
From
the cover of R-199-144
R-199-145
R-199-23
R-199-49
Hungarian
Dances 'old' and 'new'
On
HALO 50296 Albert Spalding plays a recital with pianist Jules Wolffers
and announces Maleguena and Pièce en forme de habanera
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"Albert
Spalding was not only the first, but one of the few American violinists
to attain a reputation of world importance. He was a composer of note,
author of two books and, in two wars, undertook extremely important
and delicate missions abroad."
These
are the first lines of Albert Spalding's biography on the back of
R-199-144, the recording of Spalding's performance of Violin
Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 of Ludwig van Beethoven, performed with
the Austrian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Loibner. These
lines describe in a nutshell the personality and character of this
famous American violinist, composer, author and - in times of war
- intelligence officer.
When
Albert Spalding died on the 26th of May 1953 when dressing up for
dinner, the music world lost "the first great instrumentalist this
country has produced" as Walter Damrosch had described Spalding several
years earlier. And Fritz Kreisler had said, in a tribute to Albert
Spalding, in 1951: "He never fails to play on the heart strings of
the listeners (...)."
The
truth of Fritz Kreisler's words is evident in Spalding's Remington
recording of the Beethoven Concerto. His ease and naturelness, which
show that he masters the instrument and the essence of the music -even
at a high age- are remarkable. It is the same quality that can be
found in Enrico Mainardi's cello playing of the Bach Suites, for instance,
and above all in the performances of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas played
by
George
Enesco.
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Albert
Spalding
Picture
edited by R.A.B., taken from the back of an early REMINGTON
cover.
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Albert
Spalding
was born on August 15th 1888, in Chicago. His father was J. Walter
Spalding, a well-to-do businessman and a partner in the known sporting
goods firm.
His
mother was a pianist and a contralto. After initial studies in Chicago,
young Albert spent most winters in Europe with his family in Florence.
Already at the age of 14 he graduated at the Bologna Conservatory.
He
continued studying in New York with Juan Buitrago, and in Europe
with Ulpiano Chiti in Florence, and with Augustin Lefort
in Paris. He was one of only three foreign born students to be admitted
to the Paris Conservatory, the other two being Fritz Kreisler
from Austria and Eugene Ysaye from Belgium.
It was in Paris where Spalding made his debut in 1905 and his superior
talent and style were immediately recognized by the great and famous
of those days. He met Camille Saint-Saëns and played for
the great Joseph Joachim in Berlin. When on tour in Finland,
Spalding met with Jean Sibelius.
During World War I 26 year old Spalding enlisted in the army and was
active in the secret service. After the war he returned to the US
and married Mary Vanderhoef Pyle.
In the nineteen twenties and thirties he traveled to the world's famous
concert halls to perform Bach, Beethoven and Brahms with the great
conductors and orchestras of that era. He also visited the Netherlands
and performed in various cities and of course with Willem Mengelberg
in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He was invited by Ernst von Dohnányi
to perform in Budapest and was admired for his soulful playing.
By
the end of the nineteen forties he was to meet Ernö Dohnányi
again in Florida, and together they recorded for the Remington label.

In
an article with the heading "Violinist or Fiddler"
published in The Etude Music Magazine of November 1934, Albert Spalding
talks to R.H. Wollstein about the obligation of the artist to present
those works of which he believes that the hearers will enjoy as much
as he himself will. He also talks about what distinguishes the style
of one violinist from that of another.
"The
vibrato is, perhaps, the most personal element of the violinist's
playing, the most important factor influencing the character
of his tone, in giving it individuality. Just as the great
master-painters can be recognized without the signature on
their canvasses, by distinctions of line and composition,
so, I believe, our great violinists can be distinguished by
the peculiar quality of their vibrato." - Albert Spalding
(1934)
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In 1941
Albert Spalding gave the pemiere performance of Samuel Barber's Violin
Concerto which was completed the year before, together with the Philadelphia
Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.
From "Experiencing the Violin Concerto: A Listener's Companion" I
quote:
"American violin icon Albert Spalding (1888-1953) was no Heifetz,
but surely, on that Friday afternoon of February 7, 1941, he catapulted
Samuel Barber's violin concerto to everlasting fame. Fortunately,
surviving recording of the concerto's premiere performance bears witness
to the event that occurred at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia,
founded in 1924."
When
World War II broke out Spalding again enlisted in the army. After
the war he picked up his bow to concertize and to teach. In 1947 he
retired. His farewell concert took place in the Lewisohn Stadium in
New York where he played before an audience of 20.000 people. After
retiring he gave masterclasses at the University of Florida at Tallahassee
during the winter months.
