Biographical Note and a Genealogy of the Ushkoff, Naumoff, and Koussevitzky Families
Date | Event |
---|---|
1874, July 26 | Born Sergei Alexandrovitch, in Vishny Volotchok, Tver’, Russia to Alexander and Anna Koussevitzky |
circa 1877 | Mother died |
circa 1879-1884 | Learned violin from his father Took piano lessons from Maria Fedorovna Ropenberg |
circa 1886-1888 | Conducted and toured with the Vishny-Volotchok theatre orchestra |
1891 | Moved to Moscow |
1892 | Accepted at the School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society to study the double bass |
1892-1894 | Studied double bass under Joseph J. Rambousek |
1894, Oct. 1 | Admitted to Imperial Bolshoi Opera Orchestra in Moscow as double-bassist |
1896 | Made first appearance as solo double bass player in Moscow |
1897-1902 | Toured Russia and Western Europe as double bass soloist |
circa 1901 | Upon death of Rambousek, became head of the bass section of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and member of the School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society faculty |
1902 | Composed Concerto in A minor for Double Bass and Orchestra |
circa 1902 | Married ballet dancer Nadezhda Galat (divorced circa 1905) |
1903 | Traveled to Berlin for his first appearance outside of Russia Decorated by the Russian czar |
1905 Feb. | First performance of his Concerto in F-sharp minor for Double Bass by Moscow Philharmonic |
1905, Sept. 8 | Married Natalya Konstantinovna Ushkov (died 1942) |
circa 1906 | Resigned from the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra |
1908 Jan. | Made debut in Berlin as a conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Appeared as soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Nikisch |
1908 Spring | Conducted London Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Konzertverein |
1909, Mar. 16 | Founded Édition Russe de Musique publishing firm |
1909 May | Conducted Colonne Orchestra |
1909 Fall | Returned to Russia |
1909, Oct. 27 | Russian debut as a conductor |
1909-1910 | Assumed direction of Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Music Society (I.R.M.S.) symphony concerts Announced a series of eight symphony programs in Moscow by the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre |
1910-1918 | Founder and leader, Koussevitzky Symphony Orchestra |
1910-1914 | Toured with his orchestra down Volga River |
1917 | Appointed director of State Symphony Orchestra, Russia |
1920 | Natalie and Serge left Russia for France |
1921 | Established Concerts Koussevitzky |
1922 | Gave first production in French of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Khovantchina |
1924, Oct. 10 | First concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra |
1924 | Knight of Legion of Honour, France |
1924-1931 | Lived in Jamaica Plain, Mass. |
1924-1949 | Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra |
1925 | Began annual performance of great masterpieces for orchestra and chorus, with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society |
1926 | Honorary Doctor of Music degree, Brown University |
1929 | Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, Harvard University |
1930 | Officer, Legion of Honour |
1931 | Received Cross of the Finnish Order of the White Rose |
1931-1951 | Lived in Brookline, Mass. |
1932 | Boston Symphony performed for first time his Passacaglia on a Russian theme |
1934 | Honorary member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
1936 | Boston Symphony Orchestra made first appearances at Berkshire Symphonic Festival summer concerts Commander of the Legion of Honour of France |
1937 | Honorary degree, Rutgers University |
1938 | Music Shed erected at Tanglewood Honorary Doctor of Music degree, Yale National Association for American Composers and Conductors gave him Award for Merit for “outstanding service to American music during the 1938-1940 season” |
1940 | Founded and became director of Berkshire Music Center Honorary music degree, Rochester |
1941 | Became an American citizen |
1942 | Established Koussevitzky Music Foundation |
1945 | Honorary Doctor of Music degree, Boston University |
1947, Aug. 15 | Married Olga Naumov (died 1978) |
1947 | Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters, Princeton University |
1949 | Inaugurated International Music Fund |
1949 Sept. | Hollywood Bowl concerts |
1949, Dec. 15 | Inaugurated Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress |
1949-1950 | Toured/conducted in Brazil, Havana, Israel and Europe |
1950, Jan. 21 | Inaugural concert at the Library of Congress of the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress |
1951 | Toured America with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra |
1951, June 4 | Died, Boston, Mass. |
A Genealogy of the Ushkoff, Naumoff, and Koussevitzky Families
In an attempt to clarify the complex relationships between the Ushkoff, Naumoff and Koussevitzky families, the names of family members -- as many as could be discovered in the available family correspondence -- have been arranged in a vertical tabular format, as follows. This format was favored over the more traditional horizontal "family tree" format due to its superior legibility in view of the complexity of this genealogy.
