Remembering Leo Smit (1921-1999) Curated by John Bewley

Introduction

Photograph courtesy of Nils Vigeland
on behalf of the Leo Smit estate.

Leo Smit in California, ca. 1996

Leo Smit was fond of quoting the following passage from a letter that Beethoven wrote in 1812 to a young musical admirer named Emilie. In a way it serves as a credo for the extraordinarily rich musical and artistic life that Leo Smit led.

Persevere, do not only practice your art, but endeavor also to fathom its inner meaning; it deserves this effort. For only art and knowledge can raise men to the level of gods.

Leo Smit's career as composer, pianist, conductor, and educator spanned seven decades of musical life in the United States. He established close working relationships, and/or friendships, with many of the most prominent musicians of the 20th century, incl uding Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Harold Shapero, William Schuman, Alex Haieff, Leopold Stokowski, and Lukas Foss. As a performer, Smit was an enthusiastic and persuasive advocate and interpreter of the mu sic of his time, especially the solo piano music of Aaron Copland. His compositional output totals more than one hundred works, including two operas, three symphonies, more than ninety songs, two ballets, and numerous chamber and piano works.

Smit was also a talented photographer. In addition to the many photographs he took of noted musicians, Smit also used his skill as a photographer to capture images from his travels. Many of his travel pictures reflect his reverence for nature. As part of his innovative approach to programming, Smit would often include displays of his photography in his theme-based concerts.

During his career Leo Smit earned several awards and honors, including Fulbright (piano) and Guggenheim (composition) Fellowships in 1950, a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome for 1950-51, the Boston Symphony Merit Award in 1953 for his Symphon y No. 1 (premiered October 16, 1953 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Munch), the New York Critics Circle Award in 1957 (also for his Symphony No. 1), his selection as an artist for a State Department concert tour of Latin America in 1967-68, and the Buffalo Evening News Man of the Year award in 1969. As an educator, Smit held positions at Sarah Lawrence College (1947-49), UCLA (1957-63), and the State University of New York at Buffalo (1962-84).

This online exhibit is principally based upon an exhibit held at the State University of New York at Buffalo Music Library in April 2000. The Music Library gratefully acknowledges the loan of materials from the estate of Leo Smit by Nils Vigeland.

Table of Contents
	Introduction Early Years Friends Buffalo and Beyond Photographer Composer, Arranger, Editor Works List

April 2000 Music Library Staff musique@acsu.buffalo.edu http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/exhibits/smit/index.html