Albert
Spalding is the composer of two violin concertos, a string quartet
and various pieces for violin and piano. The liner notes on R-199-144
state that he wrote in all sixty works for the violin, twenty-five
for piano, thirty for voice, four for chamber ensembles, and four
for full orchestra.
Albert Spalding also wrote two books, one is his autobiography "Rise
to follow", which was first published in 1943.
Before
he made his Remington recordings, Albert Spalding recorded in his
early days for Edison (vertical engraving system) and later for Victor.
He made the bulk of his recordings in the shellac era. The 1942 and
1948 editions of 'The Gramophone Shop Encyclopaedia of Recorded Music'
no Edison recordings are mentioned. Only the following Victor
recordings are listed:
Cassado:
Danse
du Diable Vert - 10" - Victor V-12914
Händel: Sonata Op. 2 No. 9 with William Primrose (viola)
and André Benoist (piano) - Victor V-18241
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major with William Primrose
(viola) New Friends of Music, Fritz Stiedry conductitng - Victor 4
12" VM 838
Spohr: Concerto for Violin No. 8, Op. 47 (In Form einer Gesangsszene)
with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy - Victor
2 12" VM 544
Spalding: Dragon Fly, A study in Arpeggione (unaccompanied)
- Victor 10" V-12914
Spalding: Wind in the Pines with André Benoist - Victor
10" V-1881
Spalding Transcriptions: Valse/Waltz Op. 69 No. 2 (Chopin)
- Victor V 1703; and "Hark, Hark, the Lark" (Schubert) -
Victor V-1667
Tartini: Devil's Trill (Il Trillo del Diavolo) with André
Benoist (piano) - Victor 1x12" & 1x10" V-14139 &
1787.
Since
Spalding was not under contract with a major label, Don Gabor arranged
to make recordings with Spalding at the end of the nineteen forties
and later when Laszlo Halasz was to be Remington's Recording Director
and was going to supervise recordings in Europe, the rare opportunity
presented itself to make recordings with the great violinist in Vienna.
That was Laszlo Halasz' first Remington assignment.
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Image
of Albert Spalding published in the Record Section of High Fidelity
Magazine of September-October 1953
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The
recordings of the Beethoven and Brahms concertos were made in 1952
in the Brahms Hall (Brahmssaal) of the Musikverein in Vienna, where
also English DECCA (US London) made quite a number of recordings.
These recordings were the first to be done in the MUSIRAMA
technique using the multiple microphone placement.
One
could say that, despite his age, Spalding's performances are strong
in character. He plays with determination and sensitivity - especially
in the second movement of the Beethoven Concerto - and his Brahms
is virtuosic and passionate. And Wilhelm Loibner is an able conductor.
It is not sure whose cadenzas Spalding plays in the concertos. They
are probably his own.
Making recordings in Vienna - "the fountain-head of music"
- and in the Brahmssaal, had given him great joy, he said afterwards
when visiting the Remington office in New York.
Critic
Paul Affelder reviewed the Brahms recording in High Fidelity
Magazine of September-October 1953:

Though
it does not say so on the jacket, this disk was undoubtedly issued
as a memorial to the eminent American violinist, Albert Spalding,
who died suddenly May 26. His last musical likeness shows him
as a sincere artitst, with a
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commanding
style and a tone warmer than I ever remembered having heard from
him on the concert stage. Unfortunately, it also perpetuates some
faulty intonation, something else I cannot recall having heard from
him. Be that as it may, it is one of the very few recordings that
Spalding left behind, and as such, will be welcomed by his many
admirers. As a performance of the Brahms Concerto, it cannot match
the magnificent old Heifetz-Koussevitzky-Boston Symphony version
on Victor, but considering the low price, it is not a bad buy. Watch
out, however, for bad tracking throughout this disk. - P.A. |
"(...)
some faulty intonation", Paul Affelder noticed. The true collector
of old recordings of violin music will certainly show understanding.
You can listen
to Albert Spalding performing the Brahms Concerto with Wilhelm Loibner
conducting on
YouTube
(obviously a transfer from the Varêse Sarabande LP with reference
VC
81059
which was prepared by Tom Null; link added in 2019.)
Earlier,
Spalding recorded for Remington "Hungarian Dances" by Brahms,
Sonatas by Bach, Sonatas by Corelli and Tartini, accompanied by pianist
Anthony Kooiker. And with Ernst von Dohnanyi he played
the Three Brahms Sonatas. See the review by Guy Aron on
Music
Web. The link to Pristine Classical given by Music Web is dead.
It was to the old hosring company. This should be it:
https://www.pristineclassical.com/
All these recordings are cherished by the true collector of historical
performances by great violinists.
Albert
Spalding's Remington recordings:
R-199-23
Tartini: Sonata in G minor, Corelli: Sonata in A, Sonata
in D "La Folia" (arr. Spalding) and Bach: Prelude in F Sharp
Minor (arr. Spalding) with Anthony Kooiker, piano
R-199-24
Brahms: Hungarian Dances with
Anthony
Kooiker, piano.
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Click
here
for a Sound Clip of Hungariasn Dance No. 1 performed by Albert
Spalding and Anthpony Kooiker.
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R-199-49
Brahms:
Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 ("Thun") for Violin and
Piano, and Sonata No. 3 in d minor Op.108 for Violin and Piano with
Ernst von Dohnanyi, pianist.
x
R-199-84
Brahms:
Sonata No. 1 ("Regen") Op. 78 with Ernö Dohnányi, piano.
The liner notes, written by Edward Tatnall Canby, mention that these
performances with Spalding were recorded in the fall of 1949 when
Dohnanyi came to New York when visiting the United States, just before
he
took up the post of professor at the Florida School of Music, Talahassee.
The Sonata is coupled with Hungarian Dances Nos 8,9 ans 17, with Anthony
Kooiker at the piano, taken from the selection of R-199-24. The cover
was designed by Alex Steinweiss.
R-199-144
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, with the Austrian
Symphony Orchestra and
Wilhelm Loibner
conductor.
R-199-145
Brahms:
Violin concerto in D major Op. 77, with the Austrian Symphony Orchestra
and Wilhelm Loibner.
Added in February
2018: Bearac Reissues have stopped their services. They had a special
Remington Series which was relatively popular with visitors of The
Remington Site.
On
the now defunct Bearac Reissues website one could read:
"(...) on R-199-144 (Beethoven) the introductory soft timpani taps
were cut off (a gross negligence even for Remington standards!) and
we had to restore them from later in the piece, otherwise your Beethoven
would open on the oboe tune."
I
presumed that it was the Bearac technician, when transferring the
Beethoven to the digital domain, had taken the soft tapping for some
sort of rumble or surface noise. The Remington disc I own of Spalding's
Beethoven Concerto has the early black label with matrices RE-1962
and RE-1963. There the soft tapping of the timpany at the beginning
of the concerto is not eliminated.
Recently
however I came accross Spalding's
performance on a
later Musirama pressing with red label from around 1957 when Remington
Musirama discs were having red/gold and also blue/gold labels. The
plate numbers of this later issue are RE-1962 1 and RE-1963 1. The
addition of the number 1 means a complete new matrix. That disc omits
the soft timpany at the beginning. So the mistake was made when cutting
a new lacquer. See also
Record
Corporation of New England.
In
1980 Tom Null released the performance of the Brahms Concerto in the
Remington Series on his Varèse-Sarabande
label.
The liner notes give the following information about this recording:
(...)
Released in 1953 as Remington records R-199-145, this performance
and the simultaneously-taped Beethoven, represent the only
non-78 RPM concerto recordings made by Albert Spalding in
what were, in fact, his last recording sessions. This release
is the first to utilize the original 30 inches-per-second
mastertapes - Remington's practice having been to produce
their records from 15 i.p.s. copy. The added clarity provided
by working from the well-preserved mastertapes has been further
"focused" through the application of modern equalization mastering
techniques. This was one of the label's first recordings to
employ the "Musirama" multiple microphone (four) technique.
This "close up" sound admirably captures Spalding's tone and,
conversely, also reveals various extraneous orchestral noises,
someone's (soloist's or conductor's) occasionally tapping
foot, and some bad moments of ensemble and intonation. The
latter maybe partly acounted for by the headlong intensity
of the performance and by the apparent fact that each movement
was recorded complete in one "take". - Tom Null
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Albert
Spalding can also be witnessed on ALLEGRO 1675 with Bach's
Chaconne (from Solo Partita 2), and Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata with
Jules Wolffers at the piano. His unrestrained playing - a tradmark
of the violinist - was also engraved on HALO 50296 on which
he announces Malagueña and Pièce en forme de habanéra
(Ravel). The accompanist on that recording is also Jules Wolffers.
On ALLEGRO ELITE 4118 the same gems can be found: Claire de
Lune, Ave Maria, The Londonderry Air, Habanera, and Hungarian Dances
Nos. 1, 2, 8, 9 by Brahms. A bootleg of the Halo recording? Or vice
versa?
Text (c) Rudolf
A. Bruil. Page first published June 21, 2002
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