Prominent Poles
Leopold Stokowski (born Antoni Stanislaw Stokowski) Polish-American conductor.
Born: April 18, 1882, London, England
Died: September 13, 1977, Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England
Summary. From BBC webpage: “Great 20th-century conductor who became a legend in his own lifetime. Always controversial, Stokowski was the epitome of the glamorous conductor - innovative and forward-looking he championed modern composers, wro te many transcriptions, experimented with sound recording and left behind a colourful and varied recorded legacy. “
Early days. The son of Polish cabinetmaker Kopernik Jozef Boleslaw Stokowski and his Irish wife Annie Marion Moore, Stokowski was born in London, England, in 1882. There is a certain amount of mystery surrounding his early life. For example, no one could ever determine where his slightly Eastern European, foreign-sounding accent came from as he was born and raised in London (it is surmised that this was a affectation on his part to add mystery and interest) and he also, on occasion, quoted his birth year as 1887 instead of 1882.
Stokowski trained at the Royal College of Music (which he entered in 1896, at the age of thirteen, one of the college's youngest students ever). He sang in the choir of St. Marylebone Church and later became Assistant Organist to Sir Henry Walford Davies at The Temple Church. At the age of 16, he was elected to membership in the Royal College of Organists. In 1900 he formed the choir of St. Mary's Church, Charing Cross Road. There he trained the choirboys and played the organ and in 1902 was appointed organist and choir director of St. James's Church, Piccadilly. He also attended Queen's College, Oxford where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1903.
Professional career. In 1905 Stokowski began work in New York City as the organist and choir director of St. Bartholomew's Church. He became very popular amongst the parishioners (who included JP Morgan and members of the Vanderbilt family) but eventually quit the position to pursue a post as an orchestra conductor. He moved to Paris for additional study where he heard that the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra would be needing a new conductor. So, in 1908, he began his campaign to obtain the position, writing multiple letters to the orchestra's president, and traveling to Cincinnati for a personal interview. Eventually he was granted the post and officially took up his duties in the fall of 1909.
Stokowski was a great success in Cincinnati, introducing the idea of "pop concerts" and conducting the United States premieres of new works by composers such as Edward Elgar. However, in early 1912 he became sufficiently frustrated with the politics of the orchestra's board that he tendered his resignation. There was a dispute over the resignation, but on April 12 it was finally accepted.
Two months later, Stokowski was appointed director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Stokowski made his Philadelphia debut on October 11, 1912. This position would bring him some of his greatest accomplishments and recognition. He was to retain this position for a quarter of a century, during which time he transformed a provincial ensemble into a world class orchestra noted for its precision, virtuosity and tone-color. Stokowski rapidly garnered a reputation as a showman. His flair for the theatrical included grand gestures such as throwing the sheet music on the floor to show he did not need to conduct from a score. He also experimented with lighting techniques in the concert hall, at one point conducting in a dark hall with only his head and hands lighted, at other times arranging the lights so they would cast theatrical shadows of his head and hands. Late in the 1929-30 season, he started conducting without a baton; his free-hand manner of conducting became one of his trademarks. On the musical side, Stokowski nurtured the orchestra and shaped the "Stokowski" sound. He encouraged "free bowing" from the string section, "free breathing" from the brass section, and continually played with the seating arrangements of the sections as well as the acoustics of the hall in order to create better sound. Stokowski's repertoire was broad and included contemporary works. In 1916, he conducted the United States premiere of Mahler's 8th Symphony. He added works by Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Schoenberg, Berg, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky. In 1933, he started "Youth Concerts" for younger audiences which are still a Philadelphia tradition and fostered youth music programs. After disputes with the board, Stokowski began to withdraw from involvement in the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1935 onwards, allowing then co-conductor Eugene Ormandy to gradually take over. In 1940, Stokowski formed the All-American Youth Orchestra which took multiple tours overseas and was met with rave reviews. During this time he also became co-conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini. Indeed, Leopold Stokowski was the first conductor to become a true superstar. He was regarded as something of a matinee idol, an image aided by his appearances in such films as the Deanna Durbin spectacle One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937). Also in 1940, Stokowski collaborated with Walt Disney to create the movie for which he is best known - Fantasia. He conducted the segments for the "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" and "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" and even got to talk to Mickey Mouse while onscreen. In 1944, on the recommendation of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Stokowski helped form the New York City Symphony Orchestra, aimed at middle-class workers. Ticket prices were set low and the times of concerts made it convenient to attend after work. Many early concerts were standing room only; however, a year later in 1945, Stokowski was at odds with the board (who wanted to trim expenses even further) and he resigned. In 1945, Stokowski founded the Hollywood Bowl Symphony. The orchestra lasted for two years before it was disbanded. It was later restarted in 1991. In the late 1940s, Stokowski became chief Guest Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. From 1955 to 1961, Stokowski was the Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In 1962, at the age of 80, Stokowski founded the American Symphony Orchestra. He served as music director for the orchestra, which continued to play, until May 1972 when, at the age of 90, he returned to England. In 1963 he made his debut at the Sir Henry Wood "Proms" in London - the first 'International conductor' to do so - and his concerts there included a memorable Proms premiere of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony. In 1976, he signed a recording contract that would have kept him active until he was 100 years old. He made still excellent (perhaps even his best) stereo recordings in his higher age. The difference between his recordings and those of other conductors is simply that he was a magician. When you hear Stokowski, suddenly the music begins to develop its own life. The sound is richer than everywhere else and so intense that you can’t believe it is produced by hundred men and not by only one. He made his last public appearance as conductor in Venice in 1975, remaining active in the recording studio through 1977. It is said that Stokowski kept on playing the organ his whole life: through the orchestra. At 94, he signed a five years contract with Columbia Records.
Personal Life. Stokowski married three times. His first wife was Lucie Hickenlooper (a.k.a. Olga Samaroff, former wife of Boris Loutzky), a Texas-born concert pianist and musicologist, to whom he was married from 1911 until 1923 (one daughter: Sonia Stokowski, an actress). His second wife was Johnson & Johnson heiress Evangeline Love Brewster Johnson, an artist and aviator, to whom he was married from 1926 until 1937 (two children: Gloria Luba Stokowski and Andrea Sadja Stokowski). His third wife, from 1945 until 1955, was railroad heiress Gloria Vanderbilt (born 1924), an artist and fashion designer (two sons, Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski b. 1950 and Christopher Stokowski b. 1955). He also had a much-publicized affair with Greta Garbo in 1937-8.
He died on September 13, 1977 at the age of 95 in his house in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England. It was the day on which he should record Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, a wonderful work that he never recorded commercially. Stokowski was buried at Marylebone Cemetery, East Finchley, in the north of London. If you would like to visit his grave, you will find it at position D 10 147.
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Leopold Stokowski" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
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