Serge Koussevitzky

One of the most important symphony conductors in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century, Serge Koussevitzky (1874–1951) not only introduced American audiences to the works of modern Russian and European composers, he championed young American composers. In this regard Koussevitzky played a pivotal role in the development of modern American classical music. He was also instrumental as an educator, with probably his most important contribution in this field being the establishment of the Berkshire Music Center in Massachusetts.

Early Musical Training

Serge Alexandrovich Koussevitzky was born in Vishny-Volochok, Russia, a small town about 160 miles northwest of Moscow, on July 26, 1874. He was born into a musical family: his father played either violin or double bass (possibly both), his mother was a pianist, and one of his siblings, Adolf, was a well-known musician, teacher, and conductor in Moscow. Koussevitzky's mother died when he was three years old and he and his siblings were faced with the strict discipline of his father. At age eight Koussevitzky came under the tutelage of a local woman named Maria Fedorovna Ropenberg who not only mitigated the elder Koussevitzky's harshness, but also taught young Serge piano. Soon afterward he began composing music for the local theater and by the time he was twelve years old was touring with the theater troupe (throughout the local district). Legend has it that Koussevitzky ran away from home at age fourteen to study in Moscow, but that is only partly correct. Koussevitzky did take private cello lessons in Moscow but he seldom stayed there more than a night. In Vishny-Volochok and elsewhere—such as on the train to Moscow or on pleasure boats on the Volga River—he took odd jobs as a musician to pay for his studies and the cost of his travel to and from Moscow. In the fall of 1891 he did, however, make his way to Moscow to begin serious musical studies. He was seventeen years old and he may have been preceded to Moscow by his brother Adolf (the records are unclear).

Koussevitzky first applied for admission to study at the Imperial Moscow Conservatory but was told to reapply in the spring. Instead the impatient Koussevitzky applied for admission at the School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where he was given the same reply. This time Koussevitzky would not take no for an answer and the strong-willed youth managed to convince the director, Pyotr Adamovich Shostakovsky, of his desire and his merit. Since the penniless Koussevitzky could not afford the tuition he was given the choice to study either trombone or double bass, both of which came with a scholarship and a stipend (since students seldom chose these instruments). Koussevitzky chose the double bass.

Koussevitzky's double-bass professor was Josef Rambousek, a Czech who was the first double-bass player at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. Within a year Rambousek had pronounced his gifted student a virtuoso; Koussevitzky, in 1892, even performed with Tchaikovsky (on piano) in the latter's rooms. They played the Andante Cantabile from Tchaikovsky's first string quartet. While a gifted musician Koussevitzky was less prodigal when it came to musical theory, and this lifelong weakness not only effected his later career as a conductor but gave rise to various negative rumors.

A Virtuoso Double Bassist

Koussevitzky's performing remained unmatchable. Part of the secret of his success he claimed was that he tuned his instrument a tone higher for added clarity. On October 1, 1894, he joined the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra where he performed for both opera and ballet. Soon after this triumph, and while still attending school, Koussevitzky tried out for the position of double bassist for the orchestra of the St. Petersburg's Imperial Opera. He was the first to audition and after he performed half of the other applicants did not even bother to try out. Koussevitzky was awarded the position but refused, ostensibly because he would be performing in opera only. Many have come to believe that the whole episode was merely a prank. A personal aspect of Koussevitzky at this time is that he converted to Christianity. The exact date of this conversion is unknown, but it was sometime before joining the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, which barred Jews.

Koussevitzky gave his first solo performance in 1896 in Moscow—though with the double bass, especially at that time, solo was an elastic word. More often than not Koussevitzky was assisted by a tenor. Koussevitzky also performed in chamber groups, either in trio or quartet. When Koussevitzky's old professor, Rambousek, died in March 1901 Koussevitzky not only stepped in to fill his position as leader of the Bolshoi Orchestra bass section, but also began teaching double bass at the Philharmonic School.

