JOHN HEFTI
It might not be as toe-tappy or hum-happy as his brother’s “Batman” and “Odd Couple” scores, but 80 years ago John Hefti’s “Mystic Pool” was similarly something of a national sensation. In November 1937, internationally famous conductor Leopold Stokowski led the Philadelphia Orchestra, considered among the finest symphonies in the world, in performing “Mystic Pool,” a composition written by John Hefti, then a sophomore at Omaha University. It made headlines everywhere, the Associated Press, Time, Newsweek, Life, the New York Times and others writing about the famous conductor lifting a student out of obscurity.
Hefti had crossed paths with Stokowski — sort of — in 1936 when the Philadelphia Orchestra stopped in Omaha during an 11,000-mile transcontinental tour. Hefti, failing to meet Stokowski prior to the concert, left piano arrangements for his “Mystic Pool” with the clerk at the Fontenelle Hotel, where the orchestra was staying, and asked they be delivered to the great maestro. Nearly a year later, in spring 1937, Hefti received surprise correspondence from back east — a request from Stokowski’s secretary for “Mystic Pool’s” score and parts. The sophomore had not prepared orchestration, but he immediately wrote one and sent it to Philadelphia. In October, word again came from Philadelphia — Stokowski would play Hefti. Stokowski first led the Philadelphia Orchestra in “Mystic Pool” in a Nov. 11 concert that drew favorable comments from Philadelphia critics. Hefti was not present, though, unable to afford fare to Philadelphia. In stepped Omaha University faculty and students, who established the Hefti Fund to pay for the sophomore’s trip east.
He arrived by train in time for the orchestra’s final performance of “Mystic Pool” Nov. 16. After the concert, Hefti was ushered backstage to finally meet Stokowski. Despite such an auspicious start, “Mystic Pool” would remain Hefti’s career crescendo. He graduated from Omaha University with a BA in music in 1940 then earned a master’s degree from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He worked mostly for the government for the rest of his career: with the U.S. Army as a band director during World War II; for Voice of America as director of its music department; and for the U.S. Information Agency working on educational and cultural productions about the U.S. for broadcast in foreign countries. And though he would craft musical scores for motion pictures and television productions, nothing matched the fame of “Mystic Pool” before he retired in the early 1970s. Kid brother Neal Hefti, it turned out, would be the one to make a name for himself as one of the mid-20th century’s great pop music composers, arrangers and conductors. Neal worked with Basie, Sinatra and others and wrote the themes behind “The Odd Couple” and the Grammy-winning “Batman.” For a few whirlwind weeks in 1937, however, it was John who had the country’s ear.