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THEODORE THOMAS
A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
VOL. I.
LIFE WORK
THEODORE THOMAS
A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
In u,um
I. LIFE WORK
II. CONCERT PROGRAMMES
THEODORE HOMAS
A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
EDITED BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
In 3toa Uulumra, mitij $artraita and
THEODORE THOMAS
a pbotofaffytb \aken in 1896
LIFE WORK
WITH AN APPRECIATION AND PERSONAL RECOLLECTION. AND A DETAILED
ACCOUNT OF HIS MORE IMPORTANT WORK, BY MR. UPTON,
AND AN APPENDIX
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1905
THEODORE HOMAS
A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
EDITED BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
in 2faio Halumf 0, tmtij $Joriratifl anil
VOL. I.
LIFE WORK
WITH AN APPRECIATION AND PERSONAL RECOLLECTION, AND A DETAILED
ACCOUNT OF HIS MORE IMPORTANT WORK, BY MR. UPTON,
AND AN APPENDIX
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1905
COPYRIGHT
A. C. MCCLURG & Co.
1905
PUBLISHED APRIL 5, 1905
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London,
All Rights Reserved
SEJje Haftcsst'lie $ga
R. . DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO
MUSIC
LIBRARY
"^ SYMPHONY orchestra shows the culture of a
community, not opera. The man who does not know
Skakespeare is to be pitied; and the man who does
^ not understand Beethoven and has not been under his
spell has not half lived his life. The master works
of instrumental music are the language of the soul
and express more than those of any other art. Light
music, 'popular* so called, is the sensual side of the art
^. and has more or less devil in it."
THEODORE THOMAS
a
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CONTENTS
PAGE
EDITOR'S NOTE 13
PREFACE, THEODORE THOMAS 15
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
Birth and parentage. Early Life. Comes to America in 1845.
New York. Joins a Brass Band in the Navy. Travel-
ling as a Solo Artist in the South. Plays in Theatre Or-
chestras in New York. A Member of Jullien's Orchestra.
Jullien's Programmes 19
CHAPTER II
Jenny Lind. Henriette Sontag. Adelina Patti. Karl Eckert.
Joseph Noll. Is Appointed Leader of Second Violins in
Eckert's Orchestra. Concertmeister under Arditi. Anna
de Lagrange. Cdsare Badiali. Luigi Arditi . . 28
CHAPTER III
The New York Philharmonic Society. Henry C. Timm and
William Scharfenberg. Elected a Member in 1854.
Theodore Eisfeld. Carl Bergmann ... 34
CHAPTER IV
Chamber Concerts. The Mason-Thomas Quartette. William
Mason. Joseph Mosenthal. George Matzka. Berg-
mann in Chamber Music. Frederick Bergner. The
Quartette Disbands 38
CHAPTER V
Musical Studies. Ullmann's Opera Troupe in 1857. Grand
Concerts. Sigismund Thalberg and Henri Vieuxtemps.
Carl Anschiitz. End of Thomas's "Apprenticeship" 45
CHAPTER VI
The New York Philharmonic Society. First Series of Thomas
Symphony Soirees, 1864. Belvedere Lion Park Concerts,
1865. Terrace Garden Summer Night Concerts, 1866.
Building of Central Park Garden Hall. Elected Conductor
of Brooklyn Philharmonic Concerts. Inception of the
Thomas Orchestra. Plans for a Permanent Symphony
Orchestra. Summer Concerts and Winter Travelling.
In Boston, etc. Proposals from P. T. Barnum , 50
CHAPTER VII
The Chicago Fire. Financial Losses. First Programme of
Finale from "Tristan and Isolde." Symphony Concerts
in New York. First Wagner Programme in America,
September 17, 1872. The Wagner Verein. Tour to New
Orleans. Travelling with Rubinstein and Wieniawski.
The New York Festival. First Cincinnati Festival. Ap-
pointed Musical Director of the Philadelphia Centennial
Exposition. Mrs. Gillespie and her Work. Failure of
Philadelphia Summer Concerts. First Season of Chicago
Summer Night Concerts, 1877. Summer Night Concerts
in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cleveland 59
CHAPTER VIII
The New York Philharmonic Society. Malicious Statements
Corrected. Elected Conductor of the New York Philhar-
monic. Abandons Symphony Concerts in New York for
the Benefit of the Philharmonic Society. More Travelling.
Third Cincinnati Festival. Summer Night Concerts at
Gilmore's Garden, Madison Square. Offers from Europe
Refused. Leaves New York to Live in Cincinnati . 73
CHAPTER IX
Cincinnati in 1869. Founding of the Cincinnati Festival Asso-
ciation. Director of the Cincinnati Festivals. Musical
Director of the College of Music. Disagreement with its
President. Resignation from the College. The Cincinnati
Festivals and their Board of Directors. The Chorus.
Arthur Mees's and Edwin W. Glover's Services. The
Festival Orchestra. Return to New York in 1880 . 78
CONTENTS 7
CHAPTER X
In New York Again. The Monster Festival of 1882. Wagner
Performances, with Madame Materna. First Chicago Fes-
tival, 1883. Establishes Low Pitch. Young People's Con-
certs. Working People's Sunday Afternoon Concerts.
Wagner Concerts in Various Cities. Winkelmann and
Scaria. Festival Tour from Ocean to Ocean, Boston to
San Francisco. German Opera Proposals. American
Opera 87
CHAPTER XI
The End of the Thomas Orchestra, 1888. Why I Left New
York. Founding of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in
1880. Founding of the Chicago Orchestra in 1901.
Accepts Directorship of the Chicago Orchestra. The
Difficulty of Maintaining a First-rank Orchestra in Chi-
cago. Henry L. Higginson and his Influence. Chicago
Raises an Endowment Fund for the Orchestra by Popular
Subscription. The Building of a Home for the Orchestra
in 1904. The Work of the Chicago Board of Directors.
