33. “Music Panel Meeting,” December 8, 1954, 2, CU collection, box 100, folder 1.
34. See panel member Virgil Thomson on criteria for selecting groups. Music Advisory Panel, September 13, 1955, 1, CU collection, box 100, folder 1; Department of State, “Basic Principles for Guidance of Agencies Administering the Cultural Program Financed from the President’s Emergency Fund for International Affairs,” 1, n.d. (probably 1954), CU collection, box 48, folder 6.
35. Department of State, “Basic Principles for Guidance of Agencies Administering the Cultural Program,” n.d. (prob. 1954), 2, CU collection, box 48, folder 6.
36. “Music Advisory Panel Meeting,” April 24, 1957, 2, CU collection, box 100, folder 3.
37. “Music Panel Meeting,” December 8, 1954, 3, CU collection, box 100, folder 1.
38. “Progress Report No. 15,” August 2, 1955, 6, CU collection, box 48, folder 6.
39. “Music Panel Meeting,” December 8, 1954, 4, CU collection, box 100, folder 1.
40. “Progress Report No. 15,” August 2, 1955, 8, CU collection, box 48, folder 6.
41. In May 1952, the orchestra made its first trip to Europe, playing fifteen concerts in eleven cities. “The Triumphal European Tour of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” 1952 European Tour, Administrative: Miscellaneous, Mgt 48, Tour and Trip Files, 1946–1952, box 1, BSOA. All newspaper accounts (through note 52) are from the Boston Symphony Clipping files, Pres 56, BSOA.
42. On playing American works: “Two Orchestras Go Abroad This Year—They Should Play American Works,” New York Times, January 22, 1956.
43. The Soviets also provided some funding for that part of the tour. “Visit to Russia Intrigues Players,” Boston Herald, August 31, 1956; “Culture One of Hottest of United States’ Exports,” Boston Sunday Globe, August 19, 1956.
44. “Symphony to Moscow,” New York Times, June 11, 1956. Note Henry Cabot to James P. Richards, March 5, 1956, Correspondence 1955–56, Trus, 7X, box 1, BSOA.
45. The document, in the form of a short address, is dated April 25, 1956. It was most likely written by Thomas D. Perry, the BSO’s manager. 1956 European Tour, Moscow-USSR, Mgt 48, box 5, BSOA.
46. “Time’s Little Ironies,” Boston Globe, August 14, 1956.
47. Dm. Kabalevskii, “On the Concerts of the Boston Orchestra,” Pravda, September 14, 1956. BSO Scrapbooks, BSOA.
48. Alexander Gauk, Sovetskaya Kul’tura, September 11, 1956, Ibid.
49. “Boston Doctor Found Russian People Eager to Learn about America,” Boston Sunday Post, September 23, 1956.
50. “Musicians Quizzed Eagerly by Soviets,” Christian Science Monitor, September 29, 1956.
51. “With the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Europe,” William Cox 1960, Tour materials, BSOA.
52. “Boston Symphony Good Will Ambassador,” Pawtucket (RI) Times, September 13, 1956. Exceptions to this positive perspective: “Sickening Spectacles,” Manchester Union Leader, October 8, 1956.
53. “Eisenhower Lauds Boston Symphony,” New York Times, October 6, 1956. The remarks were published widely.
54. “Philadelphians’ Tour,” New York Times, October 1, 1957.
55. Press release from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Clipping file, Philadelphia Orchestra, 1958, NYPLPA. Ormandy first conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1931.
56. Ibid.
57. “Philadelphians End Warsaw Tour,” New York Herald Tribune, June 23, 1958.
58. “Ormandy Troupe Toast of Rumania,” New York Times, May 22, 1958.
59. “U.S. Musicians Hit Polish Tour Aides,” New York Times, June 18, 1958; “Warsaw Hails Ormandy,” Ibid., June 19, 1958.
60. “Musical Moscow Hails U.S. Visitors,” New York Times, May 28, 1958.
61. “Izvestia Praises Debut,” New York Times, May 30, 1958.
62. “Orchestra Ends Visit in Moscow,” New York Times, May 31, 1958.
63. “Kiev Opens Its Gates,” New York Times, June 1, 1958. Many newspapers covered the trip, including those in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. The Philadelphia Inquirer offered extensive coverage.
64. “Kiev Opens Its Gates,” New York Times, June 1, 1958.
65. “Music: Brotherly Love,” New York Times, June 3, 1958.
66. “Van Cliburn, Cold War Envoy, Dies at 78,” New York Times, February 27, 2013.
