February 5, 1922:
Marc Blitzstein (16) plays the solo part in the Piano Concerto no.2 of Camille Saint-Saëns (†0) in a performance at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. The opportunity comes with winning the gold medal in a contest for undergraduate music students sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Philadelphia.
December 6, 1924:
Incidental music to Andreyev’s play King Hunger by Marc Blitzstein (19) is performed for the first time, in the Hedgerow Theatre in Rose Valley, near Philadelphia.
October 9, 1926:
Marc Blitzstein (21) sails for France aboard the SS Mauretania for study with Nadia Boulanger (39).
February 13, 1927:
Two Pieces for violin and piano by Aaron Copland (26) are performed for the first time, in a League of Composers concert, in Anderson Galleries, New York the composer at the keyboard. Also premiered is the song As if a Phantom Caress’d Me for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (21) to words of Whitman, and Sonata for violin and piano by Ruth Crawford (25).
April 26, 1927:
What Weeping Face, a song for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (22) to words of Whitman, is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
January 2, 1928:
Nadia Boulanger (40) writes a letter of recommendation for Marc Blitzstein (22), her student for the past several months. “I could not praise too highly his gifts--Born musician, he is especially bright minded--and gives the greatest reasons to believe he is to become a true great artist.”
February 12, 1928:
A Piano Sonata by Marc Blitzstein (22) is performed for the first time, at a League of Composers concert in the Guild Theatre, New York by the composer.
February 15, 1928:
Gods for mezzo-soprano, cello, and strings by Marc Blitzstein (22) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in the Pennsylvania Athletic Club Ballroom, Philadelphia.
March 13, 1928:
Two of the Walt Whitman Songs for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (22), O Hymen, O Hymenee! and As Adam, are performed for the first time, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
June 15, 1928:
Marc Blitzstein (23) begins a six-week stay at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Here he will compose a cantata, A Word Out of the Sea and the miniature opera Triple-Sec.
December 30, 1928:
Two songs for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (23) to words of Whitman are performed for the first time, in New York: I Am He and Ages and Ages.
February 16, 1929:
The film Hände by Stella Simon is shown in Berlin with music for player piano and percussion by Marc Blitzstein (23). The film is already two years old and has been shown before, but this is the first time with Blitzstein’s music.
March 17, 1929:
Percussion Music for solo piano by Marc Blitzstein (24) is performed for the first time, at a League of Composers Concert in Steinway Hall, New York, by the composer.
April 25, 1929:
A setting of Psalm 80 for tenor, chorus, and orchestra and Fanfare pour un sacre païen for brass and percussion, both by Albert Roussel (60), are performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
May 6, 1929:
Triple-Sec, an opera farce by Marc Blitzstein (24) to words of Jeans, is performed for the first time, in the Bellevue-Stratford Ballroom, Philadelphia.
May 20, 1929:
Aaron Copland (28) and Marc Blitzstein (24) arrive in Paris. Blitzstein will renew his friendship with the writer Eva Goldbeck (they met at the MacDowell Colony last year), despite the fact that he has told her he is a homosexual.
April 6, 1930:
New works by American composers are performed for the first time, at a League of Composers’ Concert in New York: Five Songs on Poems by Carl Sandburg (first public) by Ruth Crawford (28), Piano Sonata by Roy Harris (32), and Three Poems by ee cummings for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (25). See 12 December 1929.
June 25, 1930:
Marc Blitzstein (25) tells Eva Goldbeck (who has been with him on Capri since February) that he needs to be alone. She remains for more than a month and then gives up.
February 15, 1931:
String Quartet “The Italian” by Marc Blitzstein (25) is performed for the first time, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
March 15, 1931:
At the last Copland (30)-Sessions (34) Concert, in the Broadhurst Theatre, New York, three experimental films by Ralph Steiner are shown: H2O, Mechanical Principles, and Surf and Seaweed. The first two feature music by Colin McPhee (30), and music for the last was composed by Marc Blitzstein (26).
