Collection Summary
Leopold Stokowski Materials
1910-1959
1936-1959
1910-1959
1936-1959
ML31.S748
Stokowski, Leopold, 1882-1977
35 items
1 container plus 3 bound scores
1
linear feet
English
Russian
German
Collection material in English, Russian, and German.
Music Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Leopold Stokowski was a
British-born conductor and composer perhaps best known for his role as music
director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Leopold Stokowski Materials consist of
manuscript scores for his transcriptions of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Modest
Mussorgsky, correspondence with prominent composers including Jean Sibelius and Carl
Orff, and Arnold Schoenberg’s self-portrait Vision
(1910).
Provenance
Gift, Leopold Stokowski, 1954-1966
Custodial History
Arnold Schoenberg gifted his self-portrait, titled
Vision
(1910), to Stokowski in September 1949. Stokowski then placed the painting on deposit at
the Library of Congress in April 1954.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Processing History
Jane Cross processed the Leopold Stokowski Materials, and Jane Cross and
Rachel McNellis coded the finding aid, in 2020.
Other Repositories
The University of Pennsylvania holds several collections related to Leopold
Stokowski that contain his correspondence, financial records, other personal papers,
conducting scores, orchestral transcriptions, a scrapbook, and sound recordings. The
Leopold Stokowski Collection at the University of Maryland, College Park, houses
correspondence, programs, clippings, a scrapbook, orchestral parts, and other memorabilia
related to Stokowski.
Related Material
The Music Division contains many collections with correspondence, photographs,
biographical materials, and writings that document Leopold Stokowski’s relationships
with other prominent composers, conductors, and institutions. These are especially
valuable because many of his personal papers were lost after falling off the deck of a
ship during their transport from the United Kingdom to the United States. The [ Glenn Dillard
Gunn Collection ] includes several articles and clippings on Stokowski’s
All-American Youth Orchestra’s tour of South America, the [Serge
Koussevitzky Archive] contains business papers related to Stokowski’s
involvement with the American Music Festival, and the [Boris
Koutzen Collection] includes papers pertaining to Stokowski’s involvement with
the Philadelphia Orchestra Association.
Additional notable collections containing papers related to Stokowski include the [Leonard Bernstein Collection], [George Antheil correspondence
with Mary Louise Curtis Bok], [Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
Foundation Collection], [Andre Kostelanetz
Collection], [Sergei Rachmaninoff
Archive], [Nicholas Slonimsky
Collection], Music Division Old Correspondence, [Leonard B. Smith Papers], and the correspondence classed in ML95.S94,
among many others.
Copyright Status
Items from the Leopold Stokowski Materials are governed by the Copyright Law of the
United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
Access and Restrictions
The Leopold Stokowski Materials are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact
the Music Division prior to visiting in order to determine whether the desired materials
will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
[item, date, container number], Leopold Stokowski Materials, Music Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1882 April 18
Born in London
1896 January
Enrolled at the Royal College of Music
1898 June 25
Elected as a member of the Royal College of Organists
1900-1905
Organist and choir director in London
1903 November 19
Completed Bachelor of Music at Queens College, Oxford
1905-1908
Organist and choir director, St. Bartholemew's Episcopal Church in New York
City
1908
Studied conducting in Paris
1909 May 12
Conducted the Colonne Orchestra in Paris in his first public
appearance as a conductor
1909-1912
Music Director, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
1911 April 24
Married pianist, educator, and music critic Olga Samaroff (1882-1948) (divorced 1923 June 23)
1912-1936
Music Director, Philadelphia Orchestra
1922
Conducted the U.S. premiere of Igor Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring
1926 January 12
Married Evangeline Brewer Johnson (1897-1990), whose father Robert Wood
Johnson (1845-1910) co-founded the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson
(divorced 1938)
1934 November 20
Conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in the U.S. premiere of William Levi
Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony, which was the first
time that a major symphony orchestra performed the work of an African American
composer in concert in the U.S.
1936
Resigned as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, but continued to
co-direct the ensemble with Eugene Ormandy
1936-1939
Directed and recorded the music for three Hollywood films:
The Big Broadcast of 1937
(1936),
One Hundred Men and a Girl
(1937), and Walt Disney's
Fantasia
(1940).
1940-1941
Established the All-American Youth Orchestra
1941
Formally resigned from all conducting activities with the Philadelphia
Orchestra
1941-1942
Music Director, N.B.C. Symphony Orchesta
1942-1944
Co-conductor with Arturo Toscanini (1896-1957), N.B.C. Symphony
Orchestra
1943
Published
Music for All of Us
. New York: Simon
and Schuster.
1943-1944
Recorded radio broadcasts and conducted concerts to entertain U.S. Army
troops
1944-1945
Established and conducted the New York City Symphony Orchestra
1945 April
Married heiress Gloria Vanderbilt (divorced October 1955)
1945-1946
Established and conducted the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra
1946
Guest conductor, Los Angeles Philharmonic
1947-1948
Guest conductor, New York Philharmonic
1949-1950
Apponted co-principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic with Dmitri Mitropoulis,
until Mitropoulis was appointed Music Director in 1950
1954-1963
Music Director, Symphony of the Air
1955-1960
Music Director, Houston Symphony Orchestra
1960
Broke ties with the Houston Symphony Orchestra after the administration
refused to allow both African American and white choruses to perform on stage
together during a performance of Schoenberg's
Gurrelieder
1960-1969
Conductor, Philadelphia Orchestra
1962-1972
Established and conducted the American Symphony Orchestra
1972 May
Moved to the United Kingdom
1972 July 22
Conducted the Rouen Chamber Orchestra in his final public appearance as a
conductor
1972-1977
Recorded albums with numerous record labels, including Columbia Records, Decca
Records, and RCA Victor
1977 September 13
Died of a heart attack in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Scope and Content Note
The Leopold Stokowski Materials span the years 1910 through 1959, with of the majority
of the items dating between 1936 and 1959. The [Music](LS01) series
consists of Stokowski’s transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Modest
Mussorgsky, including two transcriptions Stokowski created for Walt Disney’s motion
picture Fantasia (1940). The [Correspondence](LS02) series includes signed typescript
letters that composers Reinhold Glière, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Jean Sibelius wrote to
Stokowski, as well as a signed holograph letter from Carl Orff. Arnold Schoenberg’s
self-portrait, Vision (1910), comprises the [Artwork](LS03) series.
