Music, the Mail, and Ephemera

[Szykneij]

Speaking of the 1950s, the postcard below advertised an upcoming 1952 concert by Leonard Pennario. This is his New York Times obituary:

Leonard Pennario, 83, Classical Pianist, Dies
June 28, 2008

Leonard Pennario, a popular classical pianist known for his enthusiastic public performances and recordings of the more melodic modern composers, died on Friday in La Jolla, Calif. He was 83.

The cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, said Mary Kunz Goldman, who is writing his biography.

Mr. Pennario, who also became a life master in tournament bridge, was listed in both the New Grove's Dictionary of Music and The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. As a pianist, he made many recordings in the days of long-playing records, notably of works by Gershwin and Rachmaninoff, and appeared with well-known orchestras and conductors. Beginning in the 1960s, he also played in trios with the violinist Jascha Heifetz and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.

Mr. Pennario made more than 60 recordings in all, of music by composers as diverse as Bela Bartok and Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Ms. Goldman said he was the first pianist after Rachmaninoff himself to record all four Rachmaninoff concertos and the "Variations on a Theme of Paganini."

[Mirror Image]

I suppose this qualifies for a post in this thread, but I bought a postcard (and it was also a stamp) from Royal Mail many years ago that featured Frederick Delius:

[Szykneij]

I suppose this qualifies for a post in this thread, but I bought a postcard (and it was also a stamp) from Royal Mail many years ago that featured Frederick Delius:

Absolutely! It was part of a 1985 stamp set honoring British composers that also included Handel, Holst, and Elgar.

[Mirror Image]

Absolutely! It was part of a 1985 stamp set honoring British composers that also included Handel, Holst, and Elgar.

Actually, this particular stamp was a part of a 2012 set titled Britons of Distinction as seen here:



The 1985 stamp you're referring to did not have Delius on the cover but of a cuckoo:

[Szykneij]

Thanks for that! Nice to see Delius represented twice!

[Mirror Image]

Thanks for that! Nice to see Delius represented twice!

Yes, indeed.

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 20, 1954
Dmitri Shotakovich's "Concertino opus 94" premieres

[Mirror Image]

I just found this and it's so cool: a 2018 Hungarian stamp celebrating Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle:



Link: https://posta.hu/stamps/stamps/new_stamps/bela-bartok-bluebeards-castle

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I just found this and it's so cool: a 2018 Hungarian stamp celebrating Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle:



Link: https://posta.hu/stamps/stamps/new_stamps/bela-bartok-bluebeards-castle

Cool!

I'd love to get ahold of one of these (issued in 1972 I believe?): 

PD

[Szykneij]

Yes, 1972 for his birth centenary. That's a score of his "Sea Symphony" behind his image.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, 1972 for his birth centenary. That's a score of his "Sea Symphony" behind his image.

Ironically, that's my least favorite symphony of his.

[Szykneij]

Ironically, that's my least favorite symphony of his.

My favorite is his "London Symphony", mainly because I enjoyed playing it in college.

[Szykneij]

This is a First Day Cover for the 1948 U.S. stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Rough Riders, the 1st United States Cavalry that saw combat in the Spanish American War. The stamp was cancelled on a business-return envelope addressed to George A. Kuyper at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. According to his obituary in the L.A. Times, Mr. Kuyper had a very distinguished career in the classical music world.

Los Angeles Times
AUG. 15, 1987

A memorial service has been scheduled Aug. 30 for George A. Kuyper, former general director of the Hollywood Bowl Assn. and Southern California Assn., who died earlier this month at age 88 in Santa Ana.
Kuyper had been living in Orange County since leaving the associations in 1963. They sponsor the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl seasons.
He was selected for the Los Angeles positions in 1959 after a nationwide search and came here from Chicago, where he had spent 16 years as manager of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Before that he was manager of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kuyper was born in Paterson, N.J., and studied at Rutgers. He was valedictorian of his graduating class the year singer-actor Paul Robeson was salutatorian.

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 21, 1927
First national opera broadcast from a U.S. opera house – Charles Gounod's "Faust", Chicago


https://www.oldradio.org/2013/01/january-21-1927-first-opera-on-radio.html

[Szykneij]

The postmark on this envelope from Decatur (Illinois) Conservatory doesn't have a year date, which wasn't unusual during the 19th century. Based on the issue date of the stamp and the image of the 1883 newspaper clipping, we're safe in assuming it was mailed during the late 1880's.

  A quick google search shows that tuition at a music conservatory near me is over $200,000 for a 4-year degree! The $12 per semester cost at Decatur seems like a really good deal, even for 138 years ago!

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 22, 1859
Johannes Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto (d minor) premieres in Hanover

At that time, Hanover was a state of the German Confederation and issued its own stamps.

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 23, 1940
Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes head of the Polish Government in Exile.

In 1939, with the Nazi Germany invasion of Poland at the start of World War II, the Polish government relocated to France. When France fell to the Axis powers in June 1940, this Government of Poland-in-exile moved from Paris to London.

  Postage stamps were issued and postal agencies were created on Polish warships and merchant marine craft flying the Polish flag. This envelope, mailed to the Polish Consulate in Chicago, was sent on December 12th, 1941, a few months after Paderewski's death. The red postmark with crown signifies it passed British censorship.

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 24, 1874
Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov" premieres in St. Petersburg

[Szykneij]

*This Day in Music History*
January 25, 1858
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" first played at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Victoria, to the crown prince of Prussia.

Mendelssohn was depicted in a set of 1959 stamps featuring German composers.

Queen Victoria appeared on the first postage stamp ever issued, the 1840 Great Britain "Penny Black".

King Frederick William IV was featured on stamps from Prussia in use at the time of the performance.

[Szykneij]

Established in 1847, the Hamburg-American Line was a steamship company that connected European and North American ports. In 1933, their educational division offered enrollment and transportation to the Salzburg Orchestral Academy. This program was presented by the International Foundation Mozarteum, founded in 1880 and apparently still operating.