The exact date when Koussevitzky married his first wife, ballet dancer Nadezheda Galat, has been lost, though most scholars place the year as no later than 1902. By this time Koussevitzky's reputation had extended to St. Petersburg and he was about to make the leap onto the international stage. On March 27, 1903, he gave his first performance outside of Russia when he performed at Berlin's Singakademie. He gave a second Berlin performance in December 1903 and performed elsewhere in central Europe at this time. Koussevitzky also began to compose music for the double bass, since the repertoire for the instrument was extremely slim. In 1902 he composed a concerto in F-sharp minor, but he did not perform it until February 1905 with the Moscow Philharmonic. By then the force of Koussevitzky's musicianship and personality more than carried the music.

The year 1905 was a momentous one in Koussevitzky's life. Along with the premier of his composition came two major changes, one personal and the other professional. First, he divorced Nadezheda Galat and on September 8, 1905, married Natalya Ushkov in Dresden, Germany. She was the daughter of a prosperous tea merchant whose Moscow mansion was also a salon that Koussevitzky regularly visited. Thereafter Koussevitzky's musical ambition would be realized with the aid of Natalya and her family fortune. Not long after their marriage Koussevitzky resigned from the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. In a letter to the press—which was first printed in Russkoye Slovo (Russian Word) and reprinted in Muzykalnaya Gazeta (Musical Gazette)—Koussevitzky outlined his reasons for quitting the orchestra. These included low pay and poor treatment, but worst of all, as quoted by Moses Smith in Koussevitzky, he wrote: "The deadening spirit of police bureaucracy, which has penetrated that domain where, it would seem, it should have no place whatever, into the domain of pure art, has converted the artists into artisans and intellectual work into the forced labor of slaves."

Embarked on a Conducting Career

Koussevitzky and his wife then decamped for Berlin where, in one of the great career changes in twentieth-century music, Koussevitzky forsook that of a promising musician (albeit on a "lesser" instrument) to become an orchestra conductor. He initially gave performances in Berlin, Leipzig, and other central European cities, but it was his acquaintance with conductor Artur Nikisch that altered his career. Interestingly, Koussevitzky did not attend Nikisch's conducting class. Instead he studied technique by watching Nikisch conducting during concerts; he also studied the techniques of Gustav Mahler and others. He then set about practicing a composition with a piano for accompaniment. Critics and scholars have argued the efficacy of Koussevitzky's method, but he always maintained that that was the only way he could learn the art of conducting.

Koussevitzky's debut as a conductor came on January 23, 1908, in Berlin's Beethoven Hall. He hired the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (another benefit of having wealthy in-laws) to perform a program of Russian music: Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet; Rachmaninoff's C minor Piano Concerto, with Rachmaninoff as piano soloist; the entr'acte to Taneiev's Orestes; and Glière's Symphony in C minor. The debut was by-and-large judged a success by the critics. At this time Koussevitzky continued performing, appearing on stage in Paris, London, Budapest, and Dresden, as well as Berlin. In 1909 Koussevitzky branched out even further when he and his wife founded the Russian Music Publishing House. He also returned to Russia that year.

Koussevitzky spent the years prior to the First World War performing primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He was an advocate of the music of Alexandr Scriabin, whom he had met in 1908 in Geneva. His music publishing company was also on firm ground, and after 1910 he had near exclusive rights to the work of Igor Stravinsky, with the exception of The Firebird. In 1910 Koussevitzky went on tour in Berlin, London, and Paris; his conducting had developed to such a degree that even Nikisch was impressed. On his return to Russia Koussevitzky enacted a bold plan to bring music to the provinces. He hired a steamer to sail down the Volga River to the Caspian Sea with a symphony orchestra. This proved so successful that he repeated his Volga tours annually right up until the First World War. Back in Moscow for the 1910–1911 season, Koussevitzky had enormous plans: he was going to organize his own orchestra to offer concerts at prices the masses could afford, he was going to build a concert hall, and nearby that he was going to build apartments to house musicians. Of all that only the orchestra was organized—for the 1911–1912 season—and named the New Symphony Concert Union.

