See also: Salzedo
The Harp is to Music what Music is to Life
Carlos Salzedo (6th April 1885 – 17th August 1961)
From Aeolian to Thunder, a biography
by
Dewey Owens
(composer/harp student with Salzedo and his wife Lucile Lawrence)
- Born in a Sephardic Jewish family; in his mind he was only and truly Basque, and this is the image he projected.
- He considered himself to have a small stature – opposite his teacher A. Hasselmans who had such a gigantic physique that he dwarfed the small harps of his day. Were his hands also that large and how die that influence his writing?
- Dewey Owens about his biography on Salzedo: ‘these pages record some of what Salzedo accomplished; they record how he has influenced the harp world, indeed the world of composition regarding the harp and how it is used.’
Charles Moise Léon Salzedo ( Arcachon, 6th April 1885 – Maine, August 1961) His YouTube was in Saint-Esprit (Bayonne – Pyrenees Atlantiques)
His father Gaston was a student at the Paris Conservatoire and voice professor at the Municipal School of Bayonne. His ancestors were merchants or brokers and religious Jews.
From the mother’s side (Anna Silva) they were pharmacists and doctors, converted Jews in the 17th Century (to Christianity). The grandparents of Salzedo (Silva) were much adored/highly esteemd citizens by the Bayonne Society as doctor or pharmacist
Gaston was a voice teacher and Anna a pianist from Bayonne, also a court musician to Maria Christina, queen mother of Alphonse XIII of Spain. They had two sons: Marcel – a violinist and Léon-Charles, who startend to play the piano at the age of three.
His mother died when he was five and a staunch Basque with indomitable spirit, called Marthe, came into his live, to whom he remained devoted all his life.
His first composition was written at the age of five (‘Moustique’); a little polka (much later to be incorporated in his ‘Suite of eight Dances’)
St Cecilia School of Music Bordeaux for three years; then the Paris Conservatoire – piano and solfège. His father wanted him to study a second instrument and decided on the harp, since his brother was doing great on the violin and his physique was not fit for a wind instrument.
Mlle Archaud became his first harp teacher, who introduced him to Hasselmans (born in Liège)
Text on Hasselmans – page 7
Antoine Prumier – harpist/composer – professor of harp at the Paris Conservatoire before Hasselmans and his son Ange Conrad Prumier)
On Chanson dans la nuit Salzedo whispered: ‘I never expected, or intended, that to become a recital piece’
E: so who did it happen?
At the age of thirteen Carlos S had finished his preparatory years and entered the class of ms Alphonse Hasselmans, a very demanding teacher of his pupils.
On the 1st August 1901 he won the ‘premier medaille’ for harp in the morning (together with his long-life harpist friend Ada Sassoli) and in the afternoon the first prize in piano.
He left France in 1909. His good friend Alfredo Sides took his Steinway and years later played the role of bringing Edgar Varèse and Salzedo together
Salzedo did not formally study counterpoint at school, so he turned to Fauré and joined the class of Samuel Rousseau.
Then he had to take over (due to illness, a paralyzing stroke) his father’s job as choral director
Recensies voor de jonge Salzedo nog in Frankrijk – pag. 11 t/m 13
During his great performance time in France, Alfred Hertz, conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in NY, heard C.S play in Paris and recommended him to Arturo Toscanini, who had recently been appointed at the Met in NY and he was invited to come to play at the Met. (1909)
Chapter II
Page 15-20
New York, England, France
He played a lot with his trio Trio de Lutèce (Georges Barrère, flute; Paul Kéfer, cello; Carlos Salzedo, harp). First concert in Wigmore Hall, London. June 12th 1914
From 1914-1915 he has been a soldier in the French army. First as a cook/organiser of concerts, then he became quite ill, so he was dismissed from army services.
After that (1916) Mimine (Viola Ernestine Gramm) and Carlos went to the US to stay
Chapter III
Page 21 – 41
Return to the States
He had resigned from the orchestra in 1913
The couple Salzedo went to live in Maine (first Seal Harbour then Camden, page 31) and NY and met the family Nijinsky. Plans were made for a touring ensemble of 4 dancers and 4 harpists. The music would have been by Scriabin. Salzedo introduced the last preludes to Stokowski, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Fritz Kreisler and Josef Hofmann.