May 25, 1931:
Marc Blitzstein (26) begins a two-month stay at the Yaddo Colony in Saratoga Springs, New York. Here he will compose his Piano Concerto and the opera The Harpies.
May 1, 1932:
Several songs by Charles Ives (57) are performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York: The See’r and Walking to his own words, Evening to words of Milton, Maple Leaves to words of Aldrich, and The Indians to words of Sprague. The pianist is Aaron Copland (31). Also premiered is the Serenade for string quartet by Marc Blitzstein (27). In the audience is Elliott Carter (23).
March 2, 1933:
Marc Blitzstein marries Eva Goldbeck in Philadelphia City Hall on his 28th birthday. She is a novelist, reviewer and translator, the daughter of a journalist and a professional singer. He is a homosexual, a fact of which she is aware.
May 29, 1933:
Marc Blitzstein (28), his wife, and a German Shepherd puppy named Very Tentative, move to a house near Bethany Beach, Delaware for the summer. Here he will compose Piano Solo.
February 5, 1934:
Piano Solo by Marc Blitzstein (28) is performed for the first time, at the Mellon Galleries in Philadelphia the composer at the keyboard.
March 5, 1934:
Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife sail for England aboard the SS Champlain. He has been hired as a composer for the choreographer Kurt Jooss at the Dartington Hall School.
November 17, 1934:
Just after leaving a meeting of the Jeunesses Communistes Belges in Brussels, Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife are arrested by Belgian police.
November 18, 1934:
After spending a night in a Brussels jail, Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife are deported from Belgium to France. They are never told the reason for their detention.
January 17, 1935:
After ten months in Europe, Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife set sail for the United States aboard SS Corinthia.
May 6, 1935:
Send in the Militia, a song for the revue Parade by Marc Blitzstein (30), is performed for the first time, in the Colonial Theatre, Boston. The song brings down the house.
May 12, 1935:
A Scherzo for piano by Marc Blitzstein (30) is performed for the first time, in New York by the composer.
November 6, 1935:
In the Cosmopolitan Club, New York, Colin McPhee (35) presents a program of Balinese music including three films of Balinese musicians with appropriate recordings and three groups of gamelan transcriptions for two pianos made by McPhee. He and Marc Blitzstein (30) are the pianists.
December 1, 1935:
Two numbers from Marc Blitzstein’s (30) unperformed ballet Cain are performed for the first time, on the piano, in Town Hall, New York, by the composer.
January 26, 1936:
The Piano Concerto of Marc Blitzstein (30) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WEVD, New York. Norman Cazden plays the solo part. The composer plays a piano reduction of the orchestral parts, with David Diamond (20) turning pages. See 27 January 1936.
January 27, 1936:
The Piano Concerto of Marc Blitzstein (30) is performed for the first time before a live audience, at the New School for Social Research, New York. Last night’s performers are repeated.
February 23, 1936:
Sketch no.1 by Marc Blitzstein (30) is performed for the first time, at the New School for Social Research in New York. It will be incorporated into The Cradle Will Rock.
April 15, 1936:
The New York Composers’ Forum-Laboratory presents an all-Marc Blitzstein (31) evening in the Federal Music Building, New York. Among the many works presented is the premiere of the song Writing a Letter from his Children’s Cantata: Workers’ Kids of the World Unite!, the composer at the piano.
May 16, 1936:
Poor People, a song by Marc Blitzstein (31), is performed for the first time, at the 92nd street YMHA, New York. It will become Joe Worker in The Cradle Will Rock.
May 22, 1936:
At less than 35 kg, Eva Goldbeck (Mrs. Marc Blitzstein (31)) is admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital by her psychoanalyst Henry Murray.
May 26, 1936:
Eva Goldbeck, wife of Marc Blitzstein (31) dies in Boston of “starvation associated with psychosis” (now known as anorexia nervosa). Many factors added to her eating disorder, not the least was being married to a homosexual. Because he is attending her, Blitzstein misses the premiere of Chesapeake Bay Retriever in Channing Auditorium, New York, a film for which he wrote the music.
