Volume 9, September 2017
Koussevitzky's Double Bass Repertoire: A Reassessment

by Andrew Kohn, Ph.D.

Endnotes

Acknowledgement: Thanks for help with translation and with procuring materials to Sergio Acerb, Tobias Glöckler, Martin Harvey, Kathleen Manukyan, Tiziana Rankin, and Yana Tyulkova.

¹ The major published biographies are Arthur Lourié, Sergei Koussevitzky and his Epoch (New York: Borzoi, 1931) and Moses Smith, Koussevitzky (New York: Allen, Towne & Heath, 1947). In progress is Victor Yuzefovich's 3-volume work, which will surely become the new standard biography. The first two volumes are already published: Sergei Kusevitskii: Russkie gody [Serge Koussevitzky: Russian Years](Moscow: IAzyki slavianskoi kul'tury, 2004) and Sergei Kusevitskii: gody v Parizhe: mezhdu Rossiei i Amerikoi [Serge Koussevitzky: Paris Years: Between Russia and America] (Moscow: IAzyki slavianskoi kul'tury, 2013). Anatolii Vasil'evitch Astrov, Deiatel' russkol muzykal'noi kul'tury S.A. Kusevitskii (Leningrad: Muzyka, 1981) is particularly helpful concerning events inside Russia. For a good example of a summary of Koussevitzky's major accomplishments, see Douglass Shand-Tucci, The Crimson Letter: Harvard, Homosexuality and the Shaping of American Culture (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003), 296. Shand-Tucci adds the unusual detail of Koussevitzky leveraging his studies with Arthur Nikisch by paying Nikisch's card-playing debts (citing Elliott Galkin, A History of Orchestral Conducting: In Theory and Practice [New York: Pendragon, 1988], 723).

² David Wooldridge claims Koussevitzky fled to avoid arrest after angering the Czar with his incendiary letter about working conditions in the Bolshoi orchestra, published in the Moscow daily, Russkovo Slovo on Sept. 28, 1905 (Conductor's World [New York: Praeger, 1970], 137-8). Although the evidence Wooldridge cites doesn't fully support his claim, Koussevitzky had certainly scheduled a recital in Berlin for that December and might plausibly have planned not to return. Arthur Abell attributes the cancellation of the Berlin recital to "the great revulsion in Russia" (Musical Courier, [Nov. 29, 1905]: 6), but later cited Natalia (Mrs.) Koussevitzky's health (Nov. 14, 1906: 8). As Yuzefovitch points out, since Koussevitzky visited Moscow and St. Petersburg occasionally over the next few years, he must have stayed in Germany for musical, not political, reasons.

³ Most of these cities are documented by reviews in Musical Courier. Amsterdam and Brussels are documented by Astrov, Kusevitskii, 31.

⁴ The posture of the April 3, 1907 cover reflects the many photographs of the day that show violinists contemplating their instruments as they hold them on their laps.

⁵ Smith (Koussevitzky, 29-30) notes the importance of this source, but his project did not require complete details of its contents; nor did that of Peter H. Adams, whose primary topic is instrument manufacture (Adams, An Annotated Index to Selected Articles from The Musical Courier, 1880-1940 [Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2009]).

⁶ In addition to the pre-premiere performance with piano of the Rachmaninoff Vocalise in late 1915 (discussed below), he performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto and the Bruch Kol Nidrei, conducted by Ernst Wendel, on Feb. 9, 1911 (Russkaia Muzykolnaia Gazeta, Feb. 20-27, 1911, columns 242-3); the Handel Oboe Concerto on Jan. 7, 1915, conducted by Aleksandr Orlov (two issues of Russkaia Muzykolnaia Gazeta: Jan. 18, 1915, columns 76-7, and Jan. 25, 1915, columns 97-98); and the Mozart, Bruch, and Rachmaninoff in late 1916, conducted by Aleksandr Khessin (Musical Courier, Feb. 1, 1917, p. 43).

⁷ Astrov, Kusevitskii, 34.

