GG and Stokowski

[Bradley Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

A GG sighting in notes about one of his heroes and role models:

"Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977)

"He was a man of contradictions--like most human beings--but in Leopold
Stokowski's case, they were perhaps more glaring and more numerous.  He was
a driven perfectionist, who sometimes took great liberties with composers'
scores in the name of interpretation; a staunch defender of human and civil
rights, he was acutely class-conscious; often tyrannical and remote with
musicians and admirers alike, he routinely played cops and robbers with the
children he passed on the way from rehearsal.  A perennial pioneer, he used
neither baton nor score in his concerts, changed traditional orchestra
seating as well as bowing and breathing techniques for his players,
introduced his own transcriptions for orchestra, made the first electrical
recordings both of a symphony orchestra and, later, a full-length symphony,
was expert in acoustical science and became knowledgeable about recording
technology, championed the work of contemporary composers--and was afraid
to fly, a paradoxical phobia for one who was so often ahead of his time.

"Stokowski was born on April 18, 1882 in London, England (though he
variously reported his date and place of birth as 1887 in Krakow, Poland,
and 1889 in Pomerania, Germany), to a Polish father and a mother of Irish
parentage.  Though he claimed that his Polish grandfather was responsible
for his earliest exposure to music, this is quite impossible, as he died
three years before his grandson's birth.  Young Leopold's first musical
experiences were certainly in church, and motivated him to study piano and
organ.  His first conducting experience came at the incredible age of 12,
when, as pianist for a children's orchestra, he had to substitute at the
last minute for the ailing conductor.  'That did it,' he later said. 'That
night I didn't sleep a wink.  I had but one thought--to become a conductor!'

"He attained this goal by a rather circuitous route.  Completing his
courses at the Royal College of Music in London under the tutelage of such
luminaries as Henry Walford Davies and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford,
Stokowski held two posts in succession as organist and choirmaster in
London churches; offered the prestigious organist/choirmaster position at
St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City in 1905, he leapt at the chance
to come to America.  Here he met his first wife, the concert pianist Olga
Samaroff (nee Lucie Hickenlooper, of San Antonio, Texas).  Her machinations
were largely responsible for the near-miraculous appointment of the young
organist, who had virtually no professional orchestral conducting
experience, to his first post as conductor of a symphony orchestra, in
Cincinnati in 1909.  His masters in England had been lenient in obliging
Stokowski to acquire a thorough command of music theory or historical
stylistic practice; as he himself recalled, they understood 'that I was in
love with music and wouldn't go in for anything that made me hate
it.'  Needless to say, these gaps in his education hampered him in his
earliest forays into conducting in Cincinnati; but, through hard work, he
quickly mastered the essentials of his craft, and won the overwhelming
approval of musicians, critics and public.  Tall and handsome, he had that
most elusive and desirable quality in a great performer: charisma.

"Having built an excellent ensemble, in 1912 Stokowski broke his contract
with Cincinnati (on questionable grounds) and accepted the post of
conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was to remain until
1940.  During his phenomenally successful tenure there, Stokowski created a
world-class orchestra whose reputation remains undimmed today.  He was
adored and respected by most of his musicians for eliciting superhuman
performance from them and creating a rich, deep, unified tone for which the
orchestra became famous.  Though he was not the first orchestra conductor
to institute youth concerts, his were among the most imaginative and
entertaining in history; when performing Saint-Saens' _Carnival of the
Animals_, for instance, Stokowski had a live menagerie appear onstage,
including two elephants!

"During and after his time in Philadelphia, Stokowski (affectionately known
as "Stoki") was engaged in countless projects and appearances elsewhere;
these included helping to establish the famous Curtis Institute, a
Philadelphia conservatory for gifted students, many of whom went on to
international careers, and from whose ranks he was able to recruit players
and singers for his orchestra, thus creating work for American
musicians.  He took the Philadelphia Orchestra on tour to Europe as well as
to other cities in the United States, including a memorable performance at
New York's Metropolitan Opera of Schoenberg's _Die glueckliche Hand_ and
Stravinsky's _Le sacre du printemps_, the latter featuring Stokowski's
personal choice in the principal dance role: the young and exciting Martha
Graham.  He conducted countless American premieres during this time,
notably Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (the so-called _Symphony of a Thousand_
because of the number of performers required) and Berg's opera _Wozzeck_
(in which Nelson Eddy played the Drum Major!).