Coda 96
THE LAST DAYS OF THEODORE THOMAS . . .109
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION
I. MY FIRST MEETING WITH MR. THOMAS . . 117
II. APPRENTICESHIP .120
III. LIFE WORK BEGINS . . . . -125
IV. GARDEN Music ...... 130
V. SYMPHONIC SOIREES 138
VI. THE BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY . . 144
VII. THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY . 148
VIII. A NATIONAL TESTIMONIAL . . . .157
IX. FAREWELL TO THE EAST . . . .162
X. IN CHICAGO 165
XL DISAPPOINTMENTS 176
XII. THE MUSICIAN 201
XIII. THE MAN 242
CHRONOLOGY 260
APPENDIX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1896 . Frontispiece
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS AT FIFTEEN . . 19
FACSIMILE OF THEODORE THOMAS'S FIRST PROGRAMME 24
PORTRAIT OF HENRIETTE SONTAG . . . -32
PORTRAIT OF KARL ECKERT 40
PORTRAIT OF JENNY LIND 46
FACSIMILE OF FESTIVAL PROGRAMME, CLOSE OF NEW
YORK SEASON, 1866 54
PORTRAIT OF LUIGI ARDITI 64
WILLIAM MASON AND THEODORE THOMAS IN 1855 . 74
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1857 ... 82
PORTRAIT OF ANTON RUBINSTEIN .... 92
PORTRAIT OF HENRI WIENIAWSKI .... 102
THEODORE THOMAS, JULIUS FUCHS, AND ADOLPH W.
DOHN, IN 1875 118
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1875 . . . 134
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1880 . . .150
THE CHICAGO ORCHESTRA IN THE AUDITORIUM, CHICAGO 172
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1888 . . .192
THE CHICAGO ORCHESTRA IN ORCHESTRA HALL, CHI-
CAGO 216
FACSIMILE OF LETTER WRITTEN BY THEODORE THOMAS
IN 1892 ....... 230
PORTRAIT OF THEODORE THOMAS IN 1898 . . . 246
FELSENGARTEN . 256
THE MASTER OF MUSIC
1Tn flBemorfam
Ubeofcore Ubomas
1905
BY HENRY VAN DYKE
Power of architect, power of painter, and sculptor, and bard,
Living forever in temple, and picture, and statue, and song,
Look how the world with the lights that ye lit is engirdled and
starred !
Brief was the flame of your life, but the lamps of your art
burn long.
Where is the master of music, and how has he vanished away ?
Where are the works that he wrought in the air as a palace
of dream?
Gone all gone like the light on the cloud at the close of the
day!
Darkness enfolds him and silence descends on the field and
the stream.
Once, at the wave of his wand, all the billows of musical sound
Followed his will, as the sea was ruled by the prophet of old:
Now that his hand is relaxed, and the rod has dropped to the
ground,
Lo, how mute are the shores where the mystical harmonies
rolled!
Nay, but not still are the hearts that were filled with that
marvelous sea;
Purer and deeper forever the tides of their being shall roll,
Sounding with echoes of joy, and of thanks, O Master, to thee,
Music immortal endures in the depths of the human soul.
EDITOR'S NOTE
The sudden death of Mr. Thomas, which occurred
January 4, 1905, would have necessitated, from a strict
biographical point of view, some changes in the manu-
script which he furnished, and which he took such pleas-
ure in writing last summer at Felsengarten, his New
Hampshire summer home. I have preferred, however,
to leave his preface and autobiography as he wrote them,
feeling certain that if any incongruities appear, this
explanation will account for them. Not having all his
references with him, Mr. Thomas naturally touched
briefly upon many events in his exceptionally long career,
and in such instances I have sought to fill out his narra-
tive with notes based upon authentic documents.
G. P. U.
PREFACE
T WISH to begin with a statement, to which my
* friends will bear witness, that I never intended to
write my autobiography, or anything else; I desired
only to preserve my programmes representing over
half a century of a very important part of the history
of music in America in some permanent form,
and this is the result.
I am happy to say that at my request, Mr. George
P. Upton, whose interest in the cause of good music
has been of such marked benefit to Chicago for fifty
years, has undertaken the laborious task of compiling
and editing this publication, of selecting and classify-
ing the programmes to be printed, and of writing such
explanations as they have required. But he has also
shown me the necessity of adding some historical
matter which no one but myself can supply, and
without which these volumes would be incomplete.
What I have written will, I hope, prove interesting
enough to the reader to recompense him for the time
he will give to its perusal. I have written it reluc-
tantly, and without being able to form the slightest
opinion as to how much it will interest any one beyond
my personal friends. In justice to myself, I must say
that if some of my statements seem severe, they have
been written with regret; but I have been compelled
by truth, without which the whole would have been
i6 PREFACE
worthless, as well as by the urgent requests of earnest
and truth-loving men, to clear up, for the sake of
history, some matters which have been perverted, or
transmitted to the present generation through unre-
liable sources.
Felsengarten, September 7, 1904.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
THEODORE THOMAS AT FIFTEEN
(FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE)
THEODORE THOMAS
A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
VOL. I. LIFE WORK
CHAPTER I
Birth and Parentage. Early Life. Comes to America in
1845. New York. Joins a Brass Band in the Navy.
Travelling as a Solo Artist in the South. Plays in Theatre
Orchestras in New York. A Member of Jullien's Orches-
tra. Jullien's Programmes.
A CCORDING to the records of the church in
** Esens, East Friesland, by the North Sea, I was
born on the nth of October, 1835. At this place my
father was Stadtpfeijer. 1 I have no family records
beyond what I learned from him in early boyhood.
He was born in Erfurt, Thuringen, where his father
kept a bookstore. My grandfather later emigrated
to South America, whence he never returned. My
mother was born in the old university town of
1 Stadtpjeifer, or town musician. These musicians, paid
by the town in which they lived, were privileged to play on all
important public or private occasions. They were a close
organization, admission to which could be gained only by
regular apprenticeship. They were not without honor, for
nearly all the Bachs belonged to them, and during the Thirty
Years' War they were the conservators of music to some extent
in Germany. EDR.
19
20 THEODORE THOMAS
Gottingen, and her father was a physician. This is
the end of my knowledge of my family history. Both
my parents were refined and honest people.
