Searching China for Beethoven's Sixth

In 1973, newly-hired Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Davyd Booth was called to sub for an ill colleague on a tour to China. This was not just any tour. It was the first ever American symphony tour in Communist China.

China, which had been closed off to the world since 1949, was not a very known entity—“like going to Mars,” Davyd said.(See post one.) 

Life in China was vastly different than anything they’d ever known. (See post two.)
The Philadelphia Orchestra landed in the midst of China’s Cultural Revolution. (See post three.)

The Orchestra carefully navigated potential pitfalls, but were stumped when Madame Mao asked the impossible. Would they play Beethoven's Sixth rather than symphony they had practiced and brought music for: the Fifth. (See post four.) 

Maestro Ormandy agreed…if the music could be found. This was not an easy task, as China had banned classical music, and theoretically purged all such scores from the country. Still, after a thorough search, some handwritten scores materialized. There weren’t enough, weren’t focused scores for each musical instrument, and some notations were incorrect.

Ormandy: "I'll play the Sixth, if you can find the music."

Fortunately, the Philadelphia Orchestra had played the symphony before, and they were familiar enough with the piece to give a grand rendition.

So, they were confused by the audience’s response.

(To be continued. Next: Response Hides Warmed Hearts.)