After war broke out in 1914 Koussevitzky traveled between Moscow and Petrograd (as St. Petersburg was then called) and in the summer of 1915 conducted daily performances in Moscow. With the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1918, however, Koussevitzky's days in Russia were numbered. Between the Soviet expropriation of much of the Ushkov fortune and the bureaucratic rules applied to culture, Koussevitzky decided to immigrate first to Germany, then France. He and his wife made a bungled attempt to cross the Soviet border on their own, but by 1920 he had received permission to leave.

Koussevitzky remained in Paris for four years where his stature was as high as it had been in Russia. During the 1923–1924 season he organized the Concerts Koussevitzky, introducing the work of Sergei Prokofiev to the West. By then American music critics, especially Olin Downes of the New York Times, had begun to take notice of Koussevitzky. After rejecting two offers from U.S. orchestras he decided to accept the baton of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1924. Before leaving France Koussevitzky was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor.

Joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Koussevitzky was conductor and music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) for 25 years and his impact on the American musical scene was tremendous. He literally transformed the BSO into a world-class orchestra. In 1931, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BSO, Koussevitsky commissioned works by Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel, and others. During Koussevitzky's tenure as conductor the BSO presented 128 world premieres by such giants of twentieth-century music as Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, Prokofiev, Paul Hindemith, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Lukas Foss, Samuel Barber, and Arnold Schönberg as well as Koussevitzky's own Passacaglia on a Russian Theme. Under his guidance the works of American composers such as Copland, Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Walter Piston, to name a few, were showcased. During the years of the Second World War the Koussevitzky Music Foundation commissioned 20 works.

Perhaps Koussevitzky's most lasting contribution to American music was the establishment in 1940 of the Berkshire (now Tanglewood) Music School, to train conductors, musicians, and composers; in the early years Koussevitzky served as instructor for the conductors and his students included Foss and Bernstein. The BSO had been performing at the Berkshire Music Festival since 1936 and Koussevitzky and the orchestra quickly became linked with the summer festival.

Serge Koussevitsky died in retirement on June 4, 1951, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Books

Leichtentritt, Hugo, Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New American Music, AMS Press/Harvard University Press, 1946.

Smith, Moses, Koussevitzky, Allen, Towne & Heath, 1947.

Online

"Serge Alexandrovich Koussevitzky (1874–1951)," http://www.classical.net/music/guide/society/krs/koussbio.html (December 22, 2003).

Koussevitzky, Serge (Alexandrovich)

