11-page booklet, stapled with application insert. Glossy paper with greyscale photograph on front cover. Various cross-out marks in booklet.
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BULLETIN
MUSIC INSTITUTE SUMMER 1944
*Image of mountain range with greenery and sky visible. Black and white photograph.
Black Mountain College Black Mountain, North Carolina
Music Institute Summer 1944
July 3- September 16
Black Mountain College Bulletin Newsletter February, 1944
Volume II Number 5
Issued seven times a year, in August, September, November, December, January, February, and April. Entered as second class matter November 4, 1942, at the Post Office at Black Mountain, North Carolina, under the Act of August 24, 1912.
Black Mountain College dedicates its first Music Institute to Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in sincere admiration of her contribution to the advancement of classical and contemporary chamber music and its interpretation.
The central theme of the Music Institute, summer 1944, at Black Mountain College will be “Interpretation”.
How are we to reconstruct our shaken culture? We shall have to find new foundations on stricter principles, now that impressionism, expressionism, and the experiments of yesterday are simply a part of history. Yesterday- to come to our present theme- the interpreter of music was often a wilful, improvising demon for whom the score was the cue for a magnificent exhibitionism. Today he increasingly recognizes that his first duty is fidelity to the composition while he interprets. He has learned responsibility.
This does not mean that he mechanically transmits the composition from the score to his audience without the intervention of his own personality. He has to bring to life the music that is presented to him as rigid and dead ciphers. This revivification demands not merely technique but human feeling and even a special type of imagination.
The interpreter therefore is not only an actor. He is a thinker. He must be able to understand the structure of a piece of music, the historical processes from which it sprang, the tradition to which it belongs. If he is to recreate it in the decisive irrevocable instant of performance, he has to know all this and, in addition, to grasp the affective character of the piece.
All music is to a certain extent conditioned by the instrument through which it is expressed. But in all times the specific styles for different instruments, for different instrumental and vocal groups, influenced each other so much that it is impossible to be an interpreter of one style without understanding the problems and techniques of all. Since the music of the great masters never had merely technical sources, a training in musical interpretation should not follow the single track of technical problems in one field. The instrumentalist, conductor, singer, chamber music player should face-occasionally at least- the problems of interpretation in all fields.
The Music Institute, summer 1944, at Black Mountain College will enable him to do so. The whole problem of faithful and imaginative recreation of modern and older music is to be approached theoretically and practically by artists of different musical spheres. All of the students of the Institute are expected to participate in classes, lectures, and discussions conducted by a faculty of artists who are performers of international reputation and lifelong experience as well as teachers and writers on the subject of interpretation. They are pioneers of music that is new or forgotten, or not yet understood. Since the perfect interpreter has always been a fighter for the work he represents, he has to establish a style that embodies the composer’s idea. Only those interpreters who have been able to grasp the works of the past as they really were- works of a present time- and therefore to give them the character they had in the time they were written: the character of something amazing and new.
The Music Institute will be open not only to those people who can take active part but also to those who come as auditors or who participate only in discussion. It will be a meeting place for instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, teachers, critics, for music professionals and amateurs. Performances and concerts will be the fruit of general co-operation. Rehearsals will be open to all.
Black Mountain College will not merely be the place where the Music Institute happens to be held. Rather, the Music Institute will be part of the life of the College; it will show visitors what Black Mountain College is doing and how. One of the basic ideas of Black Mountain College is the idea of community, which, in academic life, means intimacy between teacher and student, professional and amateur, the establishment of a genuinely personal relationship between workers in a common enterprise. The Music Institute will operate according to the pattern. It will be an opportunity for each to meet whom he chooses. All will work and eat together. Affairs will be settled less by rule than by mutual agreement. Since a number of regular Black Mountain College students will also be Institute students, and since a considerable portion of the normal College schedule will be in force, visitors will have the opportunity to see for themselves the workings of this educational experiment. Black Mountain College was dedicated to the discovery of new methods in education; students of the Institute can both observe the experiment and help to further it.
