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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Texans and other music lovers around the world join |
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in mourning the loss of the concert pianist and cultural ambassador |
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Van Cliburn of Fort Worth, who died on February 27, 2013; and |
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WHEREAS, Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr., was born in Shreveport, |
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Louisiana, on July 12, 1934; his mother, Rildia Bee O'Bryan, was a |
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talented pianist who had studied with a student of Franz Liszt, and |
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she began to teach her son the piano at the age of three; when the |
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boy was six, the family moved to Kilgore where his father, Harvey |
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Cliburn, Sr., a purchasing agent for an oil company, built a |
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practice studio for his gifted child; and |
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WHEREAS, At the age of 13, Van Cliburn won a statewide |
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competition and played a piano concerto with the Houston Symphony |
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Orchestra, and when he was 17, he accepted a scholarship from the |
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Juilliard School in New York; he won his first major musical |
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competition, the Leventritt Foundation Award, in 1954, earning a |
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recording contract with Columbia Artists and the opportunity to |
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perform with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall and with |
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four other major orchestras; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1958, Mr. Cliburn became an overnight worldwide |
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sensation when he triumphed at the very first Tchaikovsky |
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International Competition in Moscow, which had been created |
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specifically to showcase the talents of Russian pianists; coming at |
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the height of the Cold War, and only a year after the Soviet Union |
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had beaten America into orbit with Sputnik, Mr. Cliburn's victory |
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was astonishing, but even more astonishing was the fact that |
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Russian audiences went wild for a six-foot-four blond Baptist from |
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Kilgore; and |
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WHEREAS, Performing two beloved Russian piano concertos, the |
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Tchaikovsky First and the Rachmaninoff Third, Mr. Cliburn |
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enraptured the standing-room-only audience in the Great Hall of the |
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Moscow Conservatory; the crowd cheered for 10 minutes following his |
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performance, women rushed the stage with bouquets of roses, and one |
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elderly man told a New York Times reporter that the young American |
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played as well as, and perhaps even better than, Rachmaninoff |
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himself; even Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was impressed, |
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asking Mr. Cliburn, "Why are you so tall?" to which Mr. Cliburn |
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replied, "Because I am from Texas"; and |
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WHEREAS, No one was more surprised by the overwhelming |
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response than Mr. Cliburn himself; when he called home from Russia |
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and asked his mother to tell a family friend the news, his mother |
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replied, "She knows, darling, she knows"; returning home as an |
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American hero, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine as "The |
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Texan Who Conquered Russia," performed at Madison Square Garden and |
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the Hollywood Bowl, and received the first ticker-tape parade in |
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New York City ever accorded to a classical musician; his recording |
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of the Tchaikovsky concerto topped Billboard's charts for months |
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and was the first classical recording ever to be awarded a platinum |
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record; and |
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WHEREAS, The same year as Mr. Cliburn's triumph in Moscow, a |
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group of piano teachers in Fort Worth began the groundwork for an |
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annual piano competition named in his honor, and the first Van |
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Cliburn International Piano Competition was staged in 1962; held |
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every four years, it has since become one of the most prestigious |
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classical music events in the world and has launched the careers of |
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many talented artists; moreover, the Van Cliburn Foundation has |
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become a major force in music education and outreach, providing |
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recordings for the public radio show Performance Today, presenting |
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community concerts, and offering music programs to 33,000 |
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grade-school children and 119 elementary schools in Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Cliburn retired from touring in 1978, and in the |
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1980s, he left New York, where he had been living, and returned to |
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Texas, moving to the Westover Hills suburb of Fort Worth; over the |
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years, he was a beloved presence in the city, often appearing at |
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cultural events and serving as a gracious host at his home; although |
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he never acted as a judge at the Cliburn competition because he |
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couldn't bring himself to rate the contestants, he presented the |
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winners with their medals and generously gave his time to all the |
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attendees; he endowed scholarships at Texas Christian University, |
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Louisiana State University, Juilliard, the Moscow Conservatory, |
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and many other schools; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1987, Mr. Cliburn helped to herald the end of the |
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Cold War when he performed a recital at the White House for |
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President Ronald Reagan and Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, and in 1989, |
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he returned to Russia to play once again at the Great Hall of the |
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Moscow Conservatory; he went on to perform at Carnegie Hall during |
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the 100th anniversary season of the New York Philharmonic, and he |
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appeared as well at major concert halls across the nation; and |
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WHEREAS, During his lifetime, Mr. Cliburn played for every |
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American president since Harry Truman and for many other heads of |
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state; his countless awards include the Kennedy Center Honors, a |
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Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of |
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Freedom from President George W. Bush, the Order of Friendship from |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, and, received in 2011, the |
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National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama; and |
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WHEREAS, The enormous musical talent of Van Cliburn was |
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matched only by his charm, his humility, and his deep religious |
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faith; during a time of great tension between two nuclear-armed |
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superpowers, this lanky, boyish young Texan reached across the |
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divide and won the hearts of the Russian people with his passion for |
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the music they loved; he was equally beloved during his later years |
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in Fort Worth, where he was as welcome at the Ol' South Pancake |
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House and Broadway Baptist Church as he was at the Kimbe |
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ll Art |
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Museum and Bass Performance Hall; speaking to a friend once, Mr. |
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Cliburn claimed that he experienced his worst stage fright in Fort |
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Worth, because he had so many friends there and he "just couldn't |
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stand to let them down," but in the end, of course, he never did; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Van Cliburn and extend |
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sincere condolences to his partner, Thomas L. Smith, to his loved |
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ones, and to his countless friends and admirers across the Lone Star |
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State and beyond; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Van |
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Cliburn. |
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Geren |
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Goldman |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 1126 was unanimously adopted by a |
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rising vote of the House on April 10, 2013. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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