Arrangement
The Leopold Stokowski Materials are organized in three series:
-
[Music, 1936-1952,
undated](LS01)
-
[Correspondence,
1949-1959](LS02)
-
[Artwork, 1910](LS03)
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Suites, orchestra, BWV 1068, D major. Air; arranged.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Toccatas, organ, BWV 564, C major. Adagio; arranged.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Verschiedene Vorspiele über die Catechismus- und andere Gesaenge. Aus tiefer Not schrei' ich zu dir, BWV 686; arranged.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Verschiedene Vorspiele über die Catechismus- und andere Gesaenge. Wir glauben all an einen Gott, BWV 680; arranged.
Glière, Reinhold Morit︠s︡evich, 1875-1956--Correspondence.
Menotti, Gian Carlo, 1911-2007--Correspondence.
Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich, 1839-1881. Kartinki s vystavki; arranged.
Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich, 1839-1881. Nochʹ na Lysoĭ gore (1880); arranged.
Orff, Carl, 1895-1982--Correspondence.
Sibelius, Jean, 1865-1957--Correspondence.
Stokowski, Leopold, 1882-1977--Archives.
Stokowski, Leopold, 1882-1977.
Subjects
Composers--Correspondence.
Motion picture music--Excerpts--Scores.
Orchestral music, Arranged--Scores.
Titles
Leopold Stokowski collection
Form/Genre
Arrangements (Music)
Art music.
Autographs (Manuscripts)
Business correspondence.
Chorale preludes.
Excerpts.
Motion picture music.
Parts (Music)
Personal correspondence.
Scores.
Suites.
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/2014572461]
Container List
1
Music,
1936-1952, undated
1936-1952, undated
The Music Series consists of Stokowski’s transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Modest Mussorgsky. The manuscripts are in the hands of copyists such as Lucien Cailliet and Sally Emrich. The transcriptions of Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain
and Tableaux d’une exhibition (Pictures at an Exhibition) were used in Walt Disney’s
animated film Fantastia (1940), for which Stokowski
conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
1/1
Aus tiefer Not, undated
undated
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Manuscript score for horns, trombones, tuba, and
strings
[66098808]
[unk84053010]
Choral-Vorspiel, Wir glauben all' an einen
Gott, undated
undated
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Manuscript score for band
Note: Inscribed by Sally M. Emrich, 1952
November 23
1/4
Choral-Vorspiel, Wir glauben all' an einen
Gott, undated
undated
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Photocopies of manuscript parts for
band
[m54001009]
Night on Bare Mountain (Witches Sabbath),
circa 1940
circa 1940
By Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
Manuscript score for orchestra
Alternate title: Night on Bald
Mountain
Note: Staff paper marked "Walt Disney Studio
:: Music Dept."
1/2
Overture no. 3 in D major. Aria,
undated
undated
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Manuscript score for strings
[50036928]
[m59001763]
Tableaux d'une exposition,
1939
1939
By Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
Manuscript score for orchestra
Alternate title: Pictures at an
Exhibition
Note: Staff paper marked "Walt Disney Studio
:: Music Dept."
1/3
Toccata and Fugue in C major. Adagio, 1936
1936
By Johann Sebastian Bach
Manuscript score for orchestra
[66098806]
Correspondence, 1949-1959
1949-1959
The Correspondence series consists of six letters from various composers to Stokowski. These include
a signed holograph letter from Carl Orff and signed typescript letters from
Reinhold Glière, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Jean Sibelius. More than forty collections in the
Music Division house further correspondence between Stokowski and other eminent
twentieth-century composers, conductors, and performers. Materials are in English unless otherwise noted.
Arranged alphabetically by last name and by date therein.
[2017563761]
Glière, Reinhold to Leopold
Stokowski, 1955 December 12
1955 December 12
Typescript
Note: English translation included
Russian
[2017568531]
Menotti, Gian Carlo to
Leopold Stokowski, 1954 September 21
1954 September 21
Typescript, signed in ink
[2017568540]
Orff, Carl to Leopold Stokowski, 1959 May
7
1959 May 7
Holograph, signed in ink
German
[2017566117]
Sibelius, Jean to Leopold Stokowski, 1949
October 11
1949 October 11
Typescript, signed in pencil
[2017566116]
Sibelius, Jean to Leopold Stokowski, 1954
September 15
1954 September 15
Typescript, signed in pencil
[2017566115]
Sibelius, Jean to Leopold Stokowski, 1955
May 11
1955 May 11
Typescript, signed in pencil
Artwork, 1910
1910
The Artwork series contains Arnold Schoenberg’s self-portrait, Vision, which he painted in 1910 and gifted to Stokowski
in September 1949.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
SSF
Vision,
1910
1910
By Arnold Schoenberg
Oil on cardboard, self-portrait
Note: Signed dedication to Stokowski on
front