During these ‘salon’ concerts he met Djane Lavoie-Herz, a former student of Scriabin. She married to Siegfried Herz, who was associated with Arthur Judson, who managed the leading performers of the arena. (Hirsch, Milstein, Piatigorsky and Szell)
In the summer of 1916 Salzedo and Nijinsky formulated a theory of gestures for the harp known as ‘Instrumental Esthetics’ (see chapter IV)
Karl Muck had invited the Austrian harpist Alfred Holy to come and play for the Boston Symphony (1913)
Salzedo did not only played the piano or harp, he composed as well as arranged music and he did some really good crowdfunding to raise money for an organ in the little church of Seal Harbour (heer he started his ‘Harp Colony’, later to be in Camden) or for the existence of musical organizations in general. (And to maintain Nijinsky in the sanatorium in Switzerland)
A very good letter to John D. Rockefeller, Jr can be found on page 24.
Mimine and Carlos married in 1914 and separated in 1926
Later (1927) he maried Lucile Lawrence, one of his harp students
Salzedo started to focus much more on playing and teaching the harp, since he thought there were enough pianists already.
In 1926 the Curtis Institute of Music was established, so Salzedo was teaching in Philadelphia as well as in New York
As they went to live in Camden, a rug was made with pictures of Edgar Varèse, Witold Gorden (designer of the Salzedo harp) and Bouy in 1932
Citaat uit de Musical Leader 6th June 1929:
Mr Salzedo is a modernist at heart; he has been the champion of modern music, a composer of works in modern idioom, he has stood for everything progressive in all the arts and he has had the courage to carry the same modern spirit into the decorating of his home.
1931 was the first year of the Summer Harp Colony. ‘You have to work like the devil to play like an angel’ – favorit saying of Salzedo
During war time the Camden Herald reported (1943): ‘It is gratifying to realize that the Summer Harp Colony is upholding the same high standards and activities in Was as well as in Peace, thereby adhering to the Government War Program, which rightfully recommends that the cultural end of our way of life be carefully preserved for the future generations.’ (Page 33) Quote Leopold Stokowski (1957): ‘Salzedo has done for the harp what Bach did for the organ, Paganini for the violin, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy for the piano, which is to enlarge the technical and expressive potentialities of their chosen instruments. This was urgently needed for the harp, because so few composers understand the true musical personality of the harp, but write for it as if it were a piano’
Text on Salzedo by Varèse: page 39
Chapter V
The National Association of Harpists page 51-59
Founded in 1920 with their goal of bringing harpists together. The idea came from William Place, Jr in 1919 and Salzedo was to become the first president
The opening concert and first meeting was plannen 19/20 March 1921 (with a concert of 90 harpists). The Eolian Review was their magazine.
International Composers’ Guild, the Beethoven Association, International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), the National Association of Harpists and The Pan-American Association of Composers (Varèse)
These were the main Associations Salzedo was involved with
The Association lasted until 1933 (actieve period). Text reflecting this period by William Place, Jr on page 59
Chapter VI
The International Composers’ Guild,etc
Page 60-68
Relationship with Varése: ‘The contact was cordial but cold’ (page 60) ‘We soon found a ground of understanding through Debussy and Ravel, whom we both knew in Paris’, etc
‘Two Frenchmen’
Varèse was then talking about the idea of introducing contemporary music in the US, which at that time was strongly dominated by a provincial Germanic sentimentalism. (Quote by Varèse). At the same period ‘Les Six’ were grouping to organise contemporary concerts in Paris (Milhaud, Durey, Auric, Honegger, Poulenc and Tailleferre)
A closed society was formed in Berlin by Schönberg with the same purpose.
11th April 1919 the first concert organised by Varèse took place by his New Symphony Orchestra (for performing new works) in Carnegie Hall. Works by Debussy, Casella, Bartok and a Bach Cantata. The idea failed since the audience did not like it and ‘Varèse refused to prostitute his plans’
Belangrijk: hoe zat dit bij harpist/composers: waren zij principieel of ??
May 31, 1921 after Varèse’s failure of his orchestra The International Composers’ Guild was born (1921-1928)with Mrs Whitney as one of the main sponsors.
