MAKING HISTORY

Cuban-born violinist Joseph White’s 1875 debut with the Philharmonic Society of New York was both a triumph and enormously significant – as the orchestra’s first performance with a soloist of African descent. Yavet Boyadjiev explores the event itself and the circumstances surrounding it

During the second half of the 19th century, the increasingly prosperous and cosmopolitan city of New York emerged as the leading cultural centre of the US. Dominated musically by German immigrants and hardly a step behind European capitals, the city established such first-rate musical institutions as the Academy of Music (1854), Steinway Hall (1866) and the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York (1842), staging the latest operas and performing up-to-date symphonic repertoire. Individual entrepreneurial promoters established a vibrant music scene with chamber music and solo recitals by major European soloists. Attracted by lucrative fees, violinists such as Ole Bull, Pablo de Sarasate, Camillo Sivori, Camilla Urso, Henry Vieuxtemps and Henryk Wieniawski performed in New York as part of larger American tours made possible by improved transportation, increasingly sophisticated audiences and a strong press following.

The Cuban-born violinist Joseph White (1835–1918, born José Silvestre de los Dolores White Laffita) made New York his base during an elevenmonth tour of the US from August 1875 to July 1876. During this period, he gave at least 33 performances in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Philadelphia and Boston, with the majority of these taking place in the then-separate cities of New York (now Manhattan) and Brooklyn. And of the 26 known appearances in what is now New York City, one stands out as uniquely important, not only for White himself but as an event of greater cultural significance. In December 1875, he became the first soloist of African descent – on any instrument – to perform as a soloist with the Philharmonic Society of New York, the orchestra now known as the New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the US.

Joseph White c.1865, Paris

BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, DÉPARTEMENT MUSIQUE

White, who turned 40 while in New York, appeared before the public there at the very top of his artistic and technical powers, receiving enormous critical acclaim. Yet he did not undertake a nationwide tour as did his European colleagues.

This may have resulted from his ethnic background and the heightened awareness of race beyond the ‘liberal’ north-eastern US. Only a decade removed from the devastating Civil War, and with Reconstruction still taking place, large parts of the country may not have been ready for a dark-skinned performer of classical music. At the very least, it could be argued that both White and his promoters decided to play it safe.

FROM PARIS TO NEW YORK 

White was born in Matanzas, Cuba, the son of a white French merchant and a black freed slave. His parents lived as a family but never married owing to strict colonial racial laws and prejudices. White’s exceptional musical abilities on the violin were recognised early and confirmed by the American composer and pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who encouraged his application to the Paris Conservatoire. White entered this prestigious institution in 1855, quickly winning the violin Premier Prix in 1856. He studied with Jean-Delphin Alard (1815–88), gaining the French master’s support throughout his apprenticeship and professional career and becoming his lifelong friend and colleague.

By his early thirties, White had reached maturity not only as a composer (having completed his memorable Violin Concerto in F sharp minor in 1864) but also as a pedagogue. He had held an interim teaching position at the Paris Conservatoire, substituting for Alard in 1865; and his remarkable set of Six Etudes op.13 was first published in 1869 (see ‘Breaking New Ground’, The Strad, June 2018). They also became part of the Paris Conservatoire’s curriculum in 1868. White’s reputation as a performer in Paris also reached a peak with appearances at such venues as the Salle Érard, Salle Pleyel and Salle Herz. And he co-founded three music societies: Société des Trois Anciens et Modernes (1865– 70), Société Schumann (1869–72) and Société de Musique de Chambre White-Delahaye (1872–3).

Programme of White’s debut with the Philharmonic Society of New York (now the New York Philharmonic), 11 December 1875\

It was in late 1874 and 1875 that a seemingly restless White set out to prove himself in the international arena. During the winter of 1874–5 he performed a series of concerts in Cuba (this was in the midst of the Ten Years’ War, the ultimately unsuccessful struggle for Cuban independence). In Havana, he performed alongside pianist Ignacio Cervantes, and after a patriotically charged event both were obliged to leave the island at the order of the colonial government. While Cervantes headed to New York, White travelled to Mexico City, where during the spring of 1875 he performed in the major theatres, embraced and promoted by the Cuban exile community led by the influential poet and journalist José Martí. By August 1875 White had arrived in New York and began to plan his first concerts there (as noted by the New York Times on 15 August 1875).

