A small discovery, the Russian light-music composer
Alexandre Levin (1886-1960), who self-published a number of short dance/foxtrot/tango works in the 1920s.
Brother of Josef Lhévinne (1874-1944) and Miron Levin (1879-1965).
https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Levin%2C_Aleksandr
I've reset the 4 works on IMSLP, attached below. Some of the originals - particularly Op.25 Atlanta have gorgeous cover art.
LEVIN Op.14 Hóckey.pdf
LEVIN Op.17 Ali, Pearl of the East (1926).pdf
LEVIN Op.24 Thais - Choreographic Sketch (1927).pdf
LEVIN Op.25 Atlanta - foxtrot (1927).pdf
Malcolm mentions a couple more in the Encyclopaedia. Are you able to share?
Notes from volume 3 of the "20th Century Foxtrots" series of recordings by Gottlieb Wallisch:
A second surprise here should be the name itself of the Jewish composer Aleksandr Levin (1886–1960). Completely unknown in the western world, Levin was the third of three brothers whose careers reflect the changing times. The first, Josef Lhévinne (1874–1944), was a Romantic pianist and well-known teacher who graduated at the top of a class that included both Rachmaninov and Scriabin. The second, Miron Levin (1879–1965) wrote light-hearted waltzes, humoresques and polkas, favoured a decade before that of Aleksandr. The youngest brother was exactly the sort of gifted musician who in those years published foxtrots, tangos, ragtimes, songs and romances for the needs of the market. Titles such as The Snow of Yukon, or Ali, Pearl of the East, or Hockey wink at the various American worldwide successes well known everywhere in the early Twenties. Levin’s Valse Boston, Op. 15 (1926) is a slow waltz, in which the melancholic, pianissimo B minor main theme has the same characteristics as Spoliansky’s Morphium, with chromatic triplets on the second upbeat of the measures. This A section recurs three times, and is interrupted by più mosso quicker waltzes, resulting in an overall ABACA+coda scheme.
Levin was one of the many composers who made their living accompanying silent films. Laks, Tiomkin and Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975) through that activity learnt much about light entertainment, new dances and popular tastes. Shostakovich doesn’t seem to have much appreciated the predictability of these dances. Witnesses of the time tell not only of his ineptitude as a dancer, but also of his need, when playing, to vary and complicate the simple patterns of continuous syncopation, to the great annoyance of his dancing friends.
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