October 1, 1936:
Marc Blitzstein (31) signs a contract with the William Morris Agency who will represent him for the rest of his life.
June 10, 1937:
The US government announces that there will be a 30% cut in Federal Theatre Project personnel, 1,700 workers. No FTP productions may begin before 1 July. Although this affects several plays, it is seen as a direct attack on The Cradle will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (32).
June 15, 1937:
Fearful that the official premiere of The Cradle Will Rock will be cancelled, Marc Blitzstein (32) organizes an open final rehearsal at the Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York. Most important people in New York theatre are there.
June 16, 1937:
The Federal Theatre Project announces that The Cradle Will Rock has been cancelled. Representatives of the play announce that it will go on, somewhere. Guards are stationed outside the Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York to ensure that FTP materials will not be removed. Equity informs the producer, John Houseman and the director, Orson Welles that since it is an FTP play, it can not be put on any stage they desire. They counter by planning to have the cast buy tickets and then perform their parts from their seats. The musician’s union, an AFL affiliate opposed to the CIO, a hero of the play, says that if they plan to use a Broadway house they need Broadway wages. Houseman plans to go ahead with the author, Marc Blitzstein (32) playing the piano. An upright piano is procured and placed in a truck, the driver given five dollars to drive around the block until told where to go. At 20:00, the Venice (59th Street) Theatre is procured and the cast, crew, press, and audience, all gathered outside the Maxine Elliott walk 20 blocks to the Venice. The piano arrives. Firemen get the piano onstage, but a better piano is found. 21:25 After statements from Houseman and Welles, Blitzstein begins to play and sing, half-expecting that he would do the entire production himself. After a few lines, an actress rises from her seat and continues the song, the house’s one spotlight on her. Most of the cast has made it and they perform their parts from the house. Parts missing are done by Blitzstein. Thus, The Cradle Will Rock, a play in music by Marc Blitzstein (32) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in New York. At the end, the audience goes wild. Welles will recall the audience reaction as “that mighty, loving explosion which can be heard but once or twice in a theatre lifetime.” (Pollack, 178) See 1 July 1937.
July 1, 1937:
The last performance of The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (32) takes place in New York. In its two-week run, 13,000 people have seen 14 performances. See 3 January 1938.
July 11, 1937:
The Spanish Earth, a film with music arranged by Virgil Thomson (40) and Marc Blitzstein (32), is shown for the first time, in Hollywood. See 20 August 1937
August 20, 1937:
The Spanish Earth, a film with music arranged by Virgil Thomson (40) and Marc Blitzstein (32), is officially premiered at the 55th Street Playhouse, New York. See 11 July 1937.
October 24, 1937:
I’ve Got the Tune, a radio song-play by Marc Blitzstein (32) to his own words, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of CBS radio originating in New York. The composer plays the lead role. See 3 February 1938.
November 11, 1937:
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar by Marc Blitzstein (32) is performed for the first time, in the Comedy Theatre, New York, in a production by John Houseman and starring Orson Welles.
November 13, 1937:
The revue One Sixth of the Earth takes place in Madison Square Garden sponsored by the New York Committee of the Communist Party. The musical director is Marc Blitzstein (32).
November 27, 1937:
FTP Plowed Under, a skit by Marc Blitzstein (32), is performed for the first time, as part of the revue Pins and Needles, a revue with words and music mostly by Harold Rome, put on by members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in New York. It will eventually move to Broadway and run 1,108 performances, a record until Oklahoma!
January 3, 1938:
The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (32) reopens in the Windsor Theatre, New York for a run of 108 performances. See 16 June and 1 July 1937.
February 3, 1938:
The union musical revue Pins and Needles, written mostly by Harold Rome and performed by members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, is performed at the White House by request of President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt. It includes the sketch FTP Plowed Under by Marc Blitzstein (32).
