieg‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano

No. 3, Opus 45. In New York on 20 and 21 December, they convened once more to record

Schubert‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano, D. 574. Though musical peers at the height of their careers, Rachmaninoff‘s meticulous critiques extended to Kreisler as well. Rachmaninoff offered his recommendations to the violinist in a letter dated 11 January 1929 regarding Schubert‘s

Sonata in A major (Duo), Opus 162:

I did not send you a cable because it is rather difficult to explain everything in a cable. I have attentively heard your and my own playing, and here is the list of records which I select: Allegro moderato, part 1: #5 the best, #3 second Allegro moderato, part 2: #5 the best, #4 second Second movement: #2 the best, #3 second Third movement: #4 the best, #3 second Fourth movement (Allegro Vivace), part 1: #3 the best, #2 second Fourth movement (Allegro Vivace), part 2: #4 the best, #3 second I consider record #2 of the second movement as the best although you made a relatively long pause between the Scherzo and Trio and I do not know if you would be willing to let it go as it is. My opinion is however that this record is better played than #3. From a musical point of view all records are good but the general impression of the whole Duo seems to me somewhat dull. Nevertheless I consent to their release. It irritates me a little bit that at some places we do not play at absolutely the same time. This is because we were too far away from each other. This defect is very small, but you and I will notice it and that is why I am not quite satisfied with them.27

Kreisler and Rachmaninoff did not re-record the Schubert Duo, and the recording was approved and issued despite Rachmaninoff‘s reservations.

27Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―K.‖ 139

Although oftentimes dissatisfied with his own performance in recording sessions,

Rachmaninoff occasionally enjoyed sessions that pleased him. In a letter to Victor‘s Howard

Davis on 20 February 1930, Rachmaninoff forwarded the specific, approved numbers for production, ―I am really satisfied with my records of the B-moll Sonata [Chopin, Opus 35]. They even seem to me the best I ever made!‖28 Rachmaninoff recorded his Chopin Sonata takes at the

Victor studios in Camden, New Jersey on 18 and 19 February 1930. Rachmaninoff approved the

18 February sessions, and Victor issued the recording.29 Davis and Rachmaninoff maintained a friendly working relationship throughout the 1920s. In fact, Davis was the beneficiary of a ride in Rachmaninoff‘s new car. On 6 March 1922 Davis thanked Rachmaninoff, ―I certainly enjoyed the little ride with you and Mme. Rachmaninoff in your beautiful new car and hope it continues to work as wonderfully as it did last Wednesday.‖30 By 1930 recording technology and quality improved dramatically, satisfying Rachmaninoff.

In an extensive interview with Norah Barr Adams in November 1930,31 Rachmaninoff offered his views about recording for Victor and the benefits of recording. Published as ―The

Artist and the Gramophone,‖ the interview appeared in the April 1931 edition of The

Gramophone magazine:

I have no hesitation in saying that modern piano recordings do the pianist complete justice. Speaking from personal experience, I feel that my records can only help to increase my prestige as an artist. Not that excellent results are by any

28Copy of letter. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―O‘Connell, Charles.‖

29Harrison, 399.

30Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―RCA Victor.‖

31Personal correspondence between Adams and Rachmaninoff indicate that Adams spoke with Rachmaninoff in Liverpool in November 1930. The published article did not include notice that Barr interviewed Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―A.‖ 140

means limited to my own work. I have heard many fine records by many different pianists and in every case the essentials of the individual artist‘s performance have been captured and preserved. In fact, through the medium of the gramophone we can now offer the public performances closely similar to those we give on the concert platform. Our records should not disappoint the most critical listener who has heard us in the flesh; to the millions who have no opportunity of doing so, they convey a just and accurate impression of our work. In addition, what is to me most important of all, recording for the gramophone enables the artist to satisfy himself. For I am by nature a pessimist. It is so seldom that I am sincerely satisfied with my performance, so often that I feel it could have been better. And when making records it is actually possible to achieve something approaching artistic perfection. If once, twice or three times I do not play as well as I can, it is possible to record and re-record, to destroy and remake until, at last, I am content with the result. . . . the gramophone has bestowed upon the executive musician one priceless gift—permanence for his art. You listen to a broadcast recital. The next moment it is finished, gone. But a gramophone record can preserve forever the playing and singing of the world‘s most distinguished artists. Think what it would have meant to us today could we possess records made by Liszt, the greatest pianist who has ever lived. Yet we can only dimly imagine what his playing must have been. Future generations will be more fortunate in that the finest modern musicians, through their records, will be something more than names to those who come after them.32

Recognizing the ―permanence‖ of recorded performance and embracing the new technology,

Rachmaninoff became the first major composer-pianist to leave behind definitive recordings of his works.

By 1931 Rachmaninoff had already recorded solo works, his second piano concerto, as well as violin sonatas with Fritz Kreisler. Rachmaninoff‘s recordings made during the past three years most satisfied him, ―These include my own Piano Concerto Number Two, which I recorded with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Stokowski; Schumann‘s ‗Carnaval,‘ recently issued in America; the Chopin ‗‘ Sonata, which I believe is not yet

32Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―The Artist and the Gramophone,‖ The Gramophone 9 (1931): 525–26.

141 published; and the Grieg C minor and Beethoven G-major sonatas for piano and violin in partnership with Fritz Kreisler.‖33

Rachmaninoff expressed his admiration for working and recording with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in the same interview:

To make records with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra is as thrilling an experience as any artist could desire. Unquestionably, they are the finest orchestral combination in the world; even the famous New York Philharmonic, which you heard in London under Toscanini last summer, must, I think, take second place. Only by working with the Philadelphians both as soloist and conductor, as has been my privilege, can one fully realize and appreciate their perfection of ensemble. Recording my own concerto with this orchestra was a unique event. Apart from the fact that I am the only pianist who has played with them for the gramophone, it is very rarely that an artist, whether as soloist or composer, is gratified by hearing his work accompanied and interpreted with so much sympathetic cooperation, such perfection of detail and balance between piano and orchestra. These discs, like all those made by the Philadelphians, were recorded in a concert hall, where we played exactly as though we were giving a public performance. Naturally, this method ensures the most realistic results, but in any case, no studio exists, even in America, that could accommodate an orchestra of a hundred and ten players.34

All of Rachmaninoff‘s piano recordings requiring orchestra include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the only orchestra with which he ever recorded. Rachmaninoff holds the honor of being the first celebrity soloist to record with Philadelphia, the first guest conductor to record with them, and the first composer to record his own music with the orchestra. In 1929 he had performed and recorded his Piano Concerto No. 2 with Stokowski conducting.35 Rachmaninoff had also conducted and recorded his Isle of the Dead and . In 1934 he and Stokowski recorded

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini six weeks after premiering the work. In 1939 Rachmaninoff

33Ibid., 526.

34Ibid.

35On 3 January 1924, Rachmaninoff recorded the concerto with Stokowski during the more primitive acoustical recording era, as opposed to the modern electrical era. , Stokowski: A Counterpoint of View (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1982), 305. 142 conducted and recorded his Symphony No. 3.36 From 1939 to 1941, Rachmaninoff and Eugene

Ormandy recorded Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 3, and 4.37 Music critics positively reviewed

Rachmaninoff‘s recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra. For instance, when Victor issued

Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody recording with Stokowski in March 1935, Compton Parkenham remarked that Rachmaninoff‘s ―recording qualities have always been high. In his concerted records he has always used the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the combination remains as strong as ever.‖38 Several years later Howard Taubman reviewed the Rachmaninoff-Ormandy collaboration:

In the recording of the Third Symphony, Mr. Rachmaninoff himself conducts the resplendent Philadelphia Orchestra. In the Third Concerto Mr. Rachmaninoff presides at the piano, while Mr. Ormandy directs the Philadelphians. However the forces are deployed, the performances are excellent, as are the recordings.39

In the 1930s and ‘40s, Rachmaninoff worked extensively with Charles O‘Connell, who served as RCA‘s Music Director during that era. Rachmaninoff maintained his high standards, as he communicated his preferences to O‘Connell on 13 January 1936:

In case you are going to publish two, two-side records, I would suggest the following arrangement—one record containing: A. Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, proof number six (6) B. Variations by Haendel, proof number two (2) The other record containing: A. Serenade by Rachmaninoff, proof number three (3) B. Scherzo by Borodin

36The recorded symphony required five, twelve-inch records and sold for five dollars when Victor released it in November 1940. Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 occupied the same number of discs and sold for the same price when Victor released it the following month. Howard Taubman, ―Records: Rachmaninoff,‖ New York Times, 1 December 1940.

37Richard Freed, ―The Living Legacy,‖ in The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music, ed. John Ardoin (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999), 61–62.

38Compton Parkenham, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini—Several Ravel Releases,‖ New York Times, 14 April 1935.

39Howard Taubman, ―Records: Rachmaninoff,‖ New York Times, 1 December 1940.

143

In case you are going to publish one record only I prefer the first of the above mentioned, containing the Mendelssohn Scherzo and Haendel‘s Variations. As to the Preludium by Bach the proof of which you are going to send me in Paris, I could not say anything about it before hearing it, but I do not expect anything good of my last playing.40

Victor did as Rachmaninoff suggested and issued double-sided recordings in its HMV (His

Master‘s Voice) series, the first set (Mendelssohn and Handel) as DB 3146 and the second set

(Rachmaninoff and Borodin) as DA 1522. Victor also issued the Borodin as a single-sided recording, V1761, and the Rachmaninoff Serenade as V1762. He did not approve the Bach

Preludium for issue.41 Rachmaninoff could be demanding of himself and others as indicated in a communication with O‘Connell on 6 April 1940. Rachmaninoff enclosed his recommendations and the list of recording numbers for Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3, ―Those recordings are far from being perfect, but the others are even worse. For God‘s sake don‘t make any mistakes. This threatens to be my downfall.‖42 No detail escaped Rachmaninoff, and he again shared his concern with O‘Connell on 20 April 1940:

I am sending you the numbers I selected for the of my records. But first, I have to point out that on a record, which you brought me, marked 048184- 3A the title was ―Daisies‖ instead of ―Humoresque,‖ and now I am very much worried, as I wrote you before, that if there occurred a mistake here, is it possible for a similar mistake in my third piano concerto? The record ―Daisies‖ which I replayed was not among the records you brought me. Please be so kind as to explain for my peace of mind these errors. Very sincerely yours, P.S. How strange that in the enumeration of records Nos. 048180 and 048181 are missing.43

40Copy of letter, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―O‘Connell, Charles.‖

41For a complete listing of the entire Rachmaninoff discography, see Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1990), 483–84.

42Copy of letter, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―O‘Connell, Charles.‖

43Ibid.

144

The omission of those two recording matrix numbers appears to be a clerical error during the recording session process, with no recording ―takes‖ being ascribed to them.44 Ultimately, from

1920 to 1942, Rachmaninoff played in seventy-nine recording sessions for Victor and approved ninety performances for release by the company.45 The sessions involving solo piano took place primarily in the Victor studios in New York City or Camden, New Jersey. For the New York sessions Rachmaninoff played Steinway D grand pianos, using just two instruments, numbered

147681 and 194597.46

Although the business relationship proved mutually beneficial for Rachmaninoff and

Victor, the parties did not always agree. For instance, later in his career Rachmaninoff wanted more of his longer-form recital repertoire recorded for posterity, specifically several of his complete recital programs. Also, while living in Beverly Hills near Horowitz, Rachmaninoff proposed recording with him since they frequently played together in Rachmaninoff‘s home, selections such as Rachmaninoff‘s Suite No. 2 or his Symphonic Dances for piano four-hands.

The Victor company did not pursue these initiatives.47

After Rachmaninoff‘s death, representatives from RCA Victor communicated with Mrs.

Rachmaninoff, sharing how the company honored and promoted Rachmaninoff‘s recordings as it continued to reissue and sell his approved recordings. On 25 May 1948, Constance Hope,

Director of Red Seal Artist Relations updated Mrs. Rachmaninoff, ―We are enclosing here with a

44Barrie Martyn has catalogued every matrix number from Rachmaninoff‘s recorded output. During the 78 rpm era, a matrix number, usually chronological, was given each side of the ―master‖ recorded in a studio session. It helped distinguish the correct performance from which all other copies would be pressed for sale. Martyn, 489.

45Harrison, 390–401.

46 Ibid., 238.

47Ibid., 340.

145 copy of an ‗ad‘ which appeared in the 29 April 1948 issue of the Carnegie Hall Program. You will note that this ad features your husband as an RCA Victor recording artist and will continue to help the sale of his RCA Victor records.‖ The full-page advertisement included a half-page photo of Rachmaninoff along with promotional commentary:

Sergei Rachmaninoff: As a composer-conductor-pianist, he left a heritage of beautiful music that will live forever. His musical genius. . . his brilliant artistry are yours to enjoy on RCA Victor Red Seal recordings. Some of Rachmaninoff‘s loveliest compositions include: Symphony No. 3, Sergei Rachmaninoff conducting Piano Concerto No. 1, Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy Piano Concerto No. 2, Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski48

On 13 January 1951, George R. Marek invited Mrs. Rachmaninoff to a luncheon on 30

January in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel to celebrate RCA‘s fiftieth year of phonograph manufacturing and Rachmaninoff‘s honored place in the pantheon of recording artists.49 Indeed, throughout subsequent decades, Rachmaninoff‘s RCA recordings continued to maintain a prominent position in the realm of critically acclaimed piano performances. Although the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences did not offer its Grammy Awards until 1958, four Philadelphia Orchestra RCA recordings from the 78-rpm era have been inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame. Two of those recordings feature Rachmaninoff, his 1929 recording of

Piano Concerto No. 2 and his 1934 recording performing Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.50

In contrast to embracing recording opportunities for artistic and financial benefit,

Rachmaninoff declined invitations to perform on radio. In the midst of the growing wave of

48Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―RCA Victor.‖

49Ibid.

50Freed, 71.

146 radio popularity in America, Rachmaninoff created a stir when newspapers published his negative opinions. The Associated Press issued the story from Paris on 21 December 1928,

―Radio Listeners Too Comfortable to Enjoy Music, Pianist Asserts; Says Sitting with Feet on

Chair Destroys Appreciation‖:

―Radio is not perfect enough really to do justice to good music,‖ he said. ―That is why I have steadily refused to play for it. But my chief objection is on other grounds. ―It makes listening to music too comfortable. You often hear people say, ‗Why should I pay to sit in an uncomfortable seat at a concert when I can stay at home and smoke my pipe and put my feet up and be perfectly comfortable?‘ ―I believe one shouldn‘t be too comfortable when listening to really great music. To appreciate good music, one must be mentally alert and emotionally receptive. You can‘t be that when you are sitting at home with your feet on a chair. ―No, listening to music is more strenuous than that. Music is like poetry; it is a passion and a problem. You can‘t enjoy and understand it merely by sitting still and letting it soak into your ears. ―Another thing, music is not all listening. The sight of a great master playing on his instrument or an inspired conductor leading his orchestra is almost as thrilling as the sound of music itself. ―Then, too, there is a powerful contagion in mass emotion. Naturally, this factor is completely lacking in radio concerts.‖51

Rachmaninoff‘s comments inspired a cartoon by Harry Haenigsen who worked for the

New York World during the 1920s.52 The cartoon‘s headline stated: ―We‘d Never Have Guessed

It! Serge Rachmaninoff, Famous Pianist, Says Radio Listeners Are Too Comfortable at Home to

Appreciate and Enjoy Good Music.‖ The single frame cartoon depicted the sounds, hustle, and bustle of an apartment home with children fighting, dog barking, phone ringing, radiator whistling, next-door neighbor singing, radio playing music, upstairs neighbor breaking a plate, and the mother in the kitchen calling to her husband in the living room, ―George, will you come

51Newspaper not identified. A clipping of the article is located in the Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1924 –1930.‖

52Haenigsen drew a comic strip, Simeon Batts, ―that cashed in on the radio craze.‖ His radio cartoons also appeared in the New York Mail. Stephen L. Harris, ―Haenigsen, Harry,‖ in The Encyclopedia of American Comics, ed. Ron Goulart (New York: Facts on File, 1990), 168.

147 here a minute?‖53 Haenigsen implied that many radio listeners did not have the luxury of

―comfortably‖ listening to music at home, yet they still enjoyed and appreciated it.

Conductor Walter Damrosch, an advocate of broadcasting for musicians, did not agree with Rachmaninoff and responded to the Paris report from his office at the National

Broadcasting Company where he served as musical advisor. On 23 December 1928 the New

York Times published, ―Damrosch Upholds Radio Symphonies: Wishes Rachmaninoff Could

‗Sit In‘ at Concert Broadcast to Appreciate Its Value‖:

―Mr. Rachmaninoff is so fine an artist,‖ said Dr. Damrosch, ―that I think I could convince him of the error of his ways if he would sit in with us for one of our radio symphony hours and then during the following week read the letters that pour in from that great audience which he believes to be too lazy and comfortable to enjoy music,‖ Dr. Damrosch said yesterday. ―I do not vision the radio listeners as Mr. Rachmaninoff imagines them— in their shirt sleeves with their feet on the table and smoking pipes. My idea of them is quite different and perhaps it is based on better knowledge than he has yet been able to obtain. It is based on thousands of enthusiastic letters which have come to me as a result of the radio concerts I give each week from the studios of the National Broadcasting Company. They are touching in their gratitude for this opportunity to hear symphonic music. Among them are many testimonials regarding the marvelous fidelity with which the thousands of prismatic colors of an orchestra are reproduced. ―If Rachmaninoff is correctly reported in this cable, he must be woefully ignorant of the enormous factor the radio has become in the development of good music. Through radio, science reaches out her powerful arms to carry music to millions of people to whom the names of great musicians—the name of Rachmaninoff itself and the art he stands for—were formerly little known.‖54

The next year Rachmaninoff‘s great artistic collaborator Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, persisted with his requests to Rachmaninoff to consider broadcasting. On 6 September 1929 Stokowski wrote to Rachmaninoff in France while he was

53Newspaper not identified or dated. One can assume the cartoon appeared in the New York Evening World in December 1928 within several days of the 16 December Associated Press article. A clipping of the cartoon is located in the Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, reviews, USA: 1909–, File ―1924–1930.‖

54―Damrosch Upholds Radio Symphonies: Wishes Rachmaninoff Could ‗Sit In‘ at Concert Broadcast to Appreciate Its Value,‖ New York Times, 23 December 1928.

148 on holiday, explaining that he had just been playing the Victor records of his second concerto, ―It occurred to me what a beautiful and effective sounding work this would be for radio. If you ever feel like broadcasting this work and would like to have us do the orchestral part with you I should be delighted to do so. But of course be frank and only do it if you really wish to.‖55

Stokowski did not convince Rachmaninoff to offer a live performance on the radio.

In fact, the public‘s fascination with the refusal of Rachmaninoff and Kreisler to broadcast continued throughout their careers. In October 1932 the New York Times reported that

―Kreisler Is Studying Radio,‖ saying that he was planning to broadcast, and as a member of the

―old school,‖ he wanted to learn the technique of broadcasting, first, ―If he goes on the air at all he should first learn all the tricks of the trade, then go frequently before the radio microphone.

That is the course I have planned for myself, but before I begin I will have thoroughly studied the requirements of this new art of expression and learned all its secrets, just as I have the stage.‖56 Several weeks after reporting that Kreisler was considering radio, the New York Times noted on 11 December 1932 that ―Rachmaninoff Looks at Radio,‖ claiming that Rachmaninoff was altering his views and would go on the air, sometime, depending upon circumstances:

Rachmaninoff admits he is no longer unalterably opposed to playing for an unseen audience, provided a visible audience is in sight. The atmosphere of the concert hall, he believes is essential for his performance. ―I cannot conceive of playing without an audience,‖ said Rachmaninoff. ―If I were shut up in a little ‗cigar-box‘ of a room and were told that my audience was listening somewhere outside I could not play well. The most precious thing for me when I play is the feeling of contact established with my audience. Anticipation of this contact, on days when I play, gives me the utmost pleasure. ―An artist‘s performance depends so much on his audience that I cannot imagine ever playing without one. If I should broadcast, it would have to under

55 Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Stokowski, Leopold.‖

56―Kreisler Is Studying Radio,‖ New York Times, 23 October 1932.

149

the same conditions that exist when I appear in Carnegie Hall. . . . My visible audience would have to come first.‖57

Rachmaninoff respected radio more as a medium capable of broadcasting voices of world leaders:

―Who could say anything against such a great invention?‖ he said. ―Broadcasting a voice, however, is much simpler than the broadcasting of music. When someone like Mussolini speaks over the radio it is not how his voice sounds, but what he says. It is the meaning of his utterance which counts. Imperfections of tone can be disregarded. That is not the case, however, when an artist performs music. Conditions must be exactly right else the audience gets a false impression of the player.‖58

Stokowski actively worked with technicians from the recording and broadcasting industry to improve the transmission of live music. He wrote to Rachmaninoff, again, on 20 March 1936, in care of Rachmaninoff‘s manager Charles Foley. Stokowski shared that he enjoyed offering the premier of Rachmaninoff‘s new Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, was glad they played the piece again in New York recently, and felt that broadcast technology had improved sufficiently to tempt Rachmaninoff:

I feel more and more convinced that we ought to broadcast this work some time so as to give millions of people who live in remote places the opportunity of hearing this remarkable music. Of course this could only be well done if we have exceptionally good transmission equipment and a specially planned pick-up. Although these will be difficult to obtain I feel confident we can have them. In that case we would be able to offer all music lovers four unique things combined in one—your extraordinary composition, your unique way of playing it, the unusual qualities of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a specially prepared high quality transmission and pick-up. I am not going to try in any way to persuade you to do this because I know your intense dislike of the distortions which radio so often ruins music. I fully agree with you about this and hate these distortions just as intensely as you do. But there are ways of broadcasting music so that the music is not spoiled but can give pleasure to literally millions of people. This cannot be done by the wholesale

57―Rachmaninoff Looks at Radio,‖ New York Times, 11 December 1932.

58Ibid.

150

method in which radio is now being carried on, but for a special occasion like the one I am dreaming of, such a high quality of broadcasting is possible. If you feel that you would care to cooperate with me in such a performance of your Variations I feel sure we can work out the purely managerial side through our respective managers so that these will be agreeable to us both. With friendship and affection, Leopold Stokowski59

Rachmaninoff and Foley decided against broadcasting the performance of Rachmaninoff‘s

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Rachmaninoff persisted with his views about radio performance, although he listened to radio in Europe and America. On 13 October 1937, the New York Sun’s William G. King interviewed Rachmaninoff, remarking that he was one of the few major artists who had steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the radio or motion pictures. He bought a radio while on summer holiday in Europe, but only for the gramophone attachment:

―Someone of my family tuned in Moscow. Always, they were trying to hear things from Russia. Sometimes I was near, and I listened. I was astonished at how conservative the programs were. I heard songs from Glinka, Tchaikovsky— some of my own. But the noises—!‖ It was suggested that, with European government stations blanketing the air, his home on the Lake of Lucerne, in the center of the continent, might not be the best place in the world to judge radio reception. ―I believe it is better over here,‖ he admitted. ―But me—I shall wait a while yet before I do any broadcasting.‖60

Ultimately, Rachmaninoff never performed over the radio. Alexander Greiner, his friend and Steinway artist manager, offered a plausible explanation in his unpublished memoir. He believed it was attributable to Rachmaninoff‘s personal manager Charles Foley, who insisted that his clients did not broadcast, ―Charles Foley was of the opinion that radio broadcasting harmfully

59Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, P–, File ―Stokowski, Leopold.‖

60William G. King, ―Sergei Rachmaninoff Returns—A Talk with the Russian Composer-Pianist,‖ New York Sun, 13 October 1937.

151 affects personal appearances, and none of his three artists—Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, and

Geraldine Farrar—ever played or sang over the radio. As all three artists had the most implicit faith in Foley‘s judgment, they would not accept such engagements, no matter how lucrative and tempting they were.‖61 Greiner remembered one of those generous offers made by the Ford

Motor Company, which desperately wanted Rachmaninoff to appear on its radio program. The

―Ford Hour‖ featured classical music played by a symphony orchestra with famous artists appearing as soloists. Edsel Ford, President of the company,62 was anxious to have

Rachmaninoff appear on one of the programs. Steinway and Sons and the Ford Motor Company each utilized the services of the same advertising agent, N. W. Ayer and Son. Greiner explained that the Ford Company began negotiations but made no progress:

As I had the very good fortune to be on very friendly terms not only with Rachmaninoff himself but with his family, the N. W. Ayer and Son people thought that I could accomplish what they had been unsuccessful to do—to persuade Rachmaninoff to accept the radio engagement. While it was true that I was on very friendly terms with the great composer-pianist, it was a gross exaggeration to assume that I had any influence on him whatsoever, that I could ―persuade‖ Rachmaninoff. In fact, one of the reasons I was on such good terms not only with Rachmaninoff, but other great artists as well, was that I knew ―where to draw the line,‖ and at no time did I take the slightest liberties with them in any respect. When I was asked to express an opinion I would naturally do so, but I would never volunteer any opinions on matters pertaining to tours, fees, programs, etc. I therefore explained to Mr. Gerald Lauck of N. W. Ayer and Son, who handled the Steinway account, that I did not think I could be very helpful, that Rachmaninoff had his very set ideas in matters pertaining to his professional career and that he discussed such matters as engagements and fees only with his friend and manger Charles J. Foley. To my surprise, a few weeks later Mr. Lauck came to see me and, handing me a blank check, told me I had carte blanche to have Rachmaninoff put in any amount he thought equitable for an appearance on the ―Ford Hour.‖ I went to Rachmaninoff, having advised him on the telephone that I was asked to make him

61Alexander ―Sascha‖ Greiner, ―Pianists and Pianos: Recollections of the Manager of the Concert and Artists Department of Steinway and Sons from 1928 to 1957,‖ TMs (photocopy), 139, Steinway and Sons Collection, La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Queens, NY, Series 3, Box 04099.

62Edsel‘s tenure as President of the Ford Motor Company, 1919–43, nearly mirrored Rachmaninoff‘s term in America. Richard Bak, Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire (New York: Wiley, 2003), 106, 257.

152

a proposition for an appearance on the radio. I found Foley at Rachmaninoff‘s and, without any preliminary ado, I told my story and showed Rachmaninoff the blank check. Rachmaninoff looked at ―Charley‖ who smiled and said, ―Tell Mr. Ford he hasn‘t enough money for an appearance of Mr. Rachmaninoff on the radio.‖ ―But,‖ I said jokingly, ―you can put in all the money you think the Ford Company is worth!‖ ―We don‘t want Mr. Ford‘s money,‖ put in Rachmaninoff, ―at any rate, not for an appearance on his radio program.‖ I returned the check to Mr. Lauck, with regret, I will admit. I disagreed with Foley about broadcasting and still disagree. I do not think radio appearances are bad for an artist‘s ―business‖ as regards personal appearances. . . . I thought it would be a wonderful thing for the many music lovers to hear Rachmaninoff who never had an opportunity to hear him otherwise.63

The ―Ford Hour‖ series lasted from 1934 to 1942, when, according to Time magazine,

―the exodus of war-hit industries from the air began in force.‖ Chrysler Corporation reduced

―Major Bowes‖ to a half-hour (CBS, Thursdays, 9:00 PM E.S.T.), Lipton‘s Tea canceled ―Helen

Hayes‖ (CBS, Sunday 8:00 PM E.S.T.), then the Ford Motor Company canceled the ―Ford

Sunday Evening Hour‖ (CBS, 9:00 PM E.S.T.):

Since its debut on 7 October 1934, the ―Ford Hour‖ has had an average seasonal run of thirty-three performances, an average seasonal cost of $1,400,000 in time and talent. It has presented the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of nearly every good conductor, with guest stars of all magnitudes. . . . Downcast was the Detroit Symphony, 76 of whose 81 members will no longer make a minimum of twenty-six dollars extra per week. . . . But no more morose than usual was radio comic Fred Allen, who will move into CBS‘s coveted Sunday evening spot on March 8.64

Although Rachmaninoff did not perform on the radio, he enjoyed listening to it, even to his own music. On 15 February 1934 he wrote to conductor Nicholas Sokoloff expressing appreciation, ―Last Tuesday evening I was lying in bed and listening to the radio playing in an adjoining room my Second Symphony under your direction. Let me express to you my heartfelt

63Greiner, 139–40.

64―Farewell, Ford,‖ Time, 2 February 1942, 52–53.

153 gratitude because your wonderful interpretation of my composition made me entirely forget my illness.‖65 Rachmaninoff had no objections to his own recordings being played on the radio, and he achieved popularity amongst radio listeners, particularly in New York. Douglas MacKinnon,

Program Director for WQXR, shared that listener enthusiasm with Rachmaninoff in a letter dated

17 April 1940:

I am asking various prominent artists who have made recordings if they have any objection to the broadcasting of these recordings. WQXR is noted for its high standards of music, and so far the artists with whom I have communicated have no objections to their interpretations being broadcast, for they know the effects of such cultural stimulus on the radio stations. Your recording of your Second Piano Concerto is one of the most popular, and is among the first ten favorite concertos, according to a poll of our radio audience. Next month we are to play the thirty-one favorite concertos in our Symphony Hall programs at 8:00 o‘clock each evening. The Victor Company has given us permission for broadcasting their records, and I want to be sure that you have no objection concerning the C Minor Concerto.66

Rachmaninoff responded on 19 April 1940, ―In answer to your letter of 17 April, I would like to point out that if the Victor Company has given you permission, naturally, I have no objection for your broadcasting of their recordings.‖67 MacKinnon again wrote on 25 April 1940 to share a humorous anecdote about the recent radio poll of favorite concertos, explaining that

Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 ranked ninth in the vote, ―And it may amuse you to learn that one of the voters, in referring to you, wrote your name ‗Sir Gay Rachmaninoff,‘ thus indicating that you are a Knight of the British Crown.‖68 When Rachmaninoff returned from summer

65Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―S.‖

66Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, W–, File ―WQXR.‖

67Ibid. A copy of Rachmaninoff‘s response was typed on the reverse of MacKinnon‘s letter.

68Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, W–, File ―WQXR.‖

154 holiday, he responded to MacKinnon on 10 October 1940 explaining that the radio listener was not the first to reinterpret Rachmaninoff‘s name, ―The surname ‗Sir Gay‘ was given to me twenty years ago by the composer Glazounov, a nickname by which he called me to the end of his days. Is it not possible there that your voter, somehow, had gotten wind of this?‖69 Despite a life-long refusal to perform on the radio, Rachmaninoff‘s recorded performances became a staple for classical radio listeners.

It appears that Rachmaninoff regarded performing, recording, and live broadcast performance as different activities, yielding different outcomes. He truly felt that a live, in- person audience could best appreciate the total experience of a live performance, hence, his statements to the press about radio making listening to music too comfortable. That same claim could be made about listening to recordings, yet he recorded extensively. For an artist and composer accused of being ―old school,‖ he closely monitored new recording technology until it could reasonably reproduce the sound of the piano, then embraced it. He proved to be incredibly meticulous when recording, yet he gave many live performances with no opportunity for

―retakes.‖ Oftentimes he was not completely satisfied with his live performance, yet he persisted in that activity. Perhaps he felt that the overall, positive, in-person experience for the audience vastly overshadowed any of his performing imperfections; whereas live radio performance could not offer a complete picture of the experience. Ultimately, Rachmaninoff appreciated the enduring nature of a recorded performance made to his performance standards, not necessarily its ability to recreate or imitate a concert hall experience.

Through his use of recording technology, Rachmaninoff became the first major composer-pianist to leave behind definitive performances of his works when he was at the height

69Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―T.‖ 155 of his abilities, and he felt fortunate to do so. He recorded all four of his piano concertos, his

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and many additional works by other composers, nearly ninety recorded performances in total. Although avoiding live radio performance, his perfectionism and attention to every detail created a recorded, performance practice legacy that few can rival in the twentieth century. Charles O‘Connell, who worked with Rachmaninoff for twenty years at

Victor, acknowledged Rachmaninoff as the pioneer, ―There seems no doubt that in the future all great musicians, creative, executants, or both, will have this experience which was uniquely

Rachmaninoff‘s.‖70 Victor proudly recognized its good fortune, as well, promoting

Rachmaninoff as a leading twentieth-century Victor artist. Due to the foresight of Rachmaninoff to engage in recording, he shared the gift he so valued: permanence for his art.

70O‘Connell, 170–71. 156

CHAPTER 6

RACHMANINOFF‘S CHARITABLE WORK

Directed toward musicians and artists in need all over the world, Rachmaninoff‘s generosity grew legendary. His tenure in America coincided with tremendous upheaval in

Russia, precipitated by the Bolshevik Revolution, the rise of the , and Nazi aggression toward Russia during the Second World War. Rachmaninoff quickly recognized that he could use his name and newly acquired wealth to ease suffering in Russia and in Russian communities in America and Europe. One of the first to encourage the American Relief

Administration to focus aid to Russia, Rachmaninoff provided thousands of dollars to charitable causes throughout his career in America. Performing numerous benefit concerts during his

American years, he contributed significant proceeds to Russian and American artist relief. In addition, he responded to myriad requests for aid from societies and individuals. Rachmaninoff tirelessly worked to find employment for less fortunate Russian expatriates. He lent his name to letters and newspaper articles that educated and alerted the American public to atrocities perpetrated in the Soviet Union, even though his signature to one such letter led to his music being banned in there. He offered personal assistance and financial aid to help friends and acquaintances escape peril in Russia and Europe. In addition, Rachmaninoff befriended and supported the work of second-generation Russian notables in America such as Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of Anton; Alexandra Tolstoy, daughter of Leo; and Vladimir Nabokov whose father was the Secretary of the Russian Provisional Government prior to the October 1917 Revolution. This chapter examines the actions Rachmaninoff took to provide aid to Russian musicians and artists, as well as American causes; who he assisted and why; and the response of beneficiaries as well as donors.

157

Rachmaninoff assisted a great many artists and musicians during his American years, but the specific number will never be known. According to his friend and Steinway artist manager

Alexander ―Sasha‖ Greiner, Rachmaninoff did not want it known, for he was ―shy, unselfish in helping musicians in whose talent he believed.‖ Greiner explained a little game that his wife and

Rachmaninoff would play, ―Whenever my wife wanted to raise some money for a charity . . . or to get some help for a poor but deserving person, she would slip a piece of paper with the name of the charity in Rachmaninoff‘s pocket, and Rachmaninoff unfailingly sent a most generous contribution.‖1 In addition to numerous private donations,2 Rachmaninoff also performed in large benefit concerts and donated the proceeds.

After a busy touring season, Rachmaninoff often played a springtime benefit concert before his summer holiday when he rested and prepared for the following season. At the close of

Rachmaninoff‘s first season in America, for instance, he participated in two highly publicized charity concerts aiding American war concerns.3 On 8 April 1919 he played his Piano Concerto

No. 2 in a benefit concert with at the Metropolitan Opera House, which also featured the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. The event benefited

1Alexander ―Sascha‖ Greiner, ―Pianists and Pianos: Recollections of the Manager of the Concert and Artists Department of Steinway and Sons from 1928 to 1957,‖ TMs (photocopy), 138, Steinway and Sons Collection, La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Queens, NY, Series 3, Box 04099.

2File folders in the Rachmaninoff Archive at the Library of Congress contain hundreds of receipts from charities and individuals. The most prominent organizations included the , American Relief Association, Committee for the Education of Russian Youth in Exile, Community Service Society of New York, Musicians‘ Foundation, Russian Charity Society, Russian Student Fund, Russian War Invalids Outside of Russia, and the Society for the Relief of Musicians in Russia.

3During and after World War I, the United States government called upon American businesses, organizations, and individuals to participate in a number of Liberty Loan (1917, 1918) and Victory Loan (1919) campaigns, bond issues intended to help pay for World War I costs and debt.

158 the efforts of the Vacation Association of New York to pay off its war loan.4 Though not a war- related fundraising event, Rachmaninoff joined ‘cellist at the Hotel Biltmore several weeks later, 26 April 1919, to perform Rachmaninoff‘s ‘ (Opus 19) on a program of the Bohemians Musicians Club, which honored Alma Gluck-Zimbalist and Efrem

Zimbalist.5 The next night Rachmaninoff participated in a benefit for the Victory Loan at the

Metropolitan Opera House, attended by numerous dignitaries in the four thousand-person audience. Pre-concert speakers included Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and Admiral

Henry T. Mayo, who explained that the Victory Loan would go toward paying the billions of dollars in expenses from the war (World War I):

They say it‘s the last loan. The people of the world are a little at sea. They don‘t know what is going to happen in Paris. You never know what kind of a small bonfire will develop into a conflagration. And so it may not be the last loan. But let‘s subscribe to it.6

Heifetz and Rachmaninoff performed separately. According to the New York Times, when the audience insisted Heifetz perform an encore after he played several selections ―a representative of the Victor Talking Machine Company offered to subscribe for his concern $500,000 if the violinist would play Gounod‘s ‗.‘ Mr. Heifetz complied.‖7 Rachmaninoff performed

Liszt‘s Hungarian Rhapsody, and it was announced that a group of a dozen men seated in a box would subscribe $1,200,000 if he encored with the C-sharp minor prelude. Rachmaninoff

4The New York Vacation Association advocated professional relationships and partnerships within the business community and raised appreciation for travel. ―To Sing for Vacationists, Geraldine Farrar Will Appear at Metropolitan Concert,‖ New York Times, 2 April 1919.

5The second piece on the program featured Fritz Kreisler‘s String Quartet in A minor performed by the Letz Quartet. Concert Program, 26 April 1919, File ―Rachmaninoff: Miscellaneous Concert Programs 1909–42,‖ International Piano Archive at Maryland (IPAM), University of Maryland, College Park.

6―Huge Sum in Notes Earned by Encores; Heifetz and Rachmaninoff Boost Sale at Metropolitan $1,700,000 by Repeating,‖ New York Times, 29 April 1919.

7Ibid. 159 performed the work. Each of the dozen enthusiasts subscribed varying amounts up to $250,000 each, to attain the combined total of $1,200,000. The entire amount pledged at the rally reached

$7,816,000.8

To address the worsening conditions in Russia after the Revolution and to benefit

Rachmaninoff‘s artist friends and family suffering from food shortages, he organized benefit concerts himself and sought the assistance from American government agencies to ship food and supplies to Russia. In the summer of 1921 he began communicating with Herbert Hoover, the future president of the United States, who was then chairman of the newly organized American

Relief Administration. During the First World War President had appointed

Hoover head of the Food Administration. After the armistice, he became head of the American

Relief Administration. On 31 August 1921, Hoover responded to Rachmaninoff about his request to send aid:

My Dear Mr. Rachmaninoff: I have your letter of August 24 relative to sending to the American Relief Administration a certain sum of money collected by Russians for the professors of the University of Moscow. At present moment we have under consideration the question of setting up machinery to handle just such cases. However, owing to our inability to make satisfactory arrangements with the Soviets on this point, we have been unable to set this machinery in motion. I would suggest your communicating in a week or two with the American Relief Administration. . . as they will be able to advise you when the machinery will be set up by which the money can be transmitted to Russia, either as money or in the form of food drafts. Yours faithfully, Herbert Hoover9

8Ibid.

9Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―American Relief Association.‖

160

Rachmaninoff persisted with his requests to the American Relief Administration. His mother had chosen to stay in Russia, as had other relatives, and Rachmaninoff was concerned for their wellbeing. W. J. Myers, Assistant Secretary, responded to Rachmaninoff several weeks later, on 19 September 1921:

In reply to your letter of 16 September, we very much regret that it is impossible at present for the Administration to undertake the sending of food drafts to your relatives in Russia. We are considering the development of a food draft service similar to that formerly operated in central Europe and shall be pleased to hold your letter on file and to advise you should this plan materialize. We are sorry that we cannot be of assistance just at the present time.10

A month later, however, Myers contacted Rachmaninoff with good news, ―In reply to your letter of 10 October we are pleased to inform you that the Administration will very soon be able to undertake food delivered to Russia. It will not be but a matter of a few days and we shall let you know immediately this service is put into effect.‖11 Due to Rachmaninoff‘s urging, among others, and the severity of the need for aid, Hoover changed his mind and organized food shipments for millions of starving people in central Europe, including the famine-stricken Soviet

Russia in 1921. Through the assistance of the American Relief Administration, Rachmaninoff sent regular checks to musicians, artists, and his mother in Russia.12 When a critic inquired of

Hoover if he was not thus helping Bolshevism, Hoover retorted, ―Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!‖13

With the American aid machinery now in place through the American Relief

Administration, Rachmaninoff organized a benefit concert at the close of the 1921–22 season at

10Ibid.

11Ibid.

12His mother stayed in Novgorod and died there on 19 September 1929. Bertensson, 258.

13The White House, ―Herbert Hoover,‖ (accessed 15 March 2008), . 161

Carnegie Hall. He requested that the Relief Administration manage the distribution of the funds to Russia and his benefit concert be given on behalf of the Relief Administration, something that had never been done before. His request to Hoover in March 1922 was forwarded to the

Secretary of Commerce, E. H. Droop, in Washington, DC. Hoover‘s assistant, Christian A.

Herter, wrote to Droop on 16 March 1922:

My Dear Mr. Droop: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 14 March 1922, enclosing a letter addressed by Mr. Sergei Rachmaninoff to Mr. Hoover, in regard to a concert which he proposes to give on behalf of the American Relief Administration in New York, during the month of April. I am consulting with the Directors of the American Relief Administration in New York in regard to Mr. Rachmaninoff‘s suggestion and am likewise requesting them to communicate with him direct. I cannot be certain as to what answer we can send him in view of the fact the American Relief Administration has made no public appeal for contributions and that the endorsement of such a concert on his behalf would mark a precedent in this direction. However, I shall be glad to advise you of any decision we may reach. Most sincerely yours, Christian A. Herter, Assistant to Mr. Hoover14

The American Relief Administration granted Rachmaninoff permission to name the agency in his concert promotion and to process the funds for Russian relief.

The concert, scheduled for 2 April 1922, benefited artists in Russia, and Rachmaninoff took the opportunity to educate the American public about their plight. On 31 March the New

York Times published an extensive interview with Rachmaninoff outlining the need:

Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer, has made an appeal to the American public for special aid to members of the artistic and learned professions in his country, ―in view of the unbelievable restrictions that the ruling classes impose upon our brother musicians, artists and men of letters in Russia.‖ While he hopes for help on a larger scale than can come from scattered individuals, he has himself arranged a benefit at Carnegie Hall on Sunday night, the entire profits of which will be turned over to the American Relief Administration under Herbert Hoover. ―The creative arts are most seriously menaced by the subjugation that the present ruling classes have seemed to take delight in imposing upon Russian men

14Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―American Relief Association.‖ 162

and women of intelligence,‖ Mr. Rachmaninoff said yesterday at his New York home, 33 Riverside Drive. ―Imagine the position of university and college people, reversed from normal conditions, so that they would be viewed by the ruling classes in much the same light as one looks upon the criminal class here today. ―I do not speak of the life our brother artists in Russia are forced to lead, they and their families. Rather than allow them to exercise their genius, the ruling classes drive anybody who is suspected of bourgeois tendencies to the most menial labor, even to cleaning the streets. ―Hard work will never hurt anybody. But when a violinist, a doctor of philosophy, a poet or a great painter is forced, for no reason except he made whim of temporary rulers, to the bench and the plow, the mop and the hoe, then there is danger indeed that the brave spirits within these artists may droop with discouragement and their messages die unspoken for the delight of posterity the world over. ―It is not only in Russia that Russian artists are affected by this situation. One of my best friends, a poet, has been in Paris. He nearly starved. But his genius has no outlet because it expresses itself in Russian, not in French or English. And there are no Russian publications today. His case is one where I have been glad to have been of some small but direct assistance. ―For some time, those of us who have many friends yet in Russia have been able to assure ourselves that the little assistance we could send them really reached them through the American Relief Administration. Without such practical aid, we feared that the creative impulse that would produce notable contributions to Russian music, art and literature must die of stagnation.‖15

A concert notice indicated that ticket prices ranged from one to five dollars, and boxes could be obtained for fifty or one hundred dollars by writing to Rachmaninoff at his home on Riverside

Drive.16

On 2 April Rachmaninoff, along with Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony

Orchestra, performed his second and third piano concertos. The Russian program also included

Tchaikovsky‘s ―Andante cantabile‖ from his String Quartet No. 1 and the ― ‖ from his fourth symphony. Rachmaninoff also asked the manager of Carnegie Hall to participate

15―Rachmaninoff to Aid Artists in Russia: Composer to Give a Benefit in Carnegie Hall Sunday for Persecuted Brother Musicians,‖ New York Times, 31 March 1922.

16Display Advertisement 121, ―Carnegie Hall,‖ New York Times, 22 March 1922.

163 in the benefit efforts. C. C. Smith confirmed his participation in a letter to Rachmaninoff on 1

April 1922:

I wish to acknowledge receipt of yours of 30 March and in reply may I state that it was equally a gratification to me to be able to waive this stage charge for your concert of Sunday and may I add that, were it my privilege, I should personally, be very glad to omit the rent charge for the Hall in its entirety, but you will realize of course that I haven‘t this prerogative. While writing you, may I add that I should appreciate it very much if you could favor the writer with an autographed portrait of yourself to add to my office collection.17

The day after the concert the New York Times reported that Rachmaninoff ―had the satisfaction of reporting $7,100, a vast sum when translated into Russian currency at present rates, as the profits of the concert. . . . It will also, as Mr. Rachmaninoff pointed out in his original appeal, be made known through signed personal receipts that the help offered has reached its destination.‖18

Rachmaninoff took charge of allocating the proceeds. He provided the American Relief

Administration a list of Russian beneficiaries, specifically noting groups of professors, teachers, and artists at nearly fifty institutions in Moscow, Petrograd, Kharkoff, Kieff, Kasan, Nijni

Novgorod, Odessa, and Saratoff. Dollar amounts ranged from fifty to two hundred dollars. For instance, he noted that two hundred dollars each should be allocated to both the Professors and

Teachers of the Conservatory of Music in Moscow and at the Petrograd Conservatory of Music.

Considering the value of the 1922 American dollar compared to the deflated Russian ruble, the total dollar amount purchased a significant amount of food, hundreds of thousands of dollars

17Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, C–, File ―C.‖

18―Russian Benefit Nets $7,100: Rachmaninoff Is Aided by Damrosch and New York Symphony Orchestra,‖ New York Times, 3 April 1922.

164 worth of aid in today‘s currency.19 Frank C. Page, assistant secretary to Hoover at the Relief

Administration, acknowledged receipt of Rachmaninoff‘s funds on 13 April 1922:

We herewith acknowledge receipt of the check for $4582.21 and cash for $17.79. We will forward against this money 460 food packages, as per the list which you have given us. We will send you an itemized receipt for this money under separate cover. We will also undertake to get either receipts or acknowledgements from all of the organizations which receive the food against your very generous donation.20

Rachmaninoff‘s early advocacy with the American Relief Administration afforded him a special invitation to see the handling and shipping of supplies to Russia at an Army depot. On 27

March 1922, prior to his April benefit concert, Mr. S. Slonim extended the invitation to

Rachmaninoff:

Being aware of the great interest you are taking in everything concerning relief for Russia, I wonder if you would be interested in seeing the receiving, handling and shipping for Russia of medical and hospital supplies at the U. S. Army Base Depot, Building B, East 58th Street, Brooklyn, NY, on Wednesday March 29, at 11:00 AM. The supplies which were authorized by Congress under date of 20 January 1922, from medical stocks of the Army, consist of everything that goes into the equipment of up-to-date hospitals in accordance with the most advanced requirements. These supplies come to our warehouse base at the above address from the various army medical supply depots throughout the country. Moving pictures of the entire proceedings will be taken on 29 March by motion picture operators from all the leading film concerns. I hope that you can take the opportunity to come Wednesday and see these stores which are going to Russia, and also that I may have the pleasure of meeting you personally on that interesting occasion.21

It appears that a change of plans at the 58th Street Brooklyn Army Base on 29 March prevented the public relations event from taking place. The bodies of nearly twelve hundred World War I

19For a complete listing of those benefited by Rachmaninoff‘s April 1922 Carnegie concert, see Appendix K. 20Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―American Relief Association.‖

21Ibid.

165 soldiers returned that morning on the Cambrai to the base‘s Pier Two with solemn memorial activities planned.22

Parcels and donations to Russia from Rachmaninoff continued throughout his life, and the files of the Rachmaninoff Archive contain hundreds of letters of praise and thanks from recipients. For instance, the chorus of the Mariinski Theater in Petrograd signed seventy signatures to its note of thanks. Director of the Moscow Art Theater, Constantine Stanislavsky wrote, ―You cannot know how your attention and memories touch our hearts. It is a very fine thing that you are doing, for the artists are really starving,‖ and he signed, ―Your eternal debtors.‖23

Rachmaninoff continued to perform benefit concerts and donate the proceeds to various aid organizations. On Sunday, 22 April 1928, he performed in Carnegie Hall and donated the proceeds ―for the relief of Russian sufferers from the late war.‖ Rachmaninoff wrote letters to the editor of several New York dailies thanking patrons for attending and accounting for the proceeds. On 24 April 1928 he addressed the editor of the New York Herald Tribune:

May I express, through the courtesy of your paper, my thanks to all those who attended my last recital at Carnegie Hall on April 22nd in benefit of the Russian War invalids outside of Russia. The gross receipts of the concert were $6081.50 and the expenses (rent of the hall, tickets, advertising) being $1445.80, the net proceeds amounted to $4635.70. This sum has been forwarded by me through the National City Bank of New York to General N. Baratoff, president of the Central committee of the Society for the Relief of Russian War invalids outside of Russia. I take the opportunity to thank particularly my manager Mr. C. J. Foley who has generously donated his share to the same cause.24

22―Last Soldier Dead Due on Ship Today,‖ New York Times, 29 March 1922. ―Ship Brings Our Last Dead from France,‖ New York Times, 30 March 1922.

23Letter from Stanislavsky to Rachmaninoff, 26 May 1922, quoted in Bertensson, 228.

24―Letter to Editor,‖ New York Herald Tribune, 24 April 1928.

166

The New York Times published the same letter to the editor on 29 April 1928 under the title,

―Rachmaninoff Grateful.‖25

Not only war or famine necessitated aid concerts but so did the Great Depression. One of the more spectacular benefit concerts in which Rachmaninoff participated took place at the close of the 1932–33 concert season. Walter Damrosch planned five festival concerts for that season to be held in Madison Square Garden for the benefit of the Musicians Emergency Aid fund.

Damrosch would return to the concert stage to conduct. The only artists to receive any compensation for performing in the concerts would be the one hundred seventy-five orchestral musicians who would receive twenty dollars each for each concert. That group comprised New

York symphonic players who were now unemployed. Damrosch intended the proceeds of the series to go toward a permanent fund for the relief of musicians without work.26 The conductor and the solo artists donated their services. The box tickets, offered as subscriptions for the five concerts, sold for $150.27

Regarding the Musicians‘ Emergency Aid fund, Olin Downes described the need in the

New York Times on 30 October 1932, explaining that the number of musicians who had benefited from the fund would be ―greater than it would be considerate to publish.‖ Walter Damrosch, as chairman of the fund, sought to assist all ranks of musicians, since the economic depression had disastrous effect on the affairs of many musicians, ―great and small‖:

Artists have suffered in certain instances to an extent of which the public does not dream. Men and women whose lifelong profession has been music, in which they have reaped richly-deserved honors and given the most distinguished public service, are in many cases in dire financial straits. This affects not only the artists

25―Rachmaninoff Grateful,‖ New York Times, 29 April 1928.

26―Activities of Musicians,‖ New York Times, 13 November 1932.

27―Festival Concerts Will Aid Musicians,‖ New York Times, 8 June 1932.

167

concerned, but in many instances families and relatives maintained by their ample earnings in past years.28

By March 1933 Damrosch had lead four of the five Madison Square Garden benefit concerts. He had originally planned to use the money raised by the concerts as a nucleus for a substantial permanent fund to assist needy musicians. Damrosch remarked, ―If conditions continue to be as bad as they now are, I shall give the directors of the fund complete freedom to use the money as they see fit. There are no strings attached to it.‖29

For the final Madison Square Garden relief concert of the season on 2 April, Damrosch planned for the top two virtuosos to be featured, Rachmaninoff and Kreisler, the first time those two musicians appeared on the same concert. Nearly seventeen thousand people attended the concert, the largest classical concert of the time in New York City. As Downes reported in the

New York Times, the musical fame and prowess of the artists attracted an immense audience, the largest of the series. ―This audience, estimated at from sixteen to seventeen thousand, was an imposing sight, filling the entire floor and packing the galleries, rising on each side and at the back of the hall nearly to the roof. Gatherings such as these have only been assembled in the past for prize fights and other sporting events.‖30 After the orchestra performed Weber‘s Oberon

Overture, Kreisler performed Beethoven‘s violin concerto ―with as fine a proportion and as intimate a beauty as if he had been performing in Town Hall. . . . Above all, there is in its interpretation the indefinable quality of Mr. Kreisler‘s musical personality, to which the public

28Olin Downes, ―Helping the Unemployed,‖ New York Times, 30 October 1932.

29―Garden Concert April 3: Rachmaninoff and Kreisler to Play at Last of Relief Series,‖ New York Times, 16 March 1933.

30Olin Downes, ―16,000 Hear Kreisler and Rachmaninoff at the Final Concert in the Musicians‘ Fund Series,‖ New York Times, 4 April 1933.

168 responds with an intuition that is better than reason.‖31 On the second half of the program, the orchestra played Liszt‘s Rhapsody No. 14, and Rachmaninoff closed the concert with his second piano concerto. Downes critiqued Rachmaninoff‘s performance:

Mr. Rachmaninoff played with electrical virtuosity, and when he wanted it, a sheer magnificence of tone that dominated the orchestra and the audience alike. It was a concerto and a performance for a great gathering in an immense place. There was at the same time the sincerity and the sentiment that always pertain to Rachmaninoff the composer and the performer. Figuratively speaking, he turned his piano and his audience upside down, and he had an unconditional triumph, the audience applauding and recalling him for minutes after he had finished playing.32

Since the concerts of this benefit series were presented in such a large venue, the organizers offered a portion of the tickets at lower prices and claimed that the concerts had created ―new audiences for good music.‖ Rachmaninoff‘s participation as the grand finale to the series helped to generate thirty-thousand dollars for the Musicians‘ Emergency Aid fund that year.33

Many required aid necessitated by the Depression as well as by political unrest; however,

Rachmaninoff, for the most part, showed no interest in politics. At times, however, he and other

Russian expatriates believed that they needed to help educate the American public, which oftentimes lacked a full understanding of both the Russian people and world geography.

Rachmaninoff occasionally added his name as signatory to letters published in prominent newspapers. One letter resulted in far reaching consequences for Rachmaninoff and appeared in the New York Times in January 1931. The ―Circle of ‖ asked Rachmaninoff to sign a letter of protest against remarks made by Rabindranath Tagore, a famous Indian poet, who had praised Soviet achievements in the field of public education after a recent trip to Russia.

31Ibid.

32Ibid.

33Ibid.

169

Along with Ivan Ostromislensky and Count Ilya Tolstoy, son of Leo Tolstoy, Rachmaninoff signed his name. The New York Times published the letter on 15 January 1931.34

The ―Circle of Russian Culture‖ aimed to ―foster intellectual intercourse among the

Russian immigrants in New York.‖35 According to the letter to the editor, Tagore‘s misstatements about Russia and the Soviet government appeared in a variety of newspapers and periodicals, and needed to be countered with the truth:

Much to our surprise, he has given praise to the activities of the Bolsheviki, and seemed rather delighted with their achievements in the field of public education. Strangely, not a word did he utter on the horrors perpetrated by the Soviet Government, and the Ogpu36 in particular. Time and again statements similar to his have been given out to the press by persons who, officially or otherwise, have been kept on the payroll of the communist oppressors of Russia. The value of such public utterances is well known to every thinking man or woman. Nor is it possible to answer every one of these misstatements individually. Tagore‘s case is different: he is considered among the great living men of our age. His voice is heard and listened to all over the world. By eulogizing the dubious pedagogical achievements of the Soviets, and by carefully omitting every reference to the indescribable torture in which the Soviets have been subjecting the Russian people for a period of over thirteen years, he has created a false impression that no outrages actually exist under the blessings of the Soviet regime.37

Rachmaninoff‘s decision to add his signature to the letter seriously damaged his relationship with his homeland, at least with those of communist leanings.

In early March 1931 when the Moscow Conservatory performed Rachmaninoff‘s The

Bells conducted by Albert Coates, Moscow newspapers criticized the piece and Rachmaninoff, and called for an end to Soviet performances of his music as punishment for his anti-Soviet

34―Tagore on Russia,‖ New York Times, 15 January 1931.

35To read the complete letter to the editor, ―Tagore on Russia,‖ see Appendix L.

36 An early political police of the Soviet Union, a forerunner of the KGB.

37―Tagore on Russia,‖ New York Times, 15 January 1931.

170 actions. According to Serge Bertensson, ―Pravda was fierce but factual, mentioning the correspondence on Tagore.‖ Vechernaya Moskva on 9 March 1931 described the composer as an

―emigrant, a violent enemy of Soviet Russia.‖38 Resolutions in the Moscow and Leningrad

Conservatories proposed an end to the teaching and performing of his works. Rachmaninoff did not concern himself with the ban on his music, however. Already the previous year,

Rachmaninoff recognized that he would not be welcome in his home country. In an interview with The Musical Times, Rachmaninoff lamented, ―Only one place is closed to me, and that is my own country—Russia.‖39

Clashes between Bolshevism and art had been frequent in the short history of the Soviet

Union as the New York Times reported on 23 March 1931. Feodor Chaliapin was ―deprived of the honorary title of ‗people‘s artist‘ for alleged ‗anti-Soviet conduct‘ abroad. The well known author, Boris Pilnyak (who is now in America) got into hot water over a book he published abroad.‖40 The Times article continued to explain that a group of citizens ―imbued with high

Communist ideals‖ demanded that the compositions of Rachmaninoff should not be played by

Moscow symphony orchestras, ―on the grounds that he had written ‗anti-Soviet‘ articles in

America.‖ Alfred Coates who served as visiting conductor in Moscow, had several works of

Rachmaninoff on his program but refused to strike them, but the efforts to bar the composer‘s works from concerts continued.41

Although Rachmaninoff‘s signature to the ―Tagore‖ letter caused problems in the Soviet

Union, in New York it drew positive support. The director of the National Civic Federation,

38The specific March date of the Pravda article is not known. Article quoted in Bertenssen, 273.

39Sergei Rachmaninoff, ―Some Critical Moments in My Career,‖ The Musical Times 71 (June 1931): 558.

40The book was Mahogany, published in Berlin in 1929.

41―Soviet and Art Clash Over Many Points; But Move to Bar Rachmaninoff Works Has Failed So Far— Pilnyak Once in Row,‖ New York Times, 23 March 1931. 171

Ralph M. Easley, wrote to Rachmaninoff in January 1931 voicing his support and offering to assist. Rachmaninoff responded to Easley on 27 January 1931, deeply moved by his appreciation of the letter and suggesting a next step:

Unfortunately we still seldom meet with understanding and sympathy on the part of American Patriots, though we are working for the same cause, waging a struggle against the subversive work of the enemies of civilization and culture. I was for a long time aware of [the] splendid work conducted by the national Civic Federation under your active leadership. I think that a co-operation between American Patriotic Organizations and Russian National Antibolshevik Organizations would be natural and would increase efficiency of their work. I see from your letter that among sections of your organizations there are: a Committee on Russian Affairs and a Department on Subversive Movements. The same aims are pursued by Russian Antibolshevists and I imagine that an agreement could be reached concerning mutual information and forms of co- operation if both sides would periodically exchange their ideas about these questions. Unfortunately, on account of my concert tour, I am frequently absent from New York and therefore would seldom be able to take an active part in our work. If, however, you are also of the opinion that a closer co-operation between American and Russian Anticommunists were desirable, I would call your attention to the existence here of the National League of Americans of Russian Origins, the President of which is my good friend Prof. Ivan Ostromislensky, M.D. Ph.D., who also signed with me our letter to Tagore and I would suggest that you get in touch with him. I take this opportunity to sincerely thank you and your Organization for all what you are doing for [the] Russian cause.42

As Rachmaninoff indicated, his busy concert schedule prevented him from active participation in such groups, yet he knew appropriate leaders to suggest.

In 1931 another Russian expatriate relocated to New York and became an advocate for human rights and a supporter of international refugee relief efforts, Alexandra Tolstoy, youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy. She, too, relied on Rachmaninoff for moral, as well as financial, support. In 1939 she founded the Tolstoy Foundation with Rachmaninoff as one of its founders and sponsors, along with , Tatiana Schaufuss, and Boris Bakhmeteff. Former

42Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―D.‖

172 president Herbert Hoover became the first honorary chairman that year and served until his death in 1964.43 She worked with the Tolstoy Foundation to build public support for international refugee relief efforts. On 4 January 1940, she wrote to Rachmaninoff concerned about

Americans not understanding the political situation in Russia:

I have just returned from a trip from Los Angeles to New York, making stops in Missouri and . During the journey I met with a great misunderstanding throughout the country, even with great antagonism growing towards the people of Russian nationality in general. The American public does not realize that the Russians who fought against Bolshevism and have never recognized the Soviet Government cannot be responsible for the cruel deeds of Stalin and the invasion of Poland and Finland. The Tolstoy Foundation has the opportunity of publishing a declaration in all the American newspapers which would clarify the situation and draw a distinct line between the Dictatorship in Russia and the Russian people. Enclosed you will find a draft of the letter to the American people. Will you join us in signing it? Any suggestions offered will be greatly appreciated.44

Tolstoy enclosed the draft of the letter to American public. The last paragraph summarized her concerns:

We, therefore, appeal to American public opinion not to confuse the crimes committed by Stalin with the desires of the Russian people, with Russian Culture, with the true ideals and the best traditions of the people who gave the world Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Tchaikovsky, Pavlov, Mechnikoff, and others, and whose only aspiration is to be free and to live in peace and cooperation with all others peoples of the world.45

Perhaps Tolstoy had seen that Rachmaninoff‘s name was associated with a similar statement published in American newspapers. The Chicago Daily Tribune had reported on 1 January 1940,

―Rachmaninoff and Nine Writers Protest Red Aggression in Finland‖:

43Tolstoy Foundation, ―Origins,‖ (accessed 15 March 2008), .

44 Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―Tolstoy, Alexandra.‖ (File should be in B2, but is misfiled in B1.)

45 Ibid.

173

Paris, December 31. Nine exiled Russian writers and a famous Russian musician signed a protest published today in the Russian daily of Paris against Soviet aggression in Finland. The protest was signed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, the musician; , Nobel prize winner; Nicholas Berdaieff, philosopher; Dmitry Merejkowsky, [Mark] Aldanov, Madame Hyppulus, Madame Teffl, Caitzeff, [Aleksey] Remizov, and Sirin [Vladimir Nabokov]. ―We affirm that Russians have not and never could have had any animosity toward the Finnish people and its government now heroically defending their lands,‖ says the protest. ―The shame with which Stalin‘s government is covered should not be placed upon the enslaved people who have no part in the responsibility.‖46

Tolstoy‘s revised letter appeared in the New York Times on 24 January 1940 without listing

Rachmaninoff‘s name as a signatory. Rachmaninoff‘s personal secretary and long-time friend,

Eugene Somoff, had affixed his name.47 The Tolstoy Foundation actively sponsored benefit concerts as well, and continued to cite Rachmaninoff as a director of the organization in its publicity.48

Several months earlier, in September 1939, Tolstoy had written an urgent letter to

Rachmaninoff to intervene and offer financial aid to help famed Russian writer Vladimir

Nabokov escape France. He had married a Russian-Jewish woman, and the couple and their son needed to flee the advancing German army. On 29 September 1939 she explained dire situation to Rachmaninoff:

It seems to me that Mr. Nabokov is in a very difficult situation and that we must get him out of France as soon as possible. I am sending Mr. Nabokov two affidavits from George Novitsky and Professor Karpovich of Harvard, but I do not think that this will be sufficient.

46―Rachmaninoff and Nine Writers Protest Red Aggression in Finland,‖ Chicago Daily Tribune, 1 January 1940.

47―Letter to the Times: Soviet Invasion Condemned; Russians Residing Here and Elsewhere State Position on Finland,‖ New York Times, 24 January 1940.

48―Tolstoy Foundation Sponsors a Concert; Don Cossack Chorus Will Sing Thursday for Russian Exiles,‖ New York Times, 24 February 1940.

174

I am not asking you for your personal affidavit but maybe you could just point out to me a Russian or American person who could show sufficient income or would be willing to place $5,000 in a bank in the name of Mr. Nabokov, with the understanding that as soon as he arrives in this country, he will return the above mentioned sum. I would certainly give him an affidavit myself, but unfortunately neither my income or bank account amounts to anything. Please excuse me for breaking our agreement but I think that Mr. Nabokov is a Russian with outstanding talents and is the kind of person whom we are all interested in saving. Apologizing again and thanking you for your attention.49

Perhaps Tolstoy had asked Rachmaninoff for assistance too many times and an ―agreement‖ needed to be reached. However, Rachmaninoff did comply, and Nabokov and his family relocated to America in the spring of 1940.50 One of the first people he went to meet was

Rachmaninoff, to thank him for several gifts of money during Nabokov‘s direst days, ―I was eager now to thank him in person.‖ Rachmaninoff also gave him some of his clothing to wear for an appearance at .51

In addition to material gifts, Rachmaninoff also tried to help Nabokov find employment in America. In November 1940 Rachmaninoff wrote to Archibald MacLeish, the Librarian of the

Library of Congress, and to Mrs. Ogden Reid, Vice President of the New York Herald Tribune.

Rachmaninoff communicated with MacLeish on 13 November 1940:

I hope that you will forgive me for troubling you with my request especially since I am not acquainted with you personally. A well known Russian author, Vladimir Nabokov (pseudonym Sirin) arrived from Europe this year. This comparatively young man received his education in France and England (graduate of Cambridge). He is a master of the

49Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―Tolstoy, Alexandra.‖ (File should be in B2, but is misfield in B1.)

50He sailed for America on the Champlain, arriving in New York on 28 May 1940. Brian Boyd, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), 11.

51Nabokov sent some garments back, but wore an ultramarine suit of Rachmaninoff when Nabokov taught at Stanford University that summer. Ibid., 13–14.

175

Russian, French and English languages and I think that if you have any openings for him he could be very useful. Believe me, I would not have troubled you but for the fact that this great Russian writer is in extreme financial need. If, therefore, you could do something for him I would be very much obliged.52

On 27 November 1940 Rachmaninoff wrote to Mrs. Reid emphasizing Nabokov‘s literary accomplishments:

During his sojourn abroad Mr. Nabokov taught languages, having numerous private pupils; he lectured on various literary subjects in Russian, English, and French before clubs and societies and contributed critical studies and reviews to prominent French and English periodicals. From 1925 to 1939 he published ten books, written in Russian under the pen name of V. Sirin—eight novels and two collections of short stories. Most of these works were translated into English, French, German, Swedish, etcetera. He translated his novel ―Laughter in the Dark,‖ which was published in the United States by Bobbs-Merrill. I must apologize again for writing without being personally acquainted with you, but the great admiration that I have for this Russian young man persuades me to ask if you can possibly do something for him by giving him some kind of literary or editorial work.53

MacLeish responded on 15 November 1940 and explained that he knew Nabokov‘s cousin,

Nicolas, and had ―long hoped that I might find some place for Vladimir Nabokov in the Library of Congress. So far I have not been successful but I shall not give up hope.‖54

Nabokov‘s fortunes quickly turned. At the end of November he received confirmation from Stanford University that he was offered a teaching post for the following summer. While preparing for his classes, Nabokov reconnected with Mikhail Chekhov, director of his own

Chekhov Theater Studio in Connecticut, and proposed adapting for stage, Chekhov

52Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―M.‖

53Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, A–, File ―P.‖

54Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, K–, File ―Library of Congress.‖

176 being enthusiastic about the idea. Nabokov also renewed his interest in entomological research at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and published scholarly articles on butterfly species.55 Nabokov maintained his friendship with Rachmaninoff throughout their

American years.

Rachmaninoff had played a key role in Mikhail Chekhov‘s relocation to America, as well. Actor and nephew of , he had visited the Rachmaninoffs in Paris during the summer of 1931.56 Several years later when Chekhov traveled to America, Rachmaninoff had his daughter Tatiana write to his secretary Eugene Somov on 30 January 1935 asking Somov to meet

Chekhov in New York. Chekhov sailed on the Lafayette from Paris on February 6 to New York.

According to Tatiana, speaking for Rachmaninoff, Chekhov scarcely spoke English and ―is very afraid of New York, the customs, the inspection of passports, and generally any kind of formalities. Both he and his wife, Xenia Karlovna, are very nice and I‘m sure you‘ll like them.

They were here yesterday and Papa promised to ask you to meet him, which touched M. A.

[Chekhov] deeply.‖57 When he moved permanently to the United States in 1938 he started his own school, directed Dostoyevsky‘s ―Demons‖ on Broadway, and began acting in Hollywood in the 1940s, maintaining his friendship with Rachmaninoff, who also relocated to southern

California.

Rachmaninoff remained loyal to his Russian musician friends, as well, spending significant amounts of money to secure their safety. One of his close friends from his Russian days included , pianist and composer. Early in their respective careers outside of

55Boyd, 22–24.

56Bertenssen, 275.

57Letter from Tatiana Conus to Somov, 30 January 1935, quoted in Bertensson, 311.

177

Russia, Rachmaninoff wrote to Medtner in Berlin on 29 December 1921, pleased that he was safe:

If you‘ll agree to it, I‘ll send you 50,000 marks, begging you sincerely not to refuse it. This will enable you to live quite comfortably in Germany without financial worries for a few months, while you compose. . . . I am so happy that you are in Europe where I can ―get at‖ you, and where you‘ll be able to live peacefully and work. As for the estrangement you sense, I must confess I feel it here, too. I see very few real, sincere musicians. Apparently you are the only one left.58

Although having toured briefly in America in 1924, as arranged by Rachmaninoff, Medtner had settled in England. Rachmaninoff dedicated his new Piano Concerto No. 4 to Medtner in 1926.

Ultimately while in England, failing health put him in peril during the Second World War.

Tolstoy explained Medtner‘s situation to Rachmaninoff on 27 January 1941:

I have just heard that friends are trying to get Medtner and his wife out of London. Before approaching anyone else I would like to consult you. If you have time to see me and talk to me about this matter, I shall be very happy. First of all we would have to procure an affidavit for Mr. and Mrs. Medtner and raise $276.00 for their transportation, third class. Mr. Medtner is very eager to come to this country and his friends are trying to do all that they can to gratify his wish. Every minute their lives are endangered. I am told that both he and his wife are so absent-minded that they cannot follow the signals. When ―all clear‖ is sounded they hide in shelters and when there is an alarm, the Medtners go for a walk. Before I obtain your advice on this matter, I do not wish to contact anyone else although I feel rather certain that I could ask a few persons, like Alfred Swan, for example, to help the Medtners. Won‘t you be good enough to let me know your frank opinion and what you think you will be able to do.59

58Letter from Rachmaninoff to Medtner, 29 December 1921, quoted in Bertenssen, 224.

59Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B1, Correspondence of SR, S–, File ―Tolstoy, Alexandra.‖ (File should be in B2, but is misfiled in B1.)

178

Medtner stayed in England obtaining refuge outside London in the home of one of his piano students, Edna Iles, at her Warwickshire home. Medtner and his wife stayed with Iles for two- and-a-half years, surviving the war.60 He died in London in 1951.

Rachmaninoff again turned his attention to large scale-relief when the Nazis invaded the

Soviet Union. On 22 June 1941, Germany attacked Russia, shocking Rachmaninoff. He gave all receipts from his 1 November 1941 Carnegie Hall recital to the ―war sufferers of his native

Russia.‖ Robert Lawrence commented on Rachmaninoff‘s artistry and generosity in the New

York Herald Tribune:

This is the art of the leonine musician, of the romanticist at his most compelling. Beyond that, such playing is the expression of a great human being. Mr. Rachmaninoff, who crossed from Russian into Finland twenty-four years ago during the revolution, has not revisited his native land since that time. His works have been banned over a long period by the Soviet government. Nevertheless, the net proceeds of yesterday‘s concert, attended by a huge audience, were donated by the artist to the Russian war effort.61

The next month, on the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Herald Tribune followed up on the benefit concert reporting that a special shipment of medical and surgical supplies,

―valued at $3,973.29 and bearing the inscription ‗Gift of Sergei Rachmaninoff,‘ will soon be on its way to Russia. . . . Soviet Russia‘s consul in New York, representing the country from which

Rachmaninoff has long been an exile, is cooperating in assembling and shipping these supplies for Russian war sufferers.‖62 For his fall Carnegie Hall recital the next year, Rachmaninoff again

60Sophie Blakemore, ―World-Renowned Pianist Mourned,‖ Post (UK), 6 February 2003.

61Robert Lawrence, ―Rachmaninoff Gives Recital for Russian Relief: Pianist, Exiled for Twenty-Four Years, Appears at Carnegie Hall to Aid His Native Land,‖ New York Herald Tribune, 2 November 1941.

62Herald Tribune, 7 December 1941, quoted in Bertensson, 368.

179 donated all proceeds to war-related charities, the Soviet consul-general for the purchase of supplies and the American Red Cross.63

Rachmaninoff became a familiar donor and correspondent with the American Red Cross and International Red Cross. He received a letter from the national headquarters in Washington,

DC, confirming aid distributed to Russian prisoners in Finland, including a large donation from

Rachmaninoff. Henry W. Dunning who managed relief to prisoners of war communicated with

Rachmaninoff on 1 February 1943:

Enclosed you will find a copy of a letter addressed by Mr. H. Wasmer of the Relief Division of the International Red Cross Committee, Geneva, Switzerland, to Mr. Marc Peter, International Red Cross Committee Delegate to the United States, a letter from Wasmer to the America Red Cross and a report of the distribution made of 5,000 food packages donated by the American Red Cross for Russian prisoners of war in Finland. The second shipment of relief supplied from Geneva to Russian prisoners of war in Finland mentioned in the last paragraph of the report includes the 208 food packages donated by you in June of 1942.64

Throughout his tenure in America, Rachmaninoff desired to ease the suffering of Russian men and women whatever their plight and wherever their location, and he publicly and privately honored that commitment in measures large and small.

During the boycott of Rachmaninoff‘s music, Soviet Russia labeled him, ―the troubadour of the bourgeoisie,‖65 yet his generosity toward Russia and Russian peoples remained undeterred.

According to biographer Victor Seroff, writing at the close of Rachmaninoff‘s life, ―His generosity in times of stress and need is well known in Russian communities all over the

63Henry Simon, ―Musical Diary,‖ PM, 10 November 1942.

64Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―American Red Cross.‖

65Victor Ilyich Seroff, ―The Great Rachmaninoff,‖ Vogue, 1 April 1943, 88.

180 world.‖66 Responding to a friend in 1942 who forwarded letters complaining about

Rachmaninoff‘s benefit concerts for Russian war relief, Rachmaninoff remarked that to help

Russia is to help America. ―Everybody helps the latter and not many are helping Russia. I am still a Russian and therefore it is natural for me to go on struggling for her.‖67 He freely gave of his talents and performance proceeds to benefit both Russian and American artists and war- related charities at a time when both countries were embroiled in conflict either on their own shores or abroad. He offered aid in large dramatic fashion at public events attended by thousands and in numerous very private, small ways known only to the recipient and Rachmaninoff.

Concert audiences responded to his appeals by paying the ticket prices, the additional charitable surcharges, and by filling the auditoriums in record numbers. By affixing his name to appeals and letters sharing information, like those of the Tolstoy Foundation, Rachmaninoff lent his well-known, highly regarded name, offering credibility to the appeal. Whether aiding Chekhov,

Nabokov, Medtner, or Tolstoy, Rachmaninoff valued artistic achievement and the plight of those in need, with Russian roots in particular, and utilized his popularity and good fortune acquired during his American tenure to aid thousands.

66Ibid.

67Letter from Rachmaninoff to Mandrovksy, 31 August 1942, quoted in Bertensson, 376. 181

CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION: FINAL TOUR AND AMERICAN LEGACY

Due to a practical, financial necessity, Rachmaninoff at middle age transformed himself into the greatest piano virtuoso of the day. Despite an initial reluctance to spend time in America and a yearning for a Russia unable to return to its pre-Bolshevik glory, Rachmaninoff accepted and embraced America and its conductors, orchestras, and audiences. His touring success until his final days, along with his ground-breaking recording activities, distinguished him as a twentieth-century titan of the keyboard. Through twenty-five politically and economically turbulent years in America, Rachmaninoff‘s audience appeal grew as he crisscrossed the continent, agreeing to extensive concert seasons every year. Although performing music primarily from the Romantic tradition,1 Rachmaninoff appeared least like a romantic figure, and the press often chided him for his severe, unexpressive stage demeanor. Yet, year after year he added to his recital repertoire to challenge himself and to enhance the recital experience for his audience. Despite a grueling travel schedule, Rachmaninoff truly enjoyed performing, remarking, ―If you deprive me of them [concerts], I should wither away. If I have a pain, it stops when I am playing. . . . No, I cannot play less. If I am not working, I wither away. No—it is best to die on the concert platform.‖2 At the time of Rachmaninoff‘s death, English conductor Sir

Henry Wood remarked, ―As a pianist I never have heard anyone to equal him except Liszt. . . .

He [Rachmaninoff] was a unique genius.‖3 This chapter examines Rachmaninoff‘s final days;

1Those Romantic works included his own compositions and those by Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt.

2Alfred Swan and Katherine Swan, ―Rachmaninoff-Personal Reminiscences,‖ The Musical Quarterly 30 (1944): 186–87.

3―Tribute of Sir Henry Wood,‖ New York Times, 29 March 1943.

182 offers an assessment of his career and response to his passing; reviews his tenuous placement in the historical canon; and proposes a new interpretation of his legacy.