I have been told that I played the violin in public
at the age of five. I have not, however, the slightest
remembrance of when I began to play. My earliest
recollection is that my father played the violin, so I
played, and that I soon played the music he did.
The members of his band, or orchestra, amused
themselves by bringing music to me and trying to
find something that I could not read off at sight. I
do not remember the character of the music, except
one piece an "Air Varie" by De Beriot.
The most important event in my young life
occurred when my father emigrated with his large
family to America. We had the good fortune to
find quarters on an American merchant vessel. The
captain had his family on board, and I remember
having a general good time, playing the fiddle, and
blowing the fog horn by turns ! We were six weeks on
the ocean this was before the days of ocean steam-
boats and landed in New York on a hot July day in
1845. The metropolitan city was then a provincial
town of two-story houses, and the pigs ran through
Broadway and ate the refuse. For the benefit of any
European who may read this, I will say that there
were plenty of negroes to be seen, but no Indians.
In those days, the only resource open to an in-
strumentalist was to join a brass band, and play for
parades or dancing. I do not remember having
heard of any teaching, except of the piano and the
LIFE WORK 21
cornet. The orchestra, as we have it to-day, was
almost an unknown quantity, although the Philhar-
monic Orchestra 1 had made a feeble beginning, and
there were small so-called orchestras, consisting of a
dozen musicians, more or less, in the theatres. Bet-
ter music was played in the theatres then, however,
than at the present time. It was in a theatre orches-
tra that I first made the acquaintance of Beethoven's
' 'Coriolanus Overture," which was played before the
curtain rose for Shakespeare's tragedy, with what
musical results I cannot tell, but there was at least an
endeavor to have the music in keeping with the drama.
The theatres were few in number, and the orchestra
leaders were English; as a matter of course, the orches-
tras were composed principally of English musicians.
It must have been difficult for my father to support
his large family, for I had to help him when I could,
and that meant much night work, for the theatres,
even then, kept open far beyond midnight. First
came a tragedy, melodrama, or comedy, and after-
wards a farce. I remember, for instance, that I saw
the elder Booth in the "Merchant of Venice" at a
theatre in Spring Street, four or five blocks west of
Broadwa^-, after which he appeared in a farce. Be-
sides playing in the theatre orchestra, I remember I
also played at a .French dancing school. Of course,
J The New Yorl- Philharmonic Society, to which Mr.
Thomas refers, was organized in 1842, and gave its first con-
cert on December 7 of that year. Its principal founder was
Uriah C. Hill. There was also a Philharmonic Society in
New York about the middle of the eighteenth century, but
its life was brief. EDR.
22 THEODORE THOMAS
all this night work made it impossible for a boy of
my age to go to school during the day.
In 1848 my father enlisted in a navy band, and so
did I, and I played second horn to his first in the
band stationed at Portsmouth, Virginia. It was our
duty to go on board the old ship "Pennsylvania" daily,
and play at nine o'clock in the morning, and again at
sunset, after which we left the ship and had our
evenings free to follow our profession.
In 1849 m 7 father appears to have become pros-
perous enough to dispense with my financial assist-
ance, so it was not long before I obtained my dis-
charge from the navy, and was off for the South.
I do not remember taking anything with me but my
fiddle, my little box of clothing, and some posters
which I had had printed, announcing a concert by
' 'Master T. T." I kept a supply of these posters
in my trunk, and when I had no money I first ob-
tained permission to use the dining hall of a hotel
for a concert, and then I went around on the day
before the concert took place and put up my posters
with tacks. When the time for the concert arrived,
I would stand at the door of the hall and take the
money until I concluded that my audience was about
gathered, after which I would go to the front of the
hall, unpack my violin, and begin the concert!
Sometimes I played with piano tfccompaniment, but
oftener without. I have yet in my possession a set
of variations on "Home, Sweet Home," which I
wrote down some years later as a souvenir of those
days. I did not have printed programmes.
LIFE WORK 23
When I had money I did not play in concerts,
but vegetated, Southern fashion. In some places I
met amateurs who made much of me, and there
I stayed a while. Often I sent my trunk on ahead,
and travelled on horseback alone if possible at
night carrying with me plenty of cigars and a
pistol, hoping to be attacked on the road by ban-
dits! I remember one place in Mississippi where,
after I had announced a concert, I was ordered by
the authorities to leave town, because they believed
the devil was in the fiddle! On one of these trips I
carried my violin in a bag, and, lying down on the
ground in the woods for a rest, suddenly jumped up
and stepped on it, breaking it, of course. I then
went to a carpenter shop, took off its top, pieced it,
glued it on again, and played on it the next day. All
this is not so easy without the help of tools made for
the purpose, and how I managed to place the sound-
ing-post I do not know probably with a string.
In the summer of 1850 I arrived again in New
York, with the intention of going to Europe. I was
then fifteen years of age, and somehow had recog-
nized the necessity of studying if I expected to accom-
plish anything in this world. But what ? I did not
know, of course, that a general education was needed,
or even what it meant. My first idea was to become
a virtuoso, so I began to practise and play in con-
certs. New York had changed immensely in the few
years which had elapsed since my arrival in Amer-
ica. Many German musicians, singly or in bands,
had come over. But probably the most important
24 THEODORE THOMAS
educational influence on my mind came through the
establishment of a German theatre with a fair-sized
orchestra, in which I was engaged as the leading
violinist. Here I received my first intellectual im-
petus, by becoming acquainted with the plays of the
great German poets. As a few years before I had
learned of the existence of Shakespeare through the
medium of an English theatre orchestra, so now, in
the orchestra of the German theatre, I became fa-
miliar with the masters of German literature, Goethe
and Schiller, and they made a strong impression upon
me. Another feature of this engagement was the
regular Sunday-night concerts given there, in which
I often appeared as soloist. My repertoire already
included Lipinski's "Concerto Militaire," Vieux-
temps's First Concerto, and the ' 'Othello Fantaisie"
of Ernst.