GUEST FACULTY
MARCEL DICK Viola and chamber music. Principal violist of Cleveland Orchestra. Former violist of Koliseh Quartet, Rose Quartet. Lecturer Boston University, College of Music, as violist of Stradivarius Quartet connected with Music Faculty Harvard University.
Black Mountain College, July 3-September 16, 1944
JOANNA GRAUDAN Piano and chamber music. Concert pianist in U.S.A., Far East and Europe, partner of her husband Nikolai Graudan. Pupil of L. Kreutzer and Arthur Schnabel.
Black Mountain College, July 3-September 16, 1944
NIKOLAI GRAUDAN Cello and chamber music. Solo cellist Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Former Professor of St.Petersburg Conservatory under Glazounoff, Concert tours in U.S.A., Far East, and Europe. Solo cellist Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Black Mountain College, July 3-September 16, 1944
RUDOLF KOLISCH Violin and chamber music. Founder and leader of the Kolisch Quartet, interpreter of contemporary music, member of Board of Directors of International Society for Contemporary Music, author of “Tempo and Character in Beethoven’s Music.”
Black Mountain College, July 3-September 16, 1944
*crossed out in black pen or marker “(Final arrangements with Mr. Kolisch have not yet been completed at the date of printing.)
ERNST KRENEK Composition. Dean of the School of Fine Arts, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn. Composer of ten operas, among them “Jonny spielt auf” Metropolitan Opera 1929, chamber music, symphonic and vocal music. Lecturer and professor at Malkin Conservatory, Boston, Mass., University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Vassar College. Author of “Ueber neue Musik”, “Music Here and Now”, biographical essay on Gustav Mahler, and other books
Black Mountain College, August 31-September 16, 1944
LOTTE LEONARD Voice. Professor College of Music of Cincinnati Concert and oratorio singer, former lecturer and professor Conservatory Hamburg, summer courses Salzburg Festival, opera classes A. Bahr-Mildenburg, master courses Zurich, Lucerne, Conservatoire International Paris.
Black Mountain College, July 3-September 16, 1944
YELLA PESSL Harpsichord. Concert harpsichordist and pianist, appearances with Bach Circle, New York, and with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony. Faculty member Columbia University, Director of Bach Circle, New York.
Black Mountain College, July 3-August 14, 1944
EDWARD STEUERMANN Piano. Concert pianist, pupil of F. Busoni and A. Schoenberg, interpreter of contemporary music, appearance with Stokowski and the NBC Symphony in the world premiere of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto. Lecturer at the New School for Social Research. Editor of Brahm’s piano works.
Black Mountain College, August 23-September 16, 1944
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE MUSIC FACULTY
FREDERIC COHEN Conductor, opera stage director Muenster, Essen, Handel Festivals, Heidelberg Festivals, Bayreuth, Old Vic London, professor Folkwang Schools, composer pianist Dartington Hall England, director Jooss Ballet, author of “The Green Table,” and other works.
Black Mountain College since 1942
HEINRICH JALOWETZ Ph.D. Vienna, pupil of A. Schoenberg, conductor of operas Prague, Cologne; concert conductor Vienna, Prague, Cologne, Berlin, London. Teacher summer school Conservatory Toronto. Author of “P.E. Bach and Beethoven”.
Black Mountain College since 1939
ELSA KAHL Jooss School of Dance. Solo dancer operas Muenster, Essen, Handel Festivals, Heidelberg Festivals, Bayreuth, Jooss Ballet, Dartington Hall, England.
Black Mountain College since 1942
EDWARD E. LOWINSKY Ph.D. Heidelberg, Music historian, pedagogue, teacher in Holland, at Conservatory Stuttgart, and Y.M.H.A. Music School, New York, Author of “Book of Children’s Music”, “Orlando di Lasso”, “Chromatic Secret Art in the Netherlands Motet” (to be published by the Columbia University Press this year).