67. “The All-American Virtuoso,” Time (May 19, 1958): 58–69. Note “Van Cliburn’s Teacher Reaps Share of Fame,” Washington Post, May 13, 1958.
68. “The All-American Virtuoso,” Time (May 19, 1958): 58–69. Other details from “Van Cliburn, Cold War Envoy, Dies at 78,” New York Times, February 27, 2013.
69. “The All-American Virtuoso,” Time (May 19, 1958): 58–69. On financing the trip: “Eight U.S. Musicians Compete in Moscow,” New York Times, March 25, 1958.
70. “Moscow Hails U.S. Pianist,” Chicago Tribune, April 12, 1958.
71. “Moscow Hails Texas Pianist,” Baltimore Sun, April 12, 1958; “Russians Cheer U.S. Pianist, 23,” New York Times, April 12, 1958. Note “Texas Pianist Wows Moscow Music Lovers,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1958.
72. “U.S. Pianist, 23, Wins Soviet Contest,” New York Times, April 14, 1958. Newspapers covered the victory, often on the front page. See website.
73. “Texas Pianist Wins in Moscow over Reds,” New York Herald Tribune, April 14, 1958. Note “Texas Pianist Wins $6250 Soviet Prize,” Washington Post, April 14, 1958.
74. Richter quoted in “The All-American Virtuoso,” Time (May 19, 1958): 59; “Daily Review of the Soviet Press,” April 19, 1958, 8, Clipping file, Van Cliburn, NYPLPA (taken from Sovetskaya Kultura).
75. Gilels in “Daily Review of the Soviet Press,” April 19, 1958, 6–7, Clipping file, Van Cliburn, NYPLPA.
76. “Texan Gets Khrushchev Bear Hug after Winning Soviet Piano Contest,” Boston Globe, April 15, 1958. On the same date: “Texan Gets Hug from Russ Boss,” Los Angeles Times; “Van Cliburn Elated with Music Prize,” Baltimore Sun.
77. “Texan Given Ovation at Russian Music Fête,” Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1958; “Cliburn Continues as Toast of Soviet,” New York Times, April 16, 1958.
78. “Shostakovich Hails Cliburn’s Success,” New York Times, April 21, 1958.
79. “Shostakovich Is Patronizing on U.S. Music,” New York Herald Tribune, April 21, 1958. Two Newsweek readers rejected Shostakovich’s perspective. “Russia and Cliburn,” Newsweek (June 16, 1958): 8, 11.
80. All the New York papers and many throughout the country covered Cliburn’s return. For quotations: “Van Cliburn Back, Strikes Gay Key,” New York World-Telegram, May 16, 1958; “Van Cliburn Is Home with a Texas [remainder obscured],” May 16, 1958, Clipping file, Van Cliburn, NYPLPA.
81. “Music Notes,” Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1958.
82. “Wonder Boy Wins Through,” New York World-Telegram, May 20, 1958. Note “Hero’s Return,” Time (June 2, 1958): 40; “What Comes Naturally,” Newsweek (Ibid.): 53.
83. “Words and Music,” New York Post, May 20, 1958.
84. “Young Van Cliburn Excites Audience,” New York Journal-American, May 20, 1958. On his musical development: “Music to My Ears,” Saturday Review (May 31, 1958): 21.
85. “Wonder Boy Wins Through,” New York World-Telegram and Sun, May 20, 1958.
86. “Cliburn a Winner Here, Too,” New York Herald Tribune, May 20, 1958.
87. “Van Cliburn Proves He Has What It Takes,” Daily News, May 20, 1958. Note “Van Cliburn Conquers at Home, Too,” New York World-Telegram and Sun, May 20, 1958.
88. For parade description and quotations: “City Cheers for Cliburn in Parade,” New York Herald Tribune, May 21, 1958; “Van Cliburn Gets a Hero’s Parade,” New York Times, Ibid.; “100,000 Hail Van Cliburn in N.Y. Bow,” Chicago Tribune, Ibid.
89. “New York City’s ‘American Music Day’ in Tribute to Van Cliburn,” May 20, 1958, Clipping file, Van Cliburn, NYPLPA.
90. Eisenhower’s congratulatory message to Cl
iburn stated, “I believe such contests are good for better understanding between peoples of all nations.” “Ike Sends Bid to Pianist Who Won Moscow Prize,” Washington Post, April 18, 1958.
91. On the visit: “Cliburn Will Visit Eisenhower Today,” New York Times, May 23, 1958; “Eisenhower Hails Van Cliburn; Takes Helicopter to Gettysburg,” Ibid., May 24, 1958; “Cliburn Given High Praise by President,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1958; “Ike Looks Up,” Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1958.
