Modest (Moisei Isaacovich) Altschuler (February 15, 1873September 12, 1963) was a cellist, orchestral conductor, and composer.Leonard Slatkin, ''Conducting Business: Unveiling the Mystery Behind the Maestro'' (2012), Amadeus Press, p. 32. . Accesse
on Google Books
2013-01-24. He was born in

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, into a Jewish family. He studied at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

and emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1893. In 1903 Altschuler organized the Russian Symphony Orchestra Society of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which for two decades toured the United States featuring performances and compositions by leading contemporary Russians. Among the Orchestra's notable premieres were

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10, which was performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York on December 10, 1918 and

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

's ''Prelude to Khovanshchina'', which Altschuler presented at Carnegie Hall on February 25, 1905. The Orchestra was among the first established orchestral ensembles to record for the

gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

; Columbia discs of short pieces by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

Eduard Lassen Eduard Lassen (13 April 183015 January 1904) was a Belgium, Belgian-Denmark, Danish composer and conducting, conductor. Although of Denmark, Danish birth, he spent most of his career working as the music director at the court in Weimar. A moderat ...

and others date from about 1910.

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents ...

, a member of the Orchestra, notes in his autobiographyShilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005, pp. 14--15. that soloists in the Orchestra included

Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (russian: Михаил Саулович Эльман; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-born American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. E ...

Josef Lhevinne Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

, and Vassily Safanov. Shilkret also noted that the Orchestra "played for the great ballerina Pavlova and her partner Mordkin

910 Year 910 ( CMX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. __NOTOC__ Events By place Europe * June 12 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under ...

" Despite his rigorous classical training, Altschuler was not averse to modernist experimentation. The Symphony's March 1915 New York premiere of

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

's ''Promethee: Le Poeme de Feu'' ('' Prometheus: The Poem of Fire'') with

Marguerite Volavy Marguerite Volavy, also known as Madame Volavy (1886 - 1951), was a pianist known for her recordings of Czech music and composers. Early life Volavy was born in Brno, Moravia, and studied at the Vienna Conservatory under Anton Door. She grad ...

as pianist, featured a newly invented device, the

chromola The term color organ refers to a tradition of mechanical devices built to represent sound and accompany music in a visual medium. The earliest created color organs were manual instruments based on the harpsichord design. By the 1900s they were ele ...

, which rendered musical tones in colo

https://monoskop.org/Chromola]. After disbanding the orchestra on the eve of the first World War, Altschuler moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he built a notable reputation as a teacher and performer. With help from his cousin, film executive Joe Aller, he composed and performed in film scores, including ''

The Sea Hawk ''The Sea Hawk'' is a 1915 novel by Rafael Sabatini. The story is set over the years 1588–1593 and concerns a retired Cornish seafaring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being ...

'' (1924), ''

Dawn to Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'' (1933), ''

It's All in Your mind "It's All in Your Mind" is a single by Beck, released in 1995. Although then a non-album single (being a 7" of outtakes from his album '' One Foot in the Grave''), a later version was recorded and included on his album '' Sea Change'' (2002); this ...

'' (1938), ''

Buffalo Bill Rides Again ''Buffalo Bill Rides Again'' is a 1947 American Western film starring Richard Arlen. It is also known as Return of Buffalo Bill. Plot Cast *Richard Arlen as Buffalo Bill *Jennifer Holt Jennifer Holt (born Elizabeth Marshall Holt; Novembe ...

'' (1947), and ''

Song of My Heart ''Song of My Heart'' is a 1948 American historical film, historical drama film directed by Benjamin Glazer and starring Frank Sundström, Audrey Long and Cedric Hardwicke. It is a highly fictionalised biopic of the nineteenth century Russian compo ...

'' (1948), He was also active in southern California's musical community. In 1926, he organized the Glendale Symphony Orchestr

Altschuler founded a musical dynasty which includes his niece

Eleanor Aller Eleanor Aller (Slatkin) (May 20, 1917 – October 12, 1995) was an American cellist and founding member, with her husband, Felix Slatkin, of the Hollywood String Quartet. Life and career Born in New York City, she was the daughter of cellist Gre ...

, his grand-nephew symphony conductor

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

, cellist

Frederick Zlotkin Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

, violinist

Judith Aller Judith Aller is an American-born violinist, the daughter of pianist Victor Aller. Aller started taking lessons on the violin at seven, and as a teenager, she began her studies with Jascha Heifetz in his master class at the University of Southern C ...

, singer/songwriter Jody Cormack and composer

Dylan Mattingly Dylan Mattingly (born March 18, 1991) is an American composer from Berkeley, California. Early life Mattingly was born on March 18, 1991, in Oakland, California. He is a member of the Los Angeles-based musical family of the Allers/Altschulers, w ...

. Aller and her husband Felix Slatkin were principals in the Hollywood String QuartetPeter Gutmann
The Hollywood String Quartet
classicalnotes.com one of America's most accomplished classical ensembles in the period 1947-1961. Modest Altschuler died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on September 12, 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altschuler, Modest 1873 births 1963 deaths People from Mogilev 20th-century classical composers Moscow Conservatory alumni Belarusian Jews Jewish American classical musicians American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Male classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians