Leopold Stokowski (Conductor, Arranger)

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Leopold Stokowski (Conductor, Arranger)
Born: April 18, 1882 - London, England Died: September 13, 1977 - Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England
The celebrated, spectaculary endowed, and magically communicative English-born American conductor (and arranger), Leopold (Anthony) Stokowski, was born into a Polish and Irish mother, but was raised as an Englishman. His famous, vaguely foreign, accent somehow appeared later in his life. (It is widely believed this was an affectation, as was his name, adopted in favor of the less exotic-sounding "Leo Stokes.") The young Stokowski was a precocious musician, and as a child learned to play the violin, piano, and organ with apparently little effort. At the age of thirteen, he became the youngest person to have been admitted to the Royal College of Music. By eighteen, Leopold Stokowski had been appointed organist and choirmaster at St. James', Piccadilly. He attended Queen's College, Oxford, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 1903. He moved to the USA in 1905, but returned to Europe each summer for further musical studies in Berlin, Munich, and Paris. When a conductor fell ill in Paris in 1908, he made his debut as an emergency substitute. The impression he made led to a position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in which he quickly achieved notable success. However, a more tempting prospect faced him when he was asked to take over the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1912. It was during his long and fruitful association with this ensemble that Stokowski established himself as one of the leading musicians of his day. Leopold Stokowski gave the orchestra an entirely new sound, popularly known as the "Philadelphia sound" or the "Stokowski Sound." Its foundation was a luxuriant, sonorous tone and an exacting attention to color. He pioneered the use of "free" bowing, which produced a rich, homogenized string tone. A relentless innovator, Stokowski experimented with orchestral seating, famously lining up the string basses across the rear of the stage and, in an early instance, massing all the violins on the left side of the orchestra and the cellos on the right. He also had spotlights directed on his hands and his impressively prominent hair to enhance his dramatic, theatrical aura. One of the first modern conductors to give up the use of the baton, Stokowski employed graceful, almost hypnotic, hand gestures to work his magic. 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) and, most famously, as the flesh-and-blood leader of the Philadelphia Orchestra in Walt Disney's animated classic Fantasia (1940). In one memorable instance, he appears to be talking to the cartoon figure of Mickey Mouse, the "star" of a sequence featuring Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice. In a clever parody, when the slumbering apprentice dreams of himself directing the forces of Nature with the masterful sweep of his hands, Disney artists copied Stokowski's own conducting gestures. Following his tenure in Philadelphia, Leopold Stokowski directed several other ensembles, including the All-American Youth Orchestra (which he founded), the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic (both as co-conductor), the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1955-1960), and the American Symphony Orchestra, which he organized in 1962. He continued to make concert appearances and studio recordings of both standard works and unusual repertoire (including the first performance and recording of Charles Ives' decades-old Symphony No. 4) well into his nineties. He made his last public appearance as conductor in Venice in 1975, remaining active in the recording studio through 1977.

More Pictures
Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997); AMG Website Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2002)
Leopold Stokowski: Short Biography \| Philadelphia Orchestra \| Recordings \| Recordings of Stokowski’s Arrangements by other conductors \| General Discussions
Arrangements for Orchestra of J.S. Bach's Works
Title		Chorale Melody	Year
Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4: Jesus Christus Gottes Sohn (Mvt. 4), transcribed for orchestra		Christ lag in Todesbanden
Komm, süsser Tod BWV 478, transcribed for orchestra		Komm süßer Tod
Mein Jesu, was für Seelenweh BWV 487, transcribed for orchestra		Mein Jesu, was vor Seelenweh
Orgelbuchlein: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599, transcribed for orchestra		Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
Chorus Ein' feste Burg (Mvt. 1) from Cantata BWV 80, transcribed for orchestra Chorale Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata BWV 147, transcribed for orchestra Ariso from Cantata BWV 156, transcribed for orchestra Aria: Sheep may safely graze from Cantata BWV 208, transcribed for orchestra O Haupt voll Blut from Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, transcribed for orchestra Aria: Es ist vollbracht, from Johannes-Passion BWV 245, transcribed for orchestra Chorale from Oster-Oratorium BWV 249, transcribed for orchestra Toccata and fugue in C major BWV 564, transcribed for orchestra Toccata and fugue in D minor BWV 565, transcribed for orchestra "Little" fugue in G minor BWV 578, transcribed for orchestra Passacaglia and fugue in C minor BWV 582, transcribed for orchestra Clavierubung III: Wir glauben all' an einen Gott BWV 680, transcribed for orchestra Bourée from BWV 807, transcribed for orchestra Prelude in E flat minor, No. 8 BWV 853 from the Well-Tempered Clavier book 1, transcribed for orchestra Prelude in B Minor, BWV 869, transcribed for orchestra Sarabande, from Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV 1002, transcribed for orchestra Andante sostenuto from violin sonata No.2 BWV 1003, transcribed for orchestra Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 BWV 1004, transcribed for orchestra Preludio in E major from Violin Partita No. 3 BWV 1006, transcribed for orchestra Siciliano, for orchestra from Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor BWV 1017, transcribed for orchestra Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite No. 3 BWV 1068, transcribed for orchestra We all believe in one God, (Giant Fugue), transcribed for orchestra (after Bach)
Links to other Sites
Leopold Stokowski (AMG) Classical Net Societies: The Leopold Stokowski Society of America Penn Special Collections - Stokowski/Introduction The Leopold Stokowski Site The Leopold Stokowski Society Leopold Stokowski (1882-1997) [French] STOKOWSKI IS No.1 - 2nd Hall	Sibelius, by Leopold Stokowski Leopold Stokowski Leopold Stokowski, All-American Youth Orchestra Leopold Stokowski Review: Leopold Stokowski Conducts Sibelius Leopold Stokowski - Phase Four Recordings (Classical Notes) Leopold Stokowski Hollywood Bowl

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Last update: ýMarch 24, 2008 ý14:24:02