92. On Cliburn’s activities in Washington: “Van Toasted in Vodka and Champagne,” Washington Post, May 25, 1958; “Why So ‘Quiet’ for Van?” Washington Post, May 26, 1958.
93. Peanuts in newspapers across the country, July 12, 1958. For amusing pieces: “Cliburn’s Victory at the Piano Earns Texas Seat at Summit Talk,” Chicago Tribune, April 20, 1958; “Pianist in Moscow Outplays Diplomats,” New York Daily Mirror, April 20, 1958. On religious devotion: “The Cliburn Formula: Faith, Prayer, Practice,” New York Daily Mirror, May 16, 1958.
94. “The View from Here,” New York Post, May 27, 1958.
95. “Culture Closing U.S.-Soviet Gap,” Washington Post, April 19, 1958.
96. “American Triumph in Moscow,” New York Herald Tribune, April 15, 1958.
97. “Music to My Ears,” Saturday Review (May 3, 1958): 25.
98. “An Editorial,” Musical Courier (May 1958): 12. On lack of support for American artists: Paul Henry Lang, “Music and Musicians,” New York Herald Tribune, May 27, 1958.
99. “Pianist’s Return,” Baltimore Sun, May 23, 1958. Note “Van Cliburn’s Success a Credit to America,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1958.
100. See my chapter on the 1958 trip in Jessica Gienow-Hecht, ed., Music and International History in the Twentieth Century (New York: Berghahn Books, 2015), 140–165.
101. On Bernstein’s career, see website. On replacing Walter: “Bernstein Makes Dramatic Debut When Walter Is Indisposed,” Musical America (November 25, 1943): 11.
102. On Bernstein’s political views and tribulations: Seldes, esp. chs. 2–3.
103. “New York Philharmonic to Make Grand Tour Including Russia,” February 26, 1959, box 023-01, folder 31, NYPA. Note “Itinerary: Tour of Europe and the Near East, August 3, 1959 to October 11, 1959,” box 23-01, folder 39, NYPA.
104. “So You’re Going to Russia,” box 023-01, folder 39, NYPA. The document was apparently produced by the US government.
105. On the American Exhibition: Walter Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945–1961 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), chs. 6–7.
106. “How Bernstein Met Pasternak,” New York Herald Tribune, September 27, 1959.
107. A. Medvedev, “Good—but Not All Good, Mr. Bernstein,” Sovetskaya Kultura, August 27, 1959. Other Soviet observers were more positive: Leonid Kogan, “High Mastery,” Pravda, August 24, 1959. Articles in translation in the 1959 New York Philharmonic clipping file, NYPA. Several of the newspaper accounts on the 1959 trip that are cited here (through note 123) were found in the 1959 Clipping file.
108. “Bernstein Hits Ceiling over Red Critic’s ‘Lie’,” New York Journal-American, August 28, 1959.
109. Bernstein’s words from Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Moscow. The orchestra brought a printed Russian translation of his remarks for the audience, which was apparently misplaced.
110. “Pasternak in Public Again at the Bernstein Concert,” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1959.
111. Art Buchwald’s description in “How Bernstein Met Pasternak,” New York Herald Tribune, September 27, 1959. Note Pasternak’s correspondence to Bernstein in The Leonard Bernstein Letters, Nigel Simeone, ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013), 418–20.
112. Ibid.
113. “Pasternak Came Out on Bernstein’s Plea,” New York Journal-American, September 13, 1959.
114. “Pasternak in Public Again at Bernstein Concert,” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1959.
115. “Pasternak Back in Public View, Joins Ovation for Philharmonic,” New York Times, September 12, 1959.
116. “Pasternak in Public Again at Bernstein Concert,” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1959.
117. “Pasternak and Audience Hail Bernstein Concert,” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1959.
118. “Orchestra Back After Ten Weeks,” New York Times, October 14, 1959. Bernstein quoted in “Philharmonic Ends Tour in Washington,” New York Times, October 13, 1959.
119. “More Culture Swaps Urged by Bernstein,” New York Herald Tribune, October 14, 1959. Note “Bernstein, Minus the Baton, Enthralls Press Club,” Washington Post, October 14, 1959. A volume of Bernstein’s writings includes the talk he planned to give at the National Press Club in which he was quite critical of the Soviet Union and its leaders. This might explain Bernstein’s determination to embrace Pasternak and show the world how differently each regime treated its artists. Bernstein returned from Russia with the same feeling he had had “going in, only multiplied . . . I have always liked the Russian people and equally disliked the Russian regime, and I came out of Russia loving the Russian people and loathing the regime.” Bernstein also lauded American journalists and criticized the Soviet press. It is unclear why he decided not to give this talk. Findings (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982), 153–63.