Original Steinway Hall and, on the far right, the Academy of Music, in close proximity on 14th Street, Manhattan. Published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 28 May 1864

The original Steinway Hall on 14th Street c.1900

PHOTOS MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, WURTS BROS. DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

Interior of the original Steinway Hall on 14th Street, view from stage, c.1929

‘SEÑOR JOSEF WHITE, COMING HERE AS HE DID COMPLETELY UNADVERTISED, HAS CREATED A VERY DEEP IMPRESSION AMONG MUSICIANS AND CONNOISSEURS’ – NEW-YORK TRIBUNE, 27 OCTOBER 1875

Virtually unknown to local audiences, White relied on his Cuban contacts to organise a series of three concerts with Cervantes and several local musicians. Billed as the ‘White- Cervantes Concerts’, they took place at Steinway Hall on 19, 23 and 26 October to enormous critical and popular success. Then located on 14th Street, the 2,000-seat venue was the most important concert hall in the city, a title that it ceded with the opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891. In White’s audience there were many fellow countrymen and women, whose effusive support and patriotic expressions made an impression on the press. It is very likely that the proceeds were donated at least in part to support the Cuban cause.

White’s solo repertoire for the series included Alard’s Fantaisie on Airs from Les Huguenots and Fantaisie on Airs from Robert le diable, Bach’s Chaconne, Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata and a group of his own compositions: Styrienne, Introduction and Variations on the Carnival of Venice, Fantasie on Airs from Martha and Valse de concert. The depth of these selections and certainly their execution drew favourable comparisons with the most prominent violinist to have recently visited the city: Wieniawski, who had played there between 1872 and 1874. A newspaper reviewer summed up the series:

The series of concerts given by Señores White and Cervantes has been the means of introducing to our public two artists, neither of them of mean ability, and one of them in some respect the best performer on his special instrument who has visited America of late years. Señor Josef [sic] White, who, coming here as he did completely unadvertised, has created a very deep impression among musicians and connoisseurs, is a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, a pupil of Alard, and has been a great favorite in Paris for some years. Fresh from Paris audiences, among the most severe on virtuosi in the world, his work has been attuned to a very high standard of artistic excellence in every way, and he has not yet had time to suffer that deterioration artistically which seems often to spring from playing to American audiences, and which even so great an artist as Wieniawski could not wholly escape. (New-York Tribune, 27 October 1875)

The White-Cervantes Concerts were attended by a number of influential music patrons, including William Steinway himself. For White, they were to provide a pathway for future concerts of even greater prestige, including his momentous appearance with the Philharmonic Society of New York.

The original Academy of Music on 14th Street and Irving Place, Manhattan (undated)

BERGMANN, THOMAS AND ACADEMY IMAGES NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS. PROGRAMMME COURTESY HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HISTORIC DEBUT 

Founded in 1842, the Philharmonic Society of New York was the first major symphonic ensemble in the US. The first violin soloist to appear with the orchestra was Vieuxtemps, who performed his Fantaisie sur Norma op.18 in 1844 and was made an honorary member of the orchestra. In the following decades, violin concertos were a routine programming choice after Carl Bergmann (who trained as a cellist) became the orchestra’s main conductor in 1855. A string of violinists of the highest calibre appeared between 1869 and 1874: Bull (1869 and 1870), Sarasate (1872), Urso (1873) and Wieniawski (1873 and 1874).

