Weintraub, Eugene

Eugene Weintraub (1904-1992) was a music publisher who helped introduce the music of 20th century Russian composers to American audiences. Born in Russia, he trained as a violinist at the Curtis Institute of Music before entering the publishing world in 1940. Weintraub worked with Arturo Toscanini, Vladimir Horowitz and others to arrange the first American performances of works by Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Aram Khachaturian, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and more. He was instrumental in arranging the premiere of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, using a microfilm of the score that had been smuggled out of the Soviet Union during the Second World War.

From 1944 to 1950 Weintraub was in charge of Soviet music for Leeds Publishing. In 1950, he established the Weintraub Music Company, which specialized in works by American composers, including George Antheil, Virgil Thomson, Robert Kurka, Howard Swanson and Benjamin Lees. Weintraub went into semi-retirement in 1987 after Music Sales Corporation acquired the Weintraub firm.

Sources:

W. Thomas Marrocco and Mark Jacobs. "Weintraub, Eugene." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30051 (accessed December 13, 2011).

"Eugene Weintraub, Music Publisher, 88," The New York Times, Nov 24, 1992.