As Rachmaninoff neared his seventieth birthday and retirement, audience and critical acclaim continued unabated. Even authorities in Soviet Russia felt compelled to acknowledge

Rachmaninoff‘s successful career as well as his generosity. However, someone in Moscow miscalculated his birthday, and Vladimir Kemenov, chairman of the Society for Cultural

Relations with Foreign Countries, sent a congratulatory telegram a year early, on 3 April 1942:

Congratulations on your seventieth birthday and best wishes for long life and health in service of art. At [the] same time accept our thanks for your aid to [the] men [of] our heroic who are manfully defending their country and cause of progress against [the] Nazi Barbarians.4

Happy in Beverly Hills and surrounded by Russian expatriate friends, Rachmaninoff planned for the 1942–43 concert season to be his last to actively perform, in order to enjoy retirement in

California. That final American season marked not only twenty-five years as a full-time concert pianist, encompassing nearly one thousand appearances in the country, but fifty years of activity as a professional musician. According to Alexander Greiner, Steinway artist manager,

Rachmaninoff told him in strictest confidence a year before his final season that the following year would be his last:

Rachmaninoff was one of the very few great pianists I have known who took his piano playing in public deadly serious. He felt an obligation to the public and to the composers whose music he played. ―I will not play a lot of wrong notes,‖ he said to me. ―I will not play when I feel I no longer have the necessary physical power.‖5

4No documentation appears to exist commenting on Rachmaninoff‘s reaction to this telegram. Rachmaninoff had not appeared concerned with the Soviet ban on his music in the 1930s. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, T–, File ―U.S.S.R.‖

5Alexander ―Sascha‖ Greiner, ―Pianists and Pianos: Recollections of the Manager of the Concert and Artists Department of Steinway and Sons from 1928 to 1957, [1957],‖ TMs (photocopy), 221, Steinway and Sons Collection, La Guardia and Wagner Archives, Queens, NY, Series 3, Box 04099.

183

Critics agreed that Rachmaninoff‘s prowess remained strong, as exemplified in one of many positive 1942 recital reviews:

Although we know the number of opportunities left to hear this Titan of the keyboard are growing few—he‘s 70 years old6 now—there seems to be no faltering of his fingers, no weakening of his attack, no waning of his powers. Rather he seems to defy the idea of old age with a vigor and a force which is indeed incredible. The facility with which he can encompass the technical demands of lightning passages in a Liszt bravura piece for example, is something you can hardly bring your ear to believe.7

During his final season Rachmaninoff stood alone as the greatest living pianist, still performing at the height of his powers, twenty-two concerts that season, five with orchestra and seventeen solo recitals.8

The two other top pianists of Rachmaninoff‘s generation, Paderewski and Hofmann, no longer competed with him for comparison. Paderewski suffered from illness late in life and died on 29 June 1941.9 Hofmann lived until 16 February 1957, but after 1940 he no longer toured annually, giving his final New York recital in 1946.10 According to Greiner, who also served as

Steinway artist manager for Hofmann, he fell victim to old age while still playing in public,

―Sometimes it was pitiful, his playing a mere shadow of his unforgettable former mastery. I‘ll never forget the agonies I went through.‖ Hofmann played infrequently and suffered from

6He was in his seventieth year in October 1942. His birthday would follow in five months.

7Charles Gentry ―Rachmaninoff Recital Here Great Event,‖ Detroit Evening Times, 13 October 1942. According to Gentry, Rachmaninoff concluded his recital with three works by Liszt—Valse Oubliée [No. 3 in D- flat], Sonneto del Petrarca [No. 123], and ―Venezia e Napoli‖ [No. 3] Tarantella.

8Priding himself on adding new recital repertoire each season, Rachmaninoff included a Robert Schumann work from Opus 26, Faschingsschwank aus Wien. In his last program with orchestra he performed two major works each night, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and his own Rhapsody on 11and 12 February 1943, Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

9Jim Samson, ―Paderewski, Ignacy Jan,‖ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 18:871.

10Gregor Benko, ―Hofmann, Josef,‖ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 11:604.

184 memory losses when he did perform.11 Rachmaninoff‘s popularity with the concert-going public never waned, and by the end of his career he gained wide recognition as the last of the great composer-pianists stretching back to Liszt, Chopin, and Mozart.12

Even though he achieved a lofty status, Rachmaninoff had fretted about juggling his three talents—performing, composing, and conducting, and choosing one as the focus for the second half of his career:

Today, when the greater part of my life is over I am constantly troubled by the misgiving that in venturing into too many fields I may have failed to make the best use of my life. In the old Russian phrase, I have ―hunted three hares.‖ Can I be sure that I have killed one of them?13

Near the close of his final season14 Rachmaninoff reflected on his career with his friend Victor

Seroff and described the difficult decision he made twenty-five years previous:

When we first arrived in this country, I had to make a very serious decision about which of three professions to pursue: should I devote myself to composing, or to conducting, or entirely to a career as a concert pianist? For reasons of financial security, the last one seemed to be the best choice; but I soon realized that it was not enough just to play my own compositions—and I did not have a large repertoire otherwise. So, you can easily imagine that, in order to get a large repertoire at my fingertips, I had to practice a great deal. You see, when you are young you don‘t realize that the older you become the more difficult it is . . . not so much to learn new pieces, but to have them sit firmly in your fingers and your memory.15

He also acknowledged to Seroff that his stage demeanor fell short when compared to other performers. Rachmaninoff related that his good friend Feodor Chaliapin tried to teach him how

11Greiner, 222.

12Barrie Martyn, ―The Legacy of Rachmaninoff,‖ Clavier 32 (March 1993): 17.

13Carleton Smith, ―Pianos for Two: Rachmaninoff, the Piano Buster, and Hofmann, the Piano Builder, Are the World‘s Top Performers,‖ Esquire 6 (September 1936): 207.

14Appendix D notes the specific cities and dates from October 1942 through February 1943.

15Seroff drew on his interview material with Rachmaninoff conducted several months before his March 1943 death and referred to it again in an article commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Rachmaninoff‘s birth. Victor Seroff, ―Sergei Rachmaninoff as I Knew Him,‖ Stereo Review 30 (May 1973): 62–63. 185 to come on stage, bow, and accept applause gracefully, always smiling, ―But I couldn‘t. Why, I would have looked like a grinning idiot. I must admit I failed completely in those lessons, but he did try hard to teach me.‖16 Seroff shared with Rachmaninoff a memory of attending one of

Chaliapin‘s recitals in Vienna in the early 1930s. Seroff explained that Chaliapin appeared informal and relaxed on stage, and made announcements to the audience during the recital, ―He would suddenly look down into the front row of the audience and, and as if recognizing someone, would smile, greet the person with a wave of the program, and even whisper something, presumably expressing his delight at seeing a friend.‖ Rachmaninoff laughed and interrupted Seroff‘s story, ―Fedya didn‘t know anybody in the audience! But that was just like him. He was a basso, but he used to bow like a tenor. Can you imagine me doing something like that? No, no, I completely failed him.‖17 Rachmaninoff remained true to himself, refusing to conform to any preconceived notions of how a concert artist should appear or act.

In his relationship with conductors, Rachmaninoff maintained courteous, professional relationships throughout his career, yet he could be demanding. Charles O‘Connell, artist manager for RCA Victor, worked closely with him and observed his dealings with conductors, explaining that he was ―very exacting of the conductors with whom he played and would never submit his own will or his own concept of a work to the man with the stick.‖ Assured of his own musical ideas, Rachmaninoff would go great lengths to convince his colleagues:

Where he could not do this with reasonable amiability on both sides, he simply wouldn‘t play. This, as he told me himself, was why he would not play with Toscanini, and I think it is fair to infer that the same reason accounted for the extreme rarity of his appearances with Koussevitzky. He preferred Ormandy to anyone, though he collaborated successfully and in the most friendly fashion with Stokowski. Ormandy has always been the delight and Stokowski the terror of soloists, but Rachmaninoff was not one to be terrified. I remember once when he

16Ibid., 60.

17Ibid. 186

had been called for rehearsal at eleven in the morning, he appeared with his customary punctuality and found Mr. Stokowski in the midst of rehearsing a Tchaikovsky symphony.18 Rachmaninoff, who in spite of his apparent sang-froid had a very sensitive nervous system, paced up and down off stage for perhaps three minutes while Stokowski continued to rehearse; then, as if suddenly coming to a conclusion, he ambled out on the stage, sat down at the piano and banged out a few thunderous chords in the middle of Stokowski‘s Tchaikovsky. The conductor, of course, stopped the orchestra immediately. Rachmaninoff, looking up at him with a face of stone, rumbled in his basso-profundo, ―The piano is here; I am here; it is eleven o‘clock. Let us rehearse.‖ The maestro meekly obeyed.19

Although suffering occasionally from illnesses, Rachmaninoff rarely cancelled a performance. Doctors and Rachmaninoff attributed some of the aches and pains to the stress of his unrelenting performing schedule, as well as in later years to sclerosis and high blood pressure. During the summer before the 1942–43 season, pain became more pronounced for

Rachmaninoff, attributable to a case of lumbago.20 He began his performing season on 12

October in Detroit but planned a six-week break at Christmas to rest in New York before resuming touring on 3 February in State College, Pennsylvania. In January 1943 he lost weight, developed a stubborn cough, and complained of pains in his left side and unusual fatigue. On 1

February he and his wife received their final citizenship papers and planned to resume his tour.

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Somov, friends of the Rachmaninoff‘s, lived in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and attended Rachmaninoff‘s recital in Columbus on 5 February. Mrs. Somov recalled her impression of his physical appearance, ―My heart contracted when I saw his thin and suffering face.‖ Instead of his usual joking about his health he complained of weakness, ―What‘s bad is

18Most probably this took place during the 1935–36 season. Rachmaninoff appeared with Stokowski in Philadelphia to perform his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini on 13 and 14 December at the Academy of Music. Tchaikovsky‘s Symphony No. 5 was scheduled on the second half of the program. Conductor, pianist, and orchestra repeated those two major works at Carnegie Hall on 13 January 1936. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 127.

19Charles O‘Connell, The Other Side of the Record (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1947), 169.

20Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda, Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music, 2d ed., Russian Music Studies, ed. Malcom Hamrick Brown (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), 375. 187 that it grows hard for me to play concerts. What would life be for me without music?‖ She remembered a previous conversation when he said he was 85 percent musician and only 15 percent man:

He couldn‘t imagine life without it [music]. I remember how angry he once became when a doctor prescribed total rest and a halt to all musical activity. ―Does he really think that I could sit in the sun and feed pigeons! No, such a life is not for me—better death.‖21

After the Columbus performance he traveled to Chicago for two performances on 11 and 12

February where he felt and played well. He performed two works on the same program with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major and his own

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.22 However, the next day a pain in his side prompted a call to a doctor who diagnosed slight pleurisy and neuralgia, and recommended travel to a southern location to soak up sunshine and rest.23

Nevertheless, the tour continued, and after an exhausted Rachmaninoff performed in

Louisville on 15 February, he gave his last recital in Knoxville, on 17 February 1943. He did not want to cancel the latter concert because he had already postponed his fall appearance there.

Unbeknownst to the Knoxville audience, Rachmaninoff would not perform again. The next day the Knoxville Journal offered a brief review of the successful event, with no reference to his failing health:

An audience of more than 3000 in the U-T Memorial Auditorium warmly applauded Sergei Rachmaninoff at his Knoxville concert last night. Acknowledged throughout the world as an unsurpassed virtuoso, the Russian pianist played with matchless technique at the performance of his own

21Quoted in Bertensson, 379.

22Henry Lange conducted, Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 183.

23Bertensson, 380. 188

most frequently performed composition—the inevitable Prelude No. 4 [recte No. 3] in C-sharp minor. Other Rachmaninoff compositions were ―Two Etudes Tableaux‖ in B minor and A minor, and his arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov‘s [recte Mussorgksy‘s] ―Hopak,‖ played as an encore. Wagner‘s ―Magic Fire‖ music and the Wagner-Liszt ―Spinning Song,‖ received especially prolonged applause.24

The review neglected to mention the musical centerpiece of the program, given before intermission, Rachmaninoff‘s much-loved Chopin, his Sonata in B-flat minor containing the funeral march.25

As Rachmaninoff traveled to his next concert engagement in Florida, he became so ill he had to leave the train in Atlanta. He and his wife moved on to New Orleans hoping to rest and resume his performing schedule in Texas. However, severe pain in his side persisted, and he cancelled his remaining engagements to travel to Los Angeles where he could see his preferred

Russian doctor, Alexander Golitzin, who had trained at Moscow University. Wartime train travel priorities gave preference to the movement of troops and supplies. Rachmaninoff had to wait three days for a train reservation, then three additional days traveling on a slow train to Los

Angeles where an ambulance took him to the Hospital of the Good Samaritan on 26 February.

Several days of tests showed no conclusive results other than two small spots on his lungs. On 2

March doctors released Rachmaninoff to return to his house in Beverly Hills. Although glad to be home, Rachmaninoff continued to complain about pain and fatigue, yet he continued wrist and finger exercises with the hope of resuming performing. By mid-March small swellings

24T. B., ―Rachmaninoff Gives Concert,‖ Knoxville Journal, 18 February 1943.

25Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section D/E1, Program Lists, 181.

189 appeared on Rachmaninoff‘s body, and Dr. Golitzin asked surgeon Dr. E. C. Moore for a consultation to test the swellings.26

Tests revealed that Rachmaninoff had a rare form of cancer, which had quickly spread throughout his body metastasizing in his vital organs, bones, muscles, and beneath the surface of his skin. Operating would offer no relief or stem the progress of the cancer. Doctors did not share the diagnoses with Rachmaninoff, but they did communicate it to his family who tried to cheer him with talk of future plans. After a week, when he could no longer read, he continued his interest in news from the Russian front, and his wife shared those details. Doses of morphine twice a day gave him some relief from the pain. Several days before his death he developed pneumonia and lost consciousness for long periods of time.27 According to Dr. Golitzin,

Rachmaninoff‘s wife never left his side and said that in his delirium, ―He often moved his hands, as if conducting an orchestra, or playing a piano.‖28 He died on 28 March 1943, five days before his seventieth birthday. Rachmaninoff‘s body was buried in Kensico Cemetery, near Valhalla,

New York.29

Days before Rachmaninoff‘s death, cables from Moscow reached his home signed by the most distinguished names in Soviet music—Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Kabalevsky, and Glière, among others:

20 March 1943: Union of Soviet Composers sends heartiest congratulations [on the] occasion [of] your seventieth birthday and warmly greets

26Bertensson, 380–82.

27Ibid., 382–83.

28Alexander Golitzin, ―Illness and Death of S. V. Rachmaninoff,‖ Russkaya Zhizn, 14 April 1943.

29Pianist and author Voytek Matushevski asserts that Rachmaninoff wished to be buried in Moscow in the Novodevichy Monastery cemetery where Chekhov rests. Perhaps the family transferred Rachmaninoff‘s body to New York with the hope of a final return to Russia, but World War II travel restrictions prevented the trip to his homeland. Mrs. Rachmaninoff did live out her days in New York. She and his daughter are buried next to him in Kensico Cemetary. Voytek Matushevski, ―Rachmaninoff‘s Last Tour,‖ Clavier 32 (March 1993): 25. 190

you, renowned maestro [of] Russian musical art, glorious continuer [of the] great traditions [of] Glinka and Tchaikovsky, creator [of] works so near and dear [to] Russian people and all progressive mankind. From [the] bottom [of our] heart [we] wish you, dear Sergei Vasilyevich, best health and strength for many years and new creative success. We hope [the] day [is] near when you‘ll sharpen our joy of victory over [the] enemy that invaded our native land.30

Another telegram also dated 20 March 1943 came from Lydia Kislova, representing the Society for Cultural Relations, ―On [the] occasion [of] your seventieth birthday we send you, great

Russian musician, warmest greetings and express ardent admiration [from] all Soviet people who love your wonderful music.‖31 Such birthday greetings probably reached Rachmaninoff too late to be read as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

News of Rachmaninoff‘s death shocked the musical world in America and beyond. On the night of Rachmaninoff‘s death, Theodore E. Steinway, president of Steinway and Sons, delivered a radio address over WQXR in New York City, expressing the sentiments of his family and music lovers throughout the country:

There is sadness in the hearts of all music lovers today because of the death of Sergei Rachmaninoff. The great ones of the world do not pass away without leaving heartbreak to those who stay behind. Sergei Rachmaninoff has left us; but he will be of us always. You cannot strike a man to the heart and leave no mark behind; and he has reached our hearts many times. . . . What can I say to you about him in the few moments I have tonight? When the full story of his life is written, you will know of his courage, his faith, his fortitude and his steadfast belief and worship of the Art of Music and his undying contribution to it. I will tell you this—his life was full of dignity, quiet beauty and nobility. These were the qualities that he possessed as a man, and that were so manifest in him as an artist. . . . I will tell you also that his gracious kindness to young and eager musicians, his generous and friendly help and advice to all who sought his knowledge and his wisdom, his reverent and devoted attitude to his colleagues,

30Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, T–, File ―U.S.S.R.‖

31Ibid. 191

were all just a part of the superior qualities that mould the character of a great man. . . . We shall remember the tall, gaunt figure on the concert stage receiving the affectionate plaudits of his multitude of friends and admirers with that courtly grace and charm that pervaded his whole life. We shall remember him with all the love and affection due to so great and so human a person and an important and distinguished an artist. Our deep and poignant sympathy goes to his dear wife, his daughters, and granddaughter. Our devoted and grateful thanks to him for what he was, what he did, and what he leaves to us!32

News reached London, and on the afternoon following Rachmaninoff‘s death one of the few pianists other than the composer to perform Rachmaninoff‘s concertos during his lifetime was scheduled to perform his Piano Concerto No. 2. , a friend of

Rachmaninoff, planned to give his annual Rachmaninoff concert the afternoon of 29 March 1943 at Stoll‘s Opera House, but on his train ride from Wales in the morning he saw the newspaper headline announcing Rachmaninoff‘s death. Moiseiwitsch pleaded with management to replace him. Since a replacement on such short notice could not be found, he made three stipulations, ―I will go through with the concert on condition that there will be no rehearsal beforehand; that I shall not be obliged to dress [in formal concert attire]; and that there will be no applause when I walk on stage or when I have finished.‖ Management obliged and the concert proceeded:

Promptly at 2:30, and still in travelling clothes, I came on stage and played the Second Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto. After this, as a memorial tribute to my friend of so many years, I played the Funeral March from the B-flat minor Chopin sonata while the capacity audience of 2,500 stood in silence, sharing with me the grief which was felt by the whole musical world. Then I walked off the stage without a word to anyone and went directly home.33

32―Sergei Rachmaninoff; ,‖ Steinway News, April 1943, International Piano Archive at Maryland, University of Maryland, Rachmaninoff, File: ―Steinway.‖

33Benno Moiseiwitsch, ―Rachmaninoff Remembered,‖ The Music Magazine 164 (May 1962): 41. 192

Newspapers across America shared news of his passing, though the specific details surrounding the cause of death were often lacking. On 29 March 1943 the Chicago Daily

Tribune issued a special report on his death:

Los Angeles, March 28: Sergei Rachmaninoff, master of the piano, died today in his home at Beverly Hills, succumbing to an attack of pneumonia and pleurisy with which he was stricken while on tour a few days after his appearance in Chicago February 11 with the Chicago Symphony orchestra. He was 69 years old. The tall Russian virtuoso, with his close cropped gray hair and dour visage, has been a familiar figure on the American concert stage for 35 years and as a pianist was second in the public mind only to Paderewski in his prime. . . . The musician‘s wife and Mrs. Irena Wolkonsky, one of his two daughters, were with him at his death. The other daughter, Mrs. Tatiana Conus, is in France. Friends of the family said two masses will be celebrated in the Los Angeles , one tonight and one tomorrow night. The funeral mass will be Tuesday in the same church. Rachmaninoff‘s musical reputation was founded not only on his accomplishments as a pianist but also on his abilities as a composer and conductor. . . . After the Bolshevik revolution in Russia his large estates were confiscated and he came to the United States in 1917 [recte 1918] to make his home here permanently. Although he conducted on a few occasions, his career in America was mainly that of a composer and a touring virtuoso. He achieved immediate popularity which increased with the years.34

In addition to the services planned in Los Angeles, friends in New York City arranged a memorial mass for Rachmaninoff on 30 March at the Russian Orthodox Church of Christ the

Savior, Madison Avenue at 121st Street. The Boston Symphony Orchestra changed its Carnegie

Hall program that week to include Rachmaninoff‘s ―Isle of the Dead.‖35

Newspapers across the nation printed features and retrospectives highlighting

Rachmaninoff‘s illustrious career and articulating perspectives on his legacy. The Washington

Post emphasized his performing style and chastised those who stereotyped him:

34―Rachmaninoff, Pianist, Dies in California; Virtuoso Is Stricken While on Concert Tour,‖ Chicago Daily Tribune, 29 March 1943.

35―Rachmaninoff Service: Memorial Arranged by Friends at Russian Church Here Tonight,‖ New York Times, 30 March 1943. 193

Merely because he was by birth a Russian, there were some Americans who assumed that Rachmaninoff as a musician must necessarily have been ―Slavic,‖ ―soulful,‖ ―emotional‖ and perhaps a bit ―barbaric.‖ It is a rather painful illustration of how readily our minds fall into stereotyped associations of ideas. For the words which best characterize Rachmaninoff, both as a composer of music and as an interpreter of other men‘s music, would be ―refinement,‖ ―simplicity,‖ and ―restraint.‖ In contrast to most of his contemporaries he seemed almost austere. Where they tended to emphasize rhythm and pictorial suggestion, Rachmaninoff emphasized melody and form. . . . Rachmaninoff was wholly free of that theatricalism which afflicted so many of the romantics of music as well as of literature.36

The New York Times explained that few pianists could rival Rachmaninoff‘s technique or interpretation:

There have been few pianists who possessed such mastery of the technique and magic of the keyboard as Rachmaninoff. Yet the clear and gigantic lines of his interpretations always were stripped of every superfluous detail. His playing was guided by the realization that the purport of the composition was more important than a bravura approach to it. . . . We who listened knew by instinct or experience that in a rare moment the art of a consummate musician, interpreter and man of thought had come to perfect flower, and there was nothing that needed to be said or done except to dismiss completely from the mind any reflection or preoccupation save that of the great experience.37

Isabel Morse Jones reported for the Los Angeles Times that ―consolation lies in his compositions and many powerful recordings‖:

Years ago he told me he lived for the day when he could stop concertizing and devote himself to composing. But the public would not let him go. A vast audience waited to hear him play or conduct his own works every season. He has left us the wonderful power of his creative art in many recordings. And we have memories of his concerts that will enable us to give them life in imagination.38

Leslie Hodgson wrote in that Rachmaninoff‘s appeal to the imagination of the public had ―a sort of hypnotic element in it. There is always keen speculative curiosity as to the

36―Rachmaninoff,‖ Washington Post, 31 March 1943.

37―Rachmaninoff Dies in California at 70: Pianist, Composer, Conductor Was Leader in Music World for Last Fifty Years,‖ New York Times, 29 March 1943.

38Isabel Morse Jones, ―Music World Mourns Death of Rachmaninoff,‖ Los Angeles Times, 4 April 1943.

194 personality of the creator of music that powerfully affects human beings. . . . [Rachmaninoff] at once established a hold upon his audiences before he struck a note.‖39 Hodgson concluded that for a quarter of a century Rachmaninoff was ―one of the reigning princes of the piano.‖40

Another New York Times article also discussed his legacy and place in twentieth-century music history:

Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of the towering figures of music in our time. He achieved this position entirely through his gifts as an interpreter and creator of music. He never sought to cut a figure in the world other than as a musician. He gave few interviews, issued fewer pronunciamentos and held himself aloof from the narrow disputes that trouble the world of music. . . . As a pianist he was one of the mightiest of the twentieth century. His technique was formidable, but those who heard him were not required to be conscious of it. For he subordinated everything to the message of the composer. His performances had matchless dignity and purity, simplicity and loftiness. . . . He believed, and his music and playing confirmed that belief, that music ―should rehabilitate minds and souls.‖ His music will continue to console and to refresh through the years.41

Newspaper writers and critics shared the need for reflection and closure regarding the suddenness of Rachmaninoff‘s departure and attempted to console the music-loving public.

Telegrams of sympathy poured in to Mrs. Rachmaninoff. English conductor Sir Henry

Wood sent his personal cable on 29 March 1943, ―Our deepest sympathy goes out to you in your sorrow. I mourn your dear husband not only as a friend but as an irreplaceable figure in the world of music. We shall miss him but his name will live for all time.‖42 American soprano

Marian Anderson wrote, ―May the Lord give you strength to carry the heavy burden of

39Leslie Hodgson, ―Rachmaninoff, the Pianist,‖ Musical America 63 (10 April 1943): 6.

40Ibid., 33.

41―Rachmaninoff,‖ New York Times, 30 March 1943.

42Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, W–, File ―Wood, Sir Henry.‖

195 sorrow.‖43Additional notes and cables of sympathy came from Sir , Jascha

Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, , Artur

Rubinstein, and , to name a few.44 Soviet birthday wishes turned to telegrams of condolences. Received from the Soviet Union through the Society for Cultural Relations on 3

April 1943, Lydia Kislova relayed, ―Russian music has suffered grievous bereavement. Together with all civilized humanity we grieve [the] death [of a] great musician.‖ Also on the same date,

Vladimir Bazykin, First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy sent condolences from famed Soviet composers:

Soviet Union expresses deep sorrow on [the] death [of the] great Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff. His creative features will always remain for [us] as most brilliant and fascinating. We offer sincere condolences to [the] bereaved family. Signed Glière, Myaskovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Kabalevsky45

Rachmaninoff‘s friend and fellow pianist Josef Hofmann offered a hand-written tribute:

In Memory of Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rachmaninoff was made of steel and gold. Steel in his arms, gold in his heart. I can never think of this majestic being without tears in my eyes, for I not only admired him as a supreme artist but I also loved him as a man!46

Rachmaninoff‘s wife, Natalie, died almost eight years after he did, on 17 January 1951, at the age of seventy and is buried next to him at Kensico Cemetery. The New York Times reported

43Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―Anderson, Marian.‖

44The entire archive is filled with hundreds of cables of sympathy. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, Files A through Z.

45Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, T–, File ―U.S.S.R.‖

46Signed ―Josef Hofmann, Los Angeles, 16 May 1945,‖ two years after Rachmaninoff‘s death. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, H–, File ―Hofmann, Josef.‖

196 that she died of a heart attack after a day‘s illness, and she aided her husband‘s career by providing him a ―comfortable, happy home‖:

Mrs. Rachmaninoff accompanied her husband on all his many tours, and on these journeys, as at home, she never ceased to act as his guard, a devoted protector who shielded him from every kind of disturbance. In their personal relationships, she ―babied him, spoiled him perhaps,‖ as she said after his death. The will of Rachmaninoff left all his property to his widow, except two parcels of real estate in Dresden, Germany, which went to his daughters. Surviving are his daughters, Irina, widow of Prince Peter Wolkonsky, Russian painter, and Mme. Tatiana Conus of Paris, wife of Boris Conus, son of Julius Conus, Russian composer; also a granddaughter, Mrs. Dallas M. Coors [Sophie Wolkonsky] of Washington, and a grandson, Alexander Conus of Paris.47

In the months and years after Rachmaninoff‘s death, those who heard him and knew him best continued to reflect on his talents and legacy and appeared to deify him. Charles O‘Connell, artist manager with RCA Victor, lionized Rachmaninoff‘s dignity:

With his friend [Fritz] Kreisler, and their friend and manager, Charles Foley, I have spent many an hour over spaghetti and red wine in some obscure Italian restaurant, and at such times it seemed to me Rachmaninoff would lose his customary appearance of a deflated Buddha. He was quite uninhibited and entertaining as a raconteur, and his stories were invariably, curiously, and refreshingly brief. He was completely indifferent to his surroundings and quite unpretentious. He could be entertained easily and seemed to feel equally comfortable in the East Room of the White House or in a one-arm restaurant. . . . Rachmaninoff was nevertheless always a figure of power and dignity and magnetism. He was bored with applause, but did, I think, require and indeed enforce honest respect for his playing, his music, and himself.48

A. M. Henderson counted Rachmaninoff as his friend for the last ten years of his life and shared reminiscences in Etude magazine, explaining that even though a great man, Rachmaninoff was simple and sincere:

Smallness and vanity of any kind were foreign to him. His generosity and kindness were not generally known; but quite a number of distinguished Russian musicians of our time, who suffered loss at the close of the last war, among them,

47―Rachmaninoff‘s Widow Dies at 70,‖ New York Times, 18 January 1951.

48O‘Connell, 169–70.

197

Glazounoff and Medtner, were helped to a new life and work by his kindness. And such help was always so quietly and delicately given that no one else should know of it. He delighted, also, in securing engagements for other young artists whose work he admired. . . . He said often: ―Music should speak from the heart. In my own experience, my desire to compose is actually the urge within me to give musical expression to my feelings—just as I speak to give utterance to my thoughts. . . . I have little sympathy with the composer who produces works according to pre- conceived formulas or theories;49 or with the composer who writes in a certain style because it is the fashion so to do.50 Great music has never been produced in that way; and it seems to me it never will.‖ It was the same sincerity and high integrity which contributed to making him the wonderful artist he was at the piano, indeed, after the retirement of Paderewski, the acknowledged greatest pianist of our time.51

Victor Seroff remarked on what made Rachmaninoff‘s playing stand apart:

As a pianist, Rachmaninoff stood on a lofty lonely height. He was no specialist in the works of any composer except himself. He played Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Chopin with distinction—his own distinction. He came on the scene of concert pianism when the old-fashion virtuoso, with his romantic and even sentimental playing, was on the way out. His style, one which could only have been compared to monumental, finely chiseled , was a reflection of his own personality: clear and musical, but unmistakably unique and personal.52

According to Harold C. Schonberg, reviewing Rachmaninoff‘s career decades after his death,

Rachmaninoff still holds the impressive status as one of the greatest pianists who ever lived.

Those who heard Rachmaninoff and knew him best agreed that he possessed one of the more remarkable musical minds in history.53 Although lofty sentiments, numerous eye-witness accounts support the claims.

49Rachmaninoff no doubt was referring to composer .

50Rachmaninoff could have been referring to Igor Stravinsky.

51A. M. Henderson, ―Rachmaninoff as I Knew Him,‖ Etude 72 (April 1954): 9, 14.

52Seroff, 64.

53Harold C. Schonberg, ―Did Rachmaninoff Collaborate with God?,‖ New York Times, 1 April 1973.

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After Rachmaninoff‘s death dozens of pianists claimed a lineage to him by asserting that they had been students of his. Unlike the pianist Rachmaninoff most admired, Anton Rubinstein,

Rachmaninoff did not officially give piano lessons. However, he listened on occasion to talented young pianists offering advice and suggestions.54 According to Rachmaninoff‘s daughter Irina

Wolkonsky, more than thirty pianists later claimed to be pupils. In 1966 Robert Russell Bennett served as president of ―The Bohemians,‖ a New York City musicians‘ club, and wrote to Irina, inviting her to attend a dinner honoring pianist Gina Bachauer, a self-professed ―pupil‖ of

Rachmaninoff. On 27 January 1966 Irina responded to Bennett sharing her disdain for

Bachauer‘s claim:

Thank you for the invitation to the dinner of the Bohemians on 31 January ―in honor of Gina Bachauer.‖ I have received many invitations in the past from the Bohemians and have appreciated this, and have very much enjoyed some of these social affairs. However, to this one I must send my regrets, as I could not attend an occasion for one who has consistently claimed privately and in the press to have been taught by my father, even though my mother and I have denied and protested this to the talented pianist in person, in the past. In spite of this, the lady persists in her erroneous statements. (For your information, up to this time there have appeared thirty-four self-acclaimed ―pupils‖ of my father. After he left Russia, father never gave piano lessons to anybody nor coached anyone.) I should like you, having been such a dear friend of father, to know all of this. Again, with thanks to the Bohemians for their kind invitation and with warm greetings to you and Mrs. Bennett.55

On 12 February 1966, Bennett responded to Irina, agreeing with her stance and making light of the claim of Bachauer and others:

I am very sorry we did not see you at the Bohemians dinner but I understand your reasons for staying away. I‘ve always known that the master never gave any lessons to anyone, but this is an old routine. It brings to mind the story of a young music teacher

54Seroff, 62.

55Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―Bennett, Robert Russell.‖

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practicing a Beethoven sonata as the great Paderewski was passing her house. He simply could not stand for the performance, knocked on her door and told her a few of the things she was doing wrong. On his next walk by the house he saw her sign had been changed to ―Piano lessons $5—pupil of Paderewski.‖56

Bachauer had met with Rachmaninoff several times when he toured in Europe, first in 1933 in

London while he rehearsed in Aeolian Hall on Bond Street. Although she had played a number of pieces for him at times and had spoken with him about music, by her own admission, these meetings were more ―discussions‖ than lessons.57

As first-hand memories of Rachmaninoff‘s playing began to fade and concert-goers from the 1920‘s, ‘30s, and early ‘40s no longer remained in large numbers, RCA Red Seal re-mastered and reissued its complete catalogue of Rachmaninoff recordings to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of his birth in 1973. RCA‘s ―The Complete Rachmaninoff‖ consisted of fifteen long-play (LP) vinyl discs in five .58 Since many of the original 78 rpm recordings were out of print, this updated collection, which eliminated many of the breaks for side changes, gave a new generation of music lovers the opportunity to hear Rachmaninoff‘s artistry.

Schonberg, writing in the New York Times and marking the one hundredth anniversary, described

Rachmaninoff‘s playing as perfectly planned and proportioned:

Melodies were outlined with radiant authority; counterbalancing inner voices were brought out in chamber-music style. And those marvelous fingers were incapable of striking a wrong note. In an age of spectacular technicians, Rachmaninoff was peerless. Complicated figurations—and his own piano music abounds in them—suddenly unraveled themselves in crystalline purity. The playing was at all times elegant. But it had inevitability rather than spontaneity. Rachmaninoff never gave the impression that he was doing something on the spur

56Ibid.

57Gina Bachauer, ―My Study with Rachmaninoff, as Reported by Dean Elder,‖ Clavier 12 (October 1973): 12–13.

58 Volume 1, RCA ARM3-0260; Volume 2, RCA ARM3-0261; Volume 3, RCA ARM3-0294; Volume 4, RCA ARM3-0295; Volume 5, RCA ARM3-0296. Eric Salzman, ―The Complete Rachmaninoff,‖ Stereo Review 31 (February 1974): 125.

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of the moment. His interpretations sounded as though they had been worked out in collaboration with God—the final statement of a work, to be played eternally this way and no other. Does this sound flowery? But Rachmaninoff was that kind of pianist, and when you walked out of one of his recitals it was with the feeling that his conception was final. With Hofmann, you knew that he next time it would be different. Hofmann was the most spontaneous of pianists. With Rachmaninoff, you felt that it would be the same next year, and the years after that. Hofmann deteriorated near the end. Rachmaninoff played as strongly before his death as he ever did. . . . There was no deterioration in his split-second responses, or the way he was able to get over the keys, or the patrician mind that was applied to the music. It is a good memory to have.59

RCA reproduced the 1973 LP collection onto compact disc in 1992 as ―Rachmaninoff: The

Complete Recordings.‖60 With the availability of Rachmaninoff recordings later in the twentieth century, the musically curious, fans, and aficionados could again hear and marvel at

Rachmaninoff‘s talents.

Rachmaninoff remains for many a tantalizing ambiguous figure in twentieth-century music history. When reviewing ―The Complete Rachmaninoff,‖ Eric Salzman remarked that his estimation of Rachmaninoff‘s piano playing never wavered:

After fifteen discs and more than that many hours of total Rachmaninoff I am here to tell you that I stand firm. He was a great pianist. . . . Rachmaninoff‘s secret was magic. He naively retained that old Romantic belief in the magical qualities of music—in perfect contradistinction to his countryman Stravinsky, who, insisting on the importance of making beautiful things, took the aesthete-craftsman‘s position. Rachmaninoff‘s prestidigitation (the only proper term) was neither mere flummery nor pure , but a wonderful combination of the two—with a bit of moody Slavic psyche-baring thrown in. All this led him to a very particular approach, much of it inherited from Romantic tradition but a good deal of it personal. To him, the notes are never merely a collection of individual events, but actual living tissue. He thinks in gestures, in phrases, in swatches of color, in coursing lines and a large

59Schonberg.

60Gregor Benko, ―Rachmaninoff on Records,‖ in International Rachmaninoff Festival-Conference, ed. Shelley G. Davis (College Park: University of Maryland, 1998), 38. In 2006 RCA Victor Gold Seal again issued the set on compact disc as ―Rachmaninoff: His Complete Recordings.‖ Designed as a less expensive ―budget‖ set, this collection does not contain the detailed forty-two page booklet with track listings and liner notes provided by Francis Crociata.

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dynamic. . . . ―The Complete Rachmaninoff‖ is obviously as much a tribute to the creative as to the interpretive artist; indeed, except for his countryman and rival Stravinsky, no composer has left us such a large body of self-interpreted work.61

Despite Rachmaninoff‘s immense talents as a pianist and conductor, music history has largely dismissed him as a conservative, part-time composer. Arbiters of the twentieth-century canon discount him, particularly with regard to the academic canon of the university. According to Marcia Citron, ―textbooks and anthologies, as the repository of the canon, wield enormous power as determinants of canonic status.‖ Since most teachers and instructors rely on published materials for examples, the absence of a composer‘s work in a text or anthology drastically limits his or her exposure to study and appreciation by students, future musicologists, instructors, musicians, and aficionados. The academy ultimately interacts with the marketplace ―negotiating value systems for the present and future.‖62

Numerous factors have contributed to Rachmaninoff‘s omission from the academic canon. Nationalist tendencies in canon formation began in the late eighteenth century and gave preference to Germanic composers, minimizing other nationalities, like Russian. Not until 1960 did the first major English-language music history survey appear, Donald Grout‘s A History of

Western Music, without scores and musical examples, for the most part.63 Prior to the 1960s, post-1800 music was not even accepted for serious study or routinely included in anthologies.64

Citron suggests that twentieth-century modernist thought claimed ―embarrassment over the

61Salzman, 124.

62Marcia Citron, Gender and the Musical Canon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 24–25.

63Donald J. Grout, A History of Western Music (New York: W. W. Norton, 1960).

64Citron, 26.

202 emotional rhetorical excess of Romanticism.‖65 Another factor preventing Rachmaninoff‘s acceptance in the canon could have been his choice of profession, since ―worthy‖ individuals were to be serious, committed, full-time composers,66 and Rachmaninoff spent much of his career as a full-time performer. Additionally, academics disparaged the popular when it came to canon formation, and the tuneful, widely accepted music of Rachmaninoff did not comply with the elitist desire of the academy for the new and influential.67

Although the relationship of the academic canon to other canons can be complex, the academic canon influences others to some extent,68 such as the concert repertoire and recording canons. In Rachmaninoff‘s case, his repertoire of concertos, rhapsody, symphonic works, and recordings hold honored places in those respective canons. His recordings are still highly regarded and enjoyed, and his concerto, solo piano, and symphonic repertoire is repeatedly programmed and enthusiastically received in piano competitions, recitals, symphony orchestra concerts, and through recordings by other artists, as well. Music director and conductor of the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi, frequently programs and has recorded a number of

Rachmaninoff‘s works. Having selected Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 for the orchestra‘s 2007–‘08 season and his Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphonic Dances, and Rhapsody for the 2008–‘09 season, Järvi explained that when some works are frequently played they become over exposed and should be put aside for a while, but he never feels that way about

Rachmaninoff‘s works:

I always have the feeling, ―This is really great music!‖ I happen to really love Rachmaninoff. I do not belong to the group of people who fashionably turn up

65Ibid.

66Ibid. 10.

67 Ibid., 207–208.

68 Ibid., 27. 203

their noses to Rachmaninoff‘s music thinking that it maybe is slightly too sentimental or slightly over-the-top or somehow lacks the modernist edge that a composer of twentieth-century music should have had. I don‘t really buy any of this. Music is such a personal and individual statement for every composer that to expect somebody to do something simply because everybody else is exploring new avenues doesn‘t necessarily feel fair. . . . It is much less important to be new and much more important to be good. Writing new music is secondary to writing good music. . . . I think that time always gives us the accurate answer, and certainly time has been good to Rachmaninoff. Now more than ever his music is loved by millions of people around the world.69

Traditionally, critics and scholars examined and classified composers according to musical style and regarded twentieth-century composers , Igor Stravinsky, and

Arnold Schoenberg, among others, as progressive and modern. They experimented with and broke from the musical language of the past. That mode of classification rendered

Rachmaninoff old-fashioned. Although Schoenberg‘s music placed him at the center of the modernist tradition, he remained unpopular with most audiences.70 Conversely, the League of

Composers‘ journal, Modern Music, largely dismissed Rachmaninoff, citing him only in passing and often disparagingly. In1936, for example, Aaron extolled the virtues of Albert

Roussel‘s Symphony No. 3, describing it as objective, happy, and lyrical, but lamenting, ―For the present it is good to have around, and makes one wish it might more often supplant the

Rachmaninoffs and the Dohnányis in the concert hall.‖71 Rachmaninoff, very aware of the modernist school, had little patience for the excesses of what he called ―Modern Music‖:

I have no warm feeling for music that is experimental—your so-called modern music, whatever that may mean. For, after all, is not the music of composers like Sibelius or Glazunov modern music, even though it is written in a more traditional manner? I myself could never care to write in a radical vein which disregards the laws of tonality or harmony. Nor could I learn to love such music, if I listened to

69Paavo Järvi‘s remarks were recorded 7 March 2008 and broadcast on radio 11 May 2008 on WGUC, 90.9 FM, Cincinnati, OH, as part of WGUC‘s Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert broadcast series.

70And still remains unpopular with most audiences.

71Aaron Copland, ―Scores and Records,‖ Modern Music 14 (1936): 168. 204

it a thousand times. And I say again and again that music must first and foremost be loved; it must come from the heart and must be directed to the heart. Otherwise, it cannot hope to be lasting, indestructible art.72

Rather than using mid-twentieth-century paradigms for writing music history, classifying

Rachmaninoff as a conservative, minor figure, a recent revisionist approach would showcase

Rachmaninoff as an innovator, the first on the cutting edge of technology. As musicologist

Charles Hamm explained when proposing a new reading of George Gershwin, more appropriate periodizations of music history exist ―based on economic and social relations‖ rather than solely on musical style. Musicologists writing for UNESCO‘s Music in the Life of Man: A World

History proposed that the bulk of the twentieth century, commencing with World War I, be classified as the age of ―Mass Media.‖73 As the first major performer-composer in America to embrace recording and reproducing technology, along with the permanence and repetition it offered, Rachmaninoff successfully utilized mass media for twenty-five years after World War I until his death. Along with Gershwin, Rachmaninoff had initially produced piano rolls offered to eager consumers.74 Already regarded as a premiere concert pianist and composer of appealing music, Rachmaninoff extended his fame by recording and performing his own works, and those of others. Using a paradigm based on economic and social relations inverts the ―musical style‖ hierarchy, with Gershwin and Rachmaninoff now becoming progressive, and Ives and

Schoenberg old-fashioned. Rachmaninoff, desiring a ―lasting, indestructible art,‖ achieved that

72David Ewen, ―Sergei Rachmaninoff: Music Should Speak from the Heart,‖ The Etude 59 (1941): 804.

73Complete UNESCO list of music history periodization: Prehistory to the Birth of Europe (until ca. 500); Church (from ca. 500 to ca. 1520); Court and Town (from ca. 1520 to ca. 1740); Concert Life (from ca. 1740 to World War I); Mass Media (from World War I to the present). The musicologists proposing this included Janos Karpati, Jens Brincker, Finn Gravesen, Carsten E. Hatting, and Niels Krabbe. Charles Hamm, ―Toward a New Reading of Gershwin‖ in The Gershwin Style: New Looks at the Music of George Gershwin, ed. Wayne Schneider (London: Oxford University Press, 1999), 13.

74Ibid., 14. 205 goal through his recordings, preserved and reissued to this day, and through the ongoing performing and recording of his compositions enjoyed by audiences world-wide.

Due to his touring and mutually beneficial arrangement with RCA Victor, Rachmaninoff became a household name in America. Through ticket and record sales, he received financial gain and the satisfaction of leaving behind definitive performances, being the first major composer-pianist to do so, which serve as the benchmark yet today. He meticulously issued recordings that first measured up to his high performance standards, not succumbing to the timetable of the . Victor utilized Rachmaninoff‘s fame to introduce the Victrola to thousands of American homes and sold his recordings for decades.

From 1918 to 1943 Rachmaninoff played 992 performances in 221 cities in North

America. Despite his austere and stoic stage presence, audiences loved him. Surprisingly, his concerto repertoire with orchestra consisted of only ten compositions, and his own works—Piano

Concertos No. 2 and 3 and the Paganini Rhapsody—received the vast majority of performances.

His recital repertoire drew from the masters, oftentimes Chopin and Liszt, and his own works.

Contemporary twentieth-century compositions did not appeal to him because they did not resonate with classic permanence or satisfy most audiences. Not only did consumers purchase tickets to hear Rachmaninoff perform, they purchased and played his recordings, as did radio stations. In addition, two great motion picture icons of the day, Mickey Mouse and Harpo Marx,

―played‖ Rachmaninoff‘s famed prelude on in ―The Opry House‖ (1929) and ―A Day at the Races‖ (1937). In the age of newly emerging mass media, Rachmaninoff became an innovator, ending his days living financially secure in Beverly Hills, California (not far from

Hollywood, America‘s entertainment capital). As Rachmaninoff stated at the time of his

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American citizenship ceremony, America had truly become a ―land of opportunity and equality‖ for him, and his legacy continues through the technology he embraced and championed.

207

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Section B1: Correspondence of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box A– (RA)1 A2 Aldanov, Marc Avierino, Nikolai Konstantinevich B Barclay-Rybner, Dagmar Bertensson, Sergei D Fokine, Mikhail G Glieré, Reinhold Greiner, Alexander Hofmann, Josef I Klimov, Konstantin Koshetz, Nina Library of Congress Lomsakov, A. M Mandrovsky, Nikolai Medtner, Nicolas O‘Connell, Charles Ormandy, Eugene R. C. A. Victor P Paitchadze, Gavril Russia

Section B1: Correspondence of SR, Box S– (RA) S Satin, Sophie: 1929 Satin, Sophie: 1930–1934 Satin, Sophie: 1935–1938

1 RA is the siglum for the Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, ML 30.55.

2 These letters, names, and titles denote files within each section or box. Since the files were organized and labeled by Rachmaninoff‘s sister-in-law (and first cousin) Sophia Satin, a Russian émigré, many of the names bear Russian spellings and transliterations. 208

Satin, Sophie: 1939 Satin, Sophie: Copies and transcripts–1934 Satin, Sophie: Copies and transcripts–1935 Siloti, Alexander: 1920 Siloti, Alexander: 1921 Somoff, Eugene Stanislavsky, Konstantin Steinway Stokowski, Leopold T Tolstoy, Alexandra Wood, Henry Wyshnegradsky, Ivan

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box A– (RA) A Altenburg, Helena Altschuler, Modest Am- American Federation of Musicians American Red Cross American Relief Association Amfiteatrov, Alexander Anderson, Marian Archimandrite, Antonin As- ASCAP Auer, Mischa B Babin, Victor Backhaus, Wilhelm Bakaleinikoff, Vladimir Balmont, Konstantin Barbirolli, John Barclay, Carnelia Barclay, Dagmar Rybner Baver, Harold Be- Beach, Amy Bechstein, C. Beecham, Sir Thomas Behymer, L. E. Beliaev, Viktor Bennett, Robert Russell Berne, Switzerland Bertensson, Sergei

209

Bi- Boelza, Igor Bok, Mary Curtis Boston Symphony Orchestra Boult, Adrian Br- Britain, Ilya Filharmonia Bunin, Ivan Busch, Adolph Brewer, Herbert

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box C– (RA) C Carpenter, John Alden3 Ch- Chartorizhskaia, Maria Chasins, Abram Chekhov, Mikhail Chicago Symphony Orchestra Clair, Rene Co- Colles, H. C. Colman, Ronald Conus, Jules Conus, Lev and Olga Coolidge, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Mrs. Calvin Copland, Aaron4 Cortot, Alfred Culshaw, John D Dahl, N. Damrosch, Walter De- Deering, Henri Do- Dobujinsky, M. Dohnanyi, Ernst Dorati, Antal Downes, Olin

3Correspondence files from a number of noted composers simply contained a form letter describing activities of a composer‘s organization.

4 Ibid. 210

Droop, Edward Drozdoff, V. Dushkin, Samuel

E Ellis, Charles Elman, Mischa Enesco, Gergei Engel, Carl Etude Music Magazine Eulogii Evans, Edwin

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box F– (RA) F Federoff, Mikhail Fedoroff, Vladimir Flagler, Harry Fokine, Mikhail Foley, Charles France Friedman, Ignaz G Gabrilowitsch, Ossip Gaines, Samuel Gano, Seth Ganz, Rudolph Gardenin, Natasha Glantz, Harry Glazounov, Alexander Gniessin, Elena Go- Goldenwiser, Alexander Golokhvastoff, Olga Goldstein, J. M. Goldstein, Mikhail Golschmann, Vladimir Goosev-Orenburgsky, S. Goossens, Eugene Gr- Grechaninoff, Alexander Greiner, Alexander Grieg, Nina Grigorieff, Boris Grofé, Ferde

211

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box H– (RA) H Halvorsen, Johan Hartmann, Thomas Harty, Hamilton Heifetz, Jascha Henderson, Archibald Hertz, Alfred Hessen, J. Hi- Hirst, Arthur Hofmann, Josef Holt, Richard Honegger, Arthur Horowitz, Vladimir Hutcheson, Ernest I Ignatieff, Paul Ilyin, Ivan Inter-Racial Council Ippolitov-Ivanov, Mikhail Iturbi, Amparo Jardine, Edith Jaroff, Serge Judson, Arthur Juilliard Musical Foundation

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box K– (RA) K Kantorowtiz, M. Kastalsky, Aleksandr Key, Pierre Kindler, Hans Kl- Klimov, Konstantin Koechlin, Charles Koenig, S. Kolands, Olga Konovaloff, A. Konshina, Elizabeth Koons, Walter Korzhuhin, I. Koussevitzky, Serge Krauss, Clemens Kreisler, Fritz

212

Kugel, Georg L Lazarevsky, Boris Lebedeva, Ekaterina Leuchtenberg, Dolly Levine, Marks Li- Library of Congress Lodyzhensky, P. Lomsakov, A. Long, Marguerite Lvoff, L.

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box M– (RA) M McCormack, John Malko, Nikolai Manderkern, Joseph Mason, Daniel Me- Medtner, Emil Medtner, Nicolai and Family5 Mi- Milstein, Nathan Milukov, P. N. Mitropoulos, Dmitri Mo- Moiseiwitsch, Benno Montemezzi, Italo Monteux, Pierre Morkin, Mikhail Morosov, Nikita Musical America Musical Courier Musicians‘ Foundation N NBC Nabokov, Vladimir Nat, Yves National Association for American Composers and Conductors Nemirovich-Danchenku, Vladimir Newman, Ernest O O‘Connell, Charles Oeberg, E.

5 Four folders contain Nicolai Medtner correspondence. 213

Orloff, Nikolai Ormandy, Eugene

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box P– (RA) Pa Paitchadze, G. Pavlova, Anna Pe- Philadelphia Orchestra Philipp, Isidor Piatigorsky, Gregor Pierne, Gabriel Po- R Rachmaninoff, Orkadi Rachmaninoff, Fedor Rachmaninoff, Helena Rachmaninoff, Natalia Rachmaninoff, Sophia (wife of distant relative) Rachmaninoff, Sergei (distant relative of S. V. R.) Rachmaninoff Fund Rachmaninoff, Lubov Petrovna Randolph, Harold Ratoff, RCA Victor Reisenberg, Nadia Remisoff, Alexis Respighi, Ottorino Riegger, Wallingford Riera, Santiago Riesemann, Oskar Rimsky-Korsakov, Mikhail Rodzinsky, Artur Rogal-Levitzky, Dmitri Rosenthal, Moritz Rostovzeva, Ludmila Rousseau, Thekla Royal Philharmonic Rubinstein, Artur Russian Russian Students‘ Christian Association Russian Student Fund Russian War Invalids Outside of Russia Ravel, Maurice

214

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box S– (RA) Sa- Sabaneev, Leonid Sale, Nancy Satin family Satin, Mikhail Sc- Schoenberg, Arnold Serkin, Rudolf Seroff, Victor Severjanin, Igor Sh- Shaliapin, Fedor Shatalin, Sergei Si- Sikorski, Igor Slavit, Lewis Slonimsky, Nicolas Slonoff, M. family Smith, Alfred E. Soboleff, Alexei Society for the Relief of Musicians in Russia Somoff, Eugene Steinberg, and Sons Steinway Family Stock, Frederick Stokowski, Leopold Stransky, Josef Straram, Walter Stravinsky, Igor and Vera Struve family Swan, Alfred

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, Box T– (RA) T Tait, J. Talysina, Olga Tamiroff, Akim Tcherepnin, Nicolai Temianka, Henri Theil, Jackques Thibaud, Jacques Threlfall, Robert Tillett, John

215

Toluboff, Theodora Trezvinsky, S. E. Trubnikova Tsitseroshin, N. Turchaninova, Maria U U.S.S.R. United States of America Urchs, Ernest Verkholantzeff, Vasili Vigor, Lydia Walter, Bruno

Section B2: Correspondence to Sergei Rachmaninoff, W– ; Unidentified; Correspondence records; ―Round Robins‖ Box (RA) W Waldgard, Natalia Whiteman, Paul Wicker, Irene Williamson, John Wilshaw, Vladimir Winternitz, Emanuel Wittgenstein, Paul Wo- Wolkonsky family Wood, Sir Henry WQXR Wrangez, Olga X-Z Xenia Yasser, Joseph Youmans, Vincent Zataevich, Aleksandr Sernova, Sophia Zharkova, A. Zimbalist, Efrem Correspondence6 Unidentified Round Robins

Section C: Printed Music, Box 1 and 2 (RA)

Section D: Biographical material (RA)7

6 List of letters and telegrams of condolence received by Mrs. Rachmaninoff at the time of his death.

7 Lists of concert and recital locations. 216

Section E1: Program lists, America (RA) American concerts, Seasons 1909–1920 American concerts, Seasons 1920–1925 American concerts, Seasons 1925–1930 American concerts, Seasons 1930–1935 American concerts, Seasons 1935–1940 American concerts, Seasons 1940–1943

Section E2: Programs, Foreign (RA)

Section F: Repertoire lists (RA)

Section G: Program notes, etc. (Op. 1–29) and (Op. 30–) (RA)

Section H, I: Articles, Russian (RA)

Section J: Articles, European (RA)

Section K: Articles, Reviews, USA: 1909– Box (RA) American Concerts, Seasons 1909–1920 American Concerts, Seasons 1920–1924 American Concerts, Seasons 1924–1930 American Concerts, Seasons 1930–1934 American Concerts, Season 1934–1935 American Concerts, Season 1935–1936

Section K: Articles, Reviews, USA: 1937– Box (RA) American Concerts, Season 1936–37 American Concerts, Season 1937–38 American Concerts, Season 1939–40 American Concerts, Season 1940–41 American Concerts, Season 1941–42 American Concerts, Season 1942–43 Post 1950 Magazine articles: 1918–1943

Section L: Honors, awards (RA)

Section M: Interviews, Writings, Projects (RA)

Section N: Biographical material (RA)

Section O: Obituaries (RA)

Section P: Articles Regarding Sergei Rachmaninoff after 1943 (RA)

217

American Newspapers and News Magazines, 1918–43

Ames Daily Tribune (Iowa) Atlanta Constitution Baltimore Sun Binghamton Press and Leader Boise Capital News Boston Evening Transcript Boston Herald Boston Post Buffalo Times (New York) Canton Daily News (Ohio) Chattanooga Times Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago Evening Post Chicago Herald Examiner Cincinnati Post Cincinnati Times Star Claremont Courier (California) Cleveland Plain Dealer Cleveland Press Colorado Springs Gazette Columbian Missourian Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) Courier Journal (Louisville) Dallas Times Herald Davenport Democrat and Leader Detroit Evening Times Detroit News Denver Post Desert News (Salt Lake City) Duluth News Tribune (Minnesota) Durham Morning Herald El Paso Times Fall River Daily Globe (Massachusetts) Glens Falls Post Star (New York) Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota) Grand Rapids Press (Michigan) Hartford Courant Hartford Daily Times Hastings Daily Tribune (Nebraska) Houston Chronicle Iowa State Daily Student (Ames) Jewish Morning Journal Kansas City Times Knoxville Journal

218

Leominster Daily Enterprise (Massachusetts) Lincoln State Journal Los Angeles Times Lynchburg News (Virginia) Manchester Leader and Evening Union (New Hampshire) Milwaukee Journal Milwaukee Sentinel Minneapolis Journal Minneapolis Times-Tribune Montclair Times (New Jersey) Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) Muncie Morning Star Newburgh News (New York) New London Evening Day (Connecticut) Newsweek Magazine New York Evening Post New York Herald Tribune New York Sonntagsblatt Staats-Seitung und Herold New York Sun New York Times Oakland Post-Enquirer Ohio State Journal (Columbus) Philadelphia Enquirer Philadelphia Record Pittsburgh Post Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph Portland News-Telegram (Oregon) Providence Sunday Journal (Rhode Island) Provo Evening Herald Reading Eagle (Pennsylvania) Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia) Rochester Times-Union (New York) Sacramento Bee Saint Louis Daily Globe-Democrat Saint Louis Dispatch Saint Paul Pioneer Press Light San Diego Sun San Diego Union San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner Seattle Daily Times Shreveport Times Stamford Advocate (Connecticut) Stockton Evening Record (California)

219

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230

APPENDIX A: CATALOGUE OF WORKS1 (Works with unspecified performing forces are for piano)

Opus 1: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, 1891

Opus 2: Two Pieces for ‘Cello and Piano, 1892

Opus 3: Five Morceaux de fantaisie, 1892

Opus 4: Six Songs, 1890–93 (voice and piano)

Opus 5: Fantaisie-tableaux [Suite No. 1], 1893

Opus 6: Two Pieces for Violin and Piano, 1893

Opus 7: The Rock, 1893 (orchestral)

Opus 8: Six Songs, 1893 (voice and piano)

Opus 9: Trio élégiaque in D minor, 1893 (piano, violin, and ‘cello)

Opus 10: Seven Morceaux de salon, 1893–94

Opus 11: Six Duets, 1894 ()

Opus 12: Capriccio on Gypsy Themes (orchestral)

Opus 15: Six Choruses for women‘s or children‘s voices, 1895–‘96

Opus 16: Six Moments Musicaux, 1896

Opus 17: Suite No. 2, 1900–‘01

Opus 18: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, 1900–‘01

Opus 19: Sonata for ‘Cello and Piano in G minor, 1901

Opus 20: Spring, for , chorus and orchestra, 1902

Opus 21: Twelve Songs, 1902 (voice and piano)

Opus 22: Variations on a Theme of Chopin, 1902–‘03

Opus 23: Ten Preludes, 1903

1Geoffrey Norris, Rachmaninoff (New York: Schirmer, 1994), 164–76. 231

Opus 24: The Miserly Knight, 1903–‘05 (opera)

Opus 25: Francesca da Rimini, 1904–‘05 (opera)

Opus 26: Fifteen Songs, 1906 (voice and piano)

Opus 27: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, 1906–‘07

Opus 28: Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, 1907

Opus 29: The Isle of the Dead, 1909 (orchestral)

Opus 30: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, 1909

Opus 31: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, 1910 (choral)

Opus 32: Thirteen Preludes, 1910

Opus 33: Etudes-tableaux, 1911

Opus 34: Fourteen Songs, 1912 (voice and piano)

Opus 35: The Bells, 1913 (soloists, chorus, and orchestra)

Opus 36: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, 1913

Opus 37: All-night Vigil, 1915 (choral)

Opus 38: Six Songs, 1916 (voice and piano)

Opus 39: Etudes-tableaux, 1916–‘17

Opus 40: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, 1926

Opus 41: Three Russian Songs, 1926 (chorus and orchestra)

Opus 42: Variations on a Theme of Corelli [La ], 1931

Opus 43: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 1934

Opus 44: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, 1935–‘36

Opus 45: Symphonic Dances, 1940 (orchestral)

232

APPENDIX B

STEINWAY COMPANY ADVERTISEMENT FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES1

This full page Steinway advertisement titled ―Rachmaninoff Gives his 1529th Recital‖ appeared in The New York Times 24 March 1940 and included ten pictures. These numbered captions, one through seven, described the photographic montage and are followed by additional

Steinway promotional verbiage which appeared at the bottom of the page in the newspaper advertisement:

1. The great artist, pianist, and composer tours America for the twenty-third time.2 Typical success was his final concert, to a sold out, excited house at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, in New England‘s worst blizzard of the winter.3 Here Rachmaninoff warms fingers in the famous electric pad. Below, charming Wellesley girls go to seats on stage. [Rachmaninoff is pictured in the upper left- hand corner of the page seated with a winter coat over his shoulders and his hands warming in an electric heating pad. A smaller picture beneath Rachmaninoff‘s depicts two formally dressed women in long gowns walking past an open Steinway concert grand on stage. Other images of the Wellesley chapel as well as the concert program appear in the montage of photographs.]

2. Curtain 8:30 PM, but three hours before the concert begins, skilled hands tune the Steinway Concert Grand. [A man sits at the keyboard and strikes keys of the upper registers listening to the open grand piano.]

3. Students greet Rachmaninoff in the Green Room. Above, the famous pianist acknowledges applause for a brilliant Liszt Tarantella. [Smaller pictures depict a seated Rachmaninoff surrounded by six formally dressed women students, and Rachmaninoff standing at the piano on stage facing the audience.]

1Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K, Articles, reviews, USA:1937–, File ―1939–1940.‖

2This mention of the ―twenty-third‖ time refers to the fact that this concert took place during the 1939–40 season, that season being his twenty-third season touring and performing in the United States. This accounting would include his first brief visit during the 1909–10 season as season number one, and season number two would begin with the 1918–19 season.

3A Valentine‘s Day blizzard blanketed New England with a foot and a half of snow and gale force winds. Rachmaninoff‘s recital took place on that evening. 233

4. Rachmaninoff‘s hands. Of the Steinway, both on the concert stage and in his home, he says: ―I consider it perfect in every way.‖ [A small picture focuses on Rachmaninoff‘s hands striking the keyboard, with his wedding ring on his right ring finger. A large photo running the width of the middle of the page shows Rachmaninoff seated at the piano onstage with a portion of the on-stage audience, four women and one man.]

5. Rachmaninoff‘s tour began about the time Steinway and Sons introduced the Steinway Vertical–an exquisite new instrument, deep-toned, mellow, and only forty inches high. The price, the lowest ever asked for a Steinway, only $495 (Sheraton, ebonized). Pay down only $49.50. [A small picture in the lower left corner of the page shows a Steinway Vertical.]4

6. Newest recordings at Steinway and Sons Record Shop in Steinway Hall. Charge accounts invited. Mail and phone orders. ―The Steinway Review of Permanent Music,‖ edited by R. D. Darrell, gives unbiased comment on news discs, $1 a year. Sample issue free. [The middle picture of the lower three pictures depicts a man and women looking at records in Steinway Hall.]

7. It turns the records over! Only the Capehart does this! Period cabinets $595 to $2500. 10% down. Shipment and installation will be arranged anywhere in the United States. Magnavox Radio-Phonograph, $79.50 to $550. Convenient terms. [The lower right-hand picture shows a floor model radio-phonograph.]

You can own a Steinway as perfect in tone and action, as exquisitely responsive, as ruggedly enduring, as the Steinway which Rachmaninoff plays—for only $98.50 down.

Come to Steinway Hall, music capitol of America. Select at leisure the $985 Steinway, ebonized, which most appeals to you. Pay down this small sum, $98.50, and your Steinway Grand will be delivered in your home at once!

This superb instrument is the choice of virtually every great artist today and favorite of the overwhelming majority of discriminating music-lovers. If someone were to give you a piano, you would certainly select a Steinway!

Why not choose one now, when you can have its delights in your home for as little down as $98.50.

4Probably a Model K. In the late 1930s, the company introduced micro-Steinways. In 1938 a Model K was designed at forty-five inches, a year later a forty-inch model. D. W. Fostle, The Steinway Saga: An American Dynasty (New York: Scribner, 1995), 470. 234

APPENDIX C

NBC ARTIST SERVICES PRESS PACKET: Press Material on Sergei Rachmaninoff 1932 –19331

1. Rachmaninoff—Biography

Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer-pianist, who will be heard here

______at ______, is regarded as one of the foremost musicians that Russia has yet produced.

He was born at Onega in the government of Novgorod, and early showed musical ability.

At the age of nine, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory, to study the piano, but three years later transferred to the Moscow Conservatory, studying first with Tchaikovsky‘s friend Zvierev and afterward with Siloti, and taking theory and composition with Taneiev and Arensky. In

1892, he won the gold medal for composition, quitted the conservatory and went on a long concert tour through the cities of Russia. In 1897, after he had already gained fame as a concert pianist and composer, he was appointed conductor of the Moscow ―Private Opera.‖ His own one- act opera, ―Aleko‖ had already been produced with success at the Moscow Opera and his piano pieces, songs, large secular choruses and orchestral works were beginning to be recognized far and wide.

An invitation from the London Philharmonic Society to appear in the threefold capacity of composer, conductor and pianist, afforded Rachmaninoff his first great success outside of

Russia, and his performance here established him immediately as no longer a Russian but an international artist. His first symphony was played at a concert of the Royal Philharmonic

Society in 1909, conducting. The story of his career since these debuts as

1Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section K: Articles, Reviews, USA: 1937– ; File ―Post–1950.‖ 235 composer, pianist and conductor has been one of cumulative success in all three, and when he made his American debut in 1909, he already occupied the very distinguished position he holds today in the music world.

2. Modern Music Must Return to Fundamentals, Says Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff believes that if we are to have any great music today, we must return to the fundamentals which made the music of the past great.

The famous Russian, who, in spirit and accomplishment, towers over the multitude of music-mongers, as in actual physique he towers over most men, will be heard here as pianist

______at ______. He is not sanguine on the subject of most modern music.

―To me it represents only retrogression,‖ he said. ―I do not believe anything worthwhile can grow out of it, because it is lacking in the one great essential—heart. The poet Heine once said, ‗What life takes away, music restores,‘ He would not be moved to say this, if he could hear the music of today. For the most part, it gives nothing. Music should bring relief. It should rehabilitate people‘s minds and souls. Modern music does not do this. If we are to have great music, we must return to the fundamentals which made the music of the past great. Music cannot be just color and rhythm. It must reveal the emotions of the heart.‖

But on the matter of the supply of musical interpreters, the famous composer was more heartening.

―There are many able artists among the younger pianists,‖ he said. ―The piano, in particular, is in no danger of being without great virtuosos. Fifty years ago, Anton Rubinstein remarked, ‗Today, nearly everyone who plays the piano is a good pianist.‘ How much more so is that the case today!‖

236

3. Rachmaninoff Laughs Last

Living down success is sometimes as difficult as living down failure. Living down the C- sharp Minor Prelude has been one of the problems of Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s career.

It isn‘t that he has no regard for the Prelude. He even plays it himself. Sometimes with a sly humor, he will autograph a photograph with the opening notes of it. But there are times, he confesses, when being so labeled with this world-popular piece irks him a little.

Apropos of this, they tell the story of how Rachmaninoff and Paderewski once entered together a café on the Riviera. Immediately upon the arrival of the two great pianists, the orchestra ceased playing. The leader rapped brightly and swung his men into the chords of the

Rachmaninoff C-sharp Minor Prelude. Paderewski grinned with delight at his partner‘s discomfiture, and at the close applauded the embarrassed composer across the table long and loudly, so that anyone who had not noticed his presence before, became aware of it. When the applause at last died down, the enterprising leader obliged with an encore—an encore which automatically removed the glee from Paderewski‘s face and transferred it magically to

Rachmaninoff‘s. They had struck up Paderewski‘s Minuet—and now it was Rachmaninoff‘s chance to lead the applause—which he proceeded to do until every head in the restaurant had pivoted about and stared at Paderewski.

The great Russian composer will make an appearance here as pianist ______at

______.

4. (A blank page appears in the packet where the fourth article should be located.)2

2This blank page appears to be a clerical error, the typist accidently skipping a page. According to the table of contents for the press packet, this fourth item should include the article, ―Rachmaninoff Talks About Composing.‖ 237

5. A Snapshot of Rachmaninoff

His full name is Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff, but you never find it spelled the same in two newspapers. Rated one of the greatest living Russian composers is a noted pianist and conductor as well, and as pianist will here ______at ______.

Tall, austere, aristocratic in bearing, dignified, aloof and commanding on the concert platform. You might expect crashing dissonances, modernist music, from under those steely fingers and powerful biceps. Instead come delicacy, great emotional feeling, heart-searching, singing tone. ―Music must reveal the emotions of the heart,‖ says Rachmaninoff. He makes it do it.

Born in the province of Novgorod, Russia, 1873. Showed talent at the age of four.

Entered the Petersburg conservatory at nine, at twelve transferred to the Moscow Conservatory.

Is identified with the Moscow ―school of composers,‖ and while an undergraduate in Moscow, composed his first opera, ―Aleko.‖ Won the coveted gold medal, quarreled with his teachers and left. His first concert tour revealed him as a pianist of amazing gifts. Invited to London to conduct one of his own symphonies at a concert of the Philharmonic Society, which transformed overnight his national reputation into international fame. His symphonies later played by all the great orchestras of the world. Often with himself as soloist. Returned to Russia to become conductor of the Moscow Private Opera.

The Russian Revolution forced him out of his native land. Confiscated his estates.

Rachmaninoff and his family escaped into Sweden, thence to the United States. Makes his home now in New York and has a summer home in Switzerland where he does most of his composing.

Is married and has two beautiful daughters. Enjoys his concert tours, which are always

238 enormously successful. Thousands of his admirers have never heard of his really important works, know him as the composer of ―Rachmaninoff‘s C-sharp Minor Prelude.‖

6. Close-up of Rachmaninoff

A vivid pen portrait of Sergei Rachmaninoff, who will be heard here ______at ______recently appeared in magazine.3 Because it catches the in the character of the great Russian, interprets them, and with a fine understanding, plucks at the heart of the mystery which surrounds every genius, we quote it here, in part:

―The personality of Rachmaninoff has a unique place in the music world in that success has not mattered much to him or altered him,‖ says the writer Esther Carples. ―His classmates of the old days of the Moscow Conservatory, Jacob Altschuler and Josef Lhévinne, say he has not changed at all. He stands out singularly, because what Wordsworth apostrophized as the ‗trailing clouds of glory‘ of youth have meant very much to him, indeed, and he has never let them go. He is austere, solitary, aristocratic, morosely sensitive and simple. That he has not auctioned or bargained with life is everywhere plain. . . . He hides away in daily life, and you can hear in his playing, emotions that are elemental, simple, lyric and plaintive as only uncorrupted vision can be. His monolithic body and convict‘s head bear a somber sustaining dignity that is unmannered and elect. Yet perhaps the pathos in a great career is that he is an aristocrat. The change of regimes in Russia has left him spiritually homeless. He has never liked the new order of things or become reconciled to it. It is as if his soil of nature has become scarred and beggard. Rachmaninoff does not talk music, tendencies, critics and life and philosophies, least of all. Yet he has, no doubt, come to many grave decisions; but they are not known. If one or two or three years ago, you were one who had the pleasant habit of taking long, fast-paced walks at dusk on Riverside Drive, you must have met Rachmaninoff. And if you were addicted to driving a car madly over the Westchester roads at night, you very likely have passed him. This is all there is to his hobbies and diversions. He is still out seeking, alone and constant, among such moods, wherein for him, come music.

3Esther Carples, ―The Aristocrat,‖ New Yorker, 9 January 1926, 15–16. The complete article can be found on page 13 of this appendix. 239

7. Rachmaninoff as Composer

It has been said of Sergei Rachmaninoff, noted composer, who will be heard here as pianist ______at ______, ―the world he looks out upon in his music is one of dim distances, golden lights and shadows, and fateful and steady motion.‖

As a composer, the famous Russian has been designated as a connecting link between old traditions and new ideals of music. Speaking in the musical idiom of his race, he stands between and , and depends upon his own great imaginative power to create his fine individual works. A critical estimate of Rachmaninoff recently said, ―Among living Russian composers, Rachmaninoff unquestionably occupies the first place because of his pronounced inventive power and finely developed sense of tonal beauty. He has composed in practically all forms, and in each has a record of notable achievement. A concert pianist of distinguished ability and a skilled and experienced conductor, Rachmaninoff‘s attitude toward his art as an inspirational means of interpretation is wholly modern.‖

Rachmaninoff was born at the estate ―Oneg,‖ in the province of Novgorod, and studied at both the Petrograd and the Moscow conservatories. Early his creative ability asserted itself, and on graduating from the Moscow conservatory he won the gold medal for his one-act opera

―Aleko.‖ His first concert tour as a pianist established his supremacy in this field, his excellence as an operative [operatic] conductor was later demonstrated when he assumed leadership of the

Private Opera and finally the Moscow Imperial Opera. Rachmaninoff first came to the United

States in 1909. The downfall of the old regime in Russia resulted in his establishing his home here, and he has not since returned to the land of his birth where his works are boycotted.

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8. Rachmaninoff Now a Resident of the United States

Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer-pianist, who will be heard here

______at ______, now makes his home in the United States. This has been since the downfall of the old regime in Russia, when the Rachmaninoff estates were confiscated by the revolutionary government, and the composer and his family had to flee from Moscow.

They found asylum for a time in Sweden, then pressed on to Denmark, finally reaching the

United States.

This calamity which forced Rachmaninoff from the soil which he so much loved has had an advantage at least for American music-lovers. For it naturally affords them more frequent opportunity to hear this commanding musical personality, who, as a pianist registers an impression wholly unforgettable and as a composer is one of the towering creative forces of the times.

Rachmaninoff was born in Onega, Russia. At the age of four, he showed musical interest, and his first lessons were taught him by his mother. At the age of nine, his family moved to what was then St. Petersburg, and young Rachmaninoff was entered at the Imperial Conservatory.

Three years later, he was studying at the Moscow conservatory under such teachers as Zvieref,

Siloti, Taneyef and Arensky. Here he won the gold medal for his one-act opera ―Aleko,‖ which was produced at the Moscow opera in 1892. Rachmaninoff made his first appearance as a pianist in Moscow and won immediate recognition as an interpreter. To these growing reputations, he now added a third, and presently as a conductor also distinguished himself serving a term as conductor of the Moscow ―Private Opera‖ and subsequently as conductor of the London

Philharmonic orchestra. The story of his three-fold career since these debuts has been one of

241 cumulative success, and when he made his first tour of this country in 1909, he was already the distinguished figure which he is today.

9. Josef Hofmann Is Greatest Pianist, Says Rachmaninoff

There are so many able artists among the younger generation of pianists, that this branch of interpretive music is in no danger of falling into decay, in the opinion of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Rachmaninoff, himself among the greatest pianists of the day and famous the world over as composer and conductor, recently made this statement, adding, ―The piano is in no danger of being without great virtuosos. Fifty years ago, Anton Rubinstein remarked: ‗Today nearly everyone who plays the piano is a good pianist.‘ How much more so is that the case, today.‖

The greatest living pianist today is Josef Hofmann, Rachmaninoff said, not only as technician, but as interpretive artist. That is his mature opinion—a noble salute, indeed, to a fellow artist when one considers its origin.

Rachmaninoff will be heard here as pianist ______at ______.

10. ―Play My Music Just As You Choose,‖ Says Rachmaninoff

―Have I any special feeling as to how other pianists should play my compositions? To be quite honest, no. You see, when it comes to the average pianist, I am perfectly willing to let him play my pieces just as he chooses—especially if I am not there to hear him!‖

It was Sergei Rachmaninoff speaking—Rachmaninoff, the great Russian composer- pianist, whose C-Sharp Minor prelude has been the most pounced-upon and exploited bit of music in the whole amateur repertoire.

242

―I know that a composer is supposed to have a definite feeling as to just how one or another of his compositions should be played,‖ he continued, smiling faintly.

[The bottom half of the tenth page is ripped out of the booklet, leaving this press release incomplete.]

11. Rachmaninoff Believes Poor Teaching Spoils Musical Prodigies

Why do some musical child prodigies develop into maturity as great artists, while others, their phenomenal talent petering out at an early age, becoming wholly mediocre when they grow up?

Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer-pianist, who will play here

______at ______, says his theory is that the musical prodigy survives the childhood stage only when the child has had a great teacher developing him. As example, he pointed to

Hofmann, who as a child studied with Rubinstein and whose genius carried well over into maturity. In other words, the great Russian does not think that some prodigies have inherently in them the seeds of their own decay, but that improper direction mars their development.

According to this theory, when a child prodigy does not pan out, we must look to the teacher who has not done his work properly and blame him and reserve our sympathy for the talent which has been spoiled in the making.

Though his talent developed early Rachmaninoff was not exactly a child prodigy. He says of himself that as a child he was a good pianist but no phenomenal. He had, however, from the beginning, absolute pitch, which excused him from the solfeggio classes at the Moscow

Conservatory where he studied. Here the courses must certainly have been cast in heroic mould, for the piano students were kept for five years on nothing but finger work and technique. This

243 being over, for the next four years of the course they went on to more colorful matter.

Rachmaninoff lived at that time in the home of Professor Swereff, his teacher at the

Conservatory, and it was in Swereff‘s home that he first became acquainted with Tschaikovsky, the Rubinsteins and Rimsky-Korsakoff, who exerted such an influence on his later artistic career.

12. Rachmaninoff Talks on the Bells of Russia

Ding, dong, ding, dong! DING, DONG, DING, DONG!

Through all the , the bells of Russia are heard according to Sergei

Rachmaninoff, great Russian composer-pianist. Now light and tinkling as troika bells, now sweet and sustained as the carillons of some of the churches, now deep-intoning as the great Ivan

Veliki, the ―Big Ben‖ of Russia. One of the most vivid recollections of his childhood, he says are the four great notes of the bells of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. All his life they have vibrated through his memory and have entered unmistakably at times into his music.

Many persons have thought that the chords which announce Rachmaninoff‘s famous C-

Sharp Minor Prelude are a transcription of bell-tones, but the composer denies this. The theme of the popular prelude came to him independent of the association of bells, he says, though the bells of Russia were directly the musical inspiration of his composition interpretative of Edgar Allan

Poe‘s poem ―The Bells.‖ Even today, as he sits in his New York home, self-exiled from his beloved Russia, the great composer says he hears in memory the vibrations of the mighty bells of

Moscow. These Russian bells were, under the old regime, the first thing a Russian child became conscious of—and if the exile remembers Russia now through a mist of tears there reverberates also through his recollection the echoes of the great bells. Just what these bells really mean to a

Russian, it is difficult to explain, but Rachmaninoff cites Tchekoff, the famous short story writer

244 and dramatist, as saying, ―I love to hear the bells—they are all that is left to me of religion.‖

What has happened to the cathedral bells under the new regime, Rachmaninoff says he does not know—but he is sure that if they have been silenced, something very rich and precious has passed out of the musical consciousness of Russia. Rachmaninoff will be heard here ______at ______.

13. Rachmaninoff Admires the Jazz of Ferdy Grofé

Though Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer-pianist, who will be heard here

______at ______, sums up himself as a complete musical conservative, ―a romantic, to be precise,‖ he admits that he has taken keen delight in some forms of American jazz—particularly in the jazz arrangements of Ferdy Grofé, whom he wants to meet some day.

Page Mr. Grofé.

Rachmaninoff, it seems, walked in one day upon an orchestra which was busily engaged in jazzing his famous C-Sharp Minor Prelude. Far from being annoyed at the liberties being taken with his music, he was enchanted. He asked who had orchestrated the piece in jazz and being told it was Grofé, expressed his ardent admiration. Presently he heard another jazz transcription by Grofé, this time of Rimsky-Korsakoff‘s ―Coq d‘Or.‖ Again he was delighted with the arrangement, saying he believed that Rimsky-Korsakoff, who had been his close friend, would have applauded the new version with enthusiasm. He thinks Grofé the Ravel or the Rimsky of jazz-orchestration—which is high tribute, indeed, since Rimsky-Korsakoff‘s genius with the orchestra is proverbial and Ravel too is noted for his power in scoring for the modern orchestra.

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14. Best Symphony Orchestras Here, Says Rachmaninoff

The United States has today the best symphony orchestras in the world. This is the opinion of Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer-pianist who will play here

______at ______.

In America, according to the Russian composer, much larger sums are put at the disposal of symphony orchestras than in Europe, so naturally their personnel is of a higher order and their music better.

Rachmaninoff himself spent long terms as conductor of the noted Moscow Private Opera and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. He was once offered the conductorship of the Boston

Symphony. Not only has he been noted as conductor but many of his compositions are orchestral. His First Symphony, played by Glazounov with the Russian Symphony, however, was almost the beginning and the end of his carrier as a composer for orchestra. For though the piece has since been greatly successful, like many another work of art it was a failure at its first hearing. This failure plunged the young composer into such depression that he vowed never more would he write another note. In order to raise his spirits a friend took him to Tolstoy for advice, but the great writer‘s admonitions to him were so severe that depression settled even more firmly down on Rachmaninoff. Ultimately, it was through the treatment of a physician, Dr.

Dahl, who was also his friend, that Rachmaninoff recovered his confidence. When he had finished his second symphony he dedicated it to this friend.

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―THE ARISTOCRAT‖4

It is easy to appraise a man who has lost the vision of himself, for his own detachment and sophistication aids in this, but Rachmaninoff has kept the symbol of himself, and it makes appraisal hard. Among the host of musicians who throw off the thralldom of self and escape into lightness—and many of them do, holding the child of a lost former creativeness as a child on one‘s knee—the character of Rachmaninoff stands as a thing apart. Those who were with him in

Moscow twenty-five years ago and who have the memory of a brooding, listless, forbidding genius, vow with a kind of abasement at their own solidifying maturity that Rachmaninoff has not changed.

Music and the arts for all their splendor of development are but a modern growth in

Russia; you can antedate everyone, writers and composers back one hundred and then you stop.

Russia recognized Rachmaninoff at the start. There were drumbeats of adulation and to this pride the spirit of the country set a goal. Of genius, the expectation was genius, and as well all know, the Russians are a naïve people, hardly the pragmatists to confuse or bemuse the issues of artistic destiny.

But there is an impiety to the fame that has come to Rachmaninoff, and he alone, above all, knows it. A gargoyle irony has crept in of late years to a man who in his aspirations wished to build the tonal structure of cathedrals. His American success has been tumultuous, and yet in a sense abusive.

There is an odd story, typically American in its overtones, and mournful in its deeper . It has all to do with the ―C-Sharp Minor Prelude‖—the ―Flatbush Prelude,‖ so brevetted. About ten years ago, Alexander Siloti, a cousin of Rachmaninoff brought it over.

Rumor says he sold it to a music publisher for the sum of twenty-five dollars. It made

4Esther Carples, ―The Aristocrat,‖ New Yorker (9 January 1926): 15–16. 247

Rachmaninoff. It cut a swath for him across our national life, and when he came, the country had its arms open for him. Whenever there is a piano and they are as generously distributed as

Bibles, the daughter of the house essays it. It is dramatic, easy to play, and as the million and one little girls boom it across the keyboard, an illusion of greatness becomes entwined with their fingers. It shames the price of piano lessons until such practicalities slink off abashed before the glory of art. A sonorous grandeur clamors through it. By and large Rachmaninoff is the composer of the ―C-Sharp Minor Prelude.‖

There is much other music, tone poems, church music, other preludes, not often played but very beautiful, the fruit of a fine ardor and gloom of a special creativeness. Yet about these the future is evasive. The monumental accomplishment of music in the past has a way casting distrustful shadows on new works. His best may not live. Rachmaninoff is now fifty-three, and he has not composed to any great extent in the last five or six years. But there, with pernicious life, is the ―C-Sharp Minor‖ hotly in the caldron of popular classics.

The personality of Rachmaninoff has a unique place in the music world in that success has not mattered much to him or altered him. His classmates of the old days of the Moscow

Conservatory, Jacob Altschuler and Josef Lhévinne, say he has not changed at all. He stands out singularly because what Wordsworth apostrophized as the ―trailing clouds of glory‖ of youth have meant very much to him indeed, and he has never let them go.

He is austere, solitary, aristocratic, morosely sensitive and simple. That he has not ractioned or bargained with life is everywhere plain. They say that in his piano recitals he plays a little to the galleries, but if the criticism is true, the practice springs from a naïve sentimentality or perhaps a patrician condescension to speak more plainly within the understanding of his listeners. He could never be common or plebian, but he can condescend. He showed his mettle as

248 an aristocrat at Carnegie Hall last spring when the children in the New York city-wide music contests played before a host of distinguished musicians as judges. There was a mood among the judges to take the matters as a frolic, but this attitude changed when Rachmaninoff with gentle imperiousness called for one little boy to repeat his pieces, so that the judges might be more certain of their decision. He hides away in daily life, and you can hear in his playing, emotions that are elemental, simple, lyric and plaintive as only uncorrupted vision can be. His monolithic body and convicts head bear a somber sustaining dignity that is unmannered and elect.

Yet perhaps the pathos in a great career in that he is an aristocrat. The change of regimes in Russia has left him spiritually homeless. He has never liked the new order of things or become reconciled to it. It is as if his soil of nurture had become scarred and beggared. He has not caught on here to a depth where his genius is at peace. He is tremendously successful, broods much, and composes little, and in all it is a desolateness beyond his assuaging.

Not that even here he has not been true as an artist should not be true. When the Boston

Symphony offered him the post of conductor before naming Monteux, he declined. He wanted to be free for his composing. His great success on the concert stage he has taken calmly and as a naturally predestined thing. It is true of the man that the social life of a musician has not even become a reality for him. He does not mix in musical doings. His own manager, C. J. Foley of

Boston, knows so little about him as a man that the most imaginative reporter could not build two sticks of copy out of it. Rachmaninoff does not talk music, tendencies, critics, and life and philosophies, least of all. Yet he no doubt has come to many grave decisions; but they are not known.

In meditating on Rachmaninoff, the present writer, once of Chicago, recalls a short lecture Sherwood Anderson addressed to his fellow writers in the pages of the Chicago Daily

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News. He said, in effect, that if a creative writer takes to conscious exploitation, if he gabs, he will be lost. There has to be a tie, has there—to write in Mr. Anderson‘s style—with one‘s first mystic consciousness, with one‘s separate oneness.

If one or two or three years ago you were one who had the pleasant habit of taking long, fast-paced walks at dusk on Riverside Drive, you must have met Rachmaninoff. And if you are addicted to driving a car madly over the Westchester roads at night you very likely have passed him. This is all there is to his hobbies and diversions. He is still out seeking, alone and constant, among such moods, wherein for him, comes music.

The walks are put in the past tense, because in the past year, the Rachmaninoff home at

33 Riverside Drive has been sold. A story was connected with this that did not get into the papers. His elder daughter, Irene, married a Russian prince, and the family went to France and bought a farm, planning a new life on the old continent again.

But the son-in-law died, and Rachmaninoff came back with his family last month a grandfather.

The house of the Rachmaninoffs at Riverside Drive will long remain in the memory of those who have visited there. It was white without, and it had a shadowed quietude within. While waiting for the appearance of one of his daughters, who were always his emissaries, the caller became conscious of a suzerainty of order, of punctilious nobility, of a fair, natural elegance that livened into magnificence and to tender gloom as the sunlight eddied in and withdrew through the heavy plated windows. The house was not Russian in furnishings or atmosphere, but something else was there that Rachmaninoff wanted—at it was in the old order in its tempo and mood. A blonde and child-like Russian servant girl beamed wanly as if suddenly roused, and

250 then one waited and had the rare pleasure of seeing Tatania or Irene walk measuredly down the arched stairways, beautiful girls walking carelessly and elegantly.

If there had not been revolution in Russia, Rachmaninoff would not have become expatriated. There is an omission in the paragraphs about him in ―Who‘s Who‖—it does not say that Rachmaninoff was born of the nobility. It is perhaps true that for some when an old stronghold is abandoned, the key becomes lost from both without and within.

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APPENDIX D: AMERICAN CITIES IN WHICH RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED1

Concert Schedule Chronological by Season2 (o = appearance with orchestra;3 c = chamber performance; no designation = solo piano)

These schedules are drawn from the Rachmaninoff Archive‘s program lists noting concert and recital dates and venues and are supplemented by information gleaned from concert reviews published in local newspapers. In about a dozen cities, specific venues were not able to be ascertained. Also, from 1930 through 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s number of recitals, concerts, and recording sessions decreased, no doubt due to the Great Depression in America.

1909–1910 Season: 4 November, Northampton, MA 8 November, Philadelphia, o 10 November, Baltimore, o 13 November, New York, o 15 November, Hartford, o 16 November, Boston 18 November, Toronto, o 20 November, New York 26 November, Philadelphia, o 27 November, Philadelphia, o 28 November, New York, o 30 November, New York, o 3 December, Chicago, o 4 December, Chicago, o 9 December, Pittsburgh 17 December, Boston, o 18 December, Boston, o 26 December, Chicago 3 January, New York 9 January, New York 10 January, Boston 16 January, New York, o 21 January, Cincinnati, o 22 January, Cincinnati, o 27 January, New York, o 31 January, Buffalo, o

1Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 3055, Section E1, Program Lists ―American Concerts,‖ 1–183.

2Beginning on page 277 of this appendix, an additional listing notes Rachmaninoff performances in most cities, as well as the venue for most cities

3Appendix F lists all orchestras with which Rachmaninoff performed in America, and Appendix G lists all conductors with whom Rachmaninoff performed in America 252

Total: 26 concerts

1918–19 Season: 8 December, Providence, RI 15 December, Boston 16 December, New Haven, CT 17 December, Worcester, MA 21 December, New York 4 January, Philadelphia 10 January, Boston 12 January, New York, o 13 January, New York 21 January, Washington, DC 23 January, New York 28 January, New York, o 29 January, New York, o 31 January, Boston, o 1 February, Boston, o 2 February, Providence, RI 3 February, Washington, DC, o 4 February, Baltimore, o 5 February, Philadelphia, o 7 February, Brooklyn, o 9 February, Montreal 19 February, Ogontz, PA 22 February, Boston 23 February, New York 27 February, Pittsburgh, o 1 March, Philadelphia 4 March, St. Louis 7 March, Cincinnati 9 March, Chicago 13 March, Washington, DC 23 March, Montreal 28 March, Philadelphia, o 29 March, Philadelphia, o 8 April, New York, o 26 April, New York, c4 27 April, New York Total: 36 concerts

1919–1920 Season:

4 Rachmaninoff performed with ‘cellist Pablo Casals at the Hotel Biltmore for the Bohemians Society. Rachmaninoff performed his Sonata for ‘Cello and Piano, Opus 19. Recital program for 26 April 1919, International Piano Archive at Maryland, Rachmaninoff Collection, File ―Rachmaninoff: Miscellaneous Concert Programs 1909– 1942.‖ 253

12 October, Lowell, MA 15 October, Utica, NY 17 October, Plainfield, NJ 19 October, New York 25 October, New York 26 October, Boston 28 October, Elmira, NY 31 October, Boston, o 1 November, Boston, o 3 November, Philadelphia, o 4 November, Washington, DC, o 5 November, Baltimore, o 6 November, Pittsburgh 7 November, Brooklyn, o 9 November, Akron, OH 10 November, Detroit 12 November, Saginaw, MI 14 November, Lansing, MI 16 November, Chicago 17 November, Cleveland 18 November, Buffalo 25 November, Washington, DC 6 December, Brooklyn, o 7 December, New York, o 11 December, Troy, NY 15 December, Boston 16 December, Worcester, MA 17 December, Springfield, MA 21 December, New York 26 December, New York, o 27 December, unknown location near New York City 28 December, New York, s 3 January, Philadelphia 4 January, Lawrence, MA 5 January, Brooklyn 8 January, Cincinnati 11 January, Indianapolis 12 January, Louisville 13 January, St. Louis 15 January, St. Paul, o 16 January, Minneapolis, o 20 January, Duluth, MN 22 January, Milwaukee 23 January, Chicago, o 24 January, Chicago, o 27 January, Providence, RI, o

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29 January, New York, o 31 January, New York, o 1 February, Providence 6 February, Philadelphia, o 7 February, Philadelphia, o 13 February, St. Louis, o 14 February, St. Louis, o 18 February, Atlanta 21 February, Philadelphia 22 February, New York, o 23 February, Bridgeport, CT 24 February, New Haven, CT 26 February, New York, o 27 February, New York, o 29 February, Montreal 7 March, New York, o 11 March, Denver 17 March, Hutchinson, KS 19 March, Kansas City, MO 21 March, Chicago 7 April, New York, o 3 June, Norfolk, CT, o 30 June, Atlantic City, NJ5 Total: 69 concerts

1920–21 Season: 11 November, Ann Arbor, MI 14 November, Chicago 15 November, Cleveland 16 November, Cincinnati 18 November, Pittsburgh 22 November, Detroit 23 November, Buffalo 24 November, Albany, NY 26 November, Springfield, MA 28 November, Providence, RI 30 November, Worchester, MA 3 December, Waterbury, CT 5 December, Boston 8 December, Toronto 10 December, Montreal 15 December, Washington, DC 19 December, New York 1 January, New York, o

5Rachmaninoff played a few piano pieces for the Victor Company before signing a recording contract. 255

2 January, New York, o 6 January, Syracuse, NY 8 January, Philadelphia 10 January, Brooklyn 12 January, Montclair, NJ 14 January, New Haven, CT 16 January, Boston, MA 18 January, New York 19 January, Baltimore, o 20 January, Philadelphia, o 24 January, Ithaca, NY 25 January, Binghamton, NY 27 January, New York, o 28 January, New York, o 30 January, Indianapolis 31 January, St. Louis 3 February, Omaha 6 February, Chicago 7 February, Milwaukee 10 February, New York, o 11 February, New York, o 14 February, Philadelphia 15 February, Newark, NJ 17 February, Baltimore 24 February, Washington, DC 26 February, New York 28 February, Wheeling, WV 6 March, Boston 8 March, Northampton, MA 10 March, Rochester, NY 13 March, New York, o 15 March, New York, o 19 March, Philadelphia 31 March, Washington, DC 1 April, Philadelphia, o 2 April, Philadelphia, o Total: 54 concerts

1921–22 Season: 10 November, St. Paul 11 November, Minneapolis 13 November, Milwaukee 14 November, Cleveland 16 November, Columbus 17 November, Youngstown, OH

256

20 November, Chicago 22 November, Buffalo 24 November, Pittsburgh 27 November, Toledo, OH 29 November, Syracuse, NY 30 Schenectady, NY 1 December, Rochester, NY 4 December, New York 5 December, Hartford, CT 6 December, Worchester, MA 7 December, Boston 15 December, New York, o 16 December, New York, o 9 December, Portland, ME 19 December, Brooklyn, NY 31 December, Akron, OH 3 January, New York 4 January, Harrisburg, PA 9 January, Raleigh, NC 11 January, Atlanta 12 January, Chattanooga, TN 14 January, New Orleans 16 January, Houston 17 January, Dallas 19 January, Tulsa, OK 20 January, St. Joseph, MO 23 January, Topeka, KS 24 January, Lincoln, NE 25 January, Kansas City, MO 27 January, St. Louis 29 January, Indianapolis 31 January, Cincinnati 1 February, Dayton, OH 2 February, Richmond, IN 5 February, Chicago 6 February, Grand Rapids, MI 7 February, Detroit 8 February, Toronto 10 February, Poughkeepsie, NY 14 February, New York 16 February, Scranton, PA 18 February, Boston 20 February, Wilmington, DE 21 February, Baltimore 25 February, Philadelphia 28 February, Washington, DC

257

5 March, Montreal 6 March, Wellesley, MA 9 March, New York, o 10 March, New York, o 12 March, Providence 16 March, Pittsfield, MA 19 March, Bridgeport, CT 23 March, Wilkes-Barre, PA 27 March, Brooklyn, NY 29 March, Burlington, VT 2 April, New York, o 21 April, New York Total: 64 concerts

1922–23 Season: 10 November, Watertown, NY 14 November, Troy, NY 16 November, Baltimore 17 November, Richmond, VA 19 November, Bridgeport, CT 20 November, Philadelphia 21 November, Washington, DC 22 November, New London, CT 23 November, Boston 27 November, Montreal 28 November, Toronto 30 November, Detroit, o 1 December, Detroit, o 3 December, New York 4 December, Erie, PA 5 December, Buffalo 6 December, Pittsburgh 8 December, Cincinnati 10 December, Indianapolis 11 December, Louisville 12 December, Terra Haute, IN 13 December, St. Louis 14 December, Dayton, OH 15 December, Cleveland 17 December, Milwaukee 6 January, Havana, Cuba 9 January, Havana, Cuba 11 January, Miami 14 January, Charleston, SC

258

17 January, Daytona, FL6 19 January, Jacksonville, FL 22 January, Birmingham, AL 24 January, Shreveport, LA 26 January, Dallas 28 January, San Antonio 31 January, San Diego 1 February, Pasadena 2 February, Los Angeles 4 February, San Francisco 7 February, Portland, OR 8 February, Seattle 12 February, Salt Lake City 14 February, Colorado Springs 15 February, Denver 19 February, Winnipeg 21 February, Minneapolis 23 February, Ames, IA 25 February, Chicago 26 February, Washington, PA 27 February, Altoona, PA 1 March, New York, o 2 March, New York, o 3 March, Philadelphia 4 March, Providence, RI 5 March, Brooklyn, NY 7 March, New Britain, CT 8 March, Waterbury, CT 9 March, Lowell, MA 10 March, Boston 11 March, Lynn, MA 13 March, Lexington, KY 16 March, St. Louis, o 17 March, St. Louis, o 19 March, Columbus, OH 20 March, Springfield, OH 21 March, Fort Wayne, IN 24 March, New York 25 March, Fall River, MA 26 March, New Haven, CT

6In the Rachmaninoff Archive, this recital had been attributed to Dayton, Kentucky, a village several miles south of downtown Cincinnati, OH, although with a question mark. Since Rachmaninoff had been touring in South Carolina, Florida, and Cuba in January, 1923, and a train trip to the Midwest and back seemed improbable, additional research indicated that this recital took place in Daytona, Florida, later incorporated and renamed Daytona Beach. Rachmaninoff concert notice, Daytona Daily News, 16 January 1923, Halifax Historical Society and Museum, Daytona Beach, FL. 259

29 March, Cleveland, o 31 March, Cleveland, o Total: 71 concerts

1923–24 Season: 13 November, Scranton, PA 15 November, Pittsburgh 19 November, Cleveland 21 November, Cumberland, MD 23 November, Leominster, MA 25 November, Boston 27 November, Buffalo 28 November, Toronto 30 November, Williamsport, PA 2 December, New York 4 December, Detroit 5 December, Toledo, OH 11 November, Brooklyn, NY 12 November, Utica, NY 14 January, Atlanta 15 January, Birmingham, AL 16 January, Memphis 24 January, Philadelphia 25 January, Baltimore 28 January, Hartford, CT 29 January, Springfield, MA 31 January, Wilmington, DE 4 February, Hamilton, OH 5 February, Cincinnati 6 February, St. Louis 8 February, Peoria, IL 10 February, Davenport, IA 12 February, Kansas City, MO 13 February, Lincoln, NE 15 February, Milwaukee 17 February, Chicago 20 February, Washington, DC 21 February, Trenton, NJ 23 February, New York 10 March, Washington, DC Total: 35 concerts

1924–25 Season: 12 November, Urbana, IL

260

14 November, Terra Haute, IN 16 November, Indianapolis 17 November, Youngstown, OH 18 November, Buffalo 20 November, Detroit 21 November, Rochester, NY 23 November, Boston 25 November, Cleveland 26 November, Pittsburgh 30 November, New York 1 December, New London, CT 2 December, Worcester, MA 4 December, Haverhill, MA 5 December, Manchester, NH 7 December, Providence, RI 8 December, New Haven, CT 9 December, Middletown, CT 14 January, Washington, DC 16 January, Washington, DC 17 January, Charlottesville, VA 19 January, Norfolk, VA 21 January, Knoxville, TN 23 January, New Orleans, LA 27 January, St. Louis 28 January, Topeka, KS 30 January, El Paso, TX 2 February, Tucson, AZ 3 February, Phoenix, AZ 5 February, Los Angeles 6 February, Pasadena 9 February, San Diego 11 February, San Jose, CA 12 February, Stockton, CA 13 February, Fresno, CA 14 February, Oakland 15 February, San Francisco 18 February, Portland, OR 19 February, Seattle 21 February, Tacoma, WA 23 February, Victoria, British Columbia 25 February, Vancouver 27 February, Calgary 2 March, Edmonton 4 March, Winnipeg 8 March, Chicago 9 March, St. Paul

261

11 March, Des Moines, IA 13 March, Grand Rapids, MI 16 March, Kalamazoo, MI 19 March, Boston 21 March, New York 23 March, Toronto 27 March, Wilkes-Barre, PA 28 March, Philadelphia 30 March, Plainfield, NJ 31 March, Brooklyn 2 April, New York, o 3 April, New York, o 17 April, Boston, o 18 April, Boston, o Total: 61 concerts

1925–26 Season: 29 October, Stamford, CT 2 November, Poughkeepsie, NY 3 November, Philadelphia 5 November, Pittsburgh 8 November, Boston 10 November, Detroit 11 November, Cincinnati 12 November, Canton, OH 16 November, Racine, WI 17 November, Milwaukee, WI 19 November, Kansas City, MO 20 November, St. Louis 22 November, Chicago 23 November, Cleveland 24 November, Buffalo 29 November, New York 30 November, Hartford, CT 2 December, Washington, DC 3 December, Baltimore 4 December, Brooklyn 9 December, Ottawa 11 December, Toronto Total: 22 concerts

1926–27 Season: 20 January, Rutland, VT 21 January, Fitchburg, MA

262

23 January, Boston 24 January, New Haven, CT 30 January, Providence, RI 3 February, Harrisburg, PA 6 February, Chicago 7 February, Detroit 9 February, Cleveland 10 February, Pittsburgh 13 February, Indianapolis 14 February, Madison, WI 19 February, New York 21 February, Washington, DC 22 February, Baltimore 23 February, Philadelphia 3 March, San Diego 4 March, Los Angeles 6 March, San Francisco 9 March, Portland, OR 10 March, Seattle 11 March, Vancouver 15 March, St. Paul 18 March, Philadelphia, o 19 March, Philadelphia, o 22 March, New York, o 24 March, Brooklyn 27 March, Montreal 29 March, Washington, DC, o 30 March, Washington, DC7 30 March, Baltimore, o 2 April, New York 3 April, Boston 4 April, Philadelphia, o Total: 34 concerts

1927–28 Season: 15 January, Stamford, CT 18 January, Plainfield, NJ 23 January, Trenton, NJ 27 January, Andover, MA 29 January, Boston 2 February, Detroit 3 February, Milwaukee 5 February, Chicago 8 February, Cleveland

7An afternoon recital at the White House. 263

9 February, Pittsburgh 10 February, Greensburg, PA 15 February, Buffalo 16 February, Northampton, MA 18 February, New York 20 February, Ottawa 21 February, Toronto 26 February, Montreal 27 February, Brooklyn 29 February, Philadelphia 2 March, Washington, DC 5 March, Palm Beach, FL 7 March, St. Petersburg, FL 9 March, Sanford, FL 12 March, Tampa 15 March, Miami 21 March, Baltimore 25 March, Boston 29 March, Westfield, NJ 31 March, New York 19 April, Short Hills, NJ 22 April, New York Total: 31 concerts

1928–29 Season: 13 January, Indianapolis 15 January, Columbus, OH 23 January, Cleveland 25 January, Rochester, NY 27 January, Hartford, CT 3 February, Boston 5 February, Detroit 8 February, Pittsburgh 10 February, Chicago 11 February, Toledo, OH 13 February, Ann Arbor 15 February, Millburn, NJ 16 February, New York 22 February, Phoenix 25 February, Santa , CA 26 February, Los Angeles 27 February, San Diego 28 February, Pasadena 3 March, San Francisco 7 March, Seattle

264

9 March, Portland, OR 12 March, Vancouver 17 March, Chicago 19 March, Brooklyn 20 March, Washington, DC 21 March, Baltimore 23 March, Philadelphia 3 April, New Rochelle, NY 4 April, New Haven, CT 6 April, New York 7 April, Boston Total: 31 concerts

1929–1930 Season: 21 January, Hanover, NH 26 January, Boston 31 January, Muncie, IN 2 February, Chicago 6 February, Toronto 7 February, Ottawa 10 February, Montreal 13 February, Mount Vernon, NY 14 February, Englewood, NJ 15 February, New York 7 March, Milwaukee 10 March, Des Moines 12 March, St. Louis 14 March, Cincinnati 18 March, Brooklyn 19 March, Washington, DC 20 March, Baltimore 23 March, Chicago 25 March, Detroit 27 March, Buffalo 29 March, Philadelphia 30 March, Boston 3 April, Orange, NJ 5 April, New York Total: 24 concerts

1930–31 Season: 23 January, New Haven, CT 25 January, Boston 26 January, Baltimore

265

28 January, Reading, PA 30 January, Kalamazoo, MI 1 February, Chicago 4 February, Cleveland 6 February, Rochester 8 February, Hartford, CT 10 February, Ann Arbor 14 February, New York 24 February, Vancouver 25 February, Seattle 26 February, Portland, OR 1 March, San Francisco 3 March, Los Angeles 5 March, Pasadena 7 March, Los Angeles 9 March, San Diego 20 March, Washington, DC 21 March, Philadelphia 24 March, New York 26 March, Pittsburgh 27 March, Brooklyn Total: 24 concerts

1931–32 Season: 12 October, Montreal 15 October, Toronto 18 October, Chicago 19 October, Buffalo 20 October, Detroit 21 October, Grand Rapids, MI 23 October, Syracuse, NY 1 November, Boston 5 November, Washington, DC 7 November, New York 11 November, Millburn, NJ 12 November, New York 15 November, Indianapolis 16 November, Louisville 17 November, Cincinnati 2 December, Providence, RI 5 December, Philadelphia 10 December, Portland, ME 12 December, New York 1 January, Cleveland, o 2 January, Cleveland, o

266

8 January, Minneapolis, o 12 January, Chicago, o 14 January, Chicago, o 15 January, Chicago, o 2 February, Wilmington, DE 8 February, New York Total: 27 concerts

1932–33 Season: 18 October, Toronto 22 October, Lynchburg, VA 24 October, Columbus, OH 25 October, Urbana, IL 30 October, Chicago 31 October, Winnetka, IL 1 November, Madison, WI 5 November, New York 10 November, Little Rock, AR 14 November, Shreveport, LA 16 November, Nashville 21 November, Charleston, WV 23 November, Ashville, NC 29 November, Boston 30 November, Worcester, MA 2 December, Baltimore 5 December, Cleveland 9 December, New York 12 December, Philadelphia, o 22 December, New York, o 23 December, New York, o 10 January, Brooklyn 16 January, Washington, DC 19 January, Macon, GA 23 January, San Antonio 24 January, Houston 26 January, Abilene, TX 28 January, Oklahoma City, OK 30 January, Wichita, KS 4 February, Colorado Springs 9 February, San Francisco 10 February, Oakland, CA 13 February, Los Angeles 14 February, San Diego 18 February, Los Angeles 20 February, Portland, OR

267

22 February, Vancouver 23 February, Seattle 27 February, Denver 3 March, Rochester, NY 6 March, Des Moines 10 March, St. Louis, o 11 March, St. Louis, o 14 March, Memphis 18 March, Philadelphia 19 March, Boston 21 March, New York 23 March, Troy, NY 26 March, Montreal 3 April, New York, o Total: 50 concerts

1933–34 Season: 9 November, Harrisburg, PA 10 November, Summit, NJ 11 November, East Orange, NJ 13 November, Philadelphia 16 November, Montgomery, AL 17 November, Birmingham, AL 21 November, Dayton, OH 24 November, Tulsa, OK 27 November, Minneapolis 1 December, Muncie, IN 3 December, Chicago 5 December, Kansas City, MO 7 December, Atlanta 9 December, New York 10 December, Boston 12 December, Toronto 15 January, St. Louis 15 January, Cincinnati 18 January, Ann Arbor 22 January, Detroit 8 February, Brooklyn 9 February, White Plains, NY 11 February, Hartford, CT 25 February, Buffalo 26 February, Syracuse Total: 25 concerts

268

1934–35 Season: 19 October, Columbus, OH 22 October, Grand Rapids 25 October, New Haven, CT 26 October, Utica, NY 28 October, Boston 30 October, Cleveland 2 November, Rochester 3 November, New York 5 November, New Brunswick, NY 7 November, Baltimore, o 8 November, Washington, DC, o 9 November, Pittsburgh 11 November, Chicago 12 November, Detroit 14 November, Boston 16 November, Evansville, IN 19 November, Winnipeg 23 November, Seattle 24 November, Vancouver 26 November, Oakland, CA 27 November, San Francisco 1 December, Los Angeles 4 December, Los Angeles 9 December, Washington, DC 10 December, Baltimore 12 December, Louisville, KY 14 December, St. Louis, o 15 December, St. Louis, o 27 December, New York, o 28 December, New York, o Total: 30 concerts

1935–36 Season: 19 October, Mount Vernon, NY 21 October, Worcester, MA 23 October, Springfield, OH 25 October, Saratoga Springs, NY 28 October, Newburgh, NY 30 October, Richmond, VA 31 October, Durham, NC 2 November, New York 4 November, Montreal 6 November, Ann Arbor 7 November, Chicago, o

269

8 November, Chicago, o 10 November, Gary, IN 11 November, Bloomington, IN8 13 November, Columbia, MO 15 November, St. Louis, o 16 November, St. Louis, o 19 November, Providence, RI 22 November, Poughkeepsie, NY 24 November, Chicago 26 November, Milwaukee 29 November, Minneapolis, o 1 December, Boston 3 December, Buffalo 6 December, Detroit 8 December, Hartford, CT 10 December, Washington, DG 11 December, Baltimore 13 December, Philadelphia, o 14 December, Philadelphia, o 17 December, Andover, MA 18 December, Newport, RI 20 December, Boston, o 21 December, Boston, o 13 January, New York, o Total: 35 concerts

1936–37 Season: 19 November, Syracuse, NY 20 November, Rochester, NY 27 November, St. Louis, o 28 November, St. Louis, o 1 December, Washington, DC 2 December, Pittsburgh, PA, o 4 December, Montclair, NY 5 December, New York 6 December, Boston 9 December, Savannah, GA 12 December, Dallas 15 December, San Antonio 17 December, Houston 19 December, New Orleans 5 January, New York, o

8In the Rachmaninoff Archive, this concert was inadvertently attributed to Bloomington, North Carolina There is no such city in North Carolina, and the Bloomington, Indiana, newspaper, the Daily Pantagraph, printed a recital review on 12 November 1935. 270

6 January, Newark, NJ, o 8 January, Philadelphia, o 9 January, Philadelphia, o 12 January, Washington, DC, o 13 January, Baltimore, o 15 January, Minneapolis, o 16 January, Milwaukee 17 January, Chicago 19 January, Denver 22 January, Portland, OR 23 January, Seattle, o 26 January, Los Angeles 30 January, Los Angeles 1 February, Pasadena, CA 3 February, Claremont, CA 5 February, San Francisco 7 February, San Francisco 10 February, Palo Alto, CA 15 February, Lawrence, KS 18 February, Toronto 21 February, Cincinnati 23 February, Youngstown, OH 25 February, Detroit, o 26 February, Columbus, OH Total: 39 concerts

1937–38 Season: 18 October, Detroit 20 October, New Haven, CT 23 October, New York, o 24 October, Buffalo 26 October, Minneapolis 27 October, Ann Arbor 29 October, Cincinnati, o 30 October, Cincinnati, o 1 November, Baltimore 2 November, Washington, DC 4 November, Cleveland, o 6 November, Cleveland, o 7 November, Chicago 8 November, Fargo, ND 10 November, Grand Forks, ND 14 November, St. Louis 15 November, Fort Worth, TX 17 November, Bloomington, IN

271

19 November, White Plains, NY 20 November, Philadelphia 22 November, Dayton, OH 23 November, Chicago, o 27 November, New York 28 November, Boston 30 November, Newark, NJ 2 December, Pittsburgh, o 3 December, Pittsburgh, o 7 December, Richmond, VA 9 December, Atlanta 12 December, Exeter, NH 13 December, Brockton, MA 15 December, Norwalk, CT 24 December, Boston, o 25 December, Boston, o Total: 34 concerts

1938–39 Season: 21 October, Philadelphia, o 22 October, Philadelphia, o 24 October, Pittsburgh 25 October, Washington, DC, o 26 October, Baltimore, o 28 October, Columbus, OH 30 October, Hartford, CT 1 November, Lansing, MI 4 November, St. Louis, o 5 November, St. Louis, o 8 November, New York, o 9 November, Boston 10 November, Cleveland 12 November, New York 14 November, Ames, IA 15 November, Kansas City, MO 18 November, San Francisco 20 November, San Francisco 22 November, Los Angeles 23 November, San Diego 26 November, Los Angeles 28 November, Portland, OR 29 November, Seattle 1 December, Spokane, WA 5 December, Provo, UT 9 December, Minneapolis, o

272

11 December, Chicago 13 December, Washington, DC 15 December, Philadelphia 17 December, Jacksonville, FA 19 December, Miami 21 December, Wilmington, DE 29 December, New York, o 30 December, New York, o 16 January, Montreal 17 January, Ottawa 19 January, Lima, OH 22 January, Boston 23 January, Rochester, NY Total: 39 concerts

1939–1940 Season: 18 October, Worchester, MA 20 October, Syracuse, NY 23 October, Cincinnati 24 October, Ann Arbor 26 October, Cleveland, o 28 October, Cleveland, o 30 October, Davenport, IA 3 November, Minneapolis, o 7 November, Oberlin, OH 8 November, Newark, NJ 11 November, New York 12 November, Washington, DC 14 November, Harrisburg, PA 16 November, Detroit, o 19 November, Boston 21 November, Greensboro, NC 26 November, New York, o 1 December, Philadelphia, o 2 December, Philadelphia, o 3 December, New York, o 4 December, Philadelphia o 8 December, Philadelphia, o 9 December, Philadelphia, o 10 December, New York, o 5 January, Pittsburgh, o 7 January, Pittsburgh, o 10 January, New York, o 12 January, New York, o 14 January, Chicago

273

15 January, Wichita, KS 19 January, San Francisco, o 20 January, San Francisco, o 23 January, San Diego 25 January, Hollywood, CA, o 26 January, Hollywood, CA, o 3 February, Seattle 6 February, Boise, ID 9 February, Hastings, NE 12 February, Greenwich, CT 13 February, Providence, RI 14 February, Wellesley, MA Total: 41 concerts

1940–41 Season: 14 October, Detroit 18 October, Columbus, OH 22 October, Chicago, o 30 October, Trenton, NJ 5 November, Baltimore, o 6 November, Washington, DC, o 7 November, Stamford, CT 9 November, New York 12 November, Buffalo, NY 17 November, Indianapolis, IN 19 November, Hamilton, Ontario 21 November, Toronto 22 November, Rochester, NY 26 November Schenectady, NY 29 November, Jersey City, NJ 1 December, Boston 3 December, Washington, DC 5 December, Philadelphia 6 December, Montclair, NJ 12 December, Savannah, GA 16 December, Havana, Cuba 10 January, Pittsburgh, o 12 January, Pittsburgh, o 17 January, Huntington, WV 19 January, Chicago 21 January, Houston 23 January, Harlingen, TX 24 January, Corpus Christi, TX 2 February, Los Angeles 4 February, Sacramento

274

7 February, San Francisco, o 8 February, San Francisco, o 10 February, Santa Barbara, CA 12 February, Bakersfield, CA 14 February, San Francisco, o 15 February, San Francisco, o 17 February, Portland, OR 18 February, Vancouver 20 February, Seattle 27 February, New York, o 28 February, New York, o 2 March, Cleveland, o 6 March, Springfield, MA 13 March, Chicago, o (Rachmaninoff conducted and did not perform at the piano) 14 March, Chicago, o (Rachmaninoff conducted and did not perform at the piano) Total: 45 concerts

1941–42 Season: 14 October, Syracuse, NY 15 October, Utica, NY 17 October, Philadelphia, o 18 October, Philadelphia, o 21 October, Washington, DC, o 22 October, Baltimore, o 24 October, Birmingham, AL 25 October, Atlanta 27 October, Newark, NJ 29 October, New Haven, CT 30 October, Northampton, MA 1 November, New York 4 November, Minneapolis 6 November, Chicago, o 7 November, Chicago, o 9 November, Lafayette, IN 11 November, New York, o 13 November, Poughkeepsie, NY 14 November, White Plains, NY 16 November, Boston 24 November, Raleigh, NC 25 November, Washington, DC 28 November, Pittsburgh, o 30 November, Pittsburgh, o 2 December, Omaha, NE 4 November, Detroit, o 9 November, St. Louis

275

18 November, New York, o 19 November, New York, o 8 January, Cleveland, o 10 January, Cleveland, o 12 January, Cincinnati 16 January, Columbia, SC 19 January Baltimore, MD 25 January, Chicago 28 January, Brooklyn, NY 30 January, Jamestown, NY 2 February, Denver 6 February, Visalia, CA 12 February, Los Angeles, o 13 February, Los Angeles, o 15 February, San Francisco 17 February, San Diego 20 February, Fresno, CA 22 February, Los Angeles 3 March, Dallas 9 May, Ann Arbor, o 17 July, Hollywood, o 18 July, Hollywood, o Total: 49 concerts

1942–43 Season: 12 October, Detroit 16 October, Pittsburgh 20 October, Paterson, NJ 22 October, Philadelphia 25 October, Boston 28 October, Ottawa 30 October, Rochester, NY 2 November, Elgin, IL 4 November, Milwaukee 7 November, New York 15 November, Washington, DC 20 November, Minneapolis, o 22 November, Chicago 1 December, Providence, RI 17 December, New York, o 18 December, New York, o 3 February, State College, PA 5 February, Columbus, OH 11 February, Chicago, o 12 February, Chicago, o

276

15 February, Louisville, KY 17 February, Knoxville, TN Total: 22 concerts

NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES BY RACHMANINOFF IN EACH CITY,