February 3, 1938:
I’ve Got the Tune, a radio song-play by Marc Blitzstein (32) to his own words, is staged for the first time, at the 46th Street Theatre, New York. See 24 October 1937.
April 27, 1938:
Marc Blitzstein (33) and Wallingford Riegger (52) sign a letter in support of the Moscow show trials. They are joined by almost 150 well-known people including Lillian Hellman, Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Irwin Shaw, and Richard Wright.
November 2, 1938:
Incidental music to Buechner’s play Danton’s Death by Marc Blitzstein (33) is performed for the first time, in New York. It is the last production of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre.
May 27, 1939:
Marc Blitzstein (34) arrives in Boston for the local premiere of his The Cradle Will Rock. Sponsored by the Harvard Student Union, it is put on in Sanders Theatre by a Harvard senior named Leonard Bernstein (20) who serves as accompanist, takes two roles and has cast his 15-year-old sister as the prostitute. The two of them spend the afternoon walking along the Charles and talking. The performance, held tonight, enthralls Blitzstein and the two musicians become life-long friends.
February 7, 1940:
Marc Blitzstein (34) gives the first of a series of one-man performances of his musical play No For An Answer at the Malin Studios, New York. See 5 January 1941.
March 27, 1940:
On his ninth application, Marc Blitzstein (35) receives a $2,000 Guggenheim Fellowship.
April 7, 1940:
The John Simon Guggenheim Foundations fellowships are announced, including ones for William Schuman (29) and Marc Blitzstein (35).
May 14, 1940:
Willard Van Dyke’s film Valley Town: A Study of Machines and Men, with music by Marc Blitzstein (35), is shown for the first time, in Chicago.
November 8, 1940:
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover directs his New York office to begin an investigation into the private life of Marc Blitzstein (35) because of his communist activities.
January 5, 1941:
No For an Answer, an opera by Marc Blitzstein (35) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Mecca Temple, New York. Proceeds go to Spanish refugees in French camps.
January 6, 1941:
New York License Commissioner Paul Moss, who attended last night’s premiere, bans further staging of No For An Answer by Marc Blitzstein (35) claiming that the building violates several municipal codes. Under public pressure, Mayor La Guardia will prevail upon Moss to issue a temporary permit.
March 7, 1941:
A suite from the musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (36) is performed for the first time, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. See 16 June 1937.
March 23, 1941:
The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation fellowships are announced, including ones for David Diamond (25) and Marc Blitzstein (36).
October 19, 1941:
Even though he has raised most of the money needed for a production, Marc Blitzstein (36) writes in today’s New York Times that his opera No For An Answer will not be staged at present. Its theme of leftist non-intervention in the war has been overshadowed by the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
May 11, 1942:
Native Land, a film with music by Marc Blitzstein (37), is shown for the first time, in the World Theatre, New York.
August 1, 1942:
The first of a series of radio broadcasts entitled Labor for Victory with music by Marc Blitzstein (37) is heard for the first time, over the airwaves of WEAF, New York.
August 29, 1942:
Marc Blitzstein (37) enlists in the United States Army at Bolling Field in Washington, DC. He will be assigned to the Eighth Air Force in London.
October 8, 1942:
Marc Blitzstein is stationed in London with the US Army Air Corps.
December 10, 1942:
Night Shift, a film with music by Marc Blitzstein (37), is released in the United States.
September 28, 1943:
Freedom Morning for chorus and orchestra by Marc Blitzstein (38) to African-American spirituals is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London conducted by Sergeant Hugo Weisgall (30). This marks the first time that an all-black chorus performs in the hall.
April 30, 1944:
17:30 The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) begins broadcasting from England to the continent. Its music director is Sergeant Marc Blitzstein (39).
April 29, 1945:
Already trying to get home from England, Sgt. Marc Blitzstein (40) receives a telegram that his father has just died.
June 20, 1945:
Sergeant Marc Blitzstein (40) is discharged from the United States Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
October 4, 1945:
The True Glory, a film with music by Marc Blitzstein (40), is released in the United States.