,
The next two or three years can be easily sketched
together. The right influence came to me at the
right time, and, musically speaking, gave me the
opportunities to prepare myself for my later-day
task, and shaped my future as no other influence
could have done. The beginning of the fifties
brought over to this country not only instrumental-
ists, but the most brilliant, finished, and mature
vocalists of the world, such as Jenny Lind and Son-
tag, besides a large number of eminent Italian sing-
ers, among them Mario, Grisi, Bosio, Alboni, and
others. I doubt if there were ever brought together
\in any part of the world a larger number of talented
vocalists than were gathered in New York between
V.
I
On Friday Evening, February 20th, 1S52,
'
9
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Thty w.n \>t MiuUJ b> iKt WliJ KmiMiU A,hi,
/ Mrs. Laura A. Jones,
Mr. Henry Satire*
TVTr. George F. Bristcrw,
WK. wflptV4f itl '<*( 'ill*
Herr Kfefet,
Thomas,
/* MTf Oc t r PART f ' rcf,.
First timtm A.THCTK ft. Dodwortli's Full Bwtd. %
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8 K.cU Sc/.- TVm. 4 V,, a i;<,nj Tom Ot*o.
4. " C.'.r^, rf'0r<;,o>'- Du<l fi-orn Sem.r-cmidit
A. IT 8 D.vlworUi. Cc?i.i Baadaupmpi
6 'T,; f>i-m N&nf MP(,, S . XMIrn R. B &C.R DwIwDHlv 8i
| TICKETS.. 5O CENTS,
*^v
THEODORE THOMAS'S FIRST PROGRAMME
(FACSIMILE OF ORIGINAL)
LIFE WORK 25
1850 and the early sixties. The pure and musical
quality of their art was of great value in forming the
taste of an impressionable boy, at the outset of his
career. It was under this influence, also, that
Adelina Patti grew up, for she attended the rehearsals
of these singers daily with her parents. I played
everywhere, in opera and concerts, and was very
popular. The only thing against me was my youth.
I was very small, and looked even younger than I
really was. The orchestras, of course, were still not
numerous or large, for Italian opera in those days
could be well given with an orchestra of thirty-five or
forty men. The concert orchestras then, towards
the end of the forties, were those of Gungl, and the
Germania. 1
The season of opera and concerts was short, how-
ever, and the problem of making a living was as
difficult for an orchestral player to solve then as now.
I remember that when my funds ran out I used to
go to my friend, Harry B. Dodworth, tell him that I
was in need of money, and ask him to let me play for
balls to earn the money to pay my board ! This he
1 Josef Gungl, of Berlin, came to New York with his band
in 1849, but remained in this country only one season. Upon
his return to Germany he wrote a most scathing criticism of
musical conditions in New York. The Germania Orchestra,
the nucleus of which was formed from Gungl's band, also
came in 1849, an d made a tour of the principal cities in the
United States. For a time it greatly flourished, but after
five years of varying fortunes it was disbanded. The Ger-
mania unquestionably exerted a most important influence
'upon popular musical taste, and helped to prepare the way for
the great work Mr. Thomas was destined to perform. EDE.
26 THEODORE THOMAS
always did, and I still thank him for it. I played for
the dancing faithfully the whole night through, and
used it as a mode of practice. Once, when I was a
boy, I remember, seeing no way of earning the money
for my board, I took my fiddle under my coat, went
to the bar-room of a hotel, and played, and soon
had the money I needed, after which I left. Other
well-known musicians had to beat the big drum all
day in street parades. I was, fortunately, not driven
to that.
Jullien, 1 the musical charlatan of all ages, who,
nevertheless, exerted some useful influence upon
orchestral music, made his appearance in the United
States in August, 1853.
He brought over with him a number of soloists
flute, hautbois, clarinet, cornet, trombone, and
ophicleide players the last an instrument now re-
placed by the tuba, but much missed in works like
1 Louis Antoine Jullien, son of a bandmaster, was born at
Sisteron, Basses- Alpes, April 23, 1812. He was educated
in Paris, and conducted his first concerts in London, where,
during many years, he gave an annual series of concerts. He
remained in this country until June 28, 1854, then returned to
London, where he was in severe financial straits, and thence
went to Paris. In that city he was imprisoned for debt, and
finally died in a lunatic asylum in 1860. Mr. Thomas's sharp
characterization of him is warranted by his many eccentricities,
sensations, and extravagances, as well as by his affected deport-
ment at the conductor's desk, which at times reached the
extreme height of silliness. He was fond of prodigious effects.
Upon one occasion in London he used six military bands in
addition to his permanent orchestra, and in a "musical con-
gress" announced "six grand musical fetes, with four hundred
instrumentalists, three distinct choruses, and three distinct
military bands." EDR.
LIFE WORK 27
the "Midsummer Night's Dream," by Mendelssohn.
He also brought Bottesini, the contra-bassist, and a
number of violinists, amongst them the Mollenhauer
brothers, and others. New York has never had,
before or since, the like of his wood-wind players.
The rest of the orchestra was made up of New York
players, and I was one of the first violinists. Jullien
was the first, as I remember, who played with a large
orchestra I think he had, in Castle Garden, twenty
first- violinists. His programmes were all popular in
character, and some of the special features of them
were the "Katy-did Polka," the "Prima Donna
Waltz," and the "Fireman's Quadrille." As a fea-
ture of the latter, an alarm of fire was regularly
sounded, and a brigade of firemen appeared in the
hall! This created great consternation in the audi-
ence the first time it was given. He also played over-
tures and movements of symphonies.
CHAPTER II
Jenny Lind. Henrietta Sontag. Adelina Patti. Karl Eckert.
Joseph Noll. Is Appointed Leader of Second Violins in
Eckert's Orchestra. Concertmeister under Arditi. Anna
de Lagrange. Ce*sare Badiali. Luigi Arditi.
JENNY LIND, Sontag, and Patti are three promi-
nent names in musical history. Jenny Lind
was the first to appear. She had conquered the
world on the operatic stage, and, while still young,
had retired to the concert stage. She was truly a
great singer. She had an exceptional voice, compass,
technique, and warmth, and impressed one with a
sense of grandeur.
