Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924-1949, had, throughout his career, a reputation as a champion of modern music. The anticipation of his arrival in Boston in 1924 sparked a great deal of public debate about his reported modernism which the critics reflected and contributed to. This thesis analyzes the critical reaction, preserved in scrapbooks of newspaper clippings at Symphony Hall, Boston, to Koussevitzky's programming of contemporary music during his first five years with the BSO.

Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "This is a bronze statue maybe one for which actress Bette Davis posed when she was about 18 years old. Title 'Youn Diana, ' it is on display at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts."