When Eugene Ormandy took the Philadelphia Orchestra to China for its first concert there, 50 years ago today, he was sure to include, alongside Mozart and Brahms, some music from the American Heartland.
Roy Harris (1898-1979) was born in a log cabin, in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, on Lincoln’s birthday. If that doesn’t imbue a composer with a sense of destiny, I don’t know what will. Harris went on to became one of our great American symphonists. In particular, his Symphony No. 3 of 1939 has been much beloved and frequently performed. Unfortunately, we don’t hear all that much of his music anymore. And that’s a damned shame.
Philadelphia would be the first American orchestra to perform in China (the London and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras had appeared earlier the same year), having received an invitation in response to Nixon’s historic visit in 1972. According to first-hand accounts, audience reactions to the performances were difficult to decipher. On the street, people were curious, but stand-offish. Red banners and likenesses of Mao, Lenin, and Stalin festooned Tiananmen Square. The local orchestra played Western music (Beethoven), but only in rehearsal, for training purposes. In summer, musicians pruned trees.
Here are some interesting, balanced impressions, from a diary kept by one of the Philadelphians:
In all, the orchestra played six concerts. This was the trip on which Philadelphia performed the notorious “Yellow River” Concerto, a piano concerto written by committee and overseen by Madame Mao herself. Interesting that a country that did its damnedest to suppress decadent Western influence would shamelessly pilfer from the Western Romantics. As an encore, the pianist played a set of variations on “Home on the Range,” apparently a concession to Nixon. According to the diarist, Madame Mao did not care for “The Pines of Rome.” Mao himself was a no-show.
Also included on the programs were “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and the “Chinese Worker’s March.” Again, the Beijing audience seemed impassive. Performances were received with more enthusiasm in Shanghai.
While I haven’t been able to locate any recordings of the Chinese concerts, here’s Ormandy and the Philadelphians playing Harris in Russia in 1958. Additional American offerings included Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” which were played alongside Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird.” You can hear the tepid applause in Russia, when following the link.
The ”Yellow River” Concerto has been described as a first cousin to Richard Addinsell’s “Warsaw Concerto.” Prior to their departure, the Philadelphia Orchestra gave the U.S. premiere of the piece, one of the works requested by the Chinese to be performed on the impending tour. Daniel Epstein was the soloist at its Saratoga Springs debut. Epstein would accompany the orchestra to China and record the concerto with the the musicians on their return. The album was released on on RCA Records. For some reason, it was never reissued on CD, but is now available for purchase as an mp3.
Diplomat Nicholas Platt, who accompanied Nixon to Beijing in 1972, and later traveled with and advised Ormandy, talks about some of the complications surrounding the Philadelphia Orchestra’s trip to China.
