Today from Viafora’s “Gallery of Celebrities in Musical America we present the artist’s caricatures of the distinguished French composers Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saëns. We also include several interesting and amusing texts about them from Musical America. Why was Debussy “the most misunderstood man in the artistic world”? Why did Saint-Saëns insist on bringing his toothbrush to an evening soirée? Read on to find out!

Claude Debussy Vol. 24 No. 26 ( 28 October 1916): 7; Vol. 18 No. 23 (11 October 1913): 2.

“Keeping in Touch with World’s Music Growth Through the Piano,” Vol. 13 No. 13 (4 February 1911): 13.

Vol. 13 No. 22 (8 April 1911): 7.

The following article was written by the soprano Maggie Teyte, whom Debussy personally chose to replace Mary Garden in the role of Mélisande for his opera, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Vol. 18 No. 23 (11 October 1913): 2. Read more from this article by clicking here: Maggie Teyte Corrects Some False Ideas About Debussy

Below, Mary Garden, who originated the role of Mélisande, speaks about her relationship with Debussy.

Debussy playing Debussy...

A 1900 photograph of Saint-Saëns alongside Viafora's caricature of the composer as "Samson" (left) Camille Saint-Saëns. photographed by Pierre Petit (1900); (right) Vol. 25 No. 2 (11 November 1916): 7.

"Echoes of Music Abroad," Vol. 16 No. 11 (20 July 1912): 11.

Vol. 35 No. 9 (24 December 1921): 1.

Read more from this article by clicking here: "Musical World Loses Grand Old Man"

With the conclusion of this post, RIPM’s Curios, News and Chronicles signs off for a brief summer hiatus. We will be back in September with more compelling and entertaining material from the musical press. In the meantime, the staff at the RIPM Center wishes you a wonderful summer!

RIPM search tip: In the event that you wish to pursue research on these two composers, note that the name Debussy appears in the RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals in 2,020 citations, and that of Saint-Saëns in 2,787 citations. In RIPM's European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), Debussy's name appears on 17,767 pages, and Saint-Saëns on 31,692 pages!

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, RIPM European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

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Editor (Baltimore): To date, RIPM offers access to some 291 full-text searchable music periodicals, to over 1.1 million full-text pages online and to some 901,000 annotated citations. Over the past two years, RIPM’s Associate Editor Nicoletta Betta has presented a paper dealing with RIPM’s recently completed and current indexing projects at the annual congress of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (IAML, held respectively in Rome, 2016; and Riga, 2017).

Today we continue with the second installment of this series.

In 2016, fourteen journals were indexed and will be available in the Retrospective Index, along with, in most cases, the full-text of the indexed titles.

In my presentation, I will provide basic publication information for all periodicals, the name of the RIPM editor or collaborator responsible for its indexing, and then select one or more journals for discussion, explaining why they were chosen for inclusion in RIPM. For clarity, the journals are grouped by country of publication.

RIPM collaborators Peter Sühring (Berlin) and Alexander Staub (Leipzig) continued indexing the monumental Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (NZM) by expanding its index to include the “Kleine Zeitung” (little newspaper), a section dedicated to reporting on musical life in Germany. This column, which increased in length and content year after year, regularly contains information about concerts, tours of composers and performers, obituaries, music festivals, and new opera productions. After indexing the “Kleine Zeitung” sections, our colleagues indexed the “Tagesgeschichte” (daily history) and “Vermischtes” (miscellaneous) sections. The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik is currently available in the Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text from the years 1834 to 1859.

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik Vol. LIV No. I (1861): 7.

Two Viennese publications were also treated: Sühring indexed Musikalischer Kurier (Vienna, 1919-22); and Staub, Musikbote (Vienna, 1924-26).

Edited by Max Graf, a pupil of Eduard Hanslick and Anton Bruckner, Musikalischer Kurier typified the complex nature of post-World War I Austria, by reflecting both the desire to preserve the old values of Austro-German musical culture and the need to accept modernist ideas. Below is the cover of the special August 1921 issue, which contains writings on the then-new Salzburg Festival.

Vol. 3 Nos. 31-35 (August 1921).

Collaborator David Sommerfield (Washington, D.C.) completed the index to the English-language journal, Opera Magazine (New York, 1914-16). This periodical focused on bolstering a distinctly American musical identity by reporting on musical events in this country, such as opera productions, and repertoire, as well as singers. Alongside the sample cover below is a photo of Léonide Massine, Leon Bakst, and Igor Stravinsky from the 1916 American tour of the Ballets Russes.

Vol. 3 No. 3 (March 1916): 15.

Four Italian journals have been indexed; three by RIPM collaborator Elvidio Surian (Pesaro, Italy) and I indexed Rassegna Musicale.

The monumental Musica d’Oggi, with a publication run of over forty years, represented something new for the influential Milan publishing house, Ricordi. While Ricordi’s previous periodicals were mainly informative bulletins, Musica d’Oggi was more scholarly, focusing principally on contemporary music.

An article in Musica d’Oggi dedicated to the namesake of the Ricordi publishing house on its 150th anniversary Vol. 1 No. 1 (January 1958): 5. * * *

La Melodia had a brief publication life, and was printed in an older newspaper-style layout. Generally, its content included information about local music events and Italian musical life, and numerous music examples.

Vol. 1 No. 3 (1 August 1869)

Vol. 1 No. 1 (1 July 1869): [1]; Vol. 1 No. 3 (1 August 1869): [1].

Each issue of L’Arte pianistica, published in Napoli, included a biographical article of a distinguished musical figure. Below is just an example: the medieval music theorist Guido D’Arezzo.

Vol. 1 No. 24 (15 December 1914.

RIPM’s Editor of French periodicals Doris Pyee (Bordeaux) indexed the Belgian journal Sirène (Brussels, 1937-46; title changed during publication to Syrinx) and the French title, Le Domaine musical (Paris, 1954).

Sirène was founded by a group of young Belgian composers, which included Albert Huybrechts, Marcel Poot, Fernand Quinet, and André Souris. While primarily an informative bulletin about these composers’ activities, the journal also contained information about new music produced abroad, music bibliography, concerts, radio programs, and recordings. Its cover displays a distinctly modern design.

Issue 1 (March 1937).

Le Domaine musical focused on contemporary music. It was founded by the late composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, and includes contributions from influential composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen. The journal also contains photographs, including the one below of Stockhausen’s experimental music studio in Cologne, Germany.

Issue 1 (1954): [1p] 128/129.

Finally, RIPM added one Argentinian, one Chilean, and two Russian journals. Gabriel Caballero (New York) indexed Revista de Musica (Buenos Aires, 1927-28, 1930) and Musica Chile (Santiago, 1920-23) and collaborator Natalia Ostroumova (Moscow) treated Russian musical vestnik (1880-82) and Muzikal’naya nov (1923-24), both published in Moscow.

The main aim of La Revista de Musica was to inform its readers about foreign musical trends: the decline of the tonal system, the flourishing of new harmonic theories, and the birth of new media. The journal also reported on Western artists performing on tour in Argentina.

Vol. 1 No. 1 (July 1927): 1.

For all RIPM publications, visit:

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

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Last week, we featured Gianni Viafora’s caricatures of Puccini and of Mascagni from the artist’s “Gallery of Celebrities” in Musical America. Today we showcase his drawings of two more Italian composers, Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Italo Montemezzi. We also include several texts about the composers from Musical America, a remarkable, though little-explored documentary resource, and include links to articles sampled below! Read a section of a remarkable review of Montemezzi’s now-rarely performed opera, L'amore Dei Tre Re, “one of the most deeply affecting and full-blooded scores since Wagner,” and an absolutely scathing obituary of Leoncavallo, a man whose passing was, for one writer, “of no significance to music.”