⁸ Diane Cavallo, Triple Memoir: A Documentary Memoir of Three 20th Century Lives, Koussevitzkys and Naumoffs, unpublished manuscript (1968-73), Box 136, Folder 3, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 340. This is a dubious medical diagnosis, although a doctor friend tells me such a living situation might well aggravate a mild existing condition. Although Cavallo cites no specific source, she relied on the reminiscences of Koussevitzky's third wife, Olga, along with Koussevitzky's letters and journals.

⁹ Lourié, Koussevitzky, 147, 186; Cavallo, Triple Memoir, 367. Smith notes that the Russian solo tour was partly due to the difficulty of assembling an orchestra during the World War (Koussevitzky, 92-3), a difficulty that continued until at least 1920. The concert programs in Paris, which date from April 22 and 29 and May 6, 1921, and for which Koussevitzky hired members of the Colonne and Lamoreux Orchestra, are available online. The program lists only the Colonne Orchestra as the source for the players; the addition of Lamoreux is based on the reviews in Musical Courier, especially that of Vol. 82, no. 21 (May 26, 1921): 20. The London programs consulted are in Box 297, Folders 4 and 5, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

¹⁰ Musical Courier, Vol. 82, no. 10 (March 10, 1921): 42.

¹¹ On the recital cancellation, see Yuzefovich, Vol. 2: 27; on Paris, the program is in Box 297, Folder 5, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. and in Yuzefovitch, Vol. 2: 26; on London, the Musical Courier of July 21, 1921, 10, reports that "Koussewitzky's double bass recital is yet to come off"; the poster for the Société des Instruments Anciens, in Box 298, Folder 3, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. and reproduced in Yuzefovitch, Vol. 2:28, states "avec le concours de M. Serge Koussevitzky," but there is no verification the performance occurred as planned.

¹² The DMus from Brown was the first of ten honorary doctorates that Koussevitzky received, according to an onionskin in Koussevitzky's hand in Box 242, Folder 6, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Pages and repertoire from the Boston recitals are available in several sources, including Robert Daniel Stiles, Serge Koussevitzky: Recently Discovered Compositions for Double Bass and for Large Ensembles within the Context of His Life and Career (DMA Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 2003), 197-202, 240-1. The 1928 Boston recital was repeated in New York City six days later.

¹³ These Victor 78s were released by Biddulph on CD WHL 019 in 1994. The CD liner notes include the recording dates: Sept. 27, 1928 and Sept. 25 & 26, 1929.

¹⁴ See my "Koussevitzky's Double Bass Concerto: Sources, Authenticity and Editorial Revisions," Muzyka 1 (Fall-Winter 2005): 153-71.

¹⁵ The others are the Dittersdorf Concerto no. 2, K. 172, the Bottesini Concerto no. 2, and the "Dragonetti" concerto composed by Édouard Nanny.

¹⁶ Kohn, "Koussevitzky's Concerto."

¹⁷ Yuzefovich, Vol. 1: 164, cites a performance with orchestra in Moscow in Nov. 1916; he also performed the piece with orchestra in Rome on Dec. 22, 1920 (Box 297, Folder 3, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.).

¹⁸ Also discussed in Yuzefovich, Vol. 1, 73-74.

¹⁹ Cf., e.g., V. M. Bogdanov-Berezovsky, ed., R. M. Glier: stat'i, vospominaniia, materialy [Glière: Articles, Reminiscences, Materials], 2 vols. (Leningrad: Muzyka, 1965-67), Vol. 1: 364, n. 2; Smith, Koussevitzky, 36; Ingo Burghausen, "Serge Koussevitzky: An Historical Portrait for the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of his Death" (International Society of Bassists Newsletter, Vol. 18, no. 2 [Fall, 1992]: 25).

²⁰ Arthur Abell, "Master of the Bass-viol: Koussevitzky as Soloist on Most Ponderous of Instruments — His Artistic Ancestor" (New York Times, Oct. 21, 1928: 126). With this as background, Abell's reference to Koussevitzky performing "the duo for double bass and violin" with Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic in Musical Courier, Vol. 62, no. 6 (Feb. 8, 1911): 8, is a false memory of the Bottesini; the actual work was the Casadesus Sinfonia Concertante and the other solo instrument was the viola d'amore. In the same issue, in the "Reflections" column of editor Marc. A Blumenberg (6), we hear that the concert included "some other work in which the contra-bass illumined itself as an instrument that could interest us outside its ensemble functions."