Mme. Sontag, who left the stage early and re-
tired to private life, returned to it again after an
absence of twenty years, during which time she had
developed into a mature artist, having, at the same
time, preserved her voice in perfect condition by
leading a quiet life. I do not remember another
singer in whom art and experience were combined
with such freshness and quality of voice. She would
appear one night as Zerlina in "Don Giovanni," and
the next, perhaps, in the title part of "Lucrezia
Borgia." No one who saw her in the first role
could ever be satisfied with any other impersonation
of it. As for the second, a dramatic role, if she was
surpassed by some artists of heavier voice and more
28
LIFE WORK 29
dramatic acting, the artistic unity of her perform-
ance, nevertheless, left nothing to be desired.
Neither of these exceptional women conquered the
world with voice and execution alone. It was the
perfection and blending of these qualities, together
with the single aim that of truthful expression,
which gave greatness to whatever they rendered. I
have never heard their equals.
Patti's voice was of delicious quality and great
charm, easy in delivery and true, like the singing of
a bird but it expressed no more soul than the song
of a bird.
The important musical influence of one man, who
appeared at this time, has, never to my knowledge,
been recognized. This man was Karl Eckert, 1 who
had been brought over with Mme. Sontag as leader
of her orchestra. Eckert was a man of the world,
and had moved in good society. He was an educated
man, a gentleman, a high-grade musician, violinist,
composer, and, last but not least, the only really fully
equipped and satisfactory conductor who visited this
country during that period. All of the rest were
more or less ' 'time-beaters." What I learned from
1 Karl Eckert was born at Potsdam, December 7, 1820.
His musical ability was displayed at a very early age, and he
at once became a favorite with Mendelssohn, with whom he
studied in 1839. In 1851 he was accompanist at the Italian
Theatre in Paris, and after his return from this country, in
1852, was conductor of the Italian Opera in the same city.
In 1854 he went to Vienna as director of the Court Opera,
in 1861 to Carlsruhe as Capellmeister, and in 1868 was ap-
pointed director at Berlin, which position he held until his
death, October 14, 1879. EDR.
30
Eckert it is difficult at this time to say, but his influ-
ence probably laid the foundation of my future
career.
Eckert was not a disciplinarian, but he had been
associated with the best, and would have nothing
else. For the first time there was order in the
orchestra. I remember that at the beginning of
the season constant changes took place among the
men at every rehearsal. I was one of the first violin-
ists, and think I sat at the second stand. One morn-
ing Eckert said to me : l 'I cannot procure a satisfac-
tory leader for the second violins. Will you help us
out?" A leading violinist, or, as the English say,
"principal" of a part, is the man on whom the con-
ductor must depend under all circumstances to bring
the attack when he gives the beat. He is also respon-
sible, in some measure, for the other players in the
same part. Each part of the quintette has such a
leader. In opera he is often of great importance
when mistakes happen on the stage.
I accepted the offer, and at once had an independ-
ent and responsible position, which also brought me
into close contact with a thoroughly experienced
musician, perhaps a master. I must have done well,
for, in spite of my being a boy, and an American
boy at that, Eckert and I remained very good friends.
This was probably one of those important opportu-
nities which Providence opens for one, and I had
sense enough to recognize it.
At the head of the first violins sat a man who ought
not to be overlooked here, a very good violinist and
LIFE WORK 31
a routined but conservative musician, named Joseph
Noll. He was first violinist in the Eisfeld Quartette,
and everywhere else. Noll had probably held sim-
ilar positions in Germany, and had the virtues, as
well as the faults, of the German school of those
days, the principal aim of which was to produce
a large tone, irrespective of quality. A vibrating,
velvety tone was considered effeminate. In this
respect the Germans have changed very much since
then and to their advantage owing to interna-
tional influences. Noll, however, produced a good
tone, but always so loud that he made ensemble play-
ing impossible. Toward the close of his career he
was a loyal member of my orchestra, as viola player.
According to my recollection it was in the follow-
ing year that I became the leader of the first violins
concertmeister with Arditi as conductor. The
troup included artists of the first rank, like Lagrange,
Mirate, and Badiali. The voice of Lagrange did
not compare in quality with that of either Jenny Lind
or Sontag, but it, nevertheless, was of good quality,
large compass, highly cultivated, and was used in a
musicianly manner.
I have always considered Mirate 1 the greatest
tenor I have heard, without exception, in voice, com-
1 Mirate was a great favorite in Italy, and highly esteemed
by Verdi. He created the part of the Duke in the latter 's
"Rigoletto," and received an ovation for his singing of the
well-known canzone, "La donna e mobile." Mr. Thomas's
panegyric is a deserved tribute to an artist whose name is not
found in any of the modern dictionaries of music, not even
in Grove's " Dictionary of Music," or the Century " Dictionary
of Names." EDR.
32 THEODORE THOMAS
pass, method, and musicianship. He staid only
a short time in this country, and then returned to
Italy.
Badiali ranked with these two singers, but bari-
tones, or high basses, according to quality of voice,
were not so rare as tenors.
Arditi was an Italian, as his name indicates. He
began his career as a violinist. He was a good con-
ductor of Italian opera. He knew his music, and
one could instantly perceive that he had pounded it
over on the piano many times with his singers. In
those days the education of the average singer was
very limited, and it was the duty of the conductor,
except in large European institutions, to pound on
the piano with the singers until they knew their
parts well enough to go to an orchestra rehearsal.
There the same methods would be continued, the
music being played over until it went together. I
can remember singers of great renown who did not
know the name of a note. Arditi, who was a small,
nervous, energetic man, was in touch with his or-
chestra.
