JAVS Spring 2019

Example 1. The same melody in the beginning of “L’Etang” in the vocal rapsodies (left, m. 8) and the instrumental rapsodies (right, mm. 1–2).

Orchestra, Longy conducted the Orchestra Club of Boston between 1899 and 1911 and through this post introduced many French compositions to the city of Boston. 13 He also founded the Longy Club, which focused on chamber music for winds. 14 During his time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Longy became an ardent supporter of Loeffler and encouraged him to revisit his Rapsodies in 1901. With Longy in mind, Loeffler reworked the composition and re orchestrated the first two poems of the set: “L’Étang” and “La Cornemuse” for oboe, viola and piano. On December 16, 1901, Longy, Loeffler, and pianist Heinrich Gebhard premiered the work at the Longy Club. 15

With dear old Pourtau at the Clarinette there might have shone some beauty out of them but now—I am discouraged. We shall not hear another artist like him in our days. What a catastrophe it all was and what a loss! I was truly fond of him. . . . He was an excellent companion. . . . 12

Inspiration and Renewal

The Boston Symphony began seeking musicians from Europe to replace the three principal woodwind players who died on La Bourgogne. One of these musicians from France was an oboist named Georges Longy. In addition to his new duties as principal oboe of the Boston Symphony

Figure 2. The musical sections of “L’Étang” in the 1905 “instrumental rapsodies” align with the stanza of the poem each section depicts.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 35, No. 1, Spring 2019

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