Josef Stalin et al. in Potsdam - July, 1945
from In Pursuit of Music, page 86:
Truman then asked if there was a pianist present and I was pushed forward, playing the first movement of the little Beethoven Sonata opus 14, no. 2, and the Chopin E minor Waltz. He sat next to the piano listening and then took over again to allow Mozart the last word. (Cyril Stapleton said to me afterwards ‘You may play for some crowned heads in your time, Denis, but I doubt if you’ll ever again have a President of the United States sit down and play for you!’)
Denis Matthews, In Pursuit of Music (London, 1966), p. 86. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1477692281605 accessed: 19 April, 2024
Listeners
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Listening to
hide composers
Unspecified piano music
written by Mozart |
performed by Harry S. Truman |
Waltz in E minor
written by Chopin |
performed by Denis Matthews |
Piano Sonata Op. 14 No. 2
written by Beethoven |
performed by Denis Matthews |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | July, 1945 |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, in private, indoors |
Notes
Churchill, Truman and Stalin were all attending the Potsdam Conference. Churchill put on a banquet and the RAF Orchestra, of which Denis Matthews was a member, were required to provide light music to entertain the guests. The incident recounted in this memoir took place in the anteroom where the musicians had been performing.