Lessons with Stravinsky: The Notebook of Earnest Andersson (1878–1943)

Abstract

In 1978, Robert Craft expressed the hope that some record might be found of the lessons that the virtually unknown American composer Earnest Andersson (1878–1943) took with Stravinsky in Hollywood during 1941–42. Also missing were scores of the symphony Andersson worked on with Stravinsky. These documents have now come to light. A private collection in Pennsylvania houses Andersson's Futurama symphony and the notebook he kept of his lessons, items heretofore unseen except by family members. These sources contribute to our understanding of Stravinsky in at least two unique ways. First, Andersson's notebook is the sole record of any long-term pedagogical commitment by Stravinsky, one that eventually numbered 215 lessons. Second, the manuscripts of both composers for Futurama and for two other large orchestral works establish Stravinsky's only known compositional collaborations (with the exception of a one-month stint with Ravel in 1913), which stretched over almost two years. This article examines Stravinsky's previous sporadic role(s) as pedagogue, outlines the various careers of polymath and composer Andersson, questions Stravinsky's final and self-serving remarks in 1966 about Futurama, offers preliminary analyses of two movements from Futurama upon which both men worked and which are discussed in Andersson's notebook, and suggests how and what Andersson may have learned, as recorded in his 58-page notebook (late February–early October 1941). The notebook is here transcribed in full.