April 1, 1946:
Symphony: The Airborne for chorus and orchestra of Marc Blitzstein (41) to his own words is performed for the first time, at the City Center, New York conducted by Leonard Bernstein (27). Orson Welles is the narrator. The audience is very appreciative, the critics mixed.
May 17, 1946:
Marc Blitzstein (41) is presented with an award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
November 20, 1946:
Lillian Hellman’s play Another Part of the Forest with incidental music by Marc Blitzstein (41) makes its New York premiere at the Fulton Theatre.
December 19, 1946:
Incidental music to Shaw’s play Androcles and the Lion by Marc Blitzstein (41) is performed for the first time, in the International Theatre at Columbus Circle, New York.
November 24, 1947:
The full orchestra version of The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein (42) is performed for the first time, in a concert setting, in City Center, New York conducted by Leonard Bernstein (29). Bernstein decided to stage it in direct confrontation to the increasing attacks on the Left and the labor movement in the Congress and the country.
January 28, 1948:
A piano suite from Marc Blitzstein’s (42) unperformed ballet The Guests is performed for the first time, in Severance Hall, Cleveland by the composer. See 20 January 1949.
May 3, 1948:
The New York Times and other periodicals report that Literaturnaya Gazeta published a letter from 32 American artists supporting the USSR and opposing the current US government and its policies. Among those named is Marc Blitzstein (43).
January 20, 1949:
The Guests, a ballet by Marc Blitzstein (43) to his own story, orchestrated by Henry Brant (35), is performed for the first time, in New York City Center. See 28 January 1948.
April 19, 1949:
The US House Un-American Activities Committee releases its report on the Waldorf Conference recently held in New York featuring Aaron Copland (48), Marc Blitzstein (44), Dmitri Shostakovich (42), Leonard Bernstein (30), and Lukas Foss (26). It lists names of the participants and describes the “threat” posed by the conference which they call “a supermobilization of inveterate wheelhorses and supporters of the Communist Party and its auxiliary organizations...”
May 10, 1949:
Marc Blitzstein (44) accompanies three singers in excerpts from his unperformed opera Regina at a dinner in honor of Serge Koussevitzky in the Waldorf-Astoria, New York.
October 6, 1949:
Regina, an opera by Marc Blitzstein (44) to words of Hellman and the composer, is performed for the first time, in the Shubert Theatre, New Haven.
October 31, 1949:
Regina, an opera by Marc Blitzstein (44) to words of Hellman and the composer, opens in New York, in the Forty-Sixth Street Theatre.
December 13, 1949:
13 important figures in the artistic world, including Leonard Bernstein (30), Clifford Odets, Cole Porter, Tennessee Williams, and Jerome Robbins, place an add in the New York Times urging their readers to see Regina by Marc Blitzstein (44). The opera will close in four days after 56 performances.
December 25, 1950:
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play King Lear by Marc Blitzstein (45) is performed for the first time, in New York, directed by John Houseman.
June 14, 1952:
An English version of Kurt Weill’s (†2) Die Dreigroschenoper by Marc Blitzstein (47) is performed at the new Adolph Ullman Amphitheatre at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Also on the program is Symphonie pour un homme seul by Pierre Schaeffer (41) and Pierre Henry (24), and Les Noces by Igor Stravinsky (69). See 10 March 1954.
May 25, 1953:
The Harpies, an opera by Marc Blitzstein (48) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at the Manhattan School of Music, 22 years after it was composed.
March 10, 1954:
Amidst fears of blacklisting and right-wing pickets, Marc Blitzstein’s (49) English translation of Die Dreigroschenoper, starring Lotte Lenya, opens off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys, New York. The audience loves it. The critics are generally positive. Intended to run three months, it will not close for seven years. This, more than anything else, secures the fame of Kurt Weill (†3) and Bertolt Brecht in the United States.
