Disney's "Fantasia"

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1940, Disney's animated film Fantasia opened at New York's Broadway Theater.

It proved to be a landmark film on a number of fronts: first, it was a milestone in cultural “cross-over”, in which classical music (in the person of conductor Leopold Stokowski) shook hands (literally and figuratively) with pop culture (in the person of Mickey Mouse). In “Fantasia,” Disney set selections of classical music from Bach to Stravinsky to animated stories created by his studio artists.

“Fantasia” was also a milestone in recorded sound. For its initial East and West Coast release, the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded nine special optical tracks, one for each section of the orchestra. These were mixed by Stokowski into a multi-track stereo soundtrack to be played in synchronization with the film on special equipment made by RCA for a multiple-loudspeaker theater installation called "Fantasound.” (Today that would have meant a soft drink sponsor!) Three large speakers were positioned behind the projection screen, and no fewer than 65 smaller speakers were placed around the walls of the theater.

The resulting “surround-sound” was stunning by 1940 standards, but cost $85,000 to set up. After the second full installation at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, “Fantasound” was not employed anywhere else.

Instead, eight "Fantasia Road Show" versions were assembled, each with 15,000 pounds of equipment but without the full surround-sound setup. These toured American movie theaters until 1941, when, following the outbreak of World War II, Disney diverted his funds, technology, and even Mickey toward the war effort.

Music Played in Today's Program

Bach, Tchaikovsky, Dukas, Stravisnky, Beethoven, Ponchielli, Mussorgsky and Schubert excerpts from Fantasia sountrack Philadelphia Orchestra; Leopold Stokowski, cond. Buena Vista 600072

On This Day

Births

• 1854 - American composer George Whitefield Chadwick, in Lowell, Mass.;

• 1856 - Russian composer Sergei Taneyev, in near Moscow (Gregorian date: Nov. 25);

• 1921 - Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen, in Iisalmi;

Deaths

• 1868 - Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, in Passy, near Paris, age 76;

• 1951 - Russian composer Nicolas Medtner, age 70, in London;

Premieres

• 1893 - Sibelius: "Karelia Suite," in Viborg, Finland;

• 1933 - Ruth Crawford Seeger: String Quartet, at the New School in New York City, by the New World String Quartet;

• 1943 - Martinu: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1953 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 5, in Moscow, by the Beethoven Quartet;

• 1964 - Yardumian: Symphony No. 2 ("Psalms"), with vocalist Lili Chookasian, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1997 - Poul Ruders: Symphony No. 2, at Lincoln Center in New York, by the Riverside Symphony, George Rothman conducting;

• 2002 - Tavener: “Ikon of Eros” for soloists, chorus and orchestra, at the St. Paul (Minnesota) Cathedral, with Jorja Fleezanis (violin), Patricia Rozario (soprano), Tim Krol (baritone), the Minnesota Chorale and Minnesota Orchestra, Paul Goodwin conducting;

Others

• 1937 - First "official" radio broadcast by the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Pierre Monteux conducting; Arthur Rodzinski had conducted a "dress rehearsal" broadcast on Nov. 2, 1937; Arturo Toscanini's debut broadcast with the NBC Symphony would occur on Christmas Day, 1937;

• 1940 - Disney releases “Fantasia,” an animated film based on classical music favorites ranging from Bach to Stravinsky; Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded the soundtrack, and in one famous scene Stokowski shakes hands with Mickey Mouse.