²¹ In box 140, Folder 2, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

²² These memoirs were reported in 1950 as being underway (Abell, "Turning Point: New Evidence of What 1850 Premiere of 'Lohengrin' Meant to Richard Wagner," New York Times, Aug. 27, 1950: X7).

²³ Astrov, Kusevitskii: 32, 34. Also cited (without great detail) in Burghausen, "Koussevitzky"; Klaus Stoll, "Solo Bass Performances in Berlin," International Society of Bassists, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 1975): 107. My thanks to Irina Graef, archivist of the Berlin Philharmonic, who emailed me a copy of the BPO program booklet from Jan. 16, 1911 (personal communication, July 27, 2015).

²⁴ Russkaia Muzykolnaia Gazeta, Nov. 29, 1909, column 1147.

²⁵ Ohlone College (Adobe PDF); http://www.wso-hamburg.de/index.php/chronik-archiv/kompositionen;  YouTube. The YouTube performance uses a bass set up in the style of Viennese basses of the classical era, including what is called the "Viennese third-fourth tuning," discussed below.

²⁶ My thanks to Josef Focht for supplying a copy of his "Kontrabaß-Musik in der Mecklenburg-Schweriner Hofkapelle: Die Nachlässe von Johann Sperger (1750-1812) und Gustav Láska (1847-1928) in der Musikaliensammlung der Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Schwerin," in Ekkehard Ochs, ed., Studien zur lokalen und territorialen Musikgeschichte Mecklenburgs und Pommerns, Vol. 2 (Griefswald: Landesmusikrat Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 2002): 91-106, with its biography and works list for Láska. Here we learn of Láska's nine works for double bass with orchestra; his three chamber works with double bass; his four works for double bass and piano (in addition to those cited, the Lied ohne Worte und Scherzo, op. 5, and the Drei Romanzen), the unaccompanied Konzertstück, op. 54, and the Kontrabaß-Schule, op. 50. The works list in Friedrich Warnecke's Ad Infinitum (Hamburg, 1909: 44) also clearly distinguishes the Fünf Stücke from the "Wiegenlied." Láska's op. 11 no. 2 is cited in the online catalog of the Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Catalog of the Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (accessed July 2, 2014). This arrangement, which lies outside Láska's Nachlaß, is not included in Focht's works list. In addition to Koussevitzky's recording, op. 28 no. 5 is recorded by Zsolt Tibay on Double Bass Rarities (Hungaroton Classic, 2004).

²⁷ "Serge Kussewitzky a Soulful Performer," Music Courier, Vol. 54, no. 25 (June 19, 1907): 8.

²⁸ For more on Stein, see Hans Eberhardt, "Die Sondershäuser Lohkonzerte und ihre Geschichte," Zeitschrift des Vereins für Thüringische Geschichte, New Series Vol. 36 (1942): 242-243, 250. A handy summary of Stein's career is found in Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, ed., trans. Cynthia Klohr, Hans von Bülow's Letters to Johannes Brahms: a Research Edition (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2012): 114. Riemann Musik Lexikon adds that the Concertstück was composed for Chr. Simon and was Stein's most famous composition (12th ed., ed. Wilibald Gurlitt [Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1961], Personenteil L-Z: 725). For more on Christian Simon, see B. Henderson, "Some Virtuosi of the Double Bass," The Strad, Vol. 19, no. 220 [August, 1908]: 127.

²⁹ See The Musical Courier, Jan. 3, 1906: 29 and April 18, 1906: 34a, referencing performances in Paris and Leipzig respectively. When Nanny was professor of Contrabass at the Paris Conservatory and was responsible for setting morceux de concerts each year, he "discovered" a Gavotte by Lorenziti and a Concerto by Dragonetti, both actually by himself, a practice that perhaps stems from his professional relationship with Casadesus.