Black Mountain College since 1942
GERTRUDE E. STRAUS Violinist. State Academy of Music Munich, Teachers’ Seminar State Academy Munich. Member of Studeny String Quartet, North Carolina Symphony Orchestras.
Black Mountain College since 1938
SPEAKERS
participating in panel discussions on contemporary questions of music, dance, and theatre;
ERNEST BACON composer, Dean of Student of Music, Converse College.
MARK BRUNSWICK composer, writer, president of U.S. Section of International Society for Contemporary Music.
*crossed out in black pen or marker “Aaron Gorland composer
AGNES G. DE MULE choreographer and dancer.
*HERBERT GRAF stage director Metropolitan Opera House, New York, author.
* PAUL GREEN playwright.
DORIS HUMPHREY choreographer and dancer.
JOHN MARTIN author, dance editor of the New York Times.
*crossed out in black pen or marker “Olga Camaroff Stokoweki pianist, Julliard teacher, author and lecturer
BEATRICE STRAIGHT-DOLVIVET stage and radio actress, co-director “Free World” magazine.
VIRGIL THOMSON composer, music critic New York Herald-Tribune.
*Final arrangements for participation not concluded at the date of printing.
*inserts stapled to booklet
In which of the announced courses and lectures are you particularly interested:
Names and addresses of personal and professional references:
Name Address
Who is responsible for payment of fees
Married couples must fill in separate application forms.
This form accompanied by the registration fee of $5.00 (non-refundable) should be mailed at the earliest possible date to the Secretary of Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Black Mountain College will be glad to send information on the Music Institute, summer 1944, to your friends. Please write names and addresses below and mail them to the Secretary of the Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Name Address
In which of the announced courses and lectures are you particularly interested:
Names and address of personal and professional references:
Name Address
Who is responsible for payment of fees
Married couples must fill in separate application forms. This form accompanied by the registration fee of $5.00 (non-refundable) should be mailed at the earliest possible date to the Secretary of the Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Black Mountain College will be glad to send information on the Music Institute, summer 1944, to your friends. Please write names and addresses below and mail them to the Secretary of the Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Name Address
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION
BLACK MOUNTAIN CAOLLEGE MUSIC INSTITUTE, SUMMER 1944
Date ___
Name ___ (last) (first) (middle)
Present Address ___
Date of Birth ___ Place of Birth ___
Schools attended (location, dates, certificates and degrees):
High School ___
College ___
Graduate or professional school ___
Music school ___
Music courses taken in any of the above schools (specify) ___
Other music study ___
Present occupation ___
Present musical activities (indicate whether professional or otherwise) ___
Which instrument do you play (or indicate character of voice) ___
Mention some of the most difficult pieces you have played or sung ___
Have you performed in public (specify which instrument, as soloist, in orchestra, opera, chorus, etc.) Where and when ___
CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE:
M. Dick, N. Graundan, J. Graudean, R. Kolisch, Yella Pessl.
RUDOLPH KOLISCH Democratic Principles in Ensemble Playing
A chamber music workshop. (twice weekly)
RUDOLPH KOLISCH Elements of Performance in Beethoven’s Chamber Music
Lecture demonstrations and discussions. (twice weekly)
NIKOLAI AND JOANNA GRAUDAN Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Cello (once weekly)
NIKOLAI AND JOANNA GRAUDAN The Literature for Cello and Piano (once weekly)
HEINRICH JALOWETZ Chamber orchestra
THE INTERPRETATION OF MUSICAL NOTATION
Will be discussed by Marcel Dick and Nikolai Graudan.
ERNST KRENEK The Composer and the Interpreter – 4 lectures.
E.E. LOWINSKY What is Style in Music?