Conductor-cellist Carl Bergmann (1821–76)

White’s debut with the society, on 11 December 1875, took place at the Academy of Music on 14th Street and Irving Place, the city’s majestic 4,000-seat venue for opera and orchestral music, with Bergmann conducting. He played Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, until then the most-performed violin concerto by the society, and an audience favourite. His performance of Bach’s Chaconne had made a strong impression during the White-Cervantes Concerts, and he was given the honour of performing it as a programmed solo in the second half of the concert. His playing captivated critics: The most interesting incident of the concert was the violin performance of Señor Joseph White. A purer tone, daintier phrasing, and truer intonation than characterized this young artist’s playing have never been enjoyed by the local public. Possibly in M.

 WHITE AND THEODORE THOMAS

German-born Theodore Thomas (1835–1905) was the same age as White, and was one of the most influential musicians in the US in the 19th century. Trained as a violinist, he turned to conducting and founded the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1864, conducting it until 1888; he also conducted the Brooklyn Philharmonic

Society from 1866 to 1891, was music director of the Philharmonic Society of New York from 1877 until 1891, and was founder and first conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1891 until just days before his death.

Widely recognised as the finest orchestra of its time in the US, the Theodore Thomas Orchestra was often compared positively with some of the best contemporary European orchestras, and frequently toured nationwide. Although it and the Philharmonic Society of New York were rivals of sorts, they shared some of their musicians and conductors. Many of the soloists who performed with the society also performed with Thomas’s orchestra, as, for example, did Wieniawski and Sarasate.

Evidently impressed with White’s performance with the Philharmonic Society of New York, Thomas engaged him for three concerts. The first was with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 13 January 1876. Three days later, White and Thomas were in Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (then on Montague Street), and then on 12 March they collaborated again at Steinway Hall in Manhattan, at a benefit concert for the Women’s Centennial Union, an organisation of New York working women.

Above Theodore Thomas, as he appeared in Freund’s Weekly from 1893

Left Programme of White’s Philadelphia debut, 13 January 1876, at the Academy of Music, with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra

Wieniawski’s execution of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto there was a little more dash, but we are not sure that now and then, in accuracy of stopping, the older performer’s work did not suffer a trifle by his wonderful brio. Señor White’s delivery was simply perfect, the lovely andante of the composition revealing particularly the sweetness and expressiveness of his cantabile. Loud applause followed this part of the concert, but a very unusual demonstration of pleasure attended Señor White’s later rendering of Bach’s ‘Ciaconna,’ his reappearance on the stage being greeted with cheers. The violinist’s interpretation of this piece has never been equaled here and the tribute in which, by the way, the band united with the audience – was fully merited. (New York Times, 12 December 1875)

In a later report (8 January 1876), the correspondent of Dwight’s Journal of Music, the country’s leading, Boston-based music periodical, also praised White’s debut: ‘Every part of the beautiful concerto was interpreted at the best, and I have seldom heard so satisfactory a rendering, while the Ciaconna, which demands talent and artistic qualities of the very highest order, was equally well played.’

Whether the audience was aware of the historical significance of the concert or not, it was not recorded in the press. Neither the New York Times nor Dwight’s Journal of Music specifically mentions White’s race. On the other hand, the issue of race was not ignored in Philadelphia when White played the same pieces with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra a month later, on 13 January 1876 (See box, page 41). There, White was described as ‘novel[…] a Cuban who is dark enough to have African blood in his veins’ (The Times, Philadelphia, 14 January 1876). Why was White’s race largely ignored in New York in the context of a performance that we can now regard as historic for this precise reason? It seems likely that, for the general public, White’s appearance was simply subsumed by his foreign or ‘exotic’ origins. Had he been born in the US and shaped by the racial tensions of that time and that place, perhaps the matter would not have been overlooked. This may be precisely why he was almost always referred to as ‘Señor’ Joseph White in the press, thus promoting his foreignness (as the use of ‘Señor’ was customarily used by the press for persons of Hispanic origins, Sarasate included).

White’s achievement should not be underestimated. Half a century would pass before a US-born soloist of African descent was featured as soloist with the New York Philharmonic: contralto Marian Anderson in 1925; and it was another 37 years before an African American musician became a full-time member of the orchestra: violinist Sanford Allen in 1962.