³⁰ For the Berlin performance, see Stoll, "Solo Bass Performances in Berlin." For Paris, see Yuzefovich, Vol. 2: 27. For Boston, see Stiles, Compositions, 246.

³¹ The true Borghi Sonata, no. 1, is published by Doblinger as Diletto Musicale no. 396.

³² Wilhelm Altmann and Wadim Borrissovsky are an early citation, noting a copy among Casadesus's papers in Paris (Literaturverzeichnis für Bratsche und Viola d'amore [Wolfenbüttel: Verlag für musikalische Kultur und Wissenschaft, 1937]: 109-22). Although Michael and Dorothea Jappe omit the "Sonata 3" from their Viola d'amore Bibliographie: das Repertoire für die historische Viola d'amore von ca. 1680 bis nach 1800 (Winterthur: Amadeus, 1997), Heinz Berck includes it in his Viola d'amore Bibliographie (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1986: 83), adding the information that, while the manuscript of Borghi's undisputed Sonata 1 is in the collection of Paul Günther (with a copy in Prague), the manuscript of the Sonata 3 is in the Paris Conservatory Library with the rest of Casadesus's works. This item is however missing from the online catalog. Planyavsky (Geschichte des Kontrabasses, 2nd ed. [Tutzing: Schneider, 1989]: 743) attributes the two Casadesus sonatas to Casedesus's other most relied-upon nomes de plume, Lorenziti (Planyavsky supplies Bernard as the first name).

³³ Charles Cudworth, "Ye Olde Spuriosity Shoppe, or Put it in the Anhang," Notes 12 (1954-55): 25-40, 533-55. Cudworth took the term from Otto Erich Deutsch. On Casadesus's spuriosities, see 32, 534, 537, 539.

³⁴ Musical Courier, vol. 56, no. 7: 26; on that occasion Koussevitzky performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto and Bruch's "Kol Nidrei." Actually, as Massimo Pinca documents, "Per Questa Bella Mano" had been performed in 1842 by bassist August Müller (see "August Müller's Contributions to the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik [1848-1849]: Evidence of Approaches to Orchestral Double Bass Playing in the Mid-19th Century" [Ad Parnassum, Vol. 12, no. 23 (Apr. 2014): 24]). My thanks to Shanti Nachtergaele for bringing this article to my attention. However, this was quite possibly the only performance of the piece between Mozart's death and Koussevitzky's performances.

³⁵ Indeed, we have Koussevitzky's performance material with clear indications of use for the first five of Lourié's items (Sonatas by Handel, Galliard, Eccles; Mozart Concerto, Bruch, Kol Nidrei); not so for the final three (Bach, Strauss, Scriabin)

³⁶ This appears in his Hohe Schule (discussed further below), Vol. 6, where it is coupled with the Gavotte from the sixth cello suite (both with piano accompaniment).

³⁷ For Russia, see Russkaia Muzykolnaia Gazeta, Feb. 18, 1901, columns 211-212; for Berlin, see Stoll, "Berlin," 107; for Leipzig, see Moses, Koussevitzky, 32.

³⁸ "Musikalische Criminalia," Die Musik xv (1922, no. 3): 424 (my translation).

³⁹ Margaret Lourie, "Henry Eccles," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001). The Valentini is available in a modern edition from Grancino Publications (1983); the Bonporti from Bärenreiter's Hortus Musicus, vols. 44, 45, 77. For more on this remarkable piece, known virtually exclusively as either a transcription or in very heavily edited formats, see Eleanor McCrickard, "'Baroque Music' in Later Centuries: 'Recreations' of Henry Eccles' Forgery" (International Journal of Musicology 6: 121-148). McCrickard (128) notes that the copy in the Library on Congress, from the estate of Alfred Moffatt, includes Moffatt's observation that Eccles's 2nd sonata is actually Loeillet's op. 5, no. 1.

⁴⁰ Cited in Musical Times, May 1, 1921: 371. Other items on the program were the Bottesini Tarentella, the slow movement of the Mozart Concerto, the Beethoven Minuet, and excerpts from the Koussevitzky Concerto (program of Dec. 22, 1920, Box 297, Folder 3, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.).