October 10, 1955:
Reuben Reuben, a musical play by Marc Blitzstein (50) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Shubert Theatre, Boston. It is a colossal failure. At least 300 people walk out before the end. There is some enthusiasm in the remaining audience, but this is a minority. The critics are scathing. It will close on 22 October and never make it to New York.
January 12, 1956:
Incidental music for Shakespeare’s play King Lear by Marc Blitzstein (50), with electronic sounds by Otto Luening (55) and Vladimir Ussachevsky (44), is performed for the first time, in New York City Center in a production directed by and starring Orson Welles. It is a disaster. Welles has injured both legs in separate incidents and is consigned to a wheel chair. It will see 21 performances.
May 5, 1957:
This is the Garden, a cantata for chorus and orchestra by Marc Blitzstein (52) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. The audience is appreciative, the critics generally positive.
January 27, 1958:
Lear: A Study for orchestra by Marc Blitzstein (52) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. The critics are mixed. The work is based on his music for two different productions of King Lear . See 25 December 1950 and 12 January 1956.
February 27, 1958:
Lear: A Study for orchestra by Marc Blitzstein (52) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. The critics are mixed.
April 14, 1958:
The Robbers, a melodrama by Ned Rorem (34) to his own words, revised by Marc Blitzstein (53) after Chaucer, is performed for the first time, at the Kaufman Auditorium of the YMHA, New York.
April 16, 1958:
Marc Blitzstein (53) receives a summons to appear before an executive session of the House Un-American Activities Committee in New York.
May 8, 1958:
Marc Blitzstein (53) appears before an executive session of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the court house in Foley Square, New York. He is one of 20 witnesses from the entertainment industry. He states openly that he was a member of the Communist Party until 1949, and that he, at various times, supported certain organizations, but he does not inform on others.
June 18, 1958:
Marc Blitzstein (53) appears for a second time to be questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee in New York. He is once again among many other well-known members of the entertainment industry. Although he appears today and tomorrow, he is not called again to testify.
June 20, 1958:
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Marc Blitzstein (53) is performed for the first time, in Stratford, Connecticut. It is a great success.
July 20, 1958:
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale by Marc Blitzstein (53) is performed for the first time, in Stratford, Connecticut.
January 17, 1959:
Juno, a musical play with book by Stein after O’Casey and music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein (53), is performed for the first time, in the National Theatre, Washington. Critics love the production but are generally disappointed by the work itself. See 9 March 1959.
January 28, 1959:
Marc Blitzstein (53) is elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
March 9, 1959:
After seven weeks in Washington and Boston, substantial cuts and rewrites, changes in essential personnel, and the involvement of several lawyers, Juno, a musical play by Marc Blitzstein (54) to a book by Stein after O’Casey and his own lyrics, opens in New York at the Winter Garden Theatre. The press goes from disappointed to scathing. Blitzstein call the reviews “respectful but disparaging.” It will close after 16 performances. See 17 January 1959.
March 25, 1959:
Two FBI agents visit Marc Blitzstein (54) at his New York home. He tells them that he has nothing to add to his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee and that they are invading his privacy. They do not press the matter.
May 20, 1959:
Marc Blitzstein (54) is inducted into the National Institute of Arts and Letters in a ceremony in New York.
February 25, 1960:
Incidental music to Hellman’s play Toys in the Attic by Marc Blitzstein (54) is performed for the first time, in the Hudson Theatre, New York.
February 26, 1960:
Various media outlets report that Marc Blitzstein (54) has received a commission from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to compose an opera on the subject of Sacco and Vanzetti.
March 3, 1960:
A nationally syndicated column by George Sokolsky condemns the opera currently being composed on the Sacco-Vanzetti case by Marc Blitzstein (55) and its sponsors, the Metropolitan Opera and the Ford Foundation. The piece includes excerpts from Blitzstein’s secret testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee supplied to Sokolsky by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
November 9, 1960:
Marc Blitzstein (55), David Diamond (45), and a friend drive from Florence to Rome where Blitzstein will work on his opera Sacco and Vanzetti.
