In what began as the dedication of a memorial to members of the 35th Infantry Division, of which Harry Truman was Captain of the 129th Field Artillery during World War 1, turned into a much anticipated speech on Foreign Policy which Truman delivered in a nationwide address on June 11, 1949.

In his address, Truman warned of dire consequences if Congress went ahead in slashing funds for European recovery, saying the only thing to gain from it would be Communism. He urged for stronger commitment to a stable European economy and a stronger United Nations in order to deal with conflicts abroad.

Here is that address, as broadcast over CBS Radio on June 11, 1949.

Back over to the French Radio Transcriptions this week for a performance from the 1949 Besancon Festival featuring legendary Belgian conductor Andrè Cluytens leading an orchestra he was closely associated with for most of his professional career, Orchestre de la Sociètè des Concerts du Conservatoire, or Paris Conservatory for the shortened version, or simply PCO for collectors.

A wonderful orchestra with a rich, distinctive (some call it heady and pungent) sound, Cluytens made some memorable recordings with this organization, many which are still in print via CD reissue.

This weekend it's a performance of Paul Dukas La Peri, a work he has recorded commercially with this orchestra, but this live performance, I don't think, has seen the light of day.

So with probability, you may be getting to hear it here first.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

20th Century American composer Roger Sessions is featured this weekend. The 1949 recording of his Symphony Number 2, which had just won the coveted Walter Naumberg Foundation American Composition Award.

This is the first commercial recording of the work, made shortly after the award was given. It features the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropolous, and issued by Columbia Records in 1950 as a 10" lp (ML 2120).

If this is your first time, enjoy - if you know this work, welcome back - you may not have heard it in a while.

From the Radio France Transcription Service discs this week, and hopefully starting off the new year in a nice direction. A studio performance recorded in 1949 featuring the French National Orchestra, conducted by the legendary Roger Desormiere in a performance of the suite from Poulenc's milestone ballet Les Biches.

As far as I have been able to research, the music for this ballet wasn't really available commercially on records until the early 1950's. So in a way, this performance makes for one of the earliest recordings of it, and one that's never been available outside a radio broadcast.

The sound isn't perfect by any stretch, but it's an important recording by a work from a composer still extremely popular in classical music today. And the bonus is a performance led by an iconic figure in the music world.

Enjoy - and hopefully you've all survived unscathed from the festivities last night.

We need you back here in more or less one piece.

Since the economy, the state of the economy, the debate over the economy and all things economic are at the forefront of all discussion these days, maybe it's a good idea to take a look at some of the economic voices of the past for some perspective, or at least looking at different methods used in the past to deal with economic problems.

One such voice was Leon Keyserling, a long time Economic Adviser during the Roosevelt Administration, in fact one of the architects of the National Recovery Act of 1934, and in 1949 serving as an Economic Advisor to the Truman Administration, this time with the Fair Deal. Keyserling was one of those advocates of conservative spending and prudent growth in times of prosperity to safeguard against recession and depression.

The U.S. in 1949 was coming out of World War 2 and was in the midst of aiding in recovery throughout Europe via The Marshall Plan.

At the time of this interview, on Meet The Press from March, 1949 - Keyserling had made recommendations to Congress on Economic needs and priorities.

Leon Keyserling: “In the period after the First World War we did not concern ourselves with maintaining the prosperity of the economy. And so we had a crash. And out of that crash, and out of that experience we took one step further forward; we came to recognize the majority of people, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, came to recognize that in the event of a large depression we should, and would take effective affirmative broad steps to deal with it. Now the policy that we have been advocating since World War 2 goes one step further, it’s more moderate it’s a preventive policy. It says we should try to take these steps before the depression comes. And the only reason, the only reason why these proposals seem extreme is because some people have not come to accept the idea that you should do anything in times of prosperity to preserve it.”

Needless to say, his recommendations weren't sitting very well with members of the Meet The Press panel. At one point Lawrence Spivak accused Keyserling of wanting to give unlimited powers to the Presidency in the area of controls and price fixing, saying if such a policy was in place were a Huey Long President, the country would head to dictatorial disaster.

Lively discussion all around. And one that gives you some idea the question of our economy is as old as our government itself. Sadly, I have no Meet The Press or its equivalent from the 1860's, but I would imagine the debate would be just about the same.

Some things will never change.

Our Health Care history of reform for the past 60+ years has always carried with it the mantra of Socialized Medicine, screamed so loudly it drowns out talk of anything else. The fear of anything other than the status quo is always met with the most dire of consequences and usually it's enough to kill any further discussion.

That we've come this far in our quest for Health Care reform is a miracle, since it's been so furiously shot down so viciously for so long.

Take for example this Lincoln Day address from February 10, 1949, given by Isolationist/Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg when talk of Health Care reform comes around:

Sen. Vandenberg: “There is a vast propaganda today for Socialized Medicine. I think it would destroy precious personal relationships in the American way of life. That it would produce wholesale mediocrity in the skills which serve the sick. And saddle us with a new and appalling bureaucracy. But this does require me to blind my eyes to the existence of a crushing and well neigh universal sick problem in lives of millions of our citizens. It is a problem that must be met but we have a choice of methods; one is voluntary and therefore typically American. The other is involuntary and therefore typically bureaucratic. The latter is socialized Medicine. The former is cooperative Medicine. I expect the American people and the Republican Party to choose the former. I want my party to look at the great humanitarian cooperative efforts of the Blue Cross for example, which represents cooperation and not compulsion.”