⁴¹ "Sergei Kussewitzky, King of the Contrabass" (Musical Courier, May 15, 1907: 7), quotes the Staatsbuerger Zeitung (Berlin, Dec. 12, 1903), which includes the detail that the sonata was in F-sharp.

⁴² Box 297, Folder 1, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

⁴³ See program from Milan, Dec. 22, 1920 and program for the 1921 tour, both in Box 297, Folder 3, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

⁴⁴ Cited in Joseph John Houdek, "A Catalogue of Literature for the Double Bass" (MM Thesis, University of Michigan, 1948), 58. This was one in a series of ten transcriptions. C. F. Schmidt also published Wolf's "Frühlingstraum," op. 41. My thanks to David Heyes for providing a pdf of this very scarce edition. The piano part does not specify an instrument, so it was probably published with several solo parts.

⁴⁵ "Sergei Kussewitzky a Soulful Performer" (Musical Courier 54:25 [June 19, 1907]: 8).

⁴⁶ Musical Courier 72:14 (April 6, 1916): 42

⁴⁷ Ellen von Tideböhl, "Leopold Auer and Girl Pianist in Sonata Recitals at Moscow" (Musical Courier, Vol. 72, no. 14 [April 6, 1916]): 42-43; cited in Robert Palmieri, Sergei Vasil'evich: A Guide to Research (New York: Garland, 1985), 276-77.

⁴⁸ Arthur Smolian's review in Jarhgang 6, no. 6 (late December, 1906): 393 reads, "Dem hochgradig entwickelten Kontrabassisten Sergei Kussewitzky, der gewissermassen Violoncellospieler auf dem Kontrabass ist, traten als veritable Violoncellisten der sehr tüchtige Alfred Saal und der fein-virtuose Gerard Hekking (drittes Philh. Konzert), die beide das a-moll Konzert von Saint-Saëns vortrugen, sowie der tonwarme aber technisch etwas ausser training geratene Kammervirtuose Oskar Brückner gegenüber." [The highly refined double bassist Serge Koussevitzky, who is widely known as a cello player on the double bass, became a veritable cellist when, with that fine virtuoso Gerard Hekking as a foil, and in the excellent Alfred Hall (in the third Philharmonic Concert), they both played the A minor concerto by Saint-Saëns; they really carried the piece — as compared to the warm-toned but technically somewhat rusty Chamber Virtuoso Oskar Brückner].

⁴⁹ Yuzefovich, Vol. 1: 40, 41, 80. However, he only cites Dubinsky's reminiscences published in the New York Times, Nov. 23, 1924: X6. These state that the two practiced concertos; no specific works are cited.

⁵⁰ Olga Koussevitzky's citation is in the liner notes to the 1951 reissue of Koussevitzky's recordings.

⁵¹ Michael Klinghoffer, double bass, and Dmitri Novgorodsky, piano: Mostly Transcriptions Vol. 2. Compact Disc. Fukuoka, Japan: Shikiori CD SKOR 1004, 2013.

⁵² Modern edition, Munich: Walter Wollenweber, 1971, from which the information of the original publication was drawn. Fitzenhagen was the cellist for the quartet's premiere. Yuzefovich also believes Koussevitzky performed Fitzenhagen's transcription.

⁵³ Except in m. 48. Moreover, both versions with cello solo differ from the original version for quartet in this measure. Viva la différence!

⁵⁴ Anonymous liner notes to "Legend" Danish double bass (Compact Disc), Danacord DACOCD 593 (2002). The piece was republished in the collection Franz Simandl: Ten Concert Pieces, Volume 2 (Flagler Beach, FL: St. Francis, 2004) as well as in the more recent CEFES reprint cited above.

⁵⁵ The copy I requested via Interlibrary Loan chanced to stem from the library of Fabian Sevitzky and bore four stamps: "Complimentary Copy," "Property of Fabian Sevitzky," "Gift" (in the same ink as a double stroke through "Property"), and "Music Library/University of Miami/Coral Gables, Florida" — another presentation copy. The divisi is playable as double stops: the piece could be played as a quintet.