Koussevitzky, Serge (Alexandrovich), celebrated Russian-born American conductor; b. Vishny-Volochok, July 26, 1874; d. Boston, June 4, 1951. His father and his 3 brothers were all amateur musicians. Koussevitzky learned to play the trumpet and took part, with his brothers, in a small wind ensemble, numbering 8 members in all; they earned their living by playing at balls and weddings and occasionally at village fairs. At the age of 14, he went to Moscow; since Jews were not allowed to live there, he became baptized. He then received a fellowship with free tuition at the Musico-Dramatic Inst. of the Moscow Phil. Soc, where he studied double bass with Rambousek; he also studied theory with Blaramberg and Kruglikov. In 1894 he joined the orch. of the Bolshoi Theater, succeeding Rambousek as principal double bass player in 1901, retaining that post until 1905. In the meantime, he became known as a soloist of the first magnitude; made his public debut in Moscow on March 25, 1901. He garnered great attention with a double bass recital in Berlin on March 27, 1903. To supplement the meager repertoire for his instrument, he arranged various works; also wrote several pieces. With some aid from Glière, he wrote a Double Bass Concerto, which he performed for the first time in Moscow on Feb. 25, 1905. On Sept. 8, 1905, he married Natalie Ushkov, daughter of a wealthy tea-merchant family. He soon resigned from the orch. of the Bolshoi Theater; in an open letter to the Russian publication Musical Gazette, he explained the reason for his resignation as the economic and artistic difficulties in the orch. He then went to Germany, where he continued to give double-bass recitals; played the 1^st Cello Concerto by Saint-Saëns on the double bass. In 1907 he conducted a student orch. at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik; his first public appearance as a conductor took place on Jan. 23, 1908, with the Berlin Phil. In 1909 he established a publishing house, Editions Russes de Musique; in 1915 he purchased the catalog of the Gutheil Co.; among composers with whom he signed contracts were Scriabin, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Medtner, and Rachmaninoff; the association with Scriabin was particularly fruitful, and in subsequent years Koussevitzky became the greatest champion of Scriab-in’s music. In 1909 he organized his own sym. orch. in Moscow, featuring works by Russian composers, but also including classical masterpieces; played many Russian works for the first time, among them Scriabin’s Prometheus. In the summer of 1910 he took his orch. to the towns along the Volga River in a specially chartered steamboat. He repeated the Volga tour in 1912 and 1914. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 made it necessary to curtail his activities; however, he continued to give his concerts in Moscow; in 1915 he presented a memorial Scriabin program. After the Revolution of 1917, he was offered the directorship of the State Sym. Orch. (former Court Orch.) in Petrograd; he conducted it until 1920; also presented concerts in Moscow, despite the hardships of the revolutionary times. In 1920 he left Russia; went first to Berlin, then to Rome, and finally to Paris, where he organized the Concerts Koussevitzky with a specially assembled orch.; presented many new scores by French and Russian composers, among them Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Honegger’s Pacific 231, and several works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky. In 1924 Koussevitzky was appointed the conductor of the Boston Sym. Orch., a position he held with great eminence until 1949. Just as in Russia he championed Russian composers, in France the French, so in the U.S. he encouraged American composers to write works for him. Symphonic compositions by Copland, Harris, Piston, Barber, Hanson, Schuman, and others were performed by Koussevitzky for the first time. For the 50^th anniversary of the Boston Sym. Orch. (1931), he commissioned works from Stravinsky (Symphony of Psalms), Hindemith, Honegger, Prokofiev, Roussel, Ravel (piano concerto), Copland, Gershwin, and others. A highly important development in Koussevitzky’s American career was the establishment of the Berkshire Music Center at Tangle-wood, Mass. This was an outgrowth of the Berkshire Sym. Festival, organized in 1934 by Henry Hadley; Koussevitzky and the Boston Sym. Orch. presented summer concerts at the Berkshire Festival in 1935 for the first time; since then, the concerts have become an annual institution. The Berkshire Music Center was opened on July 8, 1940, with Koussevitzky as director and Copland as asst. director; among the distinguished guest instructors were Hindemith, Honegger, and Messiaen; Koussevitzky himself taught conducting; he was succeeded after his death by his former student Leonard Bernstein.

Koussevitzky held many honorary degrees: Mus. Doc. from Brown Univ. (1926), Rutgers Univ. (1937), Yale Univ. (1938), Univ. of Rochester (1940), Williams Coll. (1943), and Boston Univ. (1945); LL.D. from Harvard Univ. (1929) and Princeton Univ. (1947). He was a member of the French Legion of Honor and held the Cross of Commander of the Finnish Order of the White Rose. He became a naturalized American citizen on April 16, 1941. His wife died in 1942; he established the Koussevitzky Foundation as a memorial to her, the funds to be used for commissioning works by composers of all nationalities. He married Olga Naoumoff (1901–78), a niece of Natalie Koussevitzky, on Aug. 15, 1947.

As a conductor, Koussevitzky possessed an extraordinary emotional power; in Russian music, and particularly in Tchaikovsky’s syms., he was unexcelled; he was capable of achieving the subtlest nuances in the works of the French school; his interpretations of Debussy were notable. As a champion of modern music, he had few equals in his time; his ardor in projecting unfamiliar music before new audiences in different countries served to carry conviction among the listeners and the professional music critics. He was often criticized for the liberties he allowed himself in the treatment of classical masterpieces; undoubtedly his performances of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and other giants of the Austro-German repertoire were untraditional; but they were nonetheless musicianly in the sincere artistry that animated his interpretations.

