Editor’s letter
American music as we know it owes so much to just one Russian-born double bassist. This month marks 150 years since the birth of Serge Koussevitzky, and 100 years since he took up the position of chief conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Not content with being ‘just’ a virtuoso soloist and composer, Koussevitzky taught himself conducting and eventually went on to develop Tanglewood into the powerhouse festival it is today, commission some of the cornerstones of 20th-century American repertoire and act as mentor for Copland and Bernstein among others. On page 52 fellow double bassist and conductor Leon Bosch explores the story of a man who seemed to cram several lifetimes of achievement into his 76 years.