March 13, 1961:
From Marion’s Book, a cycle for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (56) to words of Cummings, is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
April 13, 1961:
Intolleranza 1960, a scenic action by Luigi Nono (37) after Ripellino, using texts of various authors including Eluard, Brecht, and Mayakovsky, is performed for the first time, in Venice, conducted by Bruno Maderna (40). It is his first premiere in Italy. A demonstration, complete with stink bombs and whistles, is staged by a fascist group who spreads anti-dodecaphonic literature throughout the audience. One of the composer’s fellow leftists in the audience, Marc Blitzstein (56), is impressed. “None of my scandals can touch this one!”
November 1, 1963:
Marc Blitzstein (58) arrives in Martinique and begins searching for a house to spend the winter and work on his unfinished opera projects.
January 21, 1964:
Marc Blitzstein (58) befriends three waterfront men in Fort-de-France, Martinique. They make a tour of several bars. Luring him into an alley, they beat him savagely and take most of his clothes and all of his money.
January 22, 1964:
03:00-04:00 Marc Blitzstein is found by police seriously injured from a beating in an alley in Fort-de-France, in the French Overseas Department of Martinique and brought to Clarac Hospital. He is treated and appears lucid, the doctor diagnosing only superficial injuries. His condition worsens through the day and between 20:45 and 21:52, Marc Samuel Blitzstein dies of his injuries, aged 58 years, ten months, and 20 days.
January 23, 1964:
After announcing the death of Marc Blitzstein to a stunned New York Philharmonic audience, Leonard Bernstein (45) dedicates their performance of the Eroica Symphony to him. Eric Salzman will write in the New York Herald-Tribune, “It was an incredible, agonized unbearable reading which, with its bursts of nervous energy, and wild relentless drive, left detail, clarity, accuracy and indeed everything but anguished, frenetic intensity far, far behind.”
January 27, 1964:
The mortal remains of Marc Blitzstein are cremated and interred in Chelten Hills Cemetery in Philadelphia.
January 31, 1964:
A memorial for Marc Blitzstein (†0) takes place in the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway.
April 19, 1964:
At a memorial concert in honor of Marc Blitzstein (†0), an almost complete performance of The Cradle Will Rock takes place in Philharmonic Hall, New York, with some of the original cast, directed by Leonard Bernstein (45). Two excerpts from his unfinished opera Tales of Malamud, “How I Met My New Grandfather” and “Then”, are performed for the first time.
October 13, 1966:
Music Director Leonard Bernstein (48) devotes an entire New York Philharmonic concert to the horrors of war, including the Airborne Symphony of Marc Blitzstein (†2).
August 3, 1974:
Marc Blitzstein’s (†10) unfinished opera Idiots First, to words of Malamud and himself, is performed for the first time, in a two-piano version completed by Leonard Lehrman, at Cornell University. See 14 March 1976.
March 14, 1976:
Idiots First, an opera by Marc Blitzstein (†12) to words of Malamud and the composer, and finished by Leonard Lehrman, is given its official premiere at the Monroe County Library in Bloomington, Indiana. See 3 August 1974.
January 25, 1986:
Piano Concerto by Marc Blitzstein (†22) is performed for the first time in its orchestral version, in Cooper Union, New York conducted by Lukas Foss (63). See 25 April 1936.
October 9, 1988:
Orchestra Variations by Marc Blitzstein (†24) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York, 54 years after it was composed.
September 20, 1989:
Invitation to Bitterness for ATB chorus by Marc Blitzstein (†25) to his own words is performed for the first time, in New York 51 years after it was composed.
July 11, 1996:
War Song for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (†32) to words of Parker is performed for the first time, in Salle Nadia Boulanger in Fontainebleau, 51 years after it was composed.
August 17, 2001:
Marc Blitzstein’s (†37) unfinished opera Sacco and Vanzetti is performed for the first time, in the White Barn Theatre in Norfolk, Connecticut. It was completed by Leonard Lehrman.