SECOND CONCERT WITH THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

 After the successful debut concert, White was re-engaged to play with the Philharmonic Society of New York just three months later, on 18 March 1876. At this second appearance, which also took place at the Academy of Music, he chose to play Vieuxtemps’s Ballade et polonaise. Leaving no doubt that his interpretation of the Chaconne had already become an audience favourite, it was programmed again, this time ‘by request’.

The orchestra’s concertmaster, George Matzka (1825–83), filled in as conductor for the indisposed Bergmann, who was suffering poor health (he died later that year).

After that concert, the New York correspondent for Dwight’s Journal of Music (29 April 1876) offered one of the most detailed and perceptive reviews available regarding White’s performing style:

The most conspicuous merits of Sig. White’s playing are the accuracy of his stopping and the perfect purity of his intonation. His defects are a want of power in bowing and a lack of breadth in his style, which is sometimes felt in his conception of classical music. In him are lacking just those traits which bring Wieniawski into the front ranks of the interpreters of such music, – the nerve power, and broad sweeping bow. Too frequently, however, Wieniawski, like Ole Bull’s Irishman, plays ‘by main strength be jabbers’, and his rapid passages are often rasping.

Sig. White’s playing is characterized by refinement rather than by power; although his remarkable intonation makes every note from his violin distinct and penetrating. Being recalled after his first piece, a Ballade by Vieuxtemps, he played a graceful composition which we understand is his own. The second piece allotted him on the programme was Bach’s magnificent Ciaconna in D minor, and, for encore, a Gavotte, also by Bach. Both of these pieces were well played and elicited great applause from the audience.

Programme of White’s second concert with the Philharmonic Society of New York, 18 March 1876

WHITE’S ACHIEVEMENT SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED. HALF A CENTURY WOULD PASS BEFORE A US-BORN SOLOIST OF AFRICAN DESCENT WAS FEATURED AS SOLOIST WITH THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

FINANCIAL DETAILS OF THE ENGAGEMENTS The Philharmonic Society of New York’s 1875–6 season was financially troubled as a result of an economic depression following the Panic of 1873 as well as the success and popularity of the rival Theodore Thomas Orchestra. Most soloists therefore performed for no fee, and White did likewise. For his debut concert, as a show of thanks, White received a dozen rehearsal tickets and a dozen concert tickets for his friends. The president of the society thanked him with a letter for his valuable services during ‘the hour of need’.

By the beginning of 1876, the orchestra’s finances were getting even worse. The situation became so desperate that the board of directors, to avoid cancelling the season, asked members of the orchestra to play as volunteers. When the board decided to invite White for a second concert, they needed to engage him for no payment, if possible, or for a sum not exceeding $50. Financial documents held at the Leon Levy Digital Archives show that White accepted ‘no charge whatsoever’, and ultimately a total of $7.56 (constituting reimbursement for his carriage bill – presumably from his residence to the Academy of Music and back) was passed for payment. White’s willingness to help the orchestra by forgoing his payment a second time was received with gratitude. According to meeting minutes held in the Leon Levy Digital Archives, on 24 March the orchestra resolved to send ‘a note of thanks to Mr White for his kind assistance at the fifth concert’ and ‘that the orchestral parts of the Ballade et Polonaise with the stamp of the Society on each part be presented to the artist’.

CONCLUSION

 White departed New York for Paris on 8 July 1876, four days after the United States celebrated its centenary. He left no personal reminiscences regarding his New York concerts, but given his ties with abolitionist institutions in New York (Plymouth Church, Brooklyn), Cuba (the pro-independence movement) and Brazil (the imperial family and other abolitionist personalities), we can assume that the debut with the Philharmonic Society of New York must have had a special meaning for the son of a former slave.

The author would like to thank Mr Gabryel Smith for his help in navigating the New York Philharmonic’s Leon Levy Digital Archives