MOST TO LEAST, WITH VENUES NOTED

115 Performances:

New York City, by venue, and season:

Carnegie Hall: 13 November 1909; 20 November 1909; 28 November 1909; 30 November 1909; 3 January 1910; 9 January 1910; 16 January 1910; 27 January 1910

21 December 1918; 13 January 1919; 23 January 1919; 28 and 29 January 1919; 23 February 1919; 14 April 1919

19 October 1919; 25 October 1919; 21 December 1919; 26, 27, 28 December 1919; 29 January 1920; 31 January 1920; 22 February 1920; 26 and 27 February 1920

19 December 1920; 1 and 2 January 1921; 27 and 28 January 1921; 10 and 11 February 1921; 26 February 1921; 13 March 1921; 15 March 1921

4 December 1921; 15 and 16 December 1921; 16 December 1921; 3 January 1922; 14 February 1922; 9 and 10 March 1922; 2 April 1922; 21 April 1922

3 December 1922; 1 and 2 March 1923; 24 March 1923

2 December 1923; 23 February 1924

30 November 1924; 21 March 1925; 2 and 3 April 1925

29 November 1925

19 February 1927; 22 March 1927; 2 April 1927

18 February 1928; 31 March 1928; 22 April 1928

16 February 1929; 6 April 1929

277

15 February 1930; 5 April 1930

14 February 1931; 24 March 1931

7 November 1931; 12 December 1931

5 November 1932; 9 December 1932; 22 and 23 December 1932; 21 March 1933

9 December 1933

3 November 1934; 27 and 28 December 1934

2 November 1935; 13 January 1936

5 December 1936; 5 January 1937

23 October 1937; 27 November 1937

8 November 1938; 12 November 1938; 29 and 30 December 1938

11 November 1939; 26 November 1939; 3 December 1939; 10 December 1939; 10 January 1940; 12 January 1940

9 November 1940; 27 and 28 February 1941

1 November 1941; 11 November 1941; 18 and 19 December 1941

7 November 1942; 17 and 18 December 1942

Aeolian Hall: 12 January 1919 7 December 1919

Juilliard School of Music: 12 November 1931

Madison Square Garden: 3 April 1933

Metropolitan Opera House: 8 April 1919 7 March 1920

Seventy-first Regiment Armory: 7 April 1920

278

Town Hall: 8 February 1932

54 Performances:

Boston, Symphony Hall: 16 November 1909; 17 December 1909; 18 December 1909; 10 January 1910; 15 December 1918; 10 January 1919; 31 January 1919; 1 February 1919; 22 February 1919; 26 October 1919; 31 October 1919; 1 November 1919; 14 December 1919; 5 December 1920; 16 January 1921; 6 March 1921;7 December 1921; 18 February 1922; 23 November 1922; 10 March 1923; 25 November 1923; 23 November 1924; 19 March 1925; 17 and 18 April 1925; 8 November 1925; 23 January 1927; 3 April 1927; 29 January 1928; 25 March 1928; 3 February 1929; 7 April 1929; 26 January 1930; 30 March 1930; 25 January 1931; 1 November 1931; 29 November 1932; 19 March 1933; 10 December 1933; 28 October 1934; 1 December 1935; 20 and 21 December 1935; 6 December 1936; 28 November 1937; 24 and 25 December 1937; 22 January 1939; 19 November 1939; 1 December 1940; 16 November 1941; 25 October 1942

Hotel Statler Ballroom: 14 November 1934; 9 November 1938;

Philadelphia, Academy of Music: 8 November 1909; 26 and 27 November 1909; 4 January 1919; 5 February 1919; 1 March 1919; 28 and 29 March 1919; 3 November 1919; 3 January 1920; 6 and 7 February 1920; 21 February 1920; 8 January 1921; 20 January 1921; 14 February 1921; 19 March 1921; 1 and 2 April 1921; 25 February 1922; 20 November 1922; 2 March 1923; 24 January 1924; 28 March 1925; 3 November 1925; 23 February 1927; 18 and 19 March 1927; 4 April 1927; 29 February 1928; 23 March 1929; 29 March 1930; 21 March 1931; 5 December 1931; 12 December 1932; 18 March 1933; 13 November 1933; 13 and 14 December 1935; 8 and 9 January 1937; 20 November 1937; 21 and 22 October 1938; 15 December 1938; 1 and 2 and 4 December 1939; 8 and 9 December 1939; 5 December 1940; 17 and 18 October 1941; 22 October 1942

48 Performances:

Chicago, Orchestra Hall: 3 and 4 December 1909; 26 December 1909; 6 February 1927; 5 February 1928; 10 February 1929; 17 March 1929; 2 February 1930; 23 March 1930; 1 February 1931; 18 October 1931; 12 January 1932; 14 and 15 January 1932; 30 October 1932; 3 December 1933; 11 November 1934; 7 and 8 November 1935; 24 November 1935; 17 January 1937; 7 November 1937; 23 November 1937; 11 December 1938; 22 October 1940; 13 and 14 March 1941 (conducted only); 6 and 7 November 1941; 22 November 1942; 11 and 12 February 1943

279

Auditorium Theatre: 9 March 1919; 16 November 1919; 23 and 24 January 1920; 21 March 1920; 14 November 1920; 6 February 1921; 20 November 1921; 5 February 1922; 25 February 1923; 17 February 1924; 16 November 1919; 8 March 1925; 22 November 1925; 19 January 1941

Civic Opera House: 25 January 1942

Northwestern University Auditorium: 14 January 1940

38 Performances:

Washington, DC, Constitution Hall: 20 March 1929; 20 March 1931; 5 November 1931; 16 January 1933; 8 November 1934; 9 December 1934; 10 December 1935; 1 December 1936; 12 January 1937; 2 November 1937; 25 October 1938; 13 December 1938; 12 November 1939; 6 November 1940; 3 December 1940; 21 October 1941; 25 November 1941; 15 November 1942

Auditorium: 29 March 1927

National Theatre: 21 January 1919; 13 March 1919; 3 February 1919; 4 November 1919; 24 February 1921; 31 March 1921; 28 February 1922; 21 November 1922; 20 February 1924; 14 January 1925

Poli‘s Theater: 25 November 1919; 2 December 1925; 19 March 1930; 15 December 1920; 21 February 1927; 2 March 1928; 19 March 1930

White House: 10 March 1924; 16 January 1925; 20 March 1927

26 Performances:

St. Louis, Odeon Theatre: 13 and 14 February 1920; 16 and 17 March 1922; 10 and 11 March 1933; 4 March 1919; 13 January 1920; 31 January 1921; 27 January 1922; 13 December 1922; 6 February 1924; 27 January 1925; 20 November 1925; 12 March 1930; 15 January 1934;

280

Municipal Auditorium: 14 and 15 December 1934; 15 and 16 November 1935; 27 and 28 November 1936; 14 November 1937; 4 and 5 November 1938; 9 December 1941

25 Performances:

Baltimore, Lyric Theatre: 10 November 1909; 4 February 1919; 5 November 1919; 19 January 1921; 17 February 1921; 21 February 1921; 21 February 1922; 16 November 1922; 25 January 1924; 3 December 1925; 22 February 1927; 30 March 1927; 21 March 1928; 21 March 1929; 20 March 1930; 26 January 1931; 2 December 1932; 7 November 1934; 10 December 1934; 11 December 1935; 13 January 1937; 26 October 1938; 5 November 1940; 22 October 1941; 19 January 1942

Pittsburgh, Carnegie Music Hall: 9 December 1909; 27 February 1919; 6 November 1919; 18 November 1920; 24 November 1921; 6 December 1922; 15 November 1923; 26 November 1924; 5 November 1925; 10 February 1927; 9 February 1928; 8 February 1929; 24 October 1938

Syria Mosque: 26 March 1931; 9 November 1934; 2 December 1936; 2 and 3 December 1937; 5 January 1940; 7 January 1940; 10 January 1941; 12 January 1941; 28 November 1941; 30 November 1941; 16 October 1942

24 Performances:

Cleveland, : 4 February 1931; 1 January 1932; 4 November 1937; 6 November 1937; 10 November 1938; 26 October 1939; 28 October 1939; 8 January 1942; 10 January 1942

Public Music Hall: 17 November 1919; 15 November 1920; 14 November 1921; 15 December 1922; 29 March 1923; 31 March 1923; 19 November 1923; 25 November 1924; 23 November 1925; 9 February 1927; 8 February 1928; 23 January 1929; 5 December 1932; 30 October 1934; 2 March 1941

22 Performances:

Detroit, Orchestra Hall: 10 November 1919; 22 November 1920; 7 February 1922; 30 November 1922; 1 December 1922; 4 December 1923; 20 November 1924; 10 November 1925; 7 February 1927; 2 February 1928; 5 February 1929; 22 January 1934; 6 December 1935; 25 February 1937; 14 October 1940; 4 December 1941

281

Masonic Auditorium: 25 March 1930; 20 October 1931; 12 November 1934; 18 October 1937; 16 November 1939; 12 October 1942

19 Performances:

Brooklyn, Academy of Music Opera House: 7 February 1919; 7 November 1919; 6 December 1919; 5 January 1920; 10 January 1921; 27 March 1922; 5 February 1923; 11 December 1923; 11 December 1923; 31 March 1925; 4 December 1925; 24 March 1927; 27 February 1928; 19 March 1929; 18 March 1930; 27 March 1931; 10 January 1933; 8 February 1934; 28 January 1942

18 Performances:

Los Angeles, Trinity Auditorium: 2 February 1923; 5 February 1925; 4 March 1927; 13 February 1933; 1 December 1934; 4 December 1934; 26 November 1938

Philharmonic Auditorium: 26 February 1929; 3 March 1931; 7 March 1931; 18 February 1933; 26 January 1937; 30 January 1937; 22 November 1938; 2 February 1941; 12 and 13 February, 1942; 22 February 19429

San Francisco, Columbia Theatre: 4 February 1923; 15 February 1925; 3 March 1929; 18 November 1938

Civic Auditorium: 6 March 1927; 1 March 1931; 27 November 1934

Opera House: 9 February 1933; 5 February 1937; 7 February 1937; 20 November 1938; 19 January 1940; 20 January 1940; 7 and 8 February 1941; 14 and 15 February 1941; 15 February 1942

15 Performances:

Buffalo, NY, Convention Hall: 31 January 1910; 18 November 1919; 23 November 1920; 22 November 1921; 6 December 1922; 27 November 1923; 18 November 1924; 24 November 1925; 15 February 1928; 27 March 1930; 19 October 1931; 25 February 1934

9Rachmaninoff also performed four times in Hollywood: 25 and 26 January 1940 with Leopold Stokowski and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Pantages Theater; 17 and 18 July 1942 at the Hollywood Bowl. 282

Elmwood Music Hall: 3 December 1935; 24 October 1937

Kleinhaus Music Hall: 12 November 1940

14 Performances:

Cincinnati, Music Hall: 21 and 22 January 1910; 29 and 30 October 1937

Emery Theater Auditorium: 7 March, 1919; 16 November 1920; 31 January 1922; 8 December 1922; 5 February 1924; 14 March 1930; 17 November 1931; 21 February 1937

Taft Theater: 23 October 1939; 12 January 1942

Toronto, : 18 November 1909; 8 December 1920; 8 February 1922; 28 November 1922; 28 November 1923; 23 March 1925; 11 December 1925; 21 February 1928; 6 February 1930; 15 October 1931; 18 October 1932; 12 December 1933

Eaton Auditorium: 18 February 1937; 21 November 1940

13 Performances:

Montreal, St. Denis Theatre: 23 March 1919; 10 December 1920; 5 March 1922; 27 November 1922; 10 February 1930; 12 October 1931; 26 March 1933; 4 November 1935

His Majesty Theatre: 9 February 1919

Princess Theatre: 27 March 1927; 26 February 1928

Plateau Auditorium: 16 January 1939

Windsor Hall: 10 December 1920

283

Providence, RI, Infantry Hall: 8 December 1918; 27 January 1920; 1 February 1920; 28 November 1920; 4 March 1923; 30 January 1927; 2 December 1931

Albee Theatre: 7 December 1924

Fays Theatre: 2 February 1919

Metropolitan Theater: 19 November 1935; 13 February 1940; 1 December 1942

Schubert Majestic Theater: 12 March 1922

12 Performances:

Minneapolis, Minneapolis Auditorium: 16 January 1920; 11 November 1921; 21 February 1923

Northrop Auditorium: 8 January 1932; 27 November 1933; 29 November 1935; 15 January 1937; 26 October 1937; 9 December 1938; 3 November 1939; 4 November 1941; 20 November 1942

11 Performances:

Milwaukee: Pabst Theater: 22 January 1920; 7 February 1921; 13 November 1921; 17 December 1922; 15 February 1924; 17 November 1925; 3 February 1928; 9 March 1930; 26 November 1935; 16 January 1937

Auditorium: 4 November 1942

New Haven, CT, Woolsey Hall: 16 December 1918; 24 February 1920; 14 January 1921; 24 January 1927; 4 April 1929; 23 January 1930; 25 October 1934; 20 October 1937; 29 October 1941

Schubert Theatre: 26 March 1923; 8 December 1924

284

Rochester, NY, Convention Hall: 10 March 1921; 1 December 1921

Eastman Theatre: 21 November 1924; 25 January 1929; 6 February 1931; 3 March 1933; 2 November 1934; 20 November 1936; 23 January 1939; 22 November 1940; 30 October 1942

Seattle, Civic Auditorium: 23 November 1934; 23 January 1937;

Moore Theatre: 8 February 1923; 19 February 1925; 10 March 1927; 7 March 1929; 25 February 1931; 23 February 1933; 29 November 1938; 3 February 1940; 20 February 1941

9 Performances:

Columbus, OH, Memorial Hall: 16 November 1921; 19 March 1923; 15 January 1929; 24 October 1932; 19 October 1934; 26 February 1937; 28 October 1938; 18 October 1940; 5 February 1943

Hartford, CT, Parsons Theater: 15 November 1909; 5 December 1921; 28 January 1924; 30 November 1925; 8 February 1931

Capitol Theater: 27 January 1929

Bushnell Memorial Hall: 11 February 1934; 8 December 1935; 30 October 1938

Indianapolis, English Theater: 11 January 1920; 30 January 1921; 29 January 1922; 10 December 1922; 16 November 1924; 13 February 1927; 13 January 1929; 15 November 1931; 17 November 1940

Portland, OR, Paramount Theater: 7 February 1923; 18 February 1925; 9 March 1927; 9 March 1929; 26 February 1931; 20 February 1933; 22 January 1937; 28 November 1938; 17 February 1941

San Diego, Spreckels Theatre: 31 January 1923; 9 February 1925; 3 March 1927; 27 February 1929

Russ Auditorium: 9 March 1931; 17 February 1942

Savoy Theatre:

285

14 February 1933; 23 November 1938; 23 January 1940;

8 Performances:

Ann Arbor, : 11 November 1920; 13 February 1929; 10 February 1931; 18 January 1934; 6 November 1935; 27 October 1937; 24 October 1939; 9 May 1942

Worcester, MA, Mechanics Hall: 17 December 1918; 16 December 1919; 30 November 1920; 6 December 1921; 2 December 1924; 30 November 1932

Memorial Auditorium: 21 October 1935; 18 October 1939

7 Performances:

Syracuse, Central High School‘s Lincoln Auditorium: 29 November 1921; 23 October 1931; 26 February 1934; 19 November 1936; 20 October 1939; 14 October 1941

Mispals Auditorium: 6 January 1921

Vancouver, Vancouver Theater: 25 February 1925; 11 March 1927; 12 March 1929; 24 February 1931; 22 February 1933; 24 November 1934; 18 February 1941

6 Performances:

Atlanta, City Auditorium: 18 February 1920; 11 January 1922; 14 January 1924; 7 December 1933; 25 October 1941

Fox Theatre: 9 December 1937

Kansas City, MO, Ararat Temple: 19 March 1920; 24 January 1922; 12 February 1924; 19 November 1925; 5 December 1933; 15 November 1938

5 Performances:

286

Denver, City Auditorium: 11 March 1920; 15 February 1923; 27 February 1933; 19 January 1937; 2 February 1942

Louisville, Memorial Auditorium: 12 January 1920; 11 November 1922; 16 November 1931; 12 December, 1934; 15 February 1943

Newark, Fuld Hall: 15 February 1921; 27 October 1941

Mosque Theater: 6 January 1937; 30 November 1937; 8 November 1939

Ottawa, Glebe Collegiate Institute: 9 December 1925; 20 February 1928; 7 February 1930; 17 January 1939

Capitol Theatre: 28 October 1942

Pasadena, High School Auditorium: 1 February 1923; 6 February 1925; 28 February 1929

Junior College Auditorium: 5 March 1931

Civic Auditorium: 1 February 1937

4 Performances:

Birmingham, AL, Lyric Theater: 22 January 1923; 25 January 1924; 17 November 1933; 24 October 1941

Dallas, McFarlin Auditorium: 17 January 1922; 26 January 1923; 12 December 1936; 3 March 1939

Dayton, OH, Memorial Hall: 1 February 1922; 14 December 1922; 21 November 1933; 22 November 1937

Grand Rapids, MI, Civic Auditorium: 6 February 1922; 16 March 1925; 21 October 1931; 22 October 1934

Harrisburg, PA, The Forum: 4 January 1922; 3 February 1927; 9 November 1933; 14 November 1939

287

Hollywood, Pantages Theater: 25 and 26 January 1940

Hollywood Bowl: 17 and 18 July 1942

Houston, Scottish Rite Cathedral: 16 January 1922; 24 January 1933; 17 December 1936; 21 January 1941

Northampton, MA, John Green Hall at : 4 November 1909; 8 March 1921; 16 February 1928; 30 October 1941

Poughkeepsie, NY, Poughkeepsie High School Auditorium: 10 February 1922; 2 November 1925; 22 November 1935; 13 November 1941

St. Paul, St. Paul Auditorium: 15 January 1920; 10 November 1921; 9 March 1925; 15 March 1927

Springfield, MA, Symphony Hall: 17 December 1919; 26 November 1920; 29 January 1924; 6 March 1941

Utica, Avon Theater: 15 October 1919; 12 December 1923; 26 October 1934; 15 October 1941

Wilmington, DE, Playhouse Theater: 20 February 1922; 31 January 1924; 2 February 1932; 21 December 1938

3 Performances:

Bridgeport, CT, Park Theatre: 23 February 1920; 19 November 1922

Poli‘s New Palace Theatre: 19 March 1922

Des Moines, Hoyt Sherman Auditorium: 11 March 1925

Shrine Temple Auditorium: 10 March 1930; 6 March 1933

Havana, Cuba, Auditorium Theatre: 6 January 1923; 9 January 1923; 16 December 1940

Miami, White Temple Methodist Church: 11 January 1923

288

Fairfax Theatre: 15 March 1928

Miami Edison High School Auditorium: 11 January 1923

Montclair, NJ, Monclair High School Auditorium: 12 January 1921; 4 December 1936; 6 December 1940

New Orleans, Athanaeum: 14 January 1922; 23 January 1925

Municipal Auditorium: 19 December 1936

Oakland, CA, Auditorium Theatre: 14 February 1924; 10 February 1933; 26 November 1934

Plainfield, NJ, Plainfield High School Auditorium: 17 October 1919; 30 March 1925; 18 January 1928

Richmond, VA, City Auditorium: 17 November 1922

Jefferson Hotel Auditorium: 30 October 1935

The Mosque: 7 December 1937

San Antonio, Municipal Auditorium: 28 January 1923; 23 January 1933; 15 December 1936

Stamford, CT, Stamford Theater: 29 October 1925; 15 January 1928; 7 November 1940

Toledo, OH, Coliseum: 27 November 1921; 5 December 1923

State Theater: 11 February 1929

Trenton, NJ, Crescent Temple: 21 February 1924; 23 January 1928; 30 October 1940

Troy, NY, Music Hall:

289

11 December 1919; 14 November 1922; 23 March 1933

White Plains, NY, Westchester County Center Auditorium: 9 February 1934; 19 November 1937; 14 November 1941

Winnipeg, Auditorium: 19 November 1934; 19 February 1923

Central Congregational Church: 4 March 1925

Youngstown, OH, Park Theater: 17 November 1921; 17 November 1924; 23 February 1937

2 Performances:

Akron, OH, Akron Armory: 9 November 1919; 30 December 1921

Ames, IA, Iowa State Auditorium: 23 February 1923; 14 November 1938

Andover, MA, George Washington Hall at Phillips Academy: 27 January 1928; 17 December 1935

Bloomington, IN, Coliseum: 11 November 1935; 17 November 193710

Colorado Springs, CO, Auditorium: 24 February 1923; 4 February 1933

Davenport, IA, Eagle Hall: 10 February 1924

Orpheum Theater: 30 October 1939

Fresno, CA, Fresno High School Auditorium: 13 February 1925

Fox Wilson Theatre: 20 February 1942

Jacksonville, FL, Duval County Armory: 19 January 1923; 17 December 1938

Kalamazoo, MI, City Auditorium: 16 March 1925; 30 January 1931

Knoxville, TN, Memorial Auditorium: 21 January 1924; 17 February 1943

10In the Rachmaninoff Archive, the November 1935 concert is misattributed to Bloomington, North Carolina. There is no such place. A concert review dated 12 November 1935 in the Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington) confirms this recital took place in Bloomington, Indiana. 290

Lansing, MI, Prudden Auditorium: 14 November 1919

People‘s Church: 1 November 1938

Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska: 24 January 1922; 13 February 1924

Lowell, MA, Memorial Auditorium: 12 October 1919; 9 March 1923

Madison, WI, University Stock Pavilion: 14 February 1927; 1 November 1932

Memphis, TN, Memphis Auditorium: 16 January 1924; 14 March 1933

Millburn, NJ, Millburn High School Auditorium: 15 February 1929; 11 November 1933

Mount Vernon, NY, Wood Auditorium of Washington Junior High School: 13 February 1930; 19 October 1935

Muncie, IN, Muncie Masonic Temple Auditorium: 31 January 1930; 1 December 1933

New London, CT, Lyceum Theatre: 22 November 1922; 1 December 1924

Omaha, NE, Central High Auditorium: 3 February 1921; 2 December 1941

Phoenix, AZ: 3 February 1925; 22 February 1929

Portland, ME, City Hall: 9 December 1921; 10 December 1931

Raleigh, NC, Auditorium: 9 January 1922; 24 November 1941

Santa Barbara, CA, Lobero Theatre: 25 February 1929; 10 February 1941

Savannah, GA, Municipal Auditorium: 9 December 1936; 12 December 1940

Schenectady, NY, Plaza Theatre: 30 November 1921; 26 November 1940

Scranton, PA, Watres Armory: 16 February 1922

Central High School Auditorium: 13 November 1923

Shreveport, LA, Municipal Auditorium: 24 January 1923; 14 November 1932

Springfield, OH, Memorial Hall: 20 March 1923; 23 October 1935

Terre Haute, IN, Grand Opera House: 12 December 1922; 14 November 1924

Topeka, KS, Grand Theater: 23 January 1922; 28 January 1925

291

Tulsa, OK, Convention Hall: 19 January 1922; 24 November 1933

Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Auditorium: 12 November 1924; 25 October 1932

Waterbury, CT, Waterbury Armory: 3 December 1920; 8 March 1923

Wellesley, MA, Houghton Memorial Chapel: 6 March 1922; 14 February 1940

Wichita, KS, Wichita Forum: 30 January 1933; 15 January 1940

Wilkes-Barre, PA: 23 March 1922; 27 March 1925

1 Performance:

Abilene, TX, College Auditorium: 26 January 1923

Albany, NY: 24 November 1920

Altoona, PA: 27 February 1923

Asheville, NC, Senior High School Auditorium: 23 November 1932

Atlantic City, NJ: 30 June 1920

Bakersfield, CA, Fox Theater: 12 February 1941

Binghamton, NY, Kalurah Temple: 25 January 1921

Boise, ID, Pinney Theater: 6 February 1940

Brockton, MA: 13 December 1937

Burlington, VT, University of Vermont Gymnasium: 29 March 1922

Calgary, Alberta, Palace Theatre: 27 February 1925

Canton, OH, City Auditorium: 12 November 1925

Charleston, SC: 14 January 1923

Charleston, WV, High School Auditorium: 21 November 1932

Charlottesville, VA: 17 January 1924

292

Chattanooga, TN, Wyatt Auditorium: 12 January 1922

Claremont, CA, Bridges Auditorium: 3 February 1937

Columbia, MI, Brewer Field House: 13 November 1935

Columbia, SC, Township Auditorium: 16 January 1942

Corpus Christi, TX, Senior High School Auditorium: 24 January 1941

Cumberland, MD: 21 November 1923

Daytona, FL, Daytona Auditorium: 17 January 192311

Duluth, MN, Duluth Armory: 20 January 1920

Durham, NC, Page Auditorium: 31 October 1935

East Orange, NJ: 11 November 1933

Edmonton, Alberta, Empire Theatre: 2 March 1925

Elgin, IL, First Methodist Church: 2 November 1942

Elmira, NY, Lyceum Theater: 28 October 1919

El Paso, TX, Liberty Hall: 30 January 1925

Englewood, NJ, St. Cecilia‘s Auditorium: 14 February 1930

Erie, PA, Erie Arena: 4 December 1922

Evansville, IN, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum: 16 November 1934

Exeter, NH, Thompson Gymnasium at Phillips Exeter Academy: 12 December 1937

Fall River, MA, Empire Theatre: 25 March 1923

Fargo, ND, North Dakota Agriculture College Auditorium: 8 November 1937

11In the Rachmaninoff Archive this recital had been attributed to Dayton, Kentucky, a village several miles south of downtown Cincinnati, OH, although with a question mark. Since Rachmaninoff had been touring in South Carolina, Florida, and Cuba in January, 1923, a train trip to the Midwest and back seemed improbable. Additional research indicated that this recital took place in Daytona, Florida, later incorporated and renamed Daytona Beach. Rachmaninoff concert notice, Daytona Daily News, 16 January 1923, Halifax Historical Society and Museum, Daytona Beach, FL. 293

Fitchburg, MA, City Hall: 21 January 1927

Fort Wayne, IN, Palace Theatre: 21 March 1923

Fort Worth, TX, Civic Hall: 15 November 1937

Gary, IN, Memorial Auditorium: 10 November 1935

Grand Forks, ND, Central High School Auditorium: 10 November 1937

Greensboro, NC, Aycock Auditorium: 21 November 1939

Greensburg, PA: 10 February 1928

Greenwich, CT, Pickwick Theater: 12 February 1940

Hamilton, OH, Hamilton High School Auditorium: 4 February 1924

Hamilton, Ontario, Savoy: 19 November 1940

Hanover, NH, Webster Hall: 21 January 1930

Harlingen, TX: 23 January 1941

Hastings, NE, Municipal Auditorium: 9 February 1940

Haverhill, MA, Academy of : 4 December 1924

Huntington, WV: 17 January 1941

Hutchinson, KS, Convention Hall: 17 March 1920

Ithaca, NY, Bailey Hall at Cornell University: 24 January 1921

Jamestown, NY, High School Auditorium: 30 January 1942

Jersey City, NJ, Snyder High School Auditorium: 29 November 1940

Lafayette, IN, Purdue Hall of Music: 9 November 1941

Lawrence, KS, Hoch Auditorium at the University of Kansas: 15 February 1927

Lawrence, MA, Colonial Theatre: 4 January 1920

Leominster, MA, City Hall Auditorium: 23 November 1923

294

Lexington, KY, Woodland Park Auditorium: 13 March 1923

Lima, OH, South High School Auditorium: 19 January 1939

Little Rock, AR, Little Rock High School Auditorium: 10 November 1932

Lynchburg, VA, Smith Memorial Building: 22 October 1932

Lynn, MA: 11 March 1923

Macon, GA, Municipal Auditorium: 19 January 1933

Manchester, NH, Practical Arts High School Auditorium: 5 December 1924

Middletown, CT, Wesleyan Chapel: 9 December 1924

Montgomery, AL, Sidney Lanier Auditorium: 16 November 1933

Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium: 16 November 1932

New Britain, CT, Fox Theater: 7 March 1923

New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Conservatory: 5 November 1934

New Rochelle, NY, Women‘s Clubhouse: 3 April 1929

Newburgh, NY, Newburgh Free Academy Auditorium: 28 October 1935

Newport, RI, Rogers High School Auditorium: 18 December 1935

Norfolk, CT, Music Shed: 3 June 1920

Norfolk, VA, Academy of Music: 19 January 1925

Norwalk, CT: 24 December 1937

Oberlin, OH, Finney Chapel: 7 November 1939

Ogontz, PA, Ogontz School: 19 February 1919

Oklahoma City, OK, Shrine Auditorium: 28 January 1933

Orange, NJ, Orange High School Auditorium: 3 April 1930

Palm Beach, FL, Paramount Theatre: 5 March 1928

295

Palo Alto, CA, Stanford Pavilion: 10 February 1937

Paterson, NJ: 20 October 1942

Peoria, IL: 8 February 1924

Pittsfield, MA, Colonial Theatre: 16 March 1922

Provo, UT, Tabernacle: 5 December 1938

Racine, WI, Memorial Hall Auditorium: 16 November 1925

Reading, PA, Strand Theatre: 28 January 1931

Richmond, IN: 2 February 1922

Rutland, VT, Rutland Armory: 20 January 1927

Sacramento, CA, Memorial Auditorium: 4 February 1941

Saginaw, MI, Auditorium: 12 November 1919

St. Joseph, MO: 20 January 1922

St. Petersburg, FL, St Petersburg High School Auditorium: 7 March 1928

Salt Lake City, UT, Salt Lake Tabernacle: 12 February 1923

San Jose, CA, Victory Theatre: 11 February 1925

Sanford, FL: 9 March 1928

Saratoga Spring, NY, College Hall of Skidmore College: 25 October 1935

Short Hills, NJ: 19 April 1928

Spokane, WA, Fox Theater: 1 December 1938

State College, PA, Schwab Auditorium: 3 February 1943

Stockton, CA, Stockton High School Auditorium: 2 February 1925

Summit, NJ, High School Auditorium: 10 November 1933

Tacoma, WA, Tacoma Theater: 21 February 1925

296

Tampa, FL, Tampa Theater: 12 March 1928

Tucson, AZ, Tucson High School Auditorium: 2 February 1925

Victoria, British Columbia, Royal Victoria Theatre: 23 February 1925

Visalia, CA, High School Auditorium: 6 February 1942

Washington, PA: 26 February 1923

Watertown, NY, Olympic Theater: 10 November 1922

Westfield, NJ: 29 March 1928

Wheeling, WV, Court Theater: 28 February 1921

Williamsport, PA, Majestic Theater: 30 November 1923

Winnetka, IL, New Trier High School Auditorium: 31 October 1932

Unrecorded town near New York City: 27 December 1919

297

APPENDIX E: RECITAL REPERTOIRE ADDED EACH SEASON IN AMERICA1

This appendix lists the solo piano works Rachmaninoff added to his recital repertoire in America, in addition to his own piano works which he performed before arriving in America and continued to feature.2 The first half of the appendix notes the new repertoire added by season. The second half of the appendix categorizes the repertoire by composer, beginning on page 305.

1918–19 Season: J. S. Bach-Busoni: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: Chaconne Beethoven: Sonata No. 7 in D, Opus 10, no. 3 Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 2 (Moonlight) Beethoven: Thirty-two Variations in C minor Chopin: Études in E major, Opus 10, no. 3 and C minor, Opus 25, no. 12 Chopin: Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 1 Chopin: Polonaise in C minor, Opus 40, no. 2 Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Opus 58 Chopin: Waltz in A flat, Opus 42 Dandrieu-Godowsky: Le Caquet F. J. Haydn: Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6 Liszt: No. 2 and No. 12 Loeillet-Godowsky: Gigue in E minor Medtner: 3 Fairy Tales, Opus 20, no. 1 and 2, and Opus 26, no. 3 Medtner: Tragedy Fragment, Opus 7 Mozart: Andante from Sonata in A major, K. 331 A. Rubinstein: Barcarolle No. 2 in A minor, Opus 45, and Polka, Opus 82, no. 7 D. Scarlatti-Tausig: Sonata in E major, L. 375 (Capriccio), and Sonata in D minor, L. 413 (Pastorale) Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780, in F minor (no. 3) and C-sharp minor (no. 4) Scriabin: 3 Etudes from Opus 42 (F-sharp minor, no. 3; C-sharp minor, no. 5; D flat, no. 6) Scriabin: 8 Preludes from Opus 11 (C major, no. 1; G major, no. 3; B minor, no. 6; F-sharp minor, no. 8; 3 major, No. 9; B major, no. 11; E-flat minor, no. 14; F minor, no. 18; C minor, no. 20) Scriabin: Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, Opus 19 Smith-Rachmaninoff: Star-Spangled Banner J. Strauss-Tausig: Forest Murmurs Waltz J. Strauss-Tausig: One Lives But Once Waltz Tchaikovsky: Romance in F minor, Opus 5

1Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1990), 387–95.

2Rachmaninoff‘s own compositions are listed in Appendix A. For his American recitals he drew from his short-form solo piano works: Opus 3, 10, 16, 23, 32, 33, and 39. 298

1919–1920 Season: Alkan: : comme le vent, Funeral March Beethoven: Sonata in D minor, Opus 31, no. 2 Chopin: Ballade in F minor, Opus 52 Chopin: Études (G flat, Opus 10, no. 5; A flat, Opus 10, no. 10; C minor, Opus 10, no. 12; A flat, Opus 25, no. 1; F minor, Opus 25, no. 2; F major, Opus 25, no. 3; G flat, Opus 25, no. 9) Chopin: Impromptu in A flat, Opus 29 Chopin: Polonaise in E-flat minor, Opus 26 Chopin: Scherzo in B minor, Opus 31 Chopin: Waltzes in A flat, Opus 64, no. 3, and B minor, Opus 69, no. 2 Liszt: Campanella (Paganini Etude no. 3) Liszt: Faust Waltz Liszt: Gnomenreigen Felix Mendelssohn: Bee‘s Wedding, Opus 67, no. 4 (Song without Words) Felix Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E, Opus 14 Felix Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses, Opus 54 Rubinstein: Étude in F minor, Opus 81, no. 1 Schlözer: Concert Study in A flat, Opus 1, no. 2 R. Schumann: Carnaval, Opus 9 R. Schumann: Studies after Caprices by Paganini, Opus 3, no. 2 (and one other)

1920–21 Season: J. S. Bach: Prelude (specific one is unkown) Beethoven: Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Opus 90 Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Opus 23 Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp, Opus 60 Chopin: Mazurka in A flat, Opus 59, no. 2 Chopin: Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Opus 48, no. 2 Chopin: Waltzes in E flat, Opus 18; F major, Opus 34, no. 3; and G flat, Opus 70, no. 1 Daquin: Le coucou Debussy: Children‘s Corner Suite Grieg: Mountain Tune (Scenes from Peasant Life), Opus 19, no. 1 Liszt: Spanish Rhapsody Medtner: 2 Novelles (G major and C minor, Opus 17, nos. 1 and 2) Felix Mendelssohn: (No. 3 in A major, Opus 19, no. 3; No. 4 in A major, Opus 19, no. 4; No. 10 in B minor, Opus 30, no. 4; No. 11 in D major, Opus 30, no. 5; No. 17 in A minor, Opus 38, no. 5; No. 32 in F-sharp minor, Opus 67, no. 2; No. 37 in F major, Opus 85, no. 1; No. 47 in A major, Opus 102, no. 5) Mozart: Sonata in A major, K. 331 (in full) Mussorgsky-Rachmaninoff: Gopak (from Sorochinsky Fair) Robert Schumann: Papillons, Opus 2 Scriabin: Étude in D sharp minor, Opus 8, No. 12 Tchaikovsky: Waltz in A flat, Opus 40, no. 8 Tchaikovsky: Trepak, Opus 72, no. 18 Weber: Momento capriccioso, Opus 12

299

1921–22 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Opus 13 (Pathétique) Bizet-Rachmaninoff: Minuet (from L’Arlésienne) Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat, Opus 47 Chopin: Nocturne in D flat, Opus 27, no. 2 Chopin: in C-sharp minor, Opus 26, no.1 and A flat, Opus 52 Chopin: Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Opus 39 Dohnányi: Étude-Caprice in F minor, Opus 28, no. 6 Grieg: Ballade in G minor, Opus 24 Handel: Air and Variations in B flat Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesleid Liszt: Ballade No. 2 in B minor Liszt: Liszt: Petrarch‘s Sonnet No. 104 Liszt: Venezia e Napoli, No. 3, Tarantella Medtner: Fairy Tale in A minor, Opus 34, no. 3 Rachmaninoff: Daisies R. Schumann: Novellette in F-sharp minor, Opus 21, no. 8 Weber-Tausig: Invitation to the Dance, Opus 65

1922–23 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57 (Appassionata) Chopin: Fantaisie in F minor, Opus 49 Chopin: (F-sharp minor, Opus 15, no. 2; F minor, Opus 55, no. 1) Chopin: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 35 (Funeral March) Chopin-Liszt: Maiden’s Wish (Polish Song, Opus 74) Liadov: Étude in A flat, Opus 5 Medtner: Improvisation, Opus 31, no. 1 Moszkowski: La Jongleuse, Opus 52, no. 4 J. Strauss-Schultz-Evler: Blue Danube

1923–24 Season: J. S. Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807 Chopin: Nocturne in E major, Opus 62, no. 2 Delibes-Dohnányi: Naila Waltz Liszt: Funérailles Liszt: Liebestraum No. 3 in D flat Schubert-Liszt: Ave Maria Tchaikovsky: Theme and Variations, Opus 19, no. 6 Wagner-Brassin: Magic Fire Music, from Walküre

1924–25 Season: J. S. Bach-Liszt: Prelude and in A minor, BWV 543 J. S. Bach: Prelude in D minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 851 Chopin: Ballade No. 2 in F major, Opus 38

300

Chopin: Mazurka in E major, Opus 6, no. 3 Chopin: Scherzo in E major, Opus 54 Gluck-Sgambati: Mélodie (from Orfeo) Liszt: Polonaise No. 2 in E major Liszt: Sonata in B minor Saint-Saëns: Caprice on a Theme from Gluck‘s Alceste R. Schumann: Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Opus 22 J. Strauss-Godowsky: Artist’s Life

1925–26 Season: J. S. Bach: Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828: Saraband Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesfreud Liszt: Consolation in E major Liszt: Eroica Étude (Transcendental Etude No. 7) Medtner: Fairy Tale in E minor, Opus 34, no. 2 Schubert: Impromptu in A flat minor, D. 899, no. 4 Schubert-Rachmaninoff: Wohin? (―The Brooklet‖)

1926–27 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 12 in A flat, Opus 26 Brahms: in E-flat minor, Opus 118, no. 6 Chopin: Nocturne in F major, Opus 15, no. 1 Chopin: Rondo in E flat, Opus 16 Chopin: Waltz in E minor, Opus posth. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 Felix Mendelssohn: Études in F major and A minor, Opus 104, nos. 2 and 3 Schubert-Tausig: Andantino and Variations in B minor R. Schumann: Symphonic Studies, Opus 13

1927–28 Season: J. S. Bach-Busoni: Organ Preludes, BWV 659 and 734 Chopin: Etude in C major, Opus 10, no. 1 Chopin: Waltz in D flat, Opus 70, no. 3 Liszt: Fantasia quasi Sonata based on Dante Liszt: Paganini Étude No. 6 in A minor (Theme and Variations) Medtner: Sonata-Fairy-Tale in C minor, Opus 25, no. 1 Scriabin: Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Opus 30 J. Strauss-Tausig: Valse-Caprice No. 1 (Moth Waltz) Taneyev: Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor, Opus 29

1928–29 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 30 in E major, Opus 109 Debussy: Fille aux cheveux de lin Debussy: Jardins sous la pluie Medtner: Fairy-Tale in D minor, Opus 51, no. 1

301

Mozart: Sonata No. 17 in D major, K. 576 Ravel: from D. Scarlatti: Sonatas (C major, L. 105; D minor, L. 422) Scriabin: Étude in D flat, Opus 8, no. 10

1929–1930 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 24 in F sharp, Opus 78 Chopin: Fantaisie-Impromptu, Opus 66 Chopin: Mazurka in B minor, Opus 33, no. 4 Chopin: Nocturne in B major, Opus 32, No. 1 Liszt: Valse-Impromptu Medtner: Three Hymns in Praise of Toil, Opus 49 Schubert-Tausig: Marche militaire, D. 733 Wagner-Liszt: Spinning Song from The Flying Dutchman

1930–31 Season: J. S. Bach-Tausig: Organ Chorale in A major Balakirev: Chopin: Polonaise No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Opus 44 Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 31 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 Liszt: Valse oubliée No. 1 in F sharp Medtner: Funeral March, Opus 31, no. 2 R. Schumann: Davidsbundlertänze, Opus 6

1931–32 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 26 in E flat, Opus 81a (Les Adieux) Brahms: 2 Ballades from Opus 10 (D minor, no. 1; D major, no. 2) Chopin: Nocturne in G major, Opus 37, no. 2 Chopin: Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Opus 40, no. 1 Gluck-Pauer: Old French (from Paris and Helen) Liszt: Harmonies du soir (Transcendental Etude, G. 139, no. 11) Rachmaninoff: Oriental Sketch Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 36 (revised) Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Opus 42

1932–33 Season: J. S. Bach-Rachmaninoff: Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: Prelude Chopin-Liszt: The Return F. J. Haydn: Fantasia in C major, Hob. XVII:4 Felix Mendelssohn-Rachmaninoff: Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo Schubert: Impromptu in F minor Schubert-Liszt: Ständchen (Serenade) R. Schumann: 3 Fantasiestücke R. Schumann, Nachtstücke, Opus 23 R. Schumann-Liszt: Liebeslied (Widmung)

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1933–34 Season: J. S. Bach-Rachmaninoff: Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: Gavotte, Gigue Beethoven: Sonata No. 16 in G major, Opus 31, no. 1 Borodin: Scherzo in A flat Chopin: Tarantella, Opus 43 Debussy: Suite Pour le Piano Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 Liszt: Petrarch‘s Sonnet No. 123 Schubert: Rondo from Sonata in D major, D. 850 R. Schumann: Albumblätter, Opus 124, nos. 1, 2, 3

1934–35 Season: J. S. Bach-Tausig: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 Brahms: Ballade in G minor, Opus 118, no. 3 Chopin: Impromptu No. 2 in F major, Opus 36 Chopin: (A minor, Opus 7, no. 2; F-sharp minor, Opus 59, no. 3) D. Scarlatti: Sonatas (D major, F minor)3

1935–36 Season: Chopin: Mazurka in A minor, Opus 68, no. 2 Handel: Harmonious Blacksmith D. Scarlatti: Sonatas in E major, L. 21; E minor, L. 22; and G minor, L. 338

1936–37 Season: J. S. Bach-Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 Chopin: Mazurka in F minor, Opus 7, no. 3 Field: Nocturnes (No. 12 in E major, No. 18 in G major) Liszt: Paganini Etude No. 2 (Octave) Liszt: Valse oubliée No. 3 in D flat

1937–38 Season: J. S. Bach: Italian major, BWV 971 Chopin: Mazurka in F minor, Opus 63, no. 2 Debussy: Suite Bergamasque Liszt: Wienen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Variations after Bach)

1938–39 Season: Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Opus 111 Chopin: 3 Etudes from Opus 25 (nos. 4 in A minor, 5 in E minor, and 7 in C-sharp minor) Chopin: 12 Preludes (Opus 28, nos. 1–7, 11; Opus 29, nos. 12, 16, 22, 23) Rameau: Variations in A minor

1939–1940 Season: Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E major, BWV 817

3Specific ones, as identified by Longo, are not known. 303

Poulenc: Novellette No. 1 in C major Poulenc: Toccata Schubert-Liszt: Forelle, D. 950

1940–41 Season: Rachmaninoff: Humoresque, Opus 10, no. 5 (revised) Rachmaninoff: Moment musical in E-flat minor, Opus 16, no. 2 (revised)

1941–42 Season: Chopin: 2 Mazurkas (G minor, Opus 24, no. 1; G major, Opus 67, no. 1) Tchaikovsky-Rachmaninoff: , Opus 16, no. 1

1942–43 Season: Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Opus 26

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Rachmaninoff‘s American Recital Repertoire, Alphabetical by Composer

Alkan: Étude: comme le vent, Opus 39, no. 1 Funeral March, Opus 26a

J. S. Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807 French Suite No. 6 in E major, BWV 817 Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971 Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828: Saraband Prelude in D minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 851 Prelude (specific one is unkown) Bach-Busoni: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: Chaconne Organ Chorale Preludes, ―Nun komm‘ der Heiden Heiland,‖ BWV 659, and ―Nun freut euch, lieben Christen,‖ BWV 734 Bach-Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Bach-Rachmaninoff: Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: Prelude, Gavotte, Gigue Bach-Tausig: Organ Chorale in A major Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565

Balakirev: Islamey

Beethoven: Sonata No. 7 in D, Opus 10, no. 3 Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Opus 13 (Pathétique) Sonata No. 12 in A flat, Opus 26 Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 2 (Moonlight) Sonata No. 16 in G major, Opus 31, no. 1 Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Opus 31, no. 2 (Tempest) Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57 (Appassionata) Sonata No. 24 in F sharp, Opus 78 Sonata No. 26 in E flat, Opus 81a (Les Adieux) Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Opus 90 Sonata No. 30 in E major, Opus 109 Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Opus 111 Thirty-two Variations in C minor, WoO 80

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Bizet-Rachmaninoff: Minuet (from L’Arlésienne)

Borodin: Scherzo in A flat

Brahms: Ballade in D minor, Opus 10, no 1 Ballade in D major, Opus 10, no. 2 Ballade in G minor, Opus 118, no. 3 Intermezzo in E-flat minor, Opus 118, no. 6

Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Opus 23 Ballade No. 2 in F major, Opus 38 Ballade No. 3 in A flat, Opus 47 Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Opus 52 Barcarolle in F sharp, Opus 60 Étude in C major, Opus 10, no. 1 Étude in E major, Opus 10, no. 3 Étude in A-flat, Opus 10, no. 10 Étude in C minor, Opus 10, no. 12 Étude in A flat, Opus 25, no. 1 Étude in F minor, Opus 25, no. 2 Étude in F major, Opus 25, no. 3 Étude in A minor, Opus 25, no. 4 Étude in E minor, Opus 25, no. 5 Étude in C-sharp minor, Opus 25, no. 7 Étude in G flat, Opus 25, no. 9 Étude in C minor, Opus 25, no. 12 Fantaisie in F minor, Opus 49 Fantaisie-Impromptu, Opus 66 Impromptu in A flat, Opus 29 Impromptu No. 2 in F major, Opus 36 Mazurka in E major, Opus 6, no. 3 Mazurka in A minor, Opus 7, no. 2 Mazurka in F minor, Opus 7, no. 3 Mazurka in G minor, Opus 24, no. 1 Mazurka in B minor, Opus 33, no. 4 Mazurka in A flat, Opus 59, no. 2 Mazurka in F-sharp minor, Opus 59, no. 3 Mazurka in F minor, Opus 63, no. 2 Mazurka in G major, Opus 67, no. 1 Mazurka in A minor, Opus 68, no. 2 Nocturne in F major, Opus 15, no. 1 Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Opus 15, no. 2

306

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 1 Nocturne in D-flat major, Opus 27, no. 2 Nocturne in B major, Opus 32, no. 1 Nocturne in G major, Opus 37, no. 2 Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Opus 48, no. 2 Nocturne in F minor, Opus 55, no. 1 Nocturne in E major, Opus 62, no. 2 Polonaises No. 1 in C-sharp minor, Opus 26, no. 1 Polonaise No. 2 in E-flat minor, Opus 26, no. 2 Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Opus 40, no. 1 Polonaise No. 4 in C minor, Opus 40, no. 2 Polonaise No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Opus 44 Polonaise No. 6 in A flat, Opus 53 Prelude in C major, Opus 28, no. 1 Prelude in A minor, Opus 28, no. 2 Prelude in G major, Opus 28, no. 3 Prelude in E minor, Opus 28, no. 4 Prelude in D major, Opus 28, no. 5 Prelude in B minor, Opus 28, no. 6 Prelude in A major, Opus 28, no. 7 Prelude in B major, Opus, 28, no. 11 Prelude in G-sharp minor, Opus 28, no. 12 Prelude in B-flat minor, Opus 28, no. 16 Prelude in G minor, Opus 28, no. 22 Prelude in F major, Opus 28, no. 23 Rondo in E flat, Opus 16 Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Opus 31 Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 31 Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Opus 39 Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Opus 54 Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 35 (Funeral March) Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Opus 58 Tarantella, Opus 43 Waltz in E flat, Opus 18 Waltz in F major, Opus 34, no. 3 Waltz in A flat, Opus 42 Waltz in A flat, Opus 64, no. 3 Waltz in B minor, Opus 69, no. 2 Waltz in G flat, Opus 70, no. 1 Waltz in D flat, Opus 70, no. 3 Waltz in E minor, Opus posth. Chopin-Liszt: Polish Song, Opus 74 (The Return) Polish Song, Opus 74 (Maiden’s Wish)

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Dandrieu-Godowsky: Le Caquet

Daquin: Le coucou

Debussy: Children‘s Corner Suite Fille aux cheveux de lin Jardins sous la pluie Suite Bergamasque Suite Pour le Piano

Delibes-Dohnányi: Naila Waltz

Dohnányi: Étude-Caprice in F minor, Opus 28, no. 6

Field: Nocturne No. 12 in E major Nocturne No. 18 in G major

Gluck-Pauer: Old French Gavotte (from Paris and Helen) Gluck-Sgambati: Mélodie (from Orfeo)

Grieg: Ballade in G minor, Opus 24 Mountain Tune (Scenes from Peasant Life), Opus 19, no. 1

Handel: Air and Variations in B flat Harmonious Blacksmith

F. J. Haydn: Fantasia in C major, Hob. XVII:4 Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6

Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesfreud Liebesleid

Liadov:

308

Étude in A flat, Opus 5

Liszt: Ballade No. 2 in B minor Consolation in E major Étude of Paganini No. 2 (Octave) Étude of Paganini No. 3 (Campanella) Étude of Paganini No. 5 (La Chasse) Étude of Paganini No. 6 (Theme and Variations) Fantasia quasi Sonata based on Dante Faust Waltz Funérailles Gnomenreigen Grand Galop chromatique Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 2 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 Liebestraum No. 3 in D-flat Petrarch‘s Sonnet No. 104 Petrarch‘s Sonnet No. 123 Polonaise No. 2 in E major Sonata in B minor Spanish Rhapsody Transcendental Etude No. 7 (Eroica) Transcendental Etude No. 11 (Harmonies du soir) Valse-Impromptu Valse oubliée No. 1 in F-sharp Valse oubliée No. 3 in D-flat Venezia e Napoli, No. 3, Tarantella Wienen, Sorgen, Zagen (Variations after Bach)

Loeillet-Godowsky: Gigue in E minor

Medtner: Fairy Tale in E minor, Opus 14, no. 2 Fairy Tale in B-flat minor, Opus 20, no. 1 Fairy Tale in B minor, Opus 20, no. 2 Fairy Tale in F minor, Opus 26, no. 3 Fairly Tale in B minor, Opus 34, no. 1 Fairy Tale in E minor, Opus 34, no. 2 Fairy Tale in A minor, Opus 34, no. 3 Fairy Tale in D minor, Opus 51, no. 1

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Funeral March, Opus 31, no. 2 Improvisation, Opus 31, no. 1 Novelle in G major, Opus 17, no. 1 Novelle in C minor, Opus 17, no. 2 Sonata-Fairy-Tale in C minor, Opus 25, no. 1 Three Hymns in praise of Toil, Opus 49 Tragedy Fragment, Opus 7

Felix Mendelssohn: Étude in F major, Opus 104, no. 2 Étude in A minor, Opus 104, no. 3 Rondo capriccioso in E, Opus 14 Song Without Words No. 3 in A major, Opus 19, no. 3 Song Without Words No. 4 in A major, Opus 19, no. 4 Song Without Words No. 10 in B minor, Opus 30, no. 4 Song Without Words No. 11 in D major, Opus 30, no. 5 Song Without Words No. 17 in A minor, Opus 38, no. 5 Song Without Words No. 32 in F-sharp minor, Opus 67, no. 2 Song Without Words No. 34 in C major, Opus 67, no. 4 (Bee’s Wedding) Song Without Words No. 37 in F major, Opus 85, no. 1 Song Without Words No. 47 in A major, Opus 102, no. 5 Song Without Words (specific one unkown) Variations sérieuses, Opus 54 Felix Mendelssohn-Rachmaninoff: Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo

Moszkowski: La Jongleuse, Opus 52, no. 4

W. A. Mozart: Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 Sonata No. 17 in D major, K. 576

Mussorgsky-Rachmaninoff: Gopak (from Sorochinsky Fair)

Poulenc: Novellette No. 1 in C major Toccata

Rameau: Variations in A minor

Ravel: Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin

310

A. Rubinstein: Barcarolle No. 2 in A minor, Opus 45 Étude in F minor, Opus 81, no. 1 Polka, Opus 82, no. 7

Saint-Saëns: Caprice on a Theme from Gluck‘s Alceste

D. Scarlatti: Sonata in C major, L. 105 Sonata in D major, L. ? Sonata in D minor, L. 422 Sonata in E major, L. 21 Sonata in E minor, L. 22 Sonata in F minor, L. ? Sonata in G minor, L. 338

D. Scarlatti-Tausig: Sonata in D minor, L. 413 (Pastorale) Sonata in E major, L. 375 (Capriccio)

Schlözer: Concert Study in A flat, Opus 1, no. 2

Schubert: Impromptu in A-flat minor, D. 899, no. 4 Impromptu in F minor, D. 935, no. 1 Moments musicaux No. 3 in F minor, D. 780 Moments musicaux No. 4 in C-sharp minor Rondo from Sonata in D major, D. 850 Schubert-Liszt: Ave Maria, D. 550 Ständchen (Serenade), D. 937 Forelle, D. 950 Schubert-Rachmaninoff: Wohin? (―The Brooklet‖), D. 795 Schubert-Tausig: Andantino and Variations in B minor Marche militaire, D. 733

R. Schumann: Albumblätter, Opus 124, nos. 1, 2, 3 Arabesque in C major, Opus 18 Carnaval, Opus 9 Davidsbundlertänze, Opus 6

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Fantasiestücke, Opus 12, nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Opus 26 Nachtstücke, Opus 23 Novellette in F-sharp minor, Opus 21, no. 8 Papillons, Opus 2 Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Opus 22 Studies after Caprices by Paganini, Opus 3, no. 2 (and one other) Symphonic Studies, Opus 13 Schumann-Liszt: Liebeslied (Widmung), Opus 25, no. 1

Scriabin: Étude in D-flat, Opus 8, no. 10 Étude in D-sharp minor, Opus 8, no. 12 Étude in F-sharp minor, Opus 42, no. 3 Étude in C-sharp minor, Opus 42, no. 5 Étude in D flat, Opus 42, no. 6 Prelude in C major, Opus 11, no. 1 Prelude in G major, Opus 11, no. 3 Prelude in B minor, Opus 11, no. 6 Prelude in F-sharp minor, Opus 11 no. 8 Prelude in E major, Opus 11 no. 9 Prelude in B major, Opus 11, no. 11 Prelude in E-flat minor, Opus 11, no. 14 Prelude in F minor, Opus 11, no. 18 Prelude C minor, Opus 11, no. 20 Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor, Opus 19 Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Opus 30

Smith-Rachmaninoff: Star-Spangled Banner

J. Strauss-Godowsky: Artist’s Life J. Strauss-Schultz-Evler: Blue Danube J. Strauss-Tausig: Forest Murmurs Waltz One Lives But Once Waltz Valse-Caprice No. 1 (Moth Waltz)

Taneyev: Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor, Opus 29

Tchaikovsky: Romance in F minor, Opus 5

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Theme and Variations, Opus 19, no. 6 Trepak, Opus 72, no. 18 Waltz in A-flat, Opus 40, no. 8 Tchaikovsky-Rachmaninoff: Lullaby, Opus 16, no. 1

Wagner-Brassin: Magic Fire Music, from Walküre Wagner-Liszt: Spinning Song from The Flying Dutchman

Weber: Momento capriccioso, Opus 12 Weber-Tausig: Invitation to the Dance, Opus 65

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APPENDIX F: ORCHESTRAS WITH WHOM RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED IN AMERICA, 1918–19431

(Date of concert, repertoire played by Rachmaninoff, conductor, location of concert)

Boston Symphony Orchestra: 31 October and 1 November 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Pierre Monteux, Symphony Hall, Boston 3 November 1919, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Monteux, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 4 November 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Monteux, New National Theatre, Washington, DC 5 November 1919, same concerto and conductor, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore; 7 November 1919, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Monteux, Academy of Music, Brooklyn 17 and 18 April 1925, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Serge Koussevitsky, Symphony Hall, Boston 20 and 21 December 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Koussevitsky, Symphony Hall, Boston 24 and 25 December 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Koussevitsky, Symphony Hall, Boston2

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: 23 and 24 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Frederick Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 12 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 14 and 15 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 7 and 8 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 22 October 1940, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 6 and 7 November 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Stock, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 11 and 12 February 1943, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Hans Lange, Orchestra Hall, Chicago3

1Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section E1, Program Lists, Files ―American Concerts.‖

2In addition to concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the twenty-five year time span of this study, Rachmaninoff performed with the orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American visit on: 8, 10, and 13 November 1909 tour to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York; 15 November 1909, Hartford, Connecticut; 17 and 18 December 1909, Boston; and 31 January 1910, Buffalo. Max Fiedler conducted the orchestra and Rachmaninoff performed his Piano Concerto No. 2.

314

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: 29 and 30 October 1937, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Eugene Goossens, Music Hall, Cincinnati 23 November 1937, same works and conductor, Northwestern University Auditorium, Chicago4

Cleveland Orchestra: 29 and 31 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with , Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland 1 and 2 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Sokoloff, Severance Hall, Cleveland 4 and 6 November 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Artur Rodziński, Severance Hall, Cleveland 26 and 28 October 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1, with Rodziński, Severance Hall, Cleveland 2 March 1941, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Rodziński, Public Hall, Cleveland 8 and 10 January 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with Rodziński, Severance Hall, Cleveland

Detroit Symphony Orchestra: 30 November and 1 December 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Detroit 25 February 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Victor Kolar, Orchestra Hall, Detroit 16 November 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Kolar, Masonic Temple, Detroit 4 December 1941, Schumann‘s Concerto, with Kolar, Masonic Auditorium, Detroit

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra: 25 and 26 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Leopold Stokowski, Pantages Theatre, Hollywood 12 and 13 February 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with , Philharmonic Auditorium, Los Angeles 17 and 18 July 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Victor Bakaleinikoff, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood

3Rachmaninoff performed in Chicago during his initial 1909–10 American visit on 3 and 4 December 1909. Frederick Stock conducted the Theodore Thomas Orchestra with Rachmaninoff performing his Piano Concerto No. 2. Rachmaninoff also conducted his Isle of the Dead Symphonic Poem, Op. 29.

4Rachmaninoff performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski during Rachmaninoff‘s initial 1909–10 American tour on 21 and 22 January 1910, playing his Piano Concerto No. 2.

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Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra:5 15 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emil Oberhoffer, St. Paul Auditorium, St. Paul 16 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emil Oberhoffer, Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis 8 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Eugene Ormandy, , Minneapolis 29 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Ormandy, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 15 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with Leon Barzin, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 9 December 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1, with Dimitri Mitropoulos, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 3 November 1939, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Liszt‘s Totentanz, with Mitropoulos, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 20 November 1942 Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with Mitropoulos, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis

National Symphony Orchestra, New York:6 13 and 15 March 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Willem Mengelberg, Carnegie Hall, New York

National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC: 5 November 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Hans Kindler, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 6 November 1940, same concerto and conductor, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC

New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra:7 22 February 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Josef Stransky, Carnegie Hall, New York 26 February 1920, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Stransky, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 February 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Stransky, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 and 28 January 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Stransky, Carnegie Hall, New York 15 and 16 December 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Stransky, Carnegie Hall, New York 22 and 23 December 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Dobrowen, Carnegie Hall, New York

5In 1968, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra changed its name to the Minnesota Orchestra.

6In 1921, the National Symphony Orchestra of New York merged with the New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra.

7In the 1930s, the New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra dropped ―Society‖ from its name.

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27 and 28 December 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Bruno Walter, Carnegie Hall, New York 29 and 30 December 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1, with , Carnegie Hall, New York 18 and 19 December 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with Mitropoulos, Carnegie Hall, New York 10 and 12 January 1940, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Barbirolli, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 and 28 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Barbirolli, Carnegie Hall, New York 17 and 18 December 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Mitropoulos, Carnegie Hall, New York8

New York Symphony Society Orchestra:9 6 December 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 3, with Damrosch, Academy of Music, Brooklyn 7 December 1919, same concerto and artists, Aeolian Hall, New York 26 and 28 December 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Artur Bodansky, Carnegie Hall, New York 1 and 2 January 1921, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Albert Coates, Carnegie Hall, New York 12 January 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Walter Damrosch, Aeolian Hall, New York 27 February 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh 29 and 31 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York 1 January 1921, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York 19 January 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 20 January 1921, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 10 and 11 February 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York 24 February 1921, same concerto and artists, National Theatre, Washington, DC 9 and 10 March 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York 2 April 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 3, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York10

8Rachmaninoff performed with the New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American visit. On 16 January 1910 Gustav Mahler conducted Rachmaninoff ‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the composer as soloist.

9The New York Symphony Society Orchestra was another New York City orchestra, conducted by Walter Damrosch, which collaborated with Rachmaninoff. It operated from 1878 to 1928 when it merged with the New York Philharmonic Society Symphony Orchestra.

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1 and 2 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York 2 and 3 April 1925, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Damrosch, Carnegie Hall, New York11

Philadelphia Orchestra: 28 and 29 March 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Leopold Stokowski, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 6 and 7 February 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Stokowski, Academy of Music, Philadelphia12 1 and 2 April 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Stokowski, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 18 and 19 March 1927, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Stokowski, Academy of Music, Philadelphia13 22 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York 29 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Auditorium, Washington, DC 30 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Baltimore 4 April 1927, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 12 December 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with , Academy of Music, Philadelphia 7 November 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Stokowski, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore14 8 November 1934, same work and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC; 13 and 14 December 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Stokowski, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 13 January 1936, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York 5 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with Ormandy, Carnegie Hall, New York 6 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Mosque Theatre, New Newark, NJ 8 and 9 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 12 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 13 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore

10This was a benefit concert to aid musicians and men of letters in Russia through the American Relief Association.

11Rachmaninoff performed with the New York Symphony Orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American visit on 28 and 30 November 1909. Walter Damrosch conducted, and Rachmaninoff performed the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 3.

12This performance also featured the American premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s ―The Bells,‖ Opus 35.

13The performance on 18 March 1927 was the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4 as well as the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s ―Three Russian Songs‖ for chorus and orchestra.

14This 7 November 1934 performance marked the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43.

318

23 October 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Ormandy, Carnegie Hall, New York15 21 and 22 October 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1, with Ormandy, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 25 October 1938, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 26 October 1938, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 8 November 1938, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Ormandy, Carnegie Hall, New York 26 November 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rhapsody, with Ormandy, Carnegie Hall, New York 1 and 2 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Ormandy, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 3 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 3, with Ormandy, Carnegie Hall, New York 4 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Ormandy, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 17 and 18 October 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 4, with Ormandy, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 21 October 1941, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 22 October 1941, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 11 November 1941, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York 9 May 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Ormandy, Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor16

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra: 2 December 1936, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Antonio Modarelli, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 2 and 3 December 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Michel Gusikoff, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 5 and 7 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with , Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 10 and 12 January 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Reiner, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 28 and 30 November 1941, R. Schumann‘s Concerto and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Victor Bakaleinikoff, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh

15The ―Helen Keller Tribute‖ was a special concert for the benefit of the American Federation for the Blind and for the Pension Fund of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At intermission, after Rachmaninoff performed his concerto, Helen Keller was introduced to the audience.

16Rachmaninoff conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American visit on 26 and 27 November 1909. He also performed solo piano works during the concert, three preludes from Opus 2 and 23. Carl Pohlig conducted Tchaikovsky‘s ―1812‖ Overture, and Rachmaninoff conducted his Symphony No. 2 and Moussorgsky‘s ―A Night on Bald Mountain.‖

319

Russian Symphony Society Orchestra: 28 and 29 January 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Modeste Altschuler, Carnegie Hall, New York17

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra: 13 and 14 February 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Max Zach, Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis 16 and 17 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Rudolf Ganz, Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis 10 and 11 March 1933, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with , Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis 14 and 15 December 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody, with Golschmann, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 15 and 16 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Golschmann, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 27 and 28 November 1936, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Golschmann, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 4 November 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Golschmann, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 5 November 1938, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Golschmann, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis

San Francisco Symphony: 19 and 20 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Pierre Monteux, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco 7 and 8 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rhapsody, with Monteux, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco 14 and 15 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Monteux, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

Seattle Symphony Orchestra: 23 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2, with , Civic Auditorium, Seattle

Also:

Festival Orchestra: 8 April 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Gala Concert of the Vacation Association), with Stokowski, Metropolitan Opera House, New York

17Rachmaninoff performed with the Russian Symphony Society Orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American tour. On 27 January 1910, Modeste Altschuller conducted Piano Concerto No. 2 with the composer as soloist.

320

Unidentified orchestra: 27 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Damrosch, Providence, Rhode Island18

Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra: 7 March 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Hagemann, Metropolitan Opera House, New York

Festival orchestra: 7 April 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Regiment Armory, New York

Festival orchestra: 3 June 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Schmitt, Music Shed, Norfolk, Connecticut

Festival orchestra: 3 April 1933, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Damrosch, Madison Square Garden, New York19

18The orchestra could have been the New York Symphony Society Orchestra with whom Rachmaninoff and Damrosch performed two days later on 29 January 1920 in New York City.

19Performed 3 April 1933 to benefit Musicians Emergency Fund. The festival orchestra consisted of 175 New York musicians. Violinist Fritz Kreisler appeared on the first half of the program to perform Beethoven‘s Violin Concerto in D. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section E1, Program Lists, File ―American Concerts 1931–35,‖ 106. 321

APPENDIX G: CONDUCTORS WITH WHOM RACHMANINOFF PERFORMED IN AMERICA, 1918–19431

(Date, repertoire performed by Rachmaninoff, orchestra, and location)

Altschuler, Modeste: 28 and 29 January 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Russian Symphony Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York2

Bakaleinikoff, Victor: 28 and 30 November 1941, Schumann‘s Concerto and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 17 and 18 July 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles

Barbirolli, John: 29 and 30 December 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 10 and 12 January 1940, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 and 28 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York

Barzin, Leon: 15 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis

Bodansky, Artur: 26 and 28 December 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York

Cameron, Basil: 23 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with Orchestra, Civic Auditorium, Seattle

Coates, Albert: 1 and 2 January 1921, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York

1Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section E1, Program Lists, Files ―American Concerts.‖

2Rachmaninoff performed with Altschuler and the Russian Symphony Society Orchestra during his initial 1909–10 American tour. On 27 January 1910 Altschuler conducted Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the composer as soloist.

322

Damrosch, Walter: 12 January 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Symphony Society Orchestra, Aeolian Hall, New York 27 February 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh 6 December 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 3 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Music, Brooklyn 7 December 1919, same concerto and artists, Aeolian Hall, New York 27 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, Providence, Rhode Island3 29 and 31 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 7 April 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Festival concert), Regiment Armory, New York 1 January 1921, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 19 January 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 20 January 1921, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 10 and 11 February 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Symphony Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 24 February 1921, same concerto and artists, National Theatre, Washington, DC 9 and 10 March 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 2 April 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 3 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York4 1 and 2 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 2 and 3 April 1925, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with New York Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 3 April 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Festival Orchestra, Madison Square Garden, New York5

Dobrowen, Issay: 12 December 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 22 and 23 December 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Dobrowen, Carnegie Hall, New York

3Unidentified symphony orchestra.

4This was a benefit concert to aid musicians and men of letters in Russia through the American Relief Association.

5The festival orchestra was made up of 175 New York area musicians. The concert benefited the Musicians Emergency Fund. Also, Rachmaninoff performed with Damrosch and the New York Symphony Society Orchestra during Rachmaninoff‘s initial 1909–10 American visit on 28 and 30 November 1909. Rachmaninoff played the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 3. 323

Gabrilowitsch, Ossip: 30 November and 1 December 1922, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit

Ganz, Rudolf: 16 and 17 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis

Golschmann, Vladimir: 10 and 11 March 1933, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis 14 and 15 December 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with St. Louis Symphony, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 15 and 16 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 27 and 28 November 1936, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 4 November 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis 5 November 1938, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Municipal Auditorium, St. Louis

Goossens, Eugene: 29 and 30 October 1937, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Music Hall, Cincinnati 23 November 1937, same concertos and artists, Northwestern University Auditorium, Chicago

Gusikoff, Michel: 2 and 3 December 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh

Hageman, Richard: 7 March 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera House, New York

Kindler, Hans: 5 November 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with National Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 6 November 1940, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC

Kolar, Victor: 25 February 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orchestral Hall, Detroit

324

16 November 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Masonic Temple, Detroit 4 December 1941, R. Schumann‘s Concerto with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Masonic Auditorium, Detroit

Koussevitsky, Serge: 17 and 18 April 1925, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston 20 and 21 December 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston 24 and 25 December 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston

Lange, Hans: 11 and 12 February 1943, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago

Mengelberg, Willem: 13 and 15 March 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with National Symphony Orchestra,6 Carnegie Hall, New York

Mitropoulos, Dimitri: 9 December 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 3 November 1939, Beethoven‘s Concerto No. 1 and Liszt‘s Totentanz with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 18 and 19 December 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 20 November 1942 Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 17 and 18 December 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York

Modarelli, Antonio: 2 December 1936, Piano Concerto No. 2 with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh

Monteux, Pierre: 31 October and 1 November 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston; 3 November 1919, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 4 November 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC

6The National Symphony Orchestra of New York merged with the New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra later in 1921. 325

5 November 1919, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 7 November 1919, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Music, Brooklyn 19 and 20 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Orchestra, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco 7 and 8 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rhapsody with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco 14 and 15 February 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

Oberhoffer, Emil: 15 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Auditorium, St. Paul 16 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis

Ormandy, Eugene: 8 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis 29 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis 5 January 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 6 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Mosque Theatre, New Newark, NJ 8 and 9 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 12 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 13 January 1937, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 23 October 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York7 21 and 22 October 1938, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 25 October 1938, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 26 October 1938, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 8 November 1938, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 26 November 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 and Rhapsody with Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 1 and 2 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Philadelphia orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 3 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 3 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 4 December 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia

7This ―Helen Keller Tribute‖ was a special concert for the benefit of the American Federation for the Blind and for the Pension Fund of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At intermission, after Rachmaninoff had performed his concerto, Helen Keller was introduced to the audience. 326

17 and 18 October 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 4 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 21 October 1941, same concerto and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 22 October 1941, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 11 November 1941, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York 9 May 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor

Rabaud, Henrí: 31 January and 1 February 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston 3 February 1919, same concerto and artists, National Theatre, Washington, DC 4 February 1919, same concerto and artists, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore 5 February 1919, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 7 February 1919, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Brooklyn

Reiner, Fritz: 5 and 7 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 10 and 12 January 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh

Rodziński, Artur: 4 and 6 November 1937, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Severance Hall, Cleveland 26 and 28 October 1939, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 1 with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Severance Hall, Cleveland 2 March 1941, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Public Hall, Cleveland 8 and 10 January 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Concerto No. 2 with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Severance Hall, Cleveland

Schmitt, H. P.: 3 June 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, Music Shed, Norfolk, Connecticut8

Sokoloff, Nikolai: 29 and 31 March 1923, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland 1 and 2 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Severance Hall, Cleveland

8The festival orchestra was made up of seventy-five players from New York City. This festival concert marked the forty-sixth meeting and concert of the Litchfield County Choral Union.

327

Stock, Frederick: 23 and 24 January 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 12 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 14 and 15 January 1932, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 7 and 8 November 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 22 October 1940, Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago 6 and 7 November 1941, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Chicago9

Stokowski, Leopold: 28 and 29 March 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 8 April 1919, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Gala Concert of the Vacation Association), Metropolitan Opera House, New York 6 and 7 February 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia10 1 and 2 April 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 18 and 19 March 1927, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia11 22 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York 29 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Auditorium, Washington, DC 30 March 1927, same concerto and artists, Baltimore 4 April 1927, same concerto and artists, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 7 November 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Philadelphia Orchestra, Lyric Theatre, Baltimore12 8 November 1934, same work and artists, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC 13 and 14 December 1935, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of Music, Philadelphia 13 January 1936, same concerto and artists, Carnegie Hall, New York

9Rachmaninoff performed with Frederick Stock in Chicago during his initial 1909–‘10 American visit on 3 and 4 December 1909. Stock conducted the Theodore Thomas Orchestra with Rachmaninoff performing his Piano Concerto No. 2. Rachmaninoff also conducted his Isle of the Dead Symphonic Poem, Opus 29.

10This performance also featured the American premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s ―The Bells,‖ Opus 35.

11The performance on 18 March 1927 marked the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 4 as well as the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s ―Three Russian Songs‖ for Chorus and Orchestra.

12This 7 November 1934 performance marked the premiere of Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43.

328

25 and 26 January 1940, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pantages Theatre, Hollywood13

Stransky, Josef: 22 February 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 26 February 1920, Tchaikovsky‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 February 1920, Liszt‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 with New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 27 and 28 January 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 3 with New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 15 and 16 December 1921, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with New York Philharmonic Society Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York

Walter, Bruno: 27 and 28 December 1934, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York 12 and 13 February 1942, Rachmaninoff‘s Rhapsody with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Auditorium, Los Angeles

Zach, Max: 13 and 14 February 1920, Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Odeon Auditorium Theatre, St. Louis

13Rachmaninoff performed with Leopold Stokowski and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra during Rachmaninoff‘s initial 1909–‘10 American visit on 21 and 22 January 1910, playing his Piano Concerto No. 2. 329

APPENDIX H: Newspaper Reviews, 1918–19431

Downes, Olin. ―Music for Piano Made Colorful: Rachmaninoff Arouses Enthusiasm of Hearers.‖ Boston Post, 16 December 1918.

Hale, Philip. ―Rachmaninoff Gives Recital: Russian Pianist Delights Large Audience at Symphony Hall.‖ Boston Herald, 16 December 1918.

―Rakhmaninov‘s Return: Personality and Pianist in Deep Impression.‖ Boston Evening Transcript, 16 December 1918.

Huneker, James Gibbons. ―Rachmaninoff Raises the Roof.‖ New York Times, 22 December 1918.

Krehbiel, H. E. ―Afternoon of Pianoforte Readings by Rachmaninoff.‖ New York Tribune, 22 December 1918.

―Rachmaninoff, Back, Is Heard in Carnegie: Russian Musician, after Eight Year‘s Absence, Gives Piano Recital.‖ The World, 22 December 1918.

―Russian Composer Heard on Piano: Sergei Rachmaninov, a Refugee, Gives Some of His Own Work.‖ The New York Sun, 22 December 1918.

Clark, J. V. ―Brilliancy the Dominant Trait of Rachmaninoff: Virtues of his Style—Pianist Is Heard by Great Audience.‖ Boston Evening Record, 11 January 1919.

Hale, Philip. ―Rachmaninoff Heard Again: Pianist Gives His Second Recital for Symphony Hall Audience.‖ Boston Herald, 11 January 1919.

―Rachmaninoff Leads Russians in His Concerto: Orchestra Plays Composer-Pianist‘s Composition, with Him at Conductor‘s Desk.‖ New York Herald, 29 January 1919.

Krehbiel, H. E. ―Mr. Rachmaninoff Plays His First Concerto at Carnegie Hall.‖ New York Tribune, 29 January 1919.

Aldrich, Richard. ―Mr. Rachmaninoff‘s Recital.‖ New York Times, 20 October 1919.

Spamer, Richard. ―Rachmaninoff Moves His Audience to Tears by Amazing Art.‖ St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 15 February 1920.

―Greatest Russian of All Thrills Large Audience.‖ Atlanta Constitution, 19 February 1920.

1Organized by date, these newspaper review headlines represent a cross-section of the thousands published during Rachmaninoff‘s twenty-five year tenure in America. This sample, chosen to reflect a variety of locales of all sizes, also demonstrates that Rachmaninoff‘s performance abilities and popularity did not wane. 330

Hubbard, W. L. ―Auditorium Filled for Piano Recital by Rachmaninoff.‖ Chicago Daily Tribune, 22 March 1920.

Devries, Herman. ―Rachmaninoff Is Genius at Piano.‖ Chicago Evening American, 22 March 1920.

―Sergei Rachmaninoff with New York Symphony Orchestra.‖ Baltimore Sun, 20 January 1921.

Devries, Herman. ―Rachmaninoff Hailed as Titan of Piano.‖ Chicago Evening American, 7 February 1921.

―Rachmaninoff Thrills Hearers: Famous Russian Pianist Gives Remarkable Recital before Large Audience at Convention Hall.‖ Rochester Times-Union (New York), 11 March 1921.

Koons, Walter E. ―Rachmaninoff, Great Pianist, Composer, Delights Audience.‖ Youngstown Telegram, 18 November 1921.

―Great Russian Pianist Enthuses Large Audience.‖ Atlanta Constitution, 12 January 1922.

Mayfield, R. B. ―Russian Master Charms Audience; The Intellect and Art of Rachmaninoff Wins Music Lovers.‖ Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 15 January 1922.

Downes, Olin. ―Rachmaninoff Excels in Art: Pianist Arouses Greatest Enthusiasm at Recital.‖ Boston Post, 23 November 1922.

Hale, Philip. ―Rachmaninoff Is Incomparable: Reminds One of No Pianist, Past or Present— Same Strong Individuality.‖ Boston Herald, 23 November 1922.

Kelsey, W. K. ―Noted Pianist Given Ovation: Charmed Audience Lingers to Compel Encores from Russian Composer.‖ Detroit News, 5 December 1923.

Taylor, Stella Weiler. ―Playing of Rachmaninoff Left Us Spell-Bound; Ovation Greets Prelude.‖ Hamilton Daily News (Ohio), 5 February 1924.

―Rachmaninoff in Diverse Program Charms Audience.‖ Trenton Evening Times, 22 February 1924.

―Sergei Rachmaninoff in Brilliant Concert: Russian Pianist Delights Capacity Audience in Poli‘s with Rendition.‖ Washington Post, 15 January 1925.

Augur, Ruth M. ―Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concert Is Real Delight.‖ El Paso Times, 31 January 1925.

Flower, Elsie. ―Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian Pianist-Composer, Displays Wonderful Mastery of Music.‖ Stockton Evening Record, 3 February 1925.