⁵⁶ Republished by Recital Music (Somerset, England), 2011.

⁵⁷ See Astrov, Kusevitski, 19, 24 and a review in Russkaia Muzykolnaia Gazeta, Feb. 18, 1901, columns 211-2.

⁵⁸ Timings are drawn from commercial recordings and, for Stein, my own performances.

⁵⁹ See Musical Courier, Vol. 61, no. 6 (August 10, 1910): 11 (Moscow column). For a modern citation of the dedication, see G.L. Golovinsky, ed., Konius: Stat'i, materiaiy, vospominania [Konius: Articles, materials, reminiscences] (Moscow: Muzyka, 1965): 29.

⁶⁰ The program is included in Musical Courier, Vol. 56, no. 6 (Feb. 5, 1908): 17.

⁶¹ Klára Móritz and Simon Morrison, ed., Funeral Games in Honor of Arthur Vincent Lourié (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014): 49-51, 123, 125, 132, with additional details on the Koussevitzky biography, 134-35).

⁶² Carol J. Oja, Making Music Modern (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 387.

⁶³ The event was reported in Comœdia on June 18 and 19. The fullest recent description of the event (although with the incorrect year 1926 for the first ceremony) is Janusz Cegiella: Dziecko szczęścia. Aleksander Tansman i jego czasy [Child of Luck. Alexander Tansman and His Times] (2 vols.; Warsaw: Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1986 and Lodz: Wyudawnictwo 86 Press, 1996), Vol. 1: 164-5. See also Norman Demuth, Albert Roussel, a Study (London: United Music Publishers, 1947); Lourié, Koussevitzky, 191; Smith, Koussevitzky, 127 and 188. Le Flem's manuscript is dated June 16, 1925: just two days before the event. No wonder the piece was not performed as a duo on that occasion. Imagine a bassist playing this sensitive miniature in front of Koussevitzky on two days' notice!

⁶⁴ Vie et Œuvre de Paul le Flem (1881-1984) (2 vol: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2000), vol. 1: 213.

⁶⁵ Prokofiev's diary supplies amusing details of his contribution: "It begins simply but later on inflates into passages where it appears that twelve hands are playing the piano. This was recorded into the pianola to be performed in the evening . . . [Henri] Casadesus played out a little comedy saying that Prokofiev had become tres timide and was too nervous to play in public, so as soon as I had come out on stage the curtain was lowered and the pianola began to play. As long as the music stayed conventionally simple nothing much happened, but when it grew to twelve hands the effect was very funny." He thought he recalled a contribution by Ravel, but presumably meant Dukas or le Flem (Sergei Prokofiev, Sergey Prokofiev diaries, 1924-1933: Prodigal Son, trans. and ann. Anthony Phillips [Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013], 181). For "Saluons le chef eminent" see Smith, Koussevitzky, 188. For Honegger and Tansman, see Cegiella, loc. cit.

⁶⁶ That is, mm. 147-50. These excerpts were reset with a software package for greater legibility.

⁶⁷ Cegiella, Aleksander Tansman, 164.

⁶⁸ The full title is also included in the 2008 Saier & Hug edition. For La Naissance de la Lyre I relied on the piano reduction (Paris: Durand, 1924). The copy available via IMSLP does not include the dedication page. For circumstances of the premieres, see Robert Follet, Albert Roussel: A Bio-Bibliography (New York: Greenwood, 1988), 6, 15-16; for the Duo, see 21. The unusual notation of scordatura is discussed in Kohn, "Bass in a New Key" (Bass World, Vol. 26, no. 2: 9). The Library of Congress copy also includes a few other differences from the published version, including the contour of the bassoon line in mm. 134-7:

In addition, the final two double-stops of the bass part are pizzicato.

⁶⁹ Sevitzky published five more transcriptions with Ricordi in 1940.