Goal: 4 concerts each season. Only living composers were to be presented. Quote by Louise Varèse: page 61
Members e.g.: Stokovski, Eugène Gossens, Casella, Bartok, Chavez, Enesco, de Falla, Kodaly, Hindemith, Ravel, Honegger, Milhaud, Tailleferre, de Falla
Voorbeelden van programma’s: page 62, première (US) van Les Noces (Stravinsky) page 63
Afscheidsbrief Varèse: page 65
Chapter VII
Salzedo, the composer
Page 69-93
“One must be a born composer”
Quote Fauré on page 69 (1910): ‘if today’s young composers would be able to write something like those four measures, there would be hope of getting out of the impasse that music seems to have drifted into”
Salzedo did experiment and was open to all kinds of performances with other kind of arts, like dance (Adolf Bolm, Nijinsky) and Lee De Forest, inventor, experimenting with sound motion pictures (1919) and cooking (page 78 & 79)
The audiences and critics did receive his compositions very willingly, see page 74 to 77
Method for the harp, first published in 1927, got a very dedicated review from A. Walter Kramer, ever the champion of new music – page 81 & 82 (1930 in ‘Musical America’)
Salzedo’s fingering could be considered ‘timeless’, also his interest in other forms of art and his joy of being a musican.
‘Not timeless’: his way of interpretation of classical and/or baroque music and arrangements of other composers. Other keys, ornaments, etc
Chapter VIII
Salzedo’s innovations
Page 94-116
Quote by Louise Varèse in the biography of her husband:
‘Carlos Salzedo was widely known and is remembered principally as a remarkable harpist and teacher. [………] Varèse used to say that if Carlos has chosen the piano instemde of the harp he would have had a career rivalling any pianist of his generation. The harp repertory had been trivial and trashy before Salzedo enriched it with his own compositions, as well as with skillful, tactful, faithful arrangements of other composers, Debussy notably.
He also invented technical means for providing his instrument with innumerable new sounds and colours’
Page 94
!!!!!!!Quotes on Parish Alvars: page 95
Universal method for the harp by Bochsa (1789-1856) and Oberthür (1819-1895)
Cithern sounds are described as a portamento effect
RH: pdlt and LH making kind of vibrato by exerting pressure on the soundboard underneath the string being played
Innovations either by pianist, inventor Josef Hofmann regarding the piano and the harp or by Salzedo described on pages 105-116, also describing the new invented Salzedo harp by Mr Witold Gordon (page 115&116)
Chapter IX
Salzedo, the teacher
Page 117 – 141
Modern Study of the Harp
by
Carlos Salzedo
An appreciation is written by the pianist and close friend
Josef Hoffmann
Foto maken van de cover
Introduction by Salzedo himself
Zie foto’s op I-phone
Lucia Bova over Salzedo:
Chapter III
The contemporary harp (page75-248)
Experimentation and research in the New World: Edgar Varèse and Carlos Salzedo
Edgar Varèse (1883-1965)
Carlos Salzedo (1885-1961)
They were both convinced of the need to create an organisation in New York, similar to the ones that already existed in Europe (see page 248)
So they founded the International Composers’ Guild (ICG) (page75) ‘The aim of thr IGC is to centralize the works of the day, to group them in programs intelligently and organically constructed and, with the deinterested help of singers and instrumentalists, to present these works in such a way as to reveal their fundamental spirit’
E: why did these composers feel not respected by the musicians? Could it also be the other way around: harpists who did not feel respected by composers (knowlegde of the instrument) and so started composing themselves?
Carlos Salzedo was omnipresent in the ICG: whether acting as an excellent conductor, a composer, a pianist or one of the most outstanding harpists. The programmes should consist of premieres or first performances in the US .
Like the Sacre du Printemps in Paris, some of Varèses’ compositions caused a ‘riot’ among the audiences, while Salzedo was shouting: ‘this is serious music’
Then C. Salzedo fouded a periodical of the IGC: the Eolian Review, which gave ample space to subjects related to contemporary music. This review was the official periodical of the National Association of Harpists, which was also founded by Salzedo and whose initial aim was to discuss harp music and technique.
Later on the periodical changed its name to Eolus, A Review for New Music (1925). Its aim was to tackle the problems of contemporary music and the ‘militancy’ that brought together some of the composers of the time, who were united with a slogan: ‘new music for new ears’
In 1927 the promotion of new works , the ICG ceased its activities. After 6 years an audience was built and ears were opened. It had found interpreters without prejudices towards their music (page 78)
Research Questions
Education
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Why the harp?
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Why compose?
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Reception by other harpists
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Reception by audience
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• How did they contribute to the harp repertoire (compositions/methods)
• Could they be considered ‘contemporary’ at their time
• What do I recognise in them
• Musical examples audio and/or video and/or photo
• What innovations did they discover and what effect did that have on harpplaying then and in the future
• How important where they as a teacher
• Do they or does their situation show similarities with the harpist-composer nowadays