331

Kendig, Francis. ―Rachmaninoff Plays: Famed Russian Pianist Enthralls with Colossal Art.‖ Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1925.

―Rachmaninoff in Concert Triumph.‖ Trenton Art (New Jersey), 24 January 1928.

Hackett, Karleton. ―Rachmaninoff, Giant of Piano, Thrills Hearers.‖ Chicago Evening Post, 6 February 1928.

―Great Power in Recital by Rachmaninoff.‖ Hartford Courant, 28 January 1929.

Mitchel, William R. ―Annual Recital of Rachmaninoff, Composer-Pianist, Stirs Enthusiastic Audience at Carnegie Hall.‖ Pittsburgh Press, 9 February 1929.

Jones, Isabel Morse. ―Pianist Awes by Perfection.‖ Los Angeles Times, 28 February 1929.

―Rachmaninoff Holds Audience in His Grip; Russian Composer and Pianist Thrills His Hearers.‖ Toronto Star, 6 February 1930.

―Rachmaninoff Heard in Recital in Carnegie Hall: Composer-Pianist Gives a Brilliant Interpretation of a Notable Program.‖ New York Herald Tribune, 16 February 1930.

Holmes, Ralph. ―Two Great Russian Pianists Give Recitals Here in Same Day; Rachmaninoff Thrills Big Crowd, Brailowsky Thrills Small One.‖ Detroit Evening Times, 26 March 1930.

―Rachmaninoff‘s Genius Thrills.‖ Washington Herald, 5 November 1931.

―Mrs. Hoover Attends Rachmaninoff Concert.‖ Washington Post, 6 November 1931.

Bohm, Jerome D. ―Rachmaninoff Plays to Throng at Carnegie Hall.‖ New York Herald Tribune, 7 November 1931.

F. E. C. ―Sergei Rachmaninoff.‖ Courier Journal (Louisville), 15 November 1931.

Rogers, James H. ―Rachmaninoff Is Superb at Piano.‖ Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2 January 1932.

Gray, James. ―Great Spell Cast by Rachmaninoff.‖ Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 9 January 1932.

Moore, Edward. ―Rachmaninoff Given by Orchestra; Audience Rises to Great Famous Pianist.‖ Chicago Daily Tribune, 13 January 1932.

Devries, Herman. ―Football Cheers Greet Rachmaninoff at Orchestra Hall.‖ Chicago American, 15 January 1932.

―Rachmaninoff Accorded Enthusiastic Reception by Lynchburg Audience.‖ Lynchburg News (Virginia), 23 October 1932.

332

Daly, Sunflower. ―Rachmaninoff Wins by Large Margin in Monday Night Game.‖ Shreveport Times, 15 November 1932.

―Brilliant Recital by Rachmaninoff.‖ New York Times, 10 January 1933.

―Recital Offered by Rachmaninoff; Mrs. Hoover Applauds Delightful Program Given in Constitution Hall.‖ Washington Post, 17 January 1933.

―Macon Audience Entranced by Art of Rachmaninoff.‖ Atlanta Constitution, 20 January 1933.

Jones, Isabel Morse. ―Rachmaninoff Wins Auditorium Ovation.‖ Los Angeles Times, 15 February 1933.

―Large Crowd Hears Noted Pianist Here.‖ Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama), 17 November 1933.

Liebling, Leonard. ―Superb Piano Art of Rachmaninoff Brings Acclaim.‖ New York American, 10 December 1933.

Tuckley, William Henry. ―Audience Is Held Spellbound by Artistry of Rachmaninoff.‖ Syracuse Post-Standard, 27 February 1934.

―Master of Piano Impresses Large Audience with Sense of Power in Local Program.‖ Grand Rapids Press, 23 October 1934.

―Rachmaninoff‘s Supreme Artistry Displayed for Capacity Audience Here.‖ Utica Observer, 26 October 1934.

Leedy, Denoe. ―Rachmaninoff Plays at Best: Russian Pianist Pleases Large Audience at First of Concert Series.‖ Cleveland Press, 31 October 1934.

Holmes, Ralph. ―Mellow Rachmaninoff Deeply Moves; Plays Classics with Tender Insight.‖ Detroit Evening Times, 13 November 1934.

―Rachmaninoff Recital Again Astounds All.‖ Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 20 November 1934.

―Rachmaninoff Ideal Pianist: Famous Russian Master Impresses Capacity Audience in Recital.‖ Daily Province (Vancouver), 23 November 1934.

―6,000 Are Quiet as Great Man Plays the Piano.‖ Seattle Daily Times, 24 November 1934.

Nathan, Paul S. ―Crowd Applauds Rachmaninoff Recital.‖ Oakland Post-Enquirer, 27 November 1934.

333

Hynds, Reed. ―Audience Stands to Applaud Work of Rachmaninoff.‖ St. Louis Star-Times, 15 December 1934.

Farmer, Walter W. ―Rachmaninoff Delights Big Auditorium Audience.‖ Worcester Evening Gazette (Massachusetts), 22 October 1935.

Saxton, Stanley E. ―Rachmaninoff Acclaimed by Spa Audience: Famous ‗Poet of the Piano‘ Gives Excellent Program in College Hall.‖ Glens Falls Post Star (New York), 28 October 1935.

―Rachmaninoff Is Accorded Ovation: Students Give Yells for Noted Pianist Following Brilliant Recital.‖ Durham Morning Herald, 1 November 1935.

―Rachmaninoff Pleases Crowd of Nearly 6000: ―High Priest of Music‖ Is Generous in Response to Encores.‖ Columbia Missourian, 14 November 1935.

Mead, C. Pannill. ―Rachmaninoff, Titan of Piano, Displays Magic: Thrills Audience Even Before He Is Seated on Stage.‖ Milwaukee Sentinel, 27 November 1935.

Howard, Mary M. ―Overwhelming Applause Greets Rachmaninoff in Piano Concert.‖ Buffalo Times, 4 December 1935.

Burke, Harry R. ―Rachmaninoff Gets Great Reception at Symphony Concert.‖ St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 29 November 1936.

Rogers, John William.―Rachmaninoff Recital Exciting Experience for Dallas Audience.‖ Dallas Times Herald, 13 December 1936.

Rosenfield, John. ―Enthusiastic Welcome Given Rachmaninov in Appearance at McFarlin on Saturday Evening.‖ Dallas Morning Star, 13 December 1936.

Bowman, Marvin. ―S. A. Music Lovers Thrill to Serge Rachmaninoff.‖ San Antonio Light, 16 December 1936.

Sanders, Allison. ―Old Mr. Nimble-Fingers Weaves Web of Melody for Breathless Audience.‖ Houston Chronicle, 18 December 1936.

Klein, Philip. ―Rachmaninoff Acclaimed by Concert Throng.‖ Philadelphia Daily News, 9 January 1937.

Schloss, Edwin H. ―Audience Stirred by Rachmaninoff: Packed House at Academy Cheers Second Concerto in C Minor.‖ Philadelphia Record, 9 January 1937.

Wayne, Frances. ―Capacity Auditorium Crowd Cheers Pianist to Rafters.‖ Denver Post, 20 January 1937.

334

Plogstedt, Lillian T. ―Rachmaninoff, Pianist-Poet.‖ Cincinnati Post, 22 February 1937.

―Hearty Welcome Given Russian Pianist-Composer on Annual Concert at the Lyric.‖ Baltimore Sun, 2 November 1937.

Martin, Linton. ―Academy Jammed for Rachmaninoff: Great Russian Pianist at Peak of Powers in Superb Recital.‖ Philadelphia Enquirer, 21 November 1937.

Haufler, Charles. ―Rachmanioff Gets Rare Ovation of Fuld Hall.‖ Newark Evening News, 1 December 1937.

Harris, George. ―Large Rachmaninoff Audience Shows City Is Music-Minded.‖ Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), 8 December 1937.

―Rachmaninoff Pleases Audience of 5,000 in Brilliant Performance.‖ Atlanta Constitution, 10 December 1937.

Lewando, Ralph. ―Critic Hails Recital of Composer: Large Audience Hears Music by Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall.‖ Pittsburgh Press, 24 October 1938.

Lissfelt, J. Fred. ―Rachmaninoff Thrills Crowd in Music Hall.‖ Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph, 24 October 1938.

―Rachmaninoff Scores Hit in Carnegie Hall Concert: Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt Selections Are All Handled with Skill That Thrills Audience.‖ Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, 24 October 1938.

Hage, George. ―Russian Pianist Complies with Demand for Prelude: Chopin, Liszt Pieces Win Hearty Approval of Audience.‖ Columbus Citizen, 29 October 1938.

Keller, Virginia Braun. ―Rachmaninoff Is Masterly.‖ Ohio State Journal (Columbus), 29 October 1938.

Wilson, Samuel T. ―Rachmaninoff Gives Brilliant Recital: Large and Responsive Audience Hears Pianist Open Civic Series; Chopin Etudes Are Highlights of Noteworthy Musical Event.‖ Columbus Dispatch, 29 October 1938.

Chotzinoff, Samuel. ―New Rachmaninoff Symphony Played by Philadelphians: Work Melodic, Even Whimsical in Spots, Composer Appears as Soloist.‖ New York Post, 9 November 1938.

Dodds, Katherine. ―Famous ‗Prelude‘ of Rachmaninoff Climaxes Concert: Listeners Crowd Doorways, Perch on Rafters To Hear Musician; Many Forced to Stand throughout Impressive Performance.‖ Iowa State Daily Student, 15 November 1938.

―Rachmaninoff Plays Here to Record Crowd.‖ Ames Daily Tribune, 15 November 1938.

335

―Thunder in His Touch: Rachmaninoff Thrills Crowd Which Fills Ararat Temple.‖ Kansas City Times, 16 November 1938.

Frankenstein, Alfred. ―Rachmaninoff Plays Superbly.‖ San Francisco Chronicle, 19 November 1938.

Fisher, Marjory M. ―Rachmaninoff‘s Playing Replete with Rich Musical Perspectives.‖ San Francisco News, 19 November 1938.

Fried, Alexander. ―Rachmaninoff Brilliant in Piano Recital: Gamut from Delicacy to Power Run by Russian Artist; Work Applauded by Capacity House.‖ San Francisco Examiner, 19 November 1938.

Herreshoff, Constance. ―Enthusiastic House Welcomes Return of Rachmaninoff.‖ San Diego Sun, 24 November 1938.

Imgrund, Frances. ―Crowd Thrilled by Russ Artist.‖ San Diego Evening Tribune, 24 November 1938.

―Rachmaninoff So Great Praise Is Impertinence.‖ San Diego Union, 24 November 1938.

Enna, Emil. ―Rachmaninoff Thrills in Masterful Piano Recital.‖ Portland News-Telegram (Oregon), 29 November 1938.

Grondahl, Hilmar. ―Pianist Thralls Capacity Crowd: Rachmaninoff Proves Self Musical Genius Still.‖ The Oregonian, 29 November 1938.

Smith, Susie Aubrey. ―Piano Genius Enthralls Music Lovers.‖ Oregon Daily Journal, 29 November 1938.

Hays, Richard E. ―Crowd Is Thrilled by Rachmaninoff.‖ Seattle Times, 30 November 1938.

Lightburn, Ken. ―Russ Pianist in Sell-Out Concert: Rachmaninoff Delights Full House at Moore Theater Recital.‖ Seattle Star, 30 November 1938.

Sayre, J. Willis. ―Noted Artist Enthralls All His Hearers.‖ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 30 November 1938.

Martin, Gail. ―Provo Gives Noted Artist Fiery Ovation.‖ Desert News (Salt Lake City), 6 December 1938.

Seidl, George W. ―Rachmaninoff Thrills 3,000 Listeners; Receives Ovation at Performance Here.‖ Provo Evening Herald, 6 December 1938.

336

Egilsrud, Johan Storjohann. ―Rachmaninoff Captivating in Concert.‖ Minneapolis Journal, 10 December 1938.

Pleasants, Henry. ―Mr. Rachmaninoff Gives a Memorable Recital at the Academy of Music.‖ Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, 16 December 1938.

Schloss, Edwin H. ―Rachmaninoff Recital Thrills at Academy.‖ Philadelphia Record, 16 December 1938.

―Audience Hails Master of Piano: Rachmaninoff Applauded for 20 Minutes at End of Magnificent Concert.‖ Wilmington Journal Every Evening, 22 December 1938.

―Triumph Scored By Rachmaninoff: Composer-Pianist Enthralls Wilmington Audience in Brilliant Recital.‖ Wilmington Morning News, 22 December 1938.

Boardman, Frances. ―Rachmaninoff Bows in 2 Roles: Capacity Throng Attends Concert.‖ Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 4 November 1939.

Egilsrud, Johan S. ―Concert by Symphony-Rachmaninoff Triumph.‖ Minneapolis Times- Tribune, 4 November 1939.

―4,000 Hear Rachmaninoff in Recital at the Mosque: Record Crowd Gives Russian Enthusiastic Reception for Fine Performance, and He Still Practices.‖ Newark Star-Eagle, 9 November 1939.

Vreeland, Roger S. ―Rachmaninoff Thrills 4,000 in Newark Hall.‖ Evening Record, 9 November 1939.

Fried, Alexander. ―Rachmaninoff Applauded by Big Audience.‖ San Francisco Examiner, 20 January 1940.

Fisher, Marjory M. ―Symphony Gives Finest Concert of Season with Rachmaninoff: Monteux Leads Orchestra to New Triumph.‖ San Francisco News, 20 January 1940.

Imgrund, Frances. ―Audience Won by Pianist.‖ San Diego Tribune-Sun, 24 January 1940.

Moody, Sally Brown. ―Rachmaninoff‘s Skill Enthralls S. D. Audience.‖ San Diego Union, 24 January 1940.

Sayre, J. Willis. ―Rachmaninoff at Peak.‖ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4 February 1940.

―Rachmaninoff, as Always, Captivates.‖ Seattle Times, 4 February 1940.

Early, Leighton. ―Rachmaninoff in Brilliant Concert.‖ Seattle Star, 5 February 1940.

―Rachmaninoff Plays Prelude for Encore.‖ Boise Capital News, 7 February 1940.

337

―Rachmaninoff Pleases Crowd.‖ Idaho Statesman, 7 February 1940.

―Piano Suffices for Rachmaninoff.‖ Hastings Daily Tribune (Nebraska), 10 February 1940.

Tebbel, John. ―Rachmaninoff: The People‘s Pianist.‖ Providence Sunday Journal, 11 February 1940.

Pujol, Clotilde. ―Music Corner.‖ Havana Post, 18 December 1940.

―Rachmaninoff en Pro-.‖ Diario de la Marina (Cuba), 19 December 1940.

Spence, Virginia. ―Havana Appreciative of Good Music Says Sergei Rachmaninoff.‖ Havana P.M., 18 December 1940.

Scofield, Ronald D. ―Inspiring Concert Is Given in City by Rachmaninoff: Huge Audience Is Enthralled by Superb Mastery of Pianist.‖ Sacramento Bee, 5 February 1941.

Bacon, Elmore. ―Rachmaninoff Thrills Big All-Star Concert Crowd.‖ Cleveland News, 3 March 1941.

Elwell, Herbert. ―Rachmaninoff Is Delight to 6,000: 68-Year-Old Pianist Starts in Orchestra Concert.‖ Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3 March 1941.

Loesser, Arthur. ―5,400 Hear Rachmaninoff in Very Brilliant Concert.‖ The Cleveland Press, 3 March 1941.

Buchalter, Helen. ―3,800 Hail Rachmaninoff Playing New Concerto.‖ Washington Daily News, 22 October 1941.

―Wizardry of Rachmaninoff Is Treat for Music Hall Throng.‖ Lafayette Journal and Courier (Indiana), 10 November 1941.

Bush, Martin W. ―‗Musical Giants Still Live,‘ Critic Hears Rachmaninoff.‖ Omaha Morning World-Herald, 3 December 1941.

―Bowl Throng Acclaims Fine Russ Program.‖ Los Angeles Examiner, 18 July 1942.

Saunders, Richard D. ―All-Russian Program Thrills Bowl.‖ Hollywood Citizen News, 18 July 1942.

Gentry, Charles. ―Rachmaninoff Recital Here Great Event.‖ Detroit Evening Times, 13 October 1942.

Lewando, Ralph. ―Rachmaninoff Playing Magnificently, Warms Hearts of Pittsburgh Audience.‖ Pittsburgh Press, 17 October 1942.

338

Martin, Linton. ―Overflow Crowd Acclaims Rachmaninoff Concert.‖ Philadelphia Enquirer, 23 October 1942.

Armstrong, Isabel C. ―Rachmaninoff in Grand Form in Ottawa Concert.‖ Evening Citizen, 29 October 1942.

Nairn, Norman. ―Audience Thrills at Recital by Rachmaninoff.‖ Rochester Democrat (New York), 31 October 1942.

Everman, Alice. ―Rachmaninoff Attains Heights in Concert Here.‖ Evening Star (Washington, DC), 16 November 1942.

Biancolli, Louis. ―Rachmaninoff Tops Carnegie Program.‖ New York World-Telegram, 18 December 1942.

Hirshberg, Sally. ―Capacity Audience Applauds to Music of Famous Russian Conductor- Composer.‖ Daily Collegian (State College, PA), 4 February 1943.

.

339

APPENDIX I: AMPICO PIANO ROLLS RECORDED BY RACHMANINOFF 1919–19291 (ALPHABETICAL BY SONG TITLE)

Barcarolle, Opus 10, no. 3 in G minor, Rachmaninoff, 57604H2

Barcarolle (Boat Song) in A minor, Rubinstein, 69893H

The Brooklet in G major, Schubert-Rachmaninoff, 65771H

Das Wandern (Wandering) in B flat, Schubert-Liszt 64561H, 100095V (1)3

Elegie (Elegy), Opus 3, No. 1, Rachmaninoff, 69253H

Etude Tableaux (Picture Study), Opus 39, No. 4 in b minor, Rachmaninoff, 69593H

Etude Tableaux, Opus 39, no. 6, Rachmaninoff, 60891H, 100055V (4)

Flight of the Bumblebee, Rimsky-Korsakoff, 70301H

Hopak, Moussorgsky-Rachmaninoff, 60641K

Humoresque, Opus 10, Rachmaninoff, 57965H

Impromptu, Opus 90, no. 4 in A-flat major, Schubert, 69373H

Liebesfreud (Love‘s Joy), Kreisler-Rachmaninoff, 66143H

Liebeslied (Love‘s Sorrow), ―Alt Wiener Tanzweisen‖ (Old Viennese Dance Melodies), No. 2, Kreisler-Rachmaninoff, 62103H

―Lilacs,‖ song transcription, Rachmaninoff, 61761H, 100075V (2)

The Maiden’s Wish (Mädchens wunch) ―Chant Polonaise‖ (Polish Song), Opus 74, no. 1, Chopin-Liszt, 62803H, 100055V (3)

Mélodie from Orfeo, Gluck-Sgambati, 64921H

Mélodie, Opus 3, Rachmaninoff, 57545H

1The Ampico catalogue listed each artist‘s rolls alphabetically by title of song and noted the multiple titles as indicated. An alphabetical listing by composer follows on page 3 of this appendix. Elaine Obenchain, The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls (New York: American Piano Company, 1977), 148.

2The letter following the number indicated the price of the roll. In addition, Ampico changed numbering systems numerous times throughout Rachmaninoff‘s decade with the company. Ibid., 15.

3The number in parenthesis indicates the position of a selection within a medley or group. Ibid., 61. 340

Minuet, Opus 14, no. 1 in G major, Paderewski, 68283H, 100165V (2)

Minuet L’Arlésienne (The Woman of Arles), Bizet-Rachmaninoff, 61601H

Nocturne, Opus 15, no. 1 in F major, Chopin, 67673H, 100155V (2)

Polichinelle, Opus 3, no. 4, Rachmaninoff, 57905H

Polka de W. R., Rachmaninoff, 57275H

Prelude, Opus 3, no. 2 in C-sharp minor, Rachmaninoff, 57504H, 100075V (3)

Prelude, Opus 23, no. 5 in G minor, Rachmaninoff, 57525H, 100095V (2)

Sarabande in D major, Partita No. 4, J. S. Bach, 66483H

Scherzo, Opus 31 in B-flat minor, Chopin, 71173

Serenade, Opus 3, no. 5 in B-flat minor, Rachmaninoff, 62441H, 100075V (1)

Spinning Song ―Songs without Words‖ in A major, Felix Mendelssohn, 59661H, 151011K, 71521, 100055V (2)

―The Star Spangled Banner,‖ John Stafford Smith-Rachmaninoff, 57282F, 71511

Troika, Opus 37, no. 11, Tchaikovsky, 57914H, 100095V (3)

Turkish March (Marche a la turque), ―Ruins of Athens,‖ Beethoven-Rubinstein, 68771H

Valse, Opus 40, no. 8 in A-flat major, Tchaikovsky, 62531H

Waltz, Opus 18, in E-flat major, Chopin, 59743H, 61023M, 100075V (4)

Waltz Brilliant, Opus 34, no. 3 in F major, Chopin, 63311H, 100055V (1)

Were I a Bird (Si oiseau j’etais), Opus 2, no. 6, Henselt, 62971H, 100095V (4)

341

ALPHABETICAL BY COMPOSER

Bach, J. S.: Sarabande in D major, Partita No. 4, 66483H

Beethoven-Rubinstein: Turkish March (Marche a la turque), ―Ruins of Athens,‖ 68771H

Bizet-Rachmaninoff: L’Arlésienne Minuet (The Woman of Arles), 61601H

Chopin: Nocturne, Opus 15, no. 1 in F major, 67673H, 100155V (2)

Chopin: Scherzo, Opus 31 in B-flat minor, 71173

Chopin: Waltz, Opus 18, in E-flat major, 59743H, 61023M, 100075V (4)

Chopin: Waltz Brilliant, Opus 34, no. 3 in F major, 63311H, 100055V (1)

Chopin-Liszt: The Maiden’s Wish (Mädchens wunch), ―Chant Polonaise‖ (Polish Song), Opus 74, no. 1, 62803H, 100055V (3)

Gluck-Sgambati: Mélodie from Orfeo, 64921H

Henselt: Were I a Bird (Si oiseau j’etais), Opus 2, no. 6, 62971H, 100095V (4)

Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesfreud (Love‘s Joy), 66143H

Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebeslied (Love‘s Sorrow), ―Alt Wiener Tanzweisen‖ (Old Viennese Dance Melodies), No. 2, 62103H

Felix Mendelssohn: Song Without Words ―Spinning Song,‖ 59661H, 151011K, 71521, 100055V (2)

Moussorgsky-Rachmaninoff: Hopak, 60641K

Paderewski: Minuet, Opus 14, no. 1 in G major, 68283H, 100165V (2)

Rachmaninoff: Barcarolle, Opus 10, no. 3 in G minor, 57604H

Rachmaninoff: Elegie (Elegy), Opus 3, No. 1, 69253H

Rachmaninoff: Etude Tableaux (Picture Study), Opus 39, No. 4 in b minor, 69593H

Rachmaninoff: Etude Tableaux, Opus 39, no. 6, 60891H, 100055V (4)

Rachmaninoff: Humoresque, Opus 10, 57965H

Rachmaninoff: ―Lilacs‖ (transcription of song for piano), 61761H, 100075V (2)

342

Rachmaninoff: Mélodie, Opus 3, 57545H

Rachmaninoff: Polichinelle, Opus 3, no. 4, 57905H

Rachmaninoff: Polka de W. R., 57275H

Rachmaninoff: Prelude, Opus 3, no. 2 in C-sharp minor, 57504H, 100075V (3)

Rachmaninoff: Prelude, Opus 23, no. 5 in G minor, 57525H, 100095V (2)

Rachmaninoff: Serenade, Opus 3, no. 5 in B-flat minor, 62441H, 100075V 91)

Rimsky-Korsakoff: Flight of the Bumblebee, 70301H

Rubinstein: Barcarolle (Boat Song) in A minor, 69893H

Schubert: Impromptu, Opus 90, no. 4 in A-flat major, 69373H

Schubert-Rachmaninoff: The Brooklet in G major, 65771H

Schubert-Liszt: Das Wandern (Wandering) in B flat, 64561H, 100095V (1)

Smith-Rachmaninoff: ―The Star Spangled Banner,‖ 57282F, 71511

Tchaikovsky: Troika, Opus 37, no. 11, 57914H, 100095V (3)

Tchaikovsky: Valse, Opus 40, no. 8 in A-flat major, 62531H

343

APPENDIX J: MUSICAL WORKS RECORDED ON GRAMOPHONE BY RACHMANINOFF, 1919–19421 (ALPHABETICAL BY COMPOSER)

Bach, J. S.: Partita No. 4, BWV 828, ―Sarabande‖ in D major (16 December 1925)2

(Arranged by Rachmaninoff): Partita, BWV 1006: movements 1, 3, and 7 (Gavotte en Rondeau and Gigue, 26 February 1942; Prelude, 27 February 1942)

Beethoven: (Arranged by Rubinstein) Ruins of Athens, Opus 113, no. 5 ―Marcia alla turca‖ (14 December 1925)

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 8 in G, Opus 30, no. 3 (with Fritz Kreisler) (22 March 1928)

Variations in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80 (part 1, 14 May 1925; part 2, 13 April 1925)

Bizet (arranged by Rachmaninoff): L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1: Menuet (24 February 1922)

Borodin: Scherzo in A-flat major (23 December 1935)

Chopin: Ballade No. 3, Opus 47 (13 April 1925)

Mazurka, Opus 63, no. 3 (27 December 1923)

Mazurka, Opus 68, no. 2 (23 December 1935)3

1RCA/BMG, current custodian of the Victor catalogue, has reissued and remastered all of Rachmaninoff‘s approved gramophone recordings, including his pre-Victor Edison discs, first on long-play records, then on compact discs. The RCA catalogue number for the 10-compact disc set is: RCA 09026-61265-2. All of the works listed in this appendix are drawn from this complete set.

2The date in parenthesis indicates the recording date of the performance which Rachmaninoff approved for issue. Rachmaninoff recorded most works several times, chose the version to release, and had the others destroyed. Max Harrison, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings (London: Continuum, 2005), 390–401.

3According to Harrison‘s annotated index detailing Rachmaninoff‘s discography, he rejected this performance for issue by Victor. This appears to be a discrepancy in Harrison‘s index. Victor evidently issued the 344

Nocturne, B 54, 9, no. 2 (5 April 1927)

Nocturne, Opus 15, no. 2 (27 December 1923)

(Arranged by Liszt) Polish Songs, S. 480, nos. 1 and 6 (The Maiden’s Wish and The Return Home) (27 February 1942)

Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Opus 39 (18 March 24)

Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, Opus 35 ―Funeral March‖ (18 February 1930)

Waltz in E minor, B 56 (18 February 1930)

Waltz, Opus 18, in E-flat major ―Grande valse brillante‖ (4 November 1920)

Waltz, Opus 34, no. 3 in F major (4 November 1920)

Waltz, Opus 42 ―Grand Valse‖ (18 April 1919)

Waltzes, Opus 64, nos. 1–3 (no. 1, 2 April 1921 and 5 April 1923; no. 2, 5 April 1927; no. 3, 19 April 1919 and 5 April 1927)

Waltz, Opus 69, no. 2 (24 October 1923)

Waltz, Opus 70, no. 1 (2 April 1921)

Daquin, Louis-Claude: Premier livre de pièces: Troisième Suite–Le coucou (21 October 1920)

Debussy: Children‘s Corner Suite: ―Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum‖ and ―Golliwogg‘s Cake-walk‖ (4 November 1920, 2 April 1921, respectively)

Dohnányi, Ernö: Concert Etude, Opus 28, no. 6 (25 October 1921)

Gluck (arranged by Giovanni Sgambati): Mélodie from Orfeo (14 May 1925)

work because it is included in RCA Victor‘s complete works of Rachmaninoff, RCA 09026-61265-2, and Victor only issued approved performances. 345

Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Opus 12, no. 2 (Waltz) and no. 4 (Elves‘ Dance) (12 October 1921)

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in C minor, Opus 45 (with Fritz Kreisler) (14 and 15 September 1928)

Handel: Air and Variations ―The Harmonious Blacksmith,‖ HWV 430 (3 January 1936)

Henselt, Adolph: Etude caracteristiques, Opus 2, no. 6 (Si oiseau j’etais) (24 November 1923)4

Kreisler (arranged by Rachmaninoff): Liebesfreud (29 December 1925 and 26 February 1942)

Liebesleid (25 October 1921)

Liszt: Concert Etude, S. 145, no. 2 ―Gnomenreigen‖ (16 December 1925)

Hungarian Rhapsody, S. 244, no. 2 (23 April 1919)

Polonaise, S. 223, no. 2 (13 April 1925)

Felix Mendelssohn: Etudes, Opus 104b, nos. 2 and 3 (5 April 1927)

Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opus 61: Scherzo (23 December 1935)

Song without Words, Opus 67, no. 4 Spinning Song (3 November 1920 and 25 April 1928)

4According to Harrison‘s annotated index of Rachmaninoff‘s discography, he rejected this performance for issue by Victor. However, Victor evidently issued the work because it is included in RCA Victor‘s complete works of Rachmaninoff, RCA 09026-61265-2, and Victor only issued approved performances. Harrison does discuss the Henselt recording in the text of his volume on page 242, so perhaps this is a typographical error. 346

W. A. Mozart: Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 (300i): Movements 1 and 3 (Andante grazioso,18 April 1919; Allegretto rondo alla Turca, 14 May 1925)

Mussorgsky: Hopak (13 April 1925)

Moszkowski, Moritz: Etude, Opus 52, no. 4 ―Jongleuse‖ (6 March 23)

Paderewski: , Opus 14, no. 1, Menuet célèbre (5 April 1927)

Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Opus 15 (Vivace, parts, 1, 3; Andante, 4 December 1939; Vivace, part 2; Allegro vivace, 24 February 1940)

Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 186 (Adagio sostenuto, 31 December 1923; Allegro scherzando, 3 January 1924; Maestoso, parts 1, 2, 3; Adagio sostenuto, parts 1, 2, 10 April 1929; Adagio sostenuto, parts 3, 4; Allegro scherzando, 13 April 1929)

Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Opus 307 (Allegro ma non tanto, Adagio, part 1, Alla breve, parts 1, 3, 4 December 1939; Adagio, part 2; Alla breve, part 2, 24 February 1940)

Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Opus 408 (20 December 1941)

Etude-Tableaux, Opus 33, nos. 2 and 7 (18 March 1940)

Etude-Tableaux, Opus 39, no. 6 (16 December 1925)

Isle of the Dead, Opus 299 (20 April 1929)

5With the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.

6With the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski.

7With the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.

8Ibid.

9 Rachmaninoff conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra.

347

Lachtäubchen (Behr) ―Polka de W. R.‖ (24 April 1919, 12 October 1921, and 4 April 1928)

Moment musicaux, Opus 16, no. 2 (18 March 1940)

Morceaux de salon, Opus 10, nos. 3 and 5 (no. 3, 24 April 1919; no. 5, 9 April 1940)

Morceaux de fantaisies, Opus 3, nos. 2–5 (no. 2, 24 April 1919, 12 October 1921, and 4 April 1928; no. 3, 9 April 1940; no. 4, 6 March 23; no. 5, 4 November 1922 and 3 January 1936)

Oriental Sketch in B-flat Major (18 March 1940)

Polka Italienne (4 hands)10 (c. 1938)

Powder and Paint11(22 February 1926)

Preludes, Opus 23 no. 5 and 10 (no. 5, 3 May 1920; no. 10, 18 March 1940)

Preludes, Opus 32, nos. 3, 5–7, and 12 (no. 3, 18 March 1940; no. 5, 3 May 1920; nos. 6 and 7, 18 March 1940; no. 12, 21 January 1921)

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 4312 (24 December 1934)

Song, Opus 21, no. 5 ―Lilacs‖ (27 December 1923 and 26 February 1942)

Song, Opus 38, no. 3 ―Daisies‖ (18 March 1940)

Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Opus 4413 (11 December 1939)

Vocalise,14 Opus 34, no. 14 (20 April 1929)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee (16 April 1929)

10With Natalia Rachmaninoff, his wife.

11Nadezhda Plevitskaya, mezzo soprano, joins Rachmaninoff.

12With the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski.

13Rachmaninoff conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra.

14Ibid. 348

Saint-Saëns: (Arranged by Siloti): of the Animals: The Swan (30 December 1924)

Scarlatti, Domenico (arranged by Tausig): Pastorale in E minor, Opus 64, no. 3 (19 April 1919)

Scriabin: Prelude, Opus 11, no. 8 (16 April 1929)

Schubert: (Arranged by Liszt): Das Wandern, D. 795, no. 1 (14 April 1925)

(Arranged by Rachmaninoff): Die schone Mullerin, D. 795, Opus 25, no. 2 ―Wohin?‖ (29 December 1925)

(Arranged by Liszt): Schwanengesang, S. 560, no. 7 Ständchen ―Leise flehen‖ (27 February 1942)

Impromptu, D 899, Opus 90, no. 4 in A-flat major (29 December 1925)

Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, D. 574, Opus 162 (with Fritz Kreisler) (20/21 December 1928)

R. Schumann: Carnaval, Opus 9 (part 1, 12 April 1929; parts 2, 4, 9 April 1929; parts 3, 5, 6, 10 April 1929)

Spanisches Liederspiel, Opus 74, no. 10 ―Der Kontrabandiste‖ (27 February 1942)

Strauss, Jr., Johann: Man lebt nur einmal, Opus 167 (5 April 1927)

Tchaikovsky: Les saisons, Opus 37b, no. 11 ―November–Troika‖ (3 May 1920 and 11 April 1928)

Morceaux, Opus 40, no. 8, Valse (5 April 1923)

Morceaux, Opus 10, no. 2, Humoresque (27 December 1923)

(Arranged by Rachmaninoff): Song, Opus 16, no. 1 ―Cradle Song‖ (26 February 1942)

349

350

APPENDIX K: 1922 REPARATION OF FOOD REMITTANCE LIST1 AMERICAN RELIEF ADMINISTRATION

Moscow: $100 Professors and Teachers of Moscow University $200 Professors and Teachers of Conservatory of Music $200 Professors and Teachers of Philharmonic Society $100 Professors and Teachers of Moscow High Technical School $100 Professors and Teachers of Institute of Engineers of Ways and Communications $50 Professors and Teachers of Institute of Agriculture $100 Professors and Teachers of School of Painting and Sculpture $100 Land Survey Institute $100 Commercial Institute $100 High School for Women $100 Union of Russian Playwriters and Composers $150 Artist of the State Great (Opera) Theater $100 Artists of the State Little (Dramatic) Theater $50 Artists of the State Moscow Art Theater $100 Committee for Amelioration of the Existence of Scientists

Petrograd: $100 Professors and Teachers of Petrograd University $50 Professors and Teachers Institute of Technology $100 Professors and Teachers Institute of Ways and Communications $50 Mining Institute $100 Politechnical Institute $100 Academy of Medicine $100 High School for women $100 Academy of Painting $200 Petrograd Conservatory of Music $100 Academy of Science $100 Union of Russian Playwriters and Composers $200 House of Russian Men of Letters and Scientists $150 Artists of the State Mariinski Theater $100 Artists of the Alexandrinski Theater

Kharkoff: $100 Professors and Teachers of Kharkoff University $100 Professors and Teachers of Kharkoff Institute of Technology $100 Professors and Teachers of School of Music

1Copy of the list sent by Rachmaninoff to the American Relief Administration in 1922 specifying dollar amounts and recipients of food supplies. The amounts total $4,600. Rachmaninoff Archive, Music Division, LOC, ML 30.55., Section B2, Correspondence to SR, A–, File ―American Relief Association.‖

351

Kieff: $100 Professors and Teachers of Kieff University $100 Professors and Teachers of Kieff Politechnical Institute $100 Professors and Teachers of Conservatory of Music

Kasan: $100 Professors and Teachers of Kasan University $100 Professors and Teachers of Kasan School of Music

Nijni Novgorod: $100 Professors and Teachers of N. Novgorod University $100 Professors and Teachers of N. Novgorod Conservatory of Music

Odessa: $100 Professors and Teachers of Odessa University $100 Professors and Teachers of Odessa Conservatory of Music

Saratoff: $100 Professors and Teachers of Saratoff University $100 Professors and Teachers Saratoff Conservatory of Music

352

APPENDIX L: ―TAGORE ON RUSSIA‖ LETTER TO THE EDITOR1

To the Editor of the New York Times: The ―Circle of Russian Culture,‖ the aim of which is to foster intellectual intercourse among the Russian immigrants in New York, feels compelled to comment on a recent interview given by Rabindranath Tagore. He visited Russia, and many of his statements concerning that country have appeared in different periodicals, both in this country and elsewhere. Much to our surprise, he has given praise to the activities of the Bolsheviki, and seemed rather delighted with their achievements in the field of public education. Strangely, not a word did he utter on the horrors perpetrated by the Soviet Government, and the Ogpu2 in particular. Time and again statements similar to his have been given out to the press by persons who, officially or otherwise, have been kept on the payroll of the communist oppressors of Russia. The value of such public utterances is well known to every thinking man or woman. Nor is it possible to answer every one of these misstatements individually. Tagore‘s case is different: he is considered among the great living men of our age. His voice is heard and listened to all over the world. By eulogizing the dubious pedagogical achievements of the Soviets, and by carefully omitting every reference to the indescribable torture in which the Soviets have been subjecting the Russian people for a period of over thirteen years, he has created a false impression that no outrages actually exist under the blessings of the Soviet regime. In view of the misunderstanding which may thus arise, we wish to ask whether he is aware of the fact that all Russia is groaning under the terrible yoke of a numerically negligible, but well organized, gang of Communists who are forcibly, by means of Red Terror, imposing their misrule upon the Russian people? Does he know that, according to statistical data disseminated by the Bolsheviki themselves, between 1923 and 1928 more than 3,000,000 persons, mostly workers and peasants, were held in prisons and concentration camps which are nothing but torture houses? He cannot be ignorant of the fact that the Communist rulers of Russia, in order to squeeze the maximum quantity of food out of the peasants, and also with the intent of reducing them in a state of object misery, are, and have been, penalizing dissenters by exiling them to the extreme north, where those who by a miracle are able to survive the severe climate are compelled by force to perform certain work which cannot be compared even with the abomination of the gallery of olden times. These unfortunate sufferers are being daily and systematically subjected to indescribable privations, humiliations, suffering and torture. At the very time of his visit in Russia, forty-six Russian professors and engineers were executed by the Ogpu without any pretense of trial, on the alleged ground that they dared to interfere with, or doubt the wisdom of, the notorious five-year plan. At no time, and in no country, has there ever existed a government responsible for so many cruelties, wholesale murders, and common law crimes in general as those perpetrated by the Bolsheviki.

1―Tagore on Russia: The ‗Circle of Russian Culture‘ Challenges Some of His Statements,‖ New York Times, 15 January 1931.

2An early political police of the Soviet Union, a forerunner of the KGB. 353

Is it really possible that, with all his love for humanity, wisdom and philosophy, he could not find words of sympathy and pity for the Russian nation? By his evasive attitude toward the Communist grave-diggers of Russia, by the quasi- cordial stand which he has taken toward them, he has lent strong and unjust support to a group of professional murderers. By concealing from the world the truth about Russia he has inflicted perhaps unwittingly, great harm upon the whole populations of Russia, and possibly the world at large. Ivan I. Ostromislensky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Count Ilya L. Tolstoy.3 New York, January 12, 1931.

3Ilya was the third son of Leo Tolstoy. 354