"Following his departure from Philadelphia, Stokowski founded the
All-American Youth Orchestra, with which he toured South America and the
U.S.  He was principal conductor of the NBC Orchestra and the Houston
Symphony Orchestra for comparatively brief stints, leaving the former when
Toscanini decided to return, and the latter partly because he was forbidden
to engage 'Negro' singers for a concert, and partly, once again, due to his
performing so many modern works.  He guest conducted all over the world,
and went to Hollywood, where he appeared in three films, the most famous of
which is, of course, _Fantasia_, which he conceived with Walt Disney.  It
was this film, along with his radio broadcasts, and the over 750 works he
recorded--in which he solved many of the technical problems of orchestral
recordings--that have made him justly famous for broadening popular
interest in serious music, perhaps his most significant
contribution.  After years of nomadic existence, in 1962 he founded another
youth orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, which was based at
Carnegie Hall; he remained its principal conductor until 1972, when he
resumed a busy guest conducting and recording schedule.

"The recordings in this collection were for United Artists, and the
orchestra was the Symphony of the Air (the former NBC Orchestra, which was
disbanded by RCA when Toscanini retired, but which reformed and recorded
with several conductors); most of the works heard here were recorded in
sessions at Carnegie Hall from midnight to 2:00 A.M. (when the hall was
available) for a week in late 1958.

"Contemporary critics might take exception to what they may view as
Stokowski's extravagant choices for some of these works; notorious even
today for 'improving' orchestral scores and transcribing for orchestra
pieces written for other media, he is often scorned by purists who insist
on original instruments, original tuning and, to the extent known, original
style in the performance of historical music.  Stokowski was rarely moved
by these arguments; making no pretense of academic expertise or
intellectual depth, he would occasionally defer to those he respected in
matters of, say, Baroque era performance practice.  But he understood his
strengths, and ultimately trusted his instincts and his truly remarkable
ear for sonority and balance, abilities that were responsible for that
trademark 'Stokowski sound': a lush, warm, yet highly responsive tone
instantly recognizable to aficionados.

"Stokowski's early reviews of his concerts remark on restrained, refined,
'sensible' approach to interpretation; this would scarcely be credited by
those who heard only his later work.  This from Saul Caston, solo trumpet
in the Philadelphia for many years and later a conductor himself: 'I
admired the old Stokowski when his interpretations were 1% Stokowski and
99% the composer.  Later it became 99% Stokowski and 1% the composer.' But
for every detractor there were always admirers such as Neville Marriner and
Robert Shaw; controversy among such eminent musicians is perhaps the truest
index of Stokowski's greatness.

"The public was never less interested in the man than in the
musician.  Married three times (the last time to Gloria Vanderbilt), he had
innumerable affairs, the most notorious of which was with Greta
Garbo.  Always more comfortable with young people than adults, this rather
private person was a loving father who enjoyed playing with his
children.  A capricious, generic-Eastern-European accent from the native
English speaker, coupled with frequent contributions to the mythology that
surrounded him in his own lifetime, may in part be attributed to
Stokowski's recognition of this undeniable truth: particularly at the time
of his arrival in the United States, an artist with a Continental
background had more cachet with the public, especially among socialites
suffering from a cultural inferiority complex.  That he enjoyed certain
aspects of his playacting cannot be denied, and it is probably fair to say
that his role became so comfortable over time that it was an integral part
of his persona.

"Leopold Stokowski died in his sleep on September 13, 1977, at the grand
age of 95.  He was a man touched by genius, an artist who, though he
meticulously prepared for each performance, depended finally on his
intuition to inspire and illuminate.  Egotistical, certainly; on occasion,
mercurial; but, literally adored by millions, he changed the face of music
forever.  His controversial philosophy and methods have permanently
enlarged the musical debate on historical accuracy versus modern
interpretation.  Whether one approves of his liberties, there is no denying
that Stokowski endowed innumerable familiar works with new color and
excitement.  Thanks to brilliant recordings such as these, the legacy of a
truly unique musical mind is available to us all, and we are much the
richer for it.  In a world as diverse as ours, there is surely room for the
divergent viewpoints and unique artistry of both a Gustav Leonhardt and a
Glenn Gould, a Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the inimitable, towering Stokowski."

- Kay Baumgartner, notes to EMI 65427, 1994: music of Shostakovich,
Khachaturian, Respighi, Bloch, Cesti (!), Gabrieli (!), Palestrina (!),
Frescobaldi (!!)



Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl or  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
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"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot