Description

ALBERT SPALDING (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 15, 1888 – MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, MAY 26, 1953)

 

 

 

 

He was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 15, 1888. His mother, Marie Boardman, was a contralto and pianist. His father, James Walter Spalding, and uncle, Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher Albert Spalding, created the A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. Spalding studied the violin privately in Manhattan, New York City and Florence, Italy, and at the conservatories in Paris and Bologna; the latter graduated him with honors when he was fourteen. Following his debut in Paris on June 6, 1906, he appeared successfully in London and Vienna. His first American appearance as soloist came with the New York Symphony on November 8, 1908. A year later he soloed with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra when that orchestra toured the United States. In 1916, he was recognized as a national honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music. During World War I, Spalding served in the U.S. Army Air Corps (at one point as aide-de-camp to Major Fiorello La Guardia) and would eventually be awarded the Cross of the Crown of Italy. Not long after his return to the United States, he married Mary Vanderhoef Pyle on July 19, 1919, in Ridgefield, Connecticut. French violinist Jacques Thibaud and Andre Benoist, Spalding’s accompanist, provided the music for the ceremony. In 1920, Spalding appeared on the European tour of the New York Symphony. In 1922, he became the first American violinist to appear with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra; a year later he was the first American to serve on a jury at the Paris Conservatory, helping to award prizes to the graduating class of violinists. In February 1941, he premiered the violin concerto of Samuel Barber. Upon the United States’ involvement in World War II, Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle successfully urged Spalding to accept an assignment with the Office of Strategic Services. He was posted to London, for six weeks, and then served in North Africa until he was ordered to Naples where he was attached to the Psychological Warfare Division of SHAEF. In 1944, Spalding gave a legendary concert to thousands of terrified refugees stranded in a cave near Naples during a bombing raid. Following a concert in New York on May 26, 1950, Spalding announced his retirement from the concert stage. Thereafter, he taught master classes at Boston University College of Music and, in the winter months, at Florida State University. His last recital, with pianist Jules Wolffers, at Boston University (15. 05. 1953), ten days later he died in Manhattan, New York City, at the age of 64.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Hungarian dance no. 1 (Brahms) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82263 2407

Hungarian dance no. 2 (Brahms) Edison 82093 3396

Hungarian dance no. 5 (Brahms)  André Benoist (piano) 82048 2399 Edison 7 24 1913 New York, New York

Hungarian dance no. 6 (Brahms) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82342 3375

Hungarian dance no. 7 (Brahms) Edison 82046 Edison 82046

Hungarian dance no. 8 (Brahms) Edison 82093 3395

Indian lament (Dvořák) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82239 8017

Kujawiak (Seconde mazurka) (Wieniawski) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82245 8018

Le cygne (The swan) (Saint-Saëns) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82316 9231

Liebesfreud (Kreisler) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82323 9393

Love sends a little gift of roses (Openshaw) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82308 9250

Marchéta (Schertzinger) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82316 9394

Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner-Wilhelmj) Morgenlich leuchtend André Benoist (piano) Edison 82117 3779

Melody in F (Rubinstein) André Benoist (piano) Edison 28285 5747

Minuet in G (Beethoven) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82284 5754

My old Kentucky home – Variations (Collins Foster) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82105 4097

Nocturne (Chopin-Wilhelmj) André Benoist (piano) Edison 82212 5752