⁷⁰ Available at Google Books. I have found no reputable family tree of Tolstoy that includes Eugénie. She is also called Tolstoy's daughter in Radio Digest, Feb. 23, 1924, p. 15: clearly a false claim.

⁷¹ See the Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan. 4, 1921: 4 Google Books; also quoted in Chicago's The Jewish Era, Vol. 30, No. 4 (July-August, 1921): 112.

⁷² The Musical Monitor, vol. 8 (Nov., 1918), p. 124, available at Google Books. The nature of her appointment in Petrograd is given in the Asbury [NJ] Park Press, August 15, 1917: 4, available at Newspapers.com.

⁷³ Google Books.

⁷⁴ Ellen Knight, Charles Martin Loeffler: A Life Apart in American Music (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 284-5, 227. The original was in French; the translation is by Knight.

⁷⁵ Oslo: Norsk Musikforlag, 1875; reprinted several times since.

⁷⁶ By coincidence, the Oliver Ditson volume was a source for Igor Stravinsky's Four Norwegian Moods (1942; see Lawrence Morton, "Stravinsky at Home," in Jann Pasler, ed., Confronting Stravinsky: Man, Musician, and Modernist [Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986], 337-41). Loeffler had been interested in Norwegian folk music for some time, remarking in 1910, "I once had a volume of more than seven hundred Norwegian tunes. They were very interesting in melody, as well as harmonically and rhythmically." He added the snarky jab, "Since I first looked them through I have never been able to find a piece by Grieg which I could not duplicate on some page of my book" (in Olin Downes, "Originality in Composer's Art Means Sophistication, Says Loeffler" [Musical America, April 16, 1910: 3], quoted in Knight, Loeffler, 242). He probably meant Warmuth's 1878 republication of Ældre og nyere norske Fjeldmelodier / samlede og bearbeidede for Pianoforte af Ludvig M. Lindeman (Christiana : P.F. Mallings, [1853-67]), which includes 541 melodies, possibly with the addition of a supplement published by Warmuth in 1907 that brought the total number of melodies to 636 (facsimile reprint: Ludwig M. Lindeman: Norske Fjeldmelodier [Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Norsk Musikksamling 3], 1963]). Although he might have owned a personal copy, he would also have had ready access to the 1878 publication through the Bibliothèque nationale de France, which reports holding a copy since 1877 [sic]. I am grateful to the BnF for their answer to an email query. No material quoted in "Norske Saga" is included in this larger collection.

⁷⁷ Auber Forestier, "Introduction," The Norway Music Album (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1881), 4. YouTube of course includes many contemporary examples, especially of winners of competitions.

⁷⁸ His name is not included in the programs from the Concerts Koussevitzky. Many of these are available online in the document "Serge Koussevitzky: concert programs, Paris 1921-28" (Victor Koshkin-Youritzin, 2010; Classical Net); all are available in Boxes 297-300, Serge Koussevitzky Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

⁷⁹ Domenico Tampieri, La Leggerezza Dell'Elefante: Guido Gallignani (1880-1974) concertista all'Estero Carteggi Nostalgia e Cricita internazionale di un Contrabbassista compositore (Faenza, 2004), 158-9, 164, 280-2, 522. I am grateful to Gallignani's niece, Maria Luisa Miliani, for granting me access to the manuscripts of this piece.

⁸⁰ For information on Rychlik, see David D Van Tassel and John J Grabowski, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), available online; William Osborne, Music in Ohio (Kent State University Press, 2004), 536, available at Google Books; and Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None (Cleveland: Gray, 2000), 53, available at Google Books. The photo in John T. Sabol and Lisa A. Alzo, Cleveland Czechs (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2009), 87, available at Google Books), is well worth seeing. For the BSO runout to Cleveland, see http://archives.bso.org.

⁸¹ The year comes from Caroline Capin Benser and David Francis Urrows, Randall Thompson: A Bio-Bibliography (New York: Greenwood, 1991), 88-9.

⁸² Preface to the score (Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1972).

⁸³ This scenario was suggested by a librarian at the Library of Congress.

⁸⁴ The classic exploration of this thirst for the new is in Hugo Leichentritt, Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony and the New American Music (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946).