That the argument, even in 1949, is so filled with fear and falsehoods that any reasonable person would question the speakers motives. That he speaks so highly of Blue Cross is an indication. This was during a time Blue Cross didn't have the strangle hold over the Health Care Industry they do now. Yet then, as now the blatant fear and dire consuequences is the same.

The stranglehold however, is a lot firmer.

Digging around in history can often yield interesting results, particularly in the area of where certain phrases get their start. I assumed (as did everyone else I ran into) the phrase "trickle-down theory" was something coined by the Reagan Years*, that economic benchmark drummed into all our heads during the 80's. But, come to find out the phrase actually got started on November 3, 1949 during an address Truman made at the closing day of Centennial celebrations for Minnesota.

Pres. Truman: “Our economic frontiers can be expanded only if we follow sound public policies. We must rely as we have always relied upon the spirit of initiative and free enterprise. But we know that it is necessary for the Government to follow policies that will make it possible for initiative and free enterprise to succeed. At the same time there is wide disagreement on what specific measures the government should adopt and for who’s benefit. The reactionaries hold that government policies should be designed for the special benefit of small groups of people who occupy positions of wealth and influence. Their theory seems to be that if these groups are prosperous they will pass along some of their prosperity to the rest of us. This can be described as ’the trickle down theory'."

Fascinating. And sixty-two years later . . . .

*Note: The phrase has been variously attributed to Will Rogers who was reported to have said it during the Depression Years - but there seems to be no recording of it. So . . . .

When Captain John G. Crommelin issued a scathing report criticizing Military politics as concentrating military authority in the hands of an elite few and that the Defense Department was scuttling Naval air power in favor of the Air Force, and that a "Prussian General staff system of the type employed by Hitler" was being imposed on the armed forces under a proposed unification of the branches of service, needless to say he was quickly and severely reprimanded by the Defense Department.

Trouble was, John G. Crommelin had more than a few mummies in his own closet to contend with. As much as he was praised as something of a whistle blower, he was also vilified when it became public that he was a virulent segregationist, white supremacist and anti-semite, known for extolling his opinion that Jews were the real enemy of "white christian Alabamans", claiming they were behind the formation of the NAACP.

On October 1, 1949, Crommelin was asked to appear on Meet The Press to answer not only his critics, but to answer his criticisms of the Defense Department. Before the interview began, Crommelin issued a statement saying in effect he had received a gag order from the Defense Department prior to his appearance on the program.

Warren Francis (Los Angeles Times): “Captain, I don’t think this is covered by your orders, you are quoted in a recent news magazine as saying that people have called you on the telephone and that your wire has been tapped. Who tapped it and why??
Crommelin: “I have no idea who tapped it.”
Francis: “Did you say that it had been tapped?”
Crommelin: “I did not say that it had been . . .I said that it probably IS tapped.”
Francis: “The statement is correct then, that you did say it’s probably tapped?”
Crommelin: “That’s correct.”
Francis: “But you have no idea why?”
Crommelin: “No, no. No particular idea, except uh . . .I had made the statement. I thought that . . .very probably it was. That . . .it’s information that I’m not going to give you Mister Francis, because I don’t want to get into any petty discussions on that . . . “
Francis: “Now Captain, just a minute, I don’t think the orders cover that. Why did you think it was tapped? Could you tell us that?”
Crommelin: “I could, but I don’t propose to Mister Francis.”

Crommelin would later be reassigned to San Francisco before being furloughed at half pay in 1950 and later retired from the Navy. After that, he would get involved in the far-right National States Rights Party and have several runs for the Senate and Governor of Alabama between 1950 and 1968.

Back to the Radio Transcriptions tonight. A concert featuring the Indianapolis Symphony, one of the few orchestras in the U.S. with a 52-week schedule. Times have been very rough for orchestras these days, and the ones doing well are doing very well and the ones not doing well are closing up shop. Sadly, the ones closing up shop outnumber the ones doing well. Hopefully someday that will turn around before it's too late.

In the meantime, here is a concert recorded on March 19, 1949 and broadcast over NBC Radio as part of its Pioneers Of Music series. It features long-time music Director Fabien Sevitzky conducting a program of music by Debussy, Delius, Griffes and Ravel.

Pretty standard 1940's fare. Sevitzky, newphew of Boston Symphony Music Director Serge Koussevitzky, was music director of the Indianapolis Symphony from 1937-1955. He recorded a goodly amount, first for RCA Victor during the days of the 78 and later recorded some lp's for Capitol.

So here's a taste of what some of the lesser luminaries in 1940's American symphony orchestras sounded like in concert.

Can't be exotic every week, you know.

Back to basic Americana tonight with The Eastman School Orchestra conducted by Howard Hanson in music of Aaron Copland. Originally called Music For Radio, it was later dubbed "Saga Of The Prairie" when it was complete in the late 1930's.

This recording, which comes from the series America's Composers first broadcast on May 28, 1949 was part of a program entitled "New American Composers", of which, at the time, Aaron Copland was one of its most modern and most prominent.