"The newly exiled composer Ernst Krenek was applauded politely when he played the piano in the US premiere of his aggressive and atonal Second Piano Concerto in Boston in November 1938. Afterwards his publisher heard a patrician lady comment on it to another: 'Conditions in Europe must be dreadful!'"
Krenek, Ernst (1900-1991) Austrian-American lecturer, pianist and composer [noted for his
operas and other compositions, and for various
books]
[Sources: Hans W. Heinsheimer, Menagerie in F sharp]