Many conductors do not interest themselves in the
orchestra they conduct beyond expecting it to be a
willing instrument. This is especially true of an
opera orchestra. In the days when Italian opera
was supreme, the highest accomplishment of an
orchestra was to. follow the singer. Furthermore,
there was no permanancy in opera, orchestra, or
anything pertaining to music in this country. The
conductor also was never in any place long, and
HENRIETTE SONTAG
(FROM AN EARLY PRINT)
LIFE WORK 33
expected to find the best orchestra talent which circum-
stances permitted provided for him. So it happened
that the orchestra was generally engaged and formed
by some man who was an inferior musician himself,
but who was supposed to know the better musicians,
and had some business capacity. This man would
receive, besides his salary from the manager, a per-
centage from every man in the orchestra, and whoever
was unwilling to submit to this exaction could not
get an engagement. As concertmeister, I had both
power and responsibility, and I dispensed with this
middle man, and began by making all engagements
with the members of the orchestra myself. The order
I had learned under Eckert I retained, and this
made a first-class orchestra possible, and gave me
much influence. From that time on there was prob-
ably no good instrumentalist who did not spend his
first years in America in the orchestra I formed. It
had a standard thereafter which made itself quickly
felt.
CHAPTER III
The New York Philharmonic Society. Henry C. Timm and
William Scharfenberg. Elected a Member in 1854.
Theodore Eisfeld. Carl Bergmann.
/ "T~ V HE concerts of the New York Philharmonic So-
-* ciety by this time had begun to attract some at-
tention, probably owing to the efforts of good teachers,
like Henry C. Timm 1 and William Scharfenberg. 2
These two men had great influence. They were edu-
cated musicians, good pianists, loved their art, and
were highly respected. I was elected a member of the
Philharmonic Society January 21, 1854. Its princi-
pal conductor at that time was Theodore Eisfeld. 3
Later, Carl Bergmann alternated with him.
1 Henry Christian Timm was born at Hamburg, Germany,
July n, 1811, and made his d&but as a pianist in 1828. He
came to this country in 1835, and for several years made con-
cert tours. He played the organ at some New York churches,
and did most efficient work as chorus master. He was one of
the earliest members of the Philharmonic Society, and its presi-
dent for several years. He died September 4, 1892. EDR.
2 William Scharfenberg was born at Cassel, Germany,
February 22, 1819. He was a pupil of Hummel, and later
played second violin in Spohr's quartette. He came to this
country in 1838, and made his debut as pianist. For many
years he was recognized as a superior teacher, and was a great
favorite in concerts. He also made valuable contributions
to musical periodicals, and held various offices in the Phil-
harmonic Society. He died August 8, 1895. EDR.
'Theodore Eisfeld, who conducted the Philharmonic
Society for many years, was born at Wolfenbiittel, Germany,
34
LIFE WORK 35
Eisfeld belonged to the class of "time-beaters,"
and would make corrections in the harmonies of
master-works he did not understand. Bergmann
was a talented musician and a fair 'cello player, who
came to this country in 1850 as a member of a small
orchestra, the Germania, of which he afterwards
became conductor. The Germania had its head-
quarters in Boston early in the fifties, and made sev-
eral tours. After it disbanded, in 1854, Bergmann
went to Chicago. 1 Eisfeld became sick in 1855, and
April n, 1816. From 1839 to 1843 he was Capellmeister
at the Wiesbaden Court Theatre, and the " Concerts Viviennes,"
Paris. He came to New York in 1848, and shortly afterwards
became conductor of the Philharmonic, as well as of the Har-
monic Society, when it was first organized. He also estab-
lished quartet soirees in 1851, with Noll, Reyer, and Eich-
horn, Otto Dresel being the pianist, and continued them
for several years. He went back to Europe in 1866, and
died at Wiesbaden in 1882. Mr. Eisfeld must be credited
with having introduced the first regular concerts of chamber
music in New York. EDR.
l Carl Bergmann went to Chicago in November, 1854, and
gave a concert, at which he was assisted by the Chicago Phil-
harmonic Society, of which, at that time, Christopher Plagge
was conductor. He was invited to remain and take charge
of the Society, and consented. He gave his first concert
December 22, 1854, at Metropolitan Hall. His season, how-
ever, was limited to two concerts. Musical jealousies arose,
and at last became so bitter that Bergmann left in disgust
and went back to New York. The society went to pieces,
but was reconstructed in 1856 with Prof. C. W. Webster as
conductor. It dragged along a sickly existence until 1860,
when it was revived and placed upon a sounder footing under
the direction of Hans Balatka. For several years his concerts
were the fashionable rage; but fashion is fickle, and on April 3,
1868, the Society died insolvent. Mr. Balatka gave two con-
certs on his own account in 1868, and four in 1869. The
last of the four was given November 26, 1869, and on the next
36 THEODORE THOMAS
Bergmann was sent for to conduct the last Philhar-
monic concert of that season. At this concert he
brought out the "Tannhauser Overture," and made
with it probably the greatest success of his life. I
remember it well. It sounded little as we know it
to-day, but it shook up the dry bones and made the
dust fly, anyway! The following season (1855-56),
Bergmann was engaged to conduct all the Phil-
harmonic concerts, Eisfeld still being sick.
It has been said by those who are unfamiliar with
the history of that time, that Bergmann was my
model in conducting. This is incorrect. Eckert,
as I have already said, was the one who influenced
me, and from whom I learned. Bergmann was very
reticent about his past life. He gave the impression
that he never worked much, or cared to do so. He
lacked most of the qualities of a first-rank conductor,
but he had one great redeeming quality for those days
which soon brought him into prominence. He pos-
sessed an artistic nature, and was in sympathy with
the so-called "Zukunft Musik." 1 He lacked the
force, however, to make an impression, and had no
standard. He derived his principal inspiration from
our chamber music practice. His readings of Bee-
thoven's works showed clearly that he had no tradi-
tion, and that it was not based on study. I remem-
ber well one morning, after we had been playing
evening Theodore Thomas's orchestra played for the first
time in the same hall. Mr. Balatka retired from the field.
A new musical revelation had been made to Chicago. EDR.
1 Music of the future.
LIFE WORK 37
the Schumann string quartets for the first time, his
saying to me: "You have lifted the veil from our
eyes to-day." It was after this that he brought out
hitherto unknown orchestral works by Schumann.
After I had formed my own orchestra, Bergmann
and I remained good friends, and enjoyed each
other's company. He always spoke appreciatively
to me, but as I grew more successful his companions
tried to make him jealous of my success which he
had not sufficient energy to emulate. I always felt
that under favorable conditions Bergmann might
have been of greater service to his adopted country.