Bibliography

A. Lourie, S.A. K. and His Epoch (N.Y., 1931); H. Leichtentritt, S. K., The Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New American Music (Cambridge, Mass., 1946); M. Smith, K. (N.Y., 1947; a controversial biography).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

KOUSSEVITZKY, SERGE

KOUSSEVITZKY, SERGE (1874–1951), conductor. Born in Tver, Russia, he went to Moscow at the age of 17 and entered the double-bass class at the Conservatory because instruction in this instrument was free. He became a virtuoso player, arranged classical works, and wrote solos to augment the double-bass repertoire. After his marriage into a rich family, he went to Berlin, and in 1908 made his first public appearance as a conductor. In 1909 he established the publishing firm of Editions Russes de Musique, which became the pioneer publisher of modern Russian composers, whose works, especially those of Scriabin, he championed in his concerts. Koussevitzky organized an orchestra, gave concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and made summer tours on the Volga River in a specially chartered steamer. After the war he settled in Paris, founded the Concerts Koussevitzky which gave the first performances of many important works, including the orchestration of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (1922) which he had commissioned from Ravel. Koussevitzky attained his greatest fame when he went to the U.S. to become musical director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1925. During the ensuing 25 years of his directorship he made the orchestra one of the great orchestras of the world. It became a focus for new music, European and American, overriding the objections of his hitherto conservative subscribers. From 1935 the orchestra gave summer concerts at Tanglewood, Massachusetts, augmented from 1940 by a permanent institution of summer courses, the Berkshire Music Center, of which Koussevitzky was president and which became an important center of American musical life.

In 1950 Koussevitzky was persuaded by his pupil, Leonard Bernstein, to go to Israel and conduct the *Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a series of concerts. With Bernstein he also became director of the Israeli orchestra's first American tour in 1950/51. The Koussevitzky Music Foundation was established in 1943 in memory of his first wife, Natalie, to commission new works by composers of all nationalities. It was later directed by her niece Olga who became Koussevitzky's second wife. Among the works commissioned by the foundation were: Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.

Koussevitzky's conducting style was distinguished by its nobility and emotional power, especially in works of the late 19^th and 20^th centuries; his interpretations of the classical masters were sometimes criticized for what could be described as "personal intervention." He donated his large library of musical scores to the Koussevitzky Collection, which was established at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

bibliography:

A. Lourie, Sergei Koussevitzky and his Epoch (1931); M. Smith, Koussevitzky (Eng., 1947); H. Leichtentritt, Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New American Music (1946); MGG; Baker, Biog Dict.

[Uri (Erich) Toeplitz]

Koussevitzky, Serge (Alexandrovich) [ Sergey Kussevitzsky] (b Vishny Volochek, 1874; d Boston, Mass., 1951). Russ.-born conductor and double-bass player (Amer. cit. 1941). Joined Bolshoy Th. orch., becoming prin. db. 1901–5. Recognized as db. virtuoso, making public début Moscow 1901. Début outside Russ., Berlin 1903. Début as cond., Berlin PO 1908. Db. soloist début, London, 1907, cond. 1908. With first wife, Natalie, founded pub. firm 1909, profits going to Russ. composers. Founded and cond. Koussevitzky SO 1910–18, and championed mus. of Scriabin. Dir., State SO, Petrograd, 1917–20, dir., Grand Opera of Moscow 1918. Left Russia for Paris, founding orch. and conducting Concerts Koussevitzky 1921–8. Cond., Boston SO 1924–49, giving many f.ps. of mus. by Amer. composers. Especial champion of Sibelius. Est. Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Mass., in 1940 with Copland as ass. dir. Koussevitzky taught cond. there. Through Koussevitzky Mus. Foundation, founded 1943 in memory of wife, commissioned many works, incl. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Britten's Peter Grimes. Second wife Olga (1901–78), whom he married in 1947, was very active on behalf of foundation. Koussevitzky composed conc. for db. and other pieces for the instr.