Two original glossy black-and-white photographs of Eugene List, taken during rehearsals for the world premiere of Carlos Chávez' Concerto for Piano with Orchestra, which List gave with the New York Philharmonic on January 1, 1942. He was just twenty-six at the time.

The first photograph shows List at the piano while concertmaster Mishel Piastro, conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, and cellist Joseph Schuster stand looking on.

The second photograph shows List at the piano chatting with someone to his left, a row of empty orchestra chairs and stands lined up behind him.

List enlisted in the Army immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, opting not to wait to be formally called. He did ask, however, for permission to finish the concert season, as he had made several commitments, including the premiere of the Chávez concerto, that he still hoped to honor. The allowance was made, and List started at a desk job in Brooklyn in March 1942. He would later be assigned to the Special Services, for which he performed concerts with all revenue given to Army Emergency Relief.