Finding 2: Photograph of Kandinsky’s The Yellow Sound (Der Gelbe Klang)

This photograph by Marilyn Mazur documents the world premiere of Vasily Kandinsky’s experimental opera, The Yellow Sound (Der Gelbe Klang). Combining aspects of the visual arts, music, theater, and dance, the piece represents Kandinsky’s attempt to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art. While Kandinsky published the text and scenario for The Yellow Sound in the Blaue Reiter Almanac of 1912, he was never able to produce the work in his lifetime. In 1982, in conjunction with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition Kandinsky in Munich 1896–1914, the piece was staged for the first time at the Marymount Manhattan Theater in New York. Under the direction of Gunther Schuller, The Yellow Sound was carefully reconstructed based on the notations of Kandinsky and the composer with whom he collaborated, Thomas de Hartmann.

—Amanda Brown, National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant intern