Ruggiero Leoncavallo Vol. 24 No. 11 (15 July 1916): 7; Vol. 4 No. 9 (14 July 1906): 5.

Vol. 18 No. 25 (25 October 1913): 3.

Vol. 4 No.9 (14 July 1906): 10.

Vol. 30 No. 16 (16 August 1919): 2.

“…the demise of Leoncavallo is of no significance to music. So far as he mattered artistically the man might have died a quarter of a century ago.”

Read the entire blistering obituary here: Leoncavallo Passes

Another Viafora caricature of Leoncavallo Vol. 18 No. 25 (25 October 1913): 4.

Vol. 19 No. 10 (10 January 1914): 3.

Read a section of this article by clicking here: Montemezzi "Success Unequivocal"

Italo Montemezzi Vol. 24 No. 23 (7 October 1916): 7; Vol. 19 No. 10 (10 January 1914): 3.

"Let Simplicity Be the Composer's Constant Objective, Adjures Italo Montemezzi," Vol. 31 No. 4 (22 November 1919): 3.

Vol. 19 No. 10 (10 January 1914): 4.

A photograph of Montemezzi (left; in red) and Viafora (right; in red) Vol. 31 No. 4 (22 November 1919): 3.

RIPM search tip: For more on Viafora and his drawings in Musical America, access the RIPM Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals, as fill in the following fields: Periodical: Musical America (New York, 1898-1899, 1905-1922 [-1964]), Keyword(s): Viafora.

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, RIPM European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

ripm.org

Last week, we introduced Gianni Viafora and his "Gallery of Celebrities" in Musical America.[1] Today we showcase his drawings of Puccini and Mascagni and compare them with contemporary photographs of the composers. We leave you to compare the skill and amusing refinement with which this all-but-forgotten artist depicts his subjects. We also include several texts from Musical America, a remarkable, though little-explored documentary resource, dealing with lesser-known elements of the composers’ lives. And, for the first time, we provide links to entire articles sampled below, no subscription required!

Giacomo Puccini 24 Vol. No. 1 (22 July 1916): 7; Vol. 29 No. 8 (21 December 1918): 1.

Note that Puccini is pictured lake-side, across from which is depicted his villa on Torre del Lago. Note also the tiny singing duck, perched on the end of the composer's hunting rifle!

Puccini the Hunter "...duck shooting, which he pursued with more energy than his composing..."

Watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYqIdOI_RdwPlease use your browser's back arrow to return to this post.(Warning: If you do not you will be watching random videos for days to come, over which we have no control!)

An anecdote:

"Personalities," Vol. 13 No. 13 (4 February 1911): 20.

Vol. 13 No. 7 (24 December 1910): 8.

To read the entire article, click here: "Puccini at Home"

Pietro Mascagni Vol. 24 No. 14 (5 August 1916): 7; Vol. 24 No. 2 (13 May 1916): 29.

Vol. 23 No. 25 (22 April 1916): 19.

Two anecdotes:

"What the Gossips Say," Vol. 6 No. 6 (22 June 1907): 14; "Echoes of Music Abroad," Vol. 15 No. 24 (20 April 1912): 12.

Vol. 16 No. 11 (20 July 1912): 27; Vol. 15 No. 24 (20 April 1912): 29.

To read both articles, click here: Mascagni's (in)fidelity

Mascagni at the piano...

More Viafora coming soon...

RIPM search tip: For more on Viafora and his drawings in Musical America, access the RIPM Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals, as fill in the following fields: Periodical: Musical America (New York, 1898-1899, 1905-1922 [-1964]), Keyword(s): Viafora.

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, RIPM European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

ripm.org

[1] See H. Robert Cohen, “Viafora’s ‘Gallery of Celebrities’ in Musical America (1915-1920),” Music Cultures in Sounds, Words and Images: Essays in Honor of Zdravko Blažeković, (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2018): 535-569.

