Koussevitzky Comes to Boston! The First Season, 1924-1925
In September 1924, Serge Koussevitzky disembarked from the RMS Aquitania in New York City. He was on his way to his new appointment as music director of the BSO, and it was his first time in America. When interviewed by the press about his plans for Boston, he stated, "What I hope to do in America is to show the public that masterpieces of music are being written today as powerful, stirring, and beautiful as the greatest of the past...I will present in Boston music never heard before." With Honegger's Pacific 231 (never heard in America before) on his first program in Boston, and with his continued dedication to programming contemporary composers, Koussevitzky did just that.
Serge Koussevitzky in a news image captioned "Notables arriving in New York today, September 24, 1924"
Photograph by Pictorial Press Photos, courtesy of the Library of Congress
Imminent Arrival
Page from the contract between Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra outlining the terms of agreement for his engagement as conductor of the orchestra, July 1923
Public performances were capped at 120 appearances and could take place anywhere in the United States or Canada, as the BSO maintained a busy tour schedule in its early years. Read the full contract here.
Newspaper clipping featuring an interview with Serge Koussevitzky highlighting his upcoming transition to America
In anticipation of Serge Koussevitzky’s imminent arrival in Boston, newspapers printed his opinion on jazz, life in Russia, and his plans for his first season with the BSO, among other topics.
Boston Sunday Post, September 7, 1924
Conducting a Modern Sound
Program page for Serge Koussevitzky’s first concert in Boston
On October 10, 1924, Honegger’s musical depiction of a locomotive was performed on the very first concert that Koussevitzky conducted for Boston audience. Koussevitzky himself had premiered the piece earlier that year in Paris, and with this modern work, he set the tone for an adventurous first season.
Illustrative cover for the BSO score to Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231
Flyer promoting the BSO’s new conductor Serge Koussevitzky, with excerpts from a New York Times article written by the paper’s music critic Olin Downes
The Koussevitzkys at Home in America
Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky rented homes in Jamaica Plain for many years, including this one on Pond Street. By 1948, he and Olga Koussevitzky had purchased a home on Buckminster Road in Brookline.
The Koussevitzkys always had dogs. For many years they had French bulldogs named Drole (or a variant of Drole). Drolet Koussevitzky (1924-1936) is buried in the Pet Cemetery in Dedham, Mass.