An attempt had been made to include as much information about each family member as is available: marriage dates (a "=" indicates a marriage; in the case of multiple marriages, names of spouses are preceded by a number between parentheses, indicating the order in which these marriages took place); birth and death dates (indicated by "*" and "†" respectively); and distant or uncertain family relationships (a "+" precedes the name of the family member).
In order to more readily identify various family members (many of whom possess the same name), each person appearing in this genealogy has been assigned an identification number, appearing between square brackets ("[ ]"), and preceding the person's name. Family members have been further subdivided into arbitrarily named "generations," roughly grouping family members contemporary with each other. Available information is included here about family members belonging to "Generation 1" (the earliest members who can be identified) through "Generation 7" (the most recent members). Due to the complexity and sheer number of family members in the Ushkoff and Naumoff families, their genealogical record appears first; that of the Koussevitzky family follows. In the case of the latter, family identification numbers pick up, within each generation, where those of the Ushkoff/Naumoff families have left off. Also, as the earliest available genealogical information regarding the Koussevitzky family dates from the generation immediately preceding that to which Serge Koussevitzky belonged (that is, to the roughly contemporary "Generation 3" of the Ushkoff family), the Koussevitzky family records appearing in this section begin with the "Generation 3" designation. According to this numbering system, Serge Koussevitzky is listed as "[14]" when he first appears in this genealogy as the husband of Natalie Ushkoff Koussevitzky ("[13]"); then also as "[69]" when appearing again in the Koussevitzky family list. Olga Naumoff Koussevitzky is listed as "[30]" in the Ushkoff/Naumoff Family list.
All names of family members are transliterated exactly from the Cyrillic, using (modified) Library of Congress transliteration standards; therefore the anglicized (or gallicized) "Ushkoff," "Na[o]umoff," and "Koussevitzky" become, respectively, "Ushkov," "Naumov," and "Kusevitskii" to accurately reflect their Russian spelling. Similarly, "Serge," "Natalie," and "Olga" become "Sergei," "Nataliia," and "Ol'ga," respectively. All Russian patronymics ("middle names," based on the name of a person's father) have been retained, as have traditional feminine forms of the family name (i.e., "Ushkova," "Kusevitzkaia").
Finally, this genealogy was based on the work of musicologist Victor Yuzefovich, who participated in the processing and identification of much of the material contained in the Koussevitzky Archive, and without whose assistance this record could not have been created.