It was in this way that Gianni Viafora, arguably the most important caricaturist of musical personalities during the first quarter of the twentieth century, was introduced to the readers of Musical America, a journal to which he contributed extensively. [1]

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce one of the cleverest caricaturists in this city, Mr. Viafora, who is to draw pictures exclusively for Musical America... The fine satire and subtle humor of Mr. Viafora’s sketches have long since made him a favorite with operagoers and opera artists alike and the readers of two continents, especially those of Italian and American nationality, are familiar with the name of the great artist. [2]

Gianni Viafora was born in 1870 in Cosenza, a city in Calabria, Italy; in 1899 he married the well-known soprano Gina Ciaparelli; and, three years later the Viaforas settled in New York. After contributing caricatures to publications in Chicago and New York and to magazines in Italy, Viafora became a regular contributor to Musical America in 1911.

Viafora (top left) with the Bass Pompilio Malatesta, the baritone Riccardo Stracciari, and Theodore Bauer, Representative of the Boston Opera House (Photo taken between 1915 and 1920) Bains Collection, Library of Congress, LC-B2-4472-1. hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.26104, accessed 29 May 2018.

His most extensive contribution to the popular music magazine appeared in a regular column entitled “Musical America’s Gallery of Celebrities,” which contains 222 numbered caricatures of some of the most celebrated musical personalities active in the musical life of the period. As demonstrated by his first and last caricatures drawn for this series, Viafora’s range of subjects extended from the most revered (Enrico Caruso) to those, while well-known at the time, all but forgotten today (Umberto Sorrentino).

Vol. 23 No. 7 (18 December 1915): 7; Vol. 32 No. 4 (22 May 19120): 7.

Furthermore, the manner in which Viafora drew his subjects clearly reflected his kind nature. For his drawings do not depict his subjects by grotesquely exaggerating a physical feature, which is the manner we today often recognize a caricature. Rather, his drawings often attempt to depict an aspect of the inner character of his subjects. Of course, there is the occasional big belly or large nose here and there. But more often than not it is a wrinkle, a frown, the position of a hand, the stance of an artist while performing, a slightly troubled countenance, a characteristic facial expression or a glimmer or a smile or sparkling eyes that reveals something special and unique about the nature of the subject. Here are a few more examples of drawings from Viafora’s “Gallery.”

(L-top) The Polish pianist, composer, statesman, and politician Ignacy Paderewski; (R-top) Victor Maurel, the celebrated French operatic baritone; (L-bottom) the iconic American band composer John Philip Sousa; (R-bottom) internationally acclaimed violinist Maud Powell Vol. 23 No. 9 (1 January 1916): 7; Vol. 29 No. 4 (23 November 1918): 7; Vol. 24 No. 6 (10 June 1916): 7; Vol. 25 No. 6 (9 December 1916): 7.

More caricatures of this marvelous artist will appear in future postings. You can expect to see contemporary photos of Viafora’s subjects alongside the artist’s depiction of them, which allows one to appreciate the delicacy of his approach. And, accompanying each image will be brief texts from Musical America which we hope will offer insights into this extraordinarily rich and surprisingly little-explored documentary resource.

As you can see, no musical contemporary was safe from Viafora’s pen, not even his wife!

Vol. 27 No. 26 (27 April 1918): 7.

RIPM search tip: For more on Viafora and his drawings in Musical America, access the RIPM Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals, and fill in the following fields: Periodical: Musical America (New York, 1898-1899, 1905-1922 [-1964]), Keyword(s): Viafora.

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

ripm.org

[1] This post and ongoing series relies heavily on a recently published essay by RIPM’s Founder and Director, H. Robert Cohen. For more, see H. Robert Cohen, “Viafora’s ‘Gallery of Celebrities’ in Musical America (1915-1920)," Music Cultures in Sounds, Words and Images: Essays in Honor of Zdravko Blažeković, (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2018): 535-569.[2] Musical America, Vol. 15 No. 2 (18 November 1911), 21.