A seminar in connection with the capella chorus. An approach to the problem of style in music through performance, followed by analysis of works of the Gregorian Chant and of Mediaeval and Renaissance polyphony, of Baroque and classical music. (once weekly)
E. E. LOWINSKY New Reads in Music Education- a seminar. (once weekly)
SINGLES LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS
Prejudice in Music. J. JALOWETZ
Address on Schoenberg’s Seventieth Birthday, September 13, 1944. E. KRENEK
Historical and Contemporary Interpretation in Music. R. KOLISCH, E. STEURMANN
The Problem of Interpretation in the Light of Music History. E. E. LOWINSKY
The Harpsichord in Contemporary Music. Y. PESSL
Schumann/s Kreisleriana. E. STEURMANN
The American Dance. A.G. DE MILLE
PANEL “THE COMPOSER AND THE AMERICAN MUSIC MARKET”
E. BACON, M. BRUNSWICK, A. COPLAND, E. KRENEK, V. THOMSON, AND OTHERS.
PANEL “THE DANCE AND THE AMERICAN THEATRE”
A.G. DE MILLE, D. HUMPHREY, B. STRAIGHT-COLIVET, P. GREEN, H. GRAF, J. MARTIN, AND OTHERS.
The College farm supplies milk, butter, beef, pork and vegetables for the community.
The College community life in summer offer to members of the Music Institute opportunities for dancing, squaredancing, picnics, light farm work, hiking, and swimming.
ADMISSION
A College committee admits applicants to the Music Institute. The committee’s decision is based upon the previous training of applicants, their ability, and the part they can be expected to play in the Music Institute as well as in the College community. There are no fixed regulations concerning the age and academic background of applicants.
The attached application blank filled out as fully as possible should be accompanied by an application fee of $5.00, which is non-refundable. This application fee will be credited to the inclusive fee upon admission. The College will write directly to the references given on the application blank.
On application for a scholarship a special form will be sent to the applicant.
All applications for admission should be mailed at the earliest possible date because of the limited accommodations on the College campus.
Address all correspondence to the Secretary of the Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina
FEES
The fee for attendance at the Music Institute, summer 1944, during the full period of eleven weeks is four hundred dollars. This amount includes all charges for tuition, practicing, lectures, recitals and performances, use of College libraries, record collection and equipment, visiting of classes and lectures of the regular College summer session, and room and board.
Although participants for the full period will receive first consideration, participants for shorter periods will be accommodated if space remains available. The charge for shorter periods will be one-tenth of the overall fee for each week. The fee is payable as follows: twenty-five percent upon notice of admission, to insure reservation of accommodation: the balance on arrival.
A limited number of scholarships is available to talented students, musicians and teachers to help them defray part of tuition costs for the Music Institute. Scholarships will be available only to those who can show that they are in need of financial support.
For further information write to the Secretary of the Music Institute, Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
This is a unique educational experiment, where the students and faculty are not only building their own buildings but really are attempting to demonstrate democratic procedure in an educational institution.
Eleanor Roosevelt (My Day, April 10, 1941.)
Black Mountain is a living example of democracy in action.
John Dewey.
I want to congratulate you upon the work you are doing. You are here as a little community to work with your hands and your brains, which Is a good thing for you. What is done out of pleasure is much better done than what is done out of duty. If you had to climb mountains out of duty, you could not mount these high mountains. I think that is also true with the high mountains of the spirit.
Albert Einstein
Progressive education’s most famous outpost.
Time Magazine, Dec. 27, 1943.
There should be at least one college such as this in every state, operated independently of the big universities, to provide custom-tailored education for those who want it and do the experimenting of which the big schools are almost incapable.
P.M.
Nowhere on American college campuses is there to be found a more democratic spirit.
The Archive, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
I had thought to stay an hour or so, then go on. To shorten a long tale, instead of staying overnight, I remained for two and a half months. On the third day I found myself making notes about the place. After two weeks later I knew I had stumbled on what might eventually prove one of the most fascinating and probably important stories developing in America today.
Louis Adamic (Harper’s Magazine.)
Back cover *Image of mountain range with greenery and sky visible. Black and white photograph.