He did not play the piano well enough to be an
accompanist, and had not the energy to make a posi-
tion for himself as a teacher, so his income was
always small. The Philharmonic societies paid
little. I remember when I began to conduct the
Brooklyn Philharmonic concerts, the conductor's
fee, which was the same as Eisfeld and Bergmann had
had, was not much more than that of any member of
the orchestra. Afterwards, with the growing suc-
cess of these concerts, my salary was increased until
it reached several thousand dollars for the season.
A few years before his death, I offered to share
the conductorship of my orchestra with Bergmann,
and pay him a salary. He accepted the offer, but
when the morning came for the rehearsal, at which
he was to appear, he staid away.
387382
CHAPTER IV
Chamber Concerts. The Mason-Thomas Quartette. Wil-
liam Mason. Joseph Mosenthal. George Matzka.
Bergmann in Chamber Music. Frederick Bergner.
The Quartette disbands.
*p\URING 1855 chamber concerts were estab-
*~^ lished by William Mason, under the name
* 'Mason and Bergmann." * The following year they
1 The following is a copy of the original announcement of
these famous chamber concerts:
MUSICAL MATINEES.
" Messrs. William Mason (pianoforte) and Carl Bergmann
(violoncello) , assisted by Messrs. Theodore Thomas (first violin) ,
J. Mosenthal (second violin), and G. Matzka (viola), propose a
series of six monthly classical musical entertainments, to be
given on the last Tuesday of each succeeding month, at 2 P. M.
"In consequence of the numerous evening engagements
of the city, and to enable lady amateurs and students to be
present without escort, it is proposed to give matinees in
preference to soirees. This arrangement will also enable
those residing in the suburbs to attend, as each performance
will occupy only about an hour and a half. The novel and
most important feature of these entertainments will be the
presentation of such music quartets, trios, sonatas, etc.
as opportunity is rarely afforded to listen to, except in some
very select circles of Europe. The later quartets of Beethoven,
rarely heard in public even abroad, the works of Schumann,
Schubert, Franck, Volkmann, Brahms, Rubinstein, and Ber-
wald will form the leading features of the programmes. Two
leading compositions, quartets, or trios, will be given entire
at each performance, while the programmes will be completed
by compositions of a lighter character. In short, it is intended
to arrange these matinees after the celebrated ones of Liszt
at Weimar." EDR.
38
LIFE WORK 39
were discontinued, but were resumed in 1857-58,
under the name, "Mason and Thomas." Berg-
mann being absent, his place was filled by C.
Brannes until the third matinee, when Bergmann
resumed his place. The influence of these con-
certs during the fourteen years of their existence is
best shown by their programmes. Of course these
did not pay, and I suppose that Mason must have
borne the losses for many years, for they never paid
more, at best, than the expenses of the hall and the
doorkeeper.
William Mason, as sincere in art as in his daily
life, had a genuine musical nature. He showed
talent at an early age, and was sent to Europe, where
he had exceptional opportunities for study, and favor-
able surroundings. After his return, he appeared as
a virtuoso, but soon realized the conditions of his
country in musical affairs. He gave proof of his sin-
cerity by inaugurating chamber concerts at once,
although the Eisfeld organization was still in exist-
ence. It knew neither flood nor ebb, however,
whereas the first programmes of Mason and Berg-
mann sounded the war-cry of death to stale and
meaningless music, and proclaimed progress. 1 Works
1 It is evident that Mr. Thomas, when he wrote this, had
in mind the grand trio in B major, op. 8, of Brahms, which
closed the first programme, and was performed by Mr. Mason,
Mr. Bergmann, and himself. The house was crowded upon
this occasion, but the critics did not greatly relish Brahms.
"The New York Times" said the next morning:
"The trio in B flat by Mr. Brahms is an early work
written, we believe, at the age of eighteen. With many good
points, and much sound musicianship, it possesses also the
40 THEODORE THOMAS
by Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven (ops. 59, 95, and
130), Schumann, Rubinstein, and Bach were the
principal features of the first season.
Of course this spirit was transmitted directly from
Weimar. It is true that some programmes showed
that undue influences had been brought to bear by
the insertion of silly songs and solos between the
quartets and trios, and that there was no standard
in sight yet. But at that time everything relative to
music in this country was, so to speak, in its infancy.
Mr. Mason afterwards turned his attention to
teaching, and we all know how successful and influ-
ential his work has been. He decided to devote his
life to this calling, and his aptitude for this field
cannot be doubted. He had the best pedagogic
foundation, wide experience, the highest sense for
tone-quality, great patience, and was then, as now,
a thorough musician.
usual defects of a young writer, among which may be enum-
erated length and solidarity. The motivos seldom fall on
the ear freshly; they suggest something that has been heard
before, and induce a skeptical frame of mind, not altogether
just, for the composer evidently has ideas of his own (sic).
In the elaboration of these ideas he is frequently original,
always correct, and generally too lengthy."
"The New York Dispatch" said with philosophical
resignation:
" The Brahms Trio is a composition in the ultra new school
of which we may say briefly that we do not yet understand it.
Whether this be due to our dullness of perception, or lack of
appreciation, or the intricate character of the music, we do
not pretend to say. . . Yet we feel obliged to Messrs.
Mason and Bergmann for the opportunity they afforded us
for hearing and becoming acquainted with this peculiar and
outri style of music." EDR.
KARL ECKERT
LIFE WORK 41
Other members of the Quartette were Joseph
Mosenthal and George Matzka. Mosenthal was
the most conservative musician of us all. He was
lovely and sincere of nature, well educated, and a
good violinist and musician. He was born in
Cassel, and, belonging to the Spohr school, was
still, of course, enthusiastic for that composer's
music. 1
Matzka came from the Coburg orchestra, and was
an able and ambitious musician.
