Koussevitzky and French Composers

Serge Koussevitzky biographer Hugo Leichentritt claimed that “[i]t is doubtful whether at the present time French symphonic music can be heard anywhere, not excluding Paris, played as brilliantly and enticingly as in Boston.” (Leichtentritt, H. (1946). Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New American Music, p.168.) Certainly, one could hear French music quite regularly in Boston: during his tenure with the BSO, Koussevitzky programmed more than 830 performances of works by Franck, Berlioz, Debussy, and Ravel. He particularly favored the last two composers, whose lives and work overlapped with his own. His affinity for French music was not accidental: for eight seasons in Paris, Koussevitzky organized a series entitled Concerts Koussevitzky, which promoted both Russian and French contemporary composers. This concluding episode showcases Koussevitzky’s interpretations of both 19th and 20th century French works. 

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a composer Koussevitzky admired personally and professionally. In 1922, he commissioned Ravel to orchestrate Mussorgsky’s piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition, and a few years later, at Koussevitzky’s suggestion, the BSO Trustees sought to commission a piano concerto from Ravel in honor of the BSO’s 50th anniversary season (1930-1931). However, the commissioned concerto never came to pass. Ravel eventually finished the Piano Concerto in G, which both Koussevitzky and Stokowski simultaneously conducted in the US premiere on April 22, 1932, in Boston and Philadelphia, respectively. The original BSO program notes that this concerto was in fact the intended BSO anniversary commission, but the composer was dissatisfied with his work, and it was not completed on time. Despite this disappointment, Koussevitzky regularly programmed Ravel’s works. He conducted the joyous and glittering La Valse more than 60 times with the BSO, and recorded it on October 29, 1930 for RCA Victor. This radio broadcast is from the 1948 Tanglewood on Parade benefit concert, an annual tradition to support the activities of the Tanglewood Music Center. 

Though he performed 19th century French works less frequently than he did those of the 20th century, Koussevitzky conducted Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique 27 times with the BSO and included a Berlioz work (his Roman Carnival Overture) on his very first program with the orchestra. The vaguely autobiographical program of the Symphonie fantastique recounts the dreams of an unnamed artist haunted by recurring visions of his unrequited love, from restless daydreams to a crazed graveyard dance. Koussevitzky never commercially released Symphonie fantastique with the BSO.