120. “Mayor Wagner Presents Key to New York City to Leonard Bernstein,” October 15, 1959, Box 023-04, Folder 71, NYPA; “Text of Mayor Wagner’s Citation, October 15, 1959, Ibid.
121. “What’s On?” Daily News, October 26, 1959; and “Maestro for the Millions,” Philadelphia Bulletin, November 22, 1959. For widespread national coverage of the broadcast, before and after the television special, see “Bernstein in Moscow Press Book,” Acc 1060, Donaldson-McMechan Records, Box 3, Benson Ford Research Center (BFRC), The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI.
122. Quoted in David M. Oshinsky, A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 463.
123. “Welch, TV Crew Visit Our Town,” Philadelphia Daily News, October 15, 1959.
124. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Moscow. On filming the documentary: “Music from Moscow,” New York Times, October 25, 1959.
125. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Moscow.
126. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Moscow. For a highly illuminating view, see Emily Abrams Ansari, The Sound of a Superpower Musical Americanism and the Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 187–99.
127. Music Advisory Panel Meeting, October 21, 1959, 3, CU collection, box 100, folder 5.
128. The Symphony of the Air, the NBC Symphony’s successor, toured Asia in 1955 and the New York Philharmonic played in Japan in 1962. On the 1955 trip, see Rosenberg in Music and International History, 140–65.
129. For a different and altogether thought-provoking perspective, see Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Music in America’s Cold War Diplomacy (Oakland: University of California Press, 2015).
Coda: “The Baton Is Mightier than the Sword”: Berliners, Ohioans, and Chinese Communists
1. The tour was sponsored, in part, by the US State Department. Shibley Boyes, “World Tour: 1967 Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra,” 4, 88, Los Angeles Philharmonic Archives, Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA.
2. I wish to acknowledge that the discussion of the Bernstein trip to Berlin draws on my essay in Leonard Bernstein, American Original: How a Modern Renaissance Man Transformed Music and the World during His New York Philharmonic Years, 1943–1976, Burton Bernstein and Barbara Haws, eds. (New York: Harper Collins, 2008), 131–32. The discussion also draws on my article “ ‘The Best Diplomats Are Often the Great Musicians’: Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Play Berlin,” New Global Studies 8, no. 1 (2014): 65–86. “Ford Motor Company to Send New York Philharmonic to Berlin for Two Concerts, September 22–23,” June 27, 1960, box 023-03, folder 73, New York Philharmonic Archive
s, Lincoln Center, New York City (hereafter NYPA). Ford paid $150,000 to finance the journey.
3. Ibid. Washburn’s words originally expressed in a May 27, 1960, letter to George Judd, managing director of the New York Philharmonic. Washburn to Judd, box 023-01, folder 41, NYPA.
4. Note the May 26, 1960, letter from Ford executive Charles F. Moore to George Judd, box 023-01, folder 41, NYPA; and Abbott Washburn to George Judd, June 16, 1960, box 023-01, folder 41, NYPA.
5. George N. Butler to George Judd, July 29, 1960, box 023-03, folder 73, NYPA.
6. “Throng at West Berlin Festival Cheers Visiting Philharmonic,” New York Times, September 23, 1960.
7. “Transporting Virtuosity—the New York Philharmonic,” Die Welt, September 2, 1960. German press accounts (in translation) found in the tour Clipping file, NYPA.
8. “Triumphal Success of the New York Philharmonic,” Die Telegraf, September 24, 1960.
9. “ ‘The Wunderkind’ also Greeted with Shouts of Joy in Berlin,” Berliner Morgenpost, September 24, 1960.
10. Ford enlisted the services of the New York advertising and marketing firm Kenyon and Eckhardt, which put together a national campaign designed to generate interest in the documentary, which was shown on Thanksgiving Day, 1960. See the file headed “Publicity—Promotion Report for Ford Motor Company: The Thanksgiving Day Concert by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Acc. 1484, box 3, Thanksgiving TV Concert, December 1960, Corporate Advertising and Sales Promotion Records, Office of Public Relations, Ford Motor Company Records Subgroup, Ford Motor Company Public Relations Records Collection, Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan (hereafter “BFRC ad file” for Benson Ford Research Center).
11. The Thanksgiving documentary from Berlin, sponsored by Ford and produced by Robert Saudek Productions, can be viewed in the New York Philharmonic Archives. Description of the opening text and images reflects my rendering of the film’s opening section.
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