Kevin LaVine, June 1998
- 1. USHKOV / NAUMOV FAMILY
- GENERATION 1
- GENERATION 2
- GENERATION 3
- GENERATION 4
- A. Children of [4] Konstantin Kapitonovich USHKOV and [5] Mariia Grigorevna KUZNETSOVA
- [8] USHKOV, Grigorii Konstantinovich (†1922 Aug 1)
- [11] USHKOVA, Anna Konstantinovna (*1878 Mar 3 - †1962 Jan 8)
- [13] USHKOVA, Nataliia Konstantinovna (*1880 Oct 1 - †1942 Jan 11)
- [15] USHKOV, Aleksei Konstantinovich "Lilia" (*1880? - †1964)
- [17] USHKOV, Mikhail Konstantinovich (†1943 Jan 18)
- [19] USHKOV, Nikolai Konstantinovich
- B. Children of [4] Konstantin Kapitonovich USHKOV and [6] Tereza Valentinovna ELUCHEN-PECHËRIN
- A. Children of [4] Konstantin Kapitonovich USHKOV and [5] Mariia Grigorevna KUZNETSOVA
- GENERATION 5
- A. Children of [11] Anna Konstantinovna USHKOVA and [12] Aleksandr Nikolaevich NAUMOV
- [25] NAUMOVA, Mariia Aleksandrovna (*1898 - †1921)
- + [27] BLINOVA, Lialia (second wife of [26] Nikolai POLIVANOV; marriage 1951)
- [28] NAUMOVA, Anna Aleksandrovna (*1900)
- [30] NAUMOVA, Ol'ga Aleksandrovna (*1901 Jul 17 - †1976 Jan 5)
- = [14] Sergei KUSEVITSKII (*1874 Mar 26 - †1951 May 5) (marriage 1947 Aug 15)
- [31] NAUMOVA, Praskovia Aleksandrovna (*1906)
- [32] NAUMOV, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (*1907 - †1964 May 28)
- [34] NAUMOV, Nikolai Aleksandrovich (*1911 Jan 31 - †1962 Mar 28)
- B. Children of [17] Mikhail Konstantinov USHKOV and [18] Sofiia ...
- A. Children of [11] Anna Konstantinovna USHKOVA and [12] Aleksandr Nikolaevich NAUMOV
- GENERATION 6
- A. Children of [25] Mariia Aleksandrovna NAUMOVA and [26] Nikolai POLIVANOV
- B. Children of [28] Anna Aleksandrovna NAUMOVA and [29] Serge Nikolaevich LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS
- [42] LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS, Mariia "Mashenka" (*1926)
- [44] LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS, Anna "Bebi" "Baby" (*1928 Feb 5)
- [46] LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS, Ol'ga
- [48] LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS, Natalia "Nadine" "Nadia" (*1934)
- C. Children of [32] Aleksandr Aleksandrovich NAUMOV and [33] Dinah ......
- D. Children of [34] Nikolai Aleksandrovich NAUMOV and [35] Adelia SOUZA
- GENERATION 7 [all]
- [59] STURGEON, Alexandra (*1954) (daughter of [40] Marianna Nikolaevna POLIVANOVA and [41] Douglas W. STURGEON)
- [60] STOUT, Eugene (son of [44] Anna LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS and [45] Robert B. STOUT)
- [61] NEUBURGH, Alex (son of [46] Ol'ga LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS and [47] Ronald G. NEUBURGH)
- [62] MOGILEVSKII de BEAUHARNAIS, Misha (?) (son of [48] Natalia LEUCHTENBERG de BEAUHARNAIS and [49] ...... MOGILEVSKII (?)) (?)
- 2. KUSEVITSKII FAMILY
- GENERATION 3
- GENERATION 4
- A. Children of [63] Aleksandr KUSEVITSKII and [64] Anna BARABEICHIK
- [65] KUSEVITSKII, Adol'f Aleksandrovich (*1867)
- [67] KUSEVITSKII, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (†1941)
- [69] ([14]) KUSEVITSKII, Sergei Aleksandrovich (*1874 July 26 - †1951 May 5)
- [71] KUSEVITSKAIA, Anna Aleksandrovna (†1945)
- [73] KUSEVITSKII, Nikolai Aleksandrovich (†1941)
- [74] KUSEVITSKII, Solomon Aleksandrovich (*1902 - †197-)
- + [76] HAYTON, Shura [HAYTON, Mrs. M. S.] (cousin of [69/14] Sergei Aleksandrovich KUSEVITSKII)
- + [77] HAYTON, Olga (cousin of [69/14] Sergei Aleksandrovich KUSEVITSKII)
- A. Children of [63] Aleksandr KUSEVITSKII and [64] Anna BARABEICHIK
- GENERATION 5
- A. Children of [65] Adol'f Aleksandrovich KUSEVITSKII and [66] Raia D. ......
- B. Daughter of [71] Anna Aleksandrovna KUSEVITSKAIA and [72] A.D. BAKH
- C. Children of [74] Solomon Aleksandrovich KUSEVITSKII and [75] ...... (?)
- GENERATION 6