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President Truman's Music Reviewed by Patrick Hayes

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Recording Date(s)
June 23, 1950
Accession Number
SR2008-39
Description

President Truman's Music Reviewed by Patrick Hayes of WQQW, the Good Music Station in Washington, June 23, 1950. Radio program includes a review of President Harry S. Truman's musical knowledge and musical preferences by weekly commentator Patrick Hayes of the Hayes Concert Bureau. Hayes also interviews Anthony Leviero of the Washington Bureau of the New York Times, who had interviewed Truman and others and had written an extensive column on this topic published in the Times on June 18, 1950. Leviero had witnessed several musical performances by President Truman, including one in which he did a 4-hand piano piece with his daughter, Margaret. Leviero and Hayes were most complimentary of the President's knowledge and discriminating tastes in music. Their research shows evidence that the President participated in a concert on April 6, 1902 and others as early as 1898. They credit his boyhood religious training and family encouragement of his music. They state that Mozart is the President's favorite composer, but that he liked works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. His favorite current performer was said to be Ignacy Jan Paderewski. They comment that the President played for Churchill and Stalin at Potsdam. The President attended many concerts, usually meeting with the performers backstage before the performance. The President's interest in music is a boost for the arts in the eye of the public. The President is said to have attended operas at the urging of Bess and Margaret, but that he was not a true opera fan, but that he appreciated some of the music in operas.

Restrictions
Undetermined
Keywords
Original Format(s)
National Archives Identifier (NAID)