Koussevitzky at Tanglewood

After their relationship with Henry Hadley and the New York Philharmonic dissolves, the Berkshire Festival organizers invite Serge Koussevitzky to conduct the BSO. Koussevitzky leads the orchestra in three concerts on August 13, 15, and 16, 1936, with crowds that overflow the capacity of the 3,600-seat tent on the Holmwood estate.

During a Symphony Hall concert conducted by Koussevitzky, Mrs. Gorham Brooks decides to give the BSO the Tanglewood estate so that there will be a permanent home for the Berkshire Festival concerts.

The Festival expands to two weekends of concerts. Koussevitzky conducts the first weekend of concerts without a hitch, drawing over 8,000 attendees. However, the all-Wagner program during the second weekend is drenched in a torrential downpour. Festival organizer Gertrude Robinson Smith makes an impromptu speech and immediately raises $30,000 to build a shed.

Koussevitzky selects Finnish-born architect Eliel Saarinen to design the plans for the Shed. Saarinen proposes an elaborate design for a music pavilion, which exceeds the $100,000 budget. Saarinen modifies his plans twice and then gives up on the project, writing that if the trustees insist on remaining within their budget, they will have “just a shed.” Stockbridge engineer and festival trustee Joseph Franz is called on to simplify the plans and oversees the “Shed” to completion.

Koussevitzky conducts the inaugural concert in the Shed on August 4, 1938. Gertrude Robinson Smith gives a dedicatory speech. Since that time, more than 2,900 concerts and open rehearsals have taken place in the Shed. It was rededicated as the Koussevitzky Music Shed in honor of Koussevitzky on the occasion of the Shed’s 50th anniversary in 1988.

Koussevitzky and his wife Natalie purchase the Bald Hill Farm estate near Tanglewood, and rename it Seranak, an acronym for Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky. The home will grow to play a vital role in supporting the activities of the Music Center, through hosting fundraisers, housing visiting guest artists, and providing space for masterclasses.

The donation of the Tanglewood estate to the BSO paves the way for Koussevitzky to create an “Academy for living and working in Music.” The Tanglewood Music Center opens its doors in 1940 with classes in conducting, composition, chamber music, and choral activities.

Koussevitzky conducts the inaugural concert in the Theatre-Concert Hall on July 13, 1941. The hall was built to accommodate the opera activities of the music center.

When the BSO cancels its participation in the 1942 Berkshire Music Festival due to rationing of gasoline and other World War II restrictions, BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky underwrites the activities of the music center and builds the festival around the student orchestra.  He conducts the U.S. concert premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 on August 14.

To keep music going during the War, Koussevitzky organizes a small series of chamber music concerts that took place in the Lenox Library Association’s Sedgewick Hall in 1943.

In 1944 and 1945, Koussevitzky hosts a series Bach and Mozart festivals in the Theatre-Concert Hall on the Tanglewood grounds.  

The Berkshire Festival surpasses pre-War levels of activity with 13 concerts over five weekends. Koussevitzky brings in notable soloists such as Carol Brice, Mischa Elman, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Claudio Arrau. He also conducts the U.S. premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, and the Tanglewood Music Center performs the U.S. premiere of Britten's Peter Grimes (commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and conducted by Leonard Bernstein).

Koussevitzky continues to bring in notable soloists including William Primrose, Ella Goldstein, Jacob Lateiner, Joseph Battista, Frances Yeend, Eunice Alberts, David Lloyd, and James Pease in 1947 and Lukas Foss, Isaac Stern, David Lloyd, James Pease, Wesley Addy, Carol Brice, and Seymour Lipkin in 1948.

At the conclusion of the 1949 Tanglewood season, Serge Koussevitzky retires from his 25-year tenure as Music Director of the BSO. His final concert as Music Director of the BSO takes place on August 14, 1949. That summer he premieres Randall Thompson's Last Words of David, and conducts the U.S. premiere of Britten's Spring Symphony. Notable soloists include Claudio Arrau, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Leonard Bernstein (reprising his second symphony, which had premiered in Symphony Hall in April).

His love for Tanglewood compels Koussevitzky to retain his role as director of both the festival and music center for the summer after his retirement. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt performs as narrator for Peter and the Wolf, both for live performance and a special recording session in August 1950. He conducts his final concert at Tanglewood on August 13, 1950.

Mere weeks before the start of the 1951 Tanglewood season, Serge Koussevitzky dies and is buried in Lenox. 

Koussevitzky is remembered at the 1951 Festival through a performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, conducted by his protégé Leonard Bernstein.