US #3158
1997 Leopold Stokowsky – Classical Composers & Conductors
Legends of American Music Series
- Pictures conductor Leopold Stokowsky
- Part of the Classical Composers & Conductors set
- The 10th stamp set in the Legends of American Music series
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Classical Composers & Conductors
Series: Legends of American Music
Value: 32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: September 12, 1997
First Day City: Cincinnati, Ohio
Quantity Issued: 86,000,000
Printed by: Printed for Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. By Sterling Sommer of Tonawanda, New York
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20 (Horizontal 4 across, 5 down)
Perforations: 11.1 by 11.0
Tagging: Phosphored paper
Why the stamp was issued: To commemorate conductor Leopold Stokowsky, one of the best of the best in American classical music.
About the stamp design: The stamp pictures a painting of Stokowsky by artist Burt Silverman (also responsible for the image on the 1997 Raoul Wallenberg stamp). Art director Howard Paine said he chose Silverman because “He is a mature portrait painter… I didn’t want some glitzy, commercial, airbrush, flashy, tightly rendered kind of art…. Burt’s work is ‘painterly.’ He works in oil, and you can see dabs of color and you see brush strokes and you see the human touch.”
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony for the Classical Composers & Conductors stamps was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Classical Music Hall of Fame. The city is also home to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, then the fifth oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. It is also home to the Cincinnati Opera, the country’s second-oldest opera company.
About the Classical Composers & Conductors set: Issued to commemorate composers Samuel Barber, Ferde Grofe, Charles Ives, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk, as well as conductors Leopold Stokowsky, Arthur Fiedler, George Szell, and Eugene Ormandy. They were chosen to represent the best of the best in American classical music.
About the Legends of American Music Series: The Legends of American Music Series debuted on January 8, 1993, and ran until September 21, 1999. More than 90 artists are represented from all styles of music: rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, country and western, jazz and pop, opera and classical, gospel and folk. In addition to individual singers and Broadway musicals, subjects include band leaders, classical composers, Hollywood songwriters and composers, conductors, lyricists, and more. The Legends of American Music Series was a huge advancement for diversity because it honored many Black and female artists.
History the stamp represents: British-born conductor Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) was known for his flamboyant showmanship and the rich, deep sound of his orchestra. Stokowski worked as an organist until he became conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony in 1909. From 1912 to 1936 he served as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s musical director. In 1915, he became an American citizen.
Stokowski did a great deal to popularize classical music by organizing the All-American Youth Orchestra and by conducting the NBC symphony. He also directed both the New York Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony. In addition to performing the contemporary works of Mahler, Varèse, and Stravinsky, Stokowski also debuted Charles Ives’
Fourth Symphony. In 1940, he led the Philadelphia Orchestra in creating the music for the classic Walt Disney film
Fantasia.
An innovative conductor, Stokowski also studied acoustics and recording techniques, and experimented with the placement of various sections of the orchestra, attempting to improve its range of sound. His refinement ultimately became known as the “Philadelphia” sound. He was also known to change the written orchestration of pieces, which, although often technically brilliant, inspired some controversy.