Bergmann was only a moderate performer, but
he did everything with a certain grace ; his technique
was limited, and his tone, of course, was not large, be-
cause he never practised. The quartette rehearsals
were held at my house, from nine to twelve o'clock in
the morning, about three times a week. Why Berg-
mann should have gone through this drudgery of
early rehearsals, often being obliged to carry his in-
strument in all kinds of weather, may possibly be ex-
plained by the fact that these rehearsals were the only
existing source of artistic food for him. It was also
characteristic of him that while he was so susceptible
to modern music, I never had his support in placing
one of the later quartets by Beethoven on our pro-
grammes. I understood readily why Mosenthal
1 In an interview several years ago, Mr. Mosenthal said :
"I think that no men ever played together who understood
each other better than did Thomas, Matzka, Bergner, and I.
Theodore Thomas was a magnificent violin player, as you
may have observed last summer, when he played a solo at
Gilmore's Garden, the first one in a long while in public, I
think. Our first concerts were given at the old Dodworth
Hall, next to Grace Church." EDR.
42 THEODORE THOMAS
and Matzka were not enthusiastic about the matter,
for they were still somewhat under the influence of
their European training. But Bergmann and I had
had no training. However, the programme making
was left to me, and I fought, and did my duty as I
saw it. We played the last quartets, but perhaps not
so often as I wished.
Our Quartette generally played together in the
orchestras of opera or concerts. Mosenthal always
played at the same stand with me, and Matzka and
Bergmann were also at their respective places.
There were rather strong contrasts in our work at
times, as, for instance, when a rehearsal of one of the
last Beethoven quartets was followed by a rehearsal
of "Trovatore." Again, when Brahms's Second Ser-
enade appeared, I called a rehearsal for the orchestra
to run it over an hour before a rehearsal of ' 'Rigo-
letto." Bergmann was in the orchestra, and brought
out the Serenade in 1862 in a Philharmonic concert.
He remained in our Quartette until after the first
concert in 1861. The immediate cause of his with-
drawal I do not remember, but I believe one reason
was that he was tired of the work. Frederick Berg-
ner, by far the most able 'cellist of that time, took
Bergmann's place, and the Quartette was, no doubt,
the gainer by the change. Bergner remained with
us until the Quartette disbanded. 1
1 Bergner once said to the late Charles D. Hamill, when
asked his opinion of Mr. Thomas as a violinist : " One of the
greatest violinists in the world was spoiled to become the
greatest conductor." EDR.
LIFE WORK 43
Each member of the organization had made his
way, and gained influence. It is hardly necessary to
say that our influence was thrown in favor of Berg-
mann as a conductor, especially of the Philharmonic
concerts, as neither the programmes nor the execu-
tion suited us. We represented, in those days, the
ultra-modern spirit. The Quartette was continued
until April, 1868, when it died a natural death, be-
cause my time was gradually absorbed by the orches-
tra, and I had to travel. The other members devoted
their time to teaching.
I should like to close this chapter with a tribute to
Karl Klauser, a musician and a man of culture, who
was at the head of the musical department in Miss
Porter's school at Farmington, Connecticut, from
1855. He is mentioned here on account of the influ-
ence he has had in this country in cultivating the taste
for everything that is noble in music. He created an
artistic and refined atmosphere for his pupils, and
the young women who studied at his famous school,
and who came from all parts of the country, took
away with them genuine love and respect for the art
of music, and were active in promulgating this spirit
all their lives. I have often met with instances of
this most unexpectedly, and in widely distant local-
ities. He inaugurated annual chamber concerts at
the school for the pupils, and Mason, Thomas,
Mosenthal, Matzka, Bergmann, and Bergner gave
regular concerts in Farmington from 1856 until the
Quartette was disbanded. He also engaged artists
44 THEODORE THOMAS
like Rubinstein and Billow to give recitals there when
they visited America. Why have not other similar
institutions taken an example from this effective mode
of cultivating the tastes of their pupils ? l
1 Mr. William Mason, in his " Memories of a Musical Life,"
says: "Through Mosenthal our Quartette became acquainted
with Mr. Karl Klauser, who was an active and enthusiastic
musician of thorough education, and who has accomplished a
great deal of useful work, both as a compiler and teacher of
classic and modern composition. Mr. Klauser is a native
of St. Petersburg, born of German parents. He came to
New York in 1850, and was engaged as musical director in
Miss Porter's famous school for young ladies in 1855, a post
which he filled with credit and ability for many years. He
was enthusiastically fond of chamber music, and frequently
attended the rehearsals of our quartette; and it was through
him that we were induced to give recitals in Farmington six
months after our beginning in New York." It should be
added to Mr. Mason's reference to Mr. Klauser, that he not
only selected the material used in his teaching with the utmost
care, but enriched it by rectifying corrupt texts, as well as
with correct fingerings and indications for the performance
of embellishments. His work in this direction includes over a
thousand piano compositions from the classics critically
revised, several editions of lighter works, a volume of pro-
gressive studies, and numerous arrangements of orchestral
and chamber music for the piano. "Dwight's Journal of
Music" in 1872, in a long sketch of this indefatigable worker,
pays him this tribute: "Only by such uninterrupted efforts
as these of Klauser can a great and truly musical public grow
up in America. Therefore honor to the man who, one of the
first, has set out upon his artistic mission with earnestness and
decision, and who now, after some seventeen years of toil,
has already been able to send out more than one thousand
young apostles of this musical faith into all parts of North
America." EDR.
CHAPTER V
Musical Studies. Ullmann's Opera Troupe in 1857. Grand
Concerts. Sigismund Thalberg, and Henri Vieuxtemps.
Carl Anschiitz. End of Thomas's "Apprenticeship."
/ TpHE time had now come for me to make the
* best use of my opportunities for study. I had
studied harmony, five or six years previously, with
Rudolph Schwillinger, and now took up counterpoint
and fugue with an able organist, William Meyer-
hofer. I still continued my position with Ullmann as
concertmeister of his opera company. In 1857, for
the first time in America, the proportions of grand
opera were properly balanced. There were first-
rank singers, an increased chorus, and an enlarged
orchestra, which had reached the efficiency of Euro-
pean grand orchestras. Ullmann used to say that I
was ruining him by engaging so large an orchestra.
My answer was, "Then discharge me!" whereupon
he would reply, "Sein Sie dock nicht so hitzig"
Besides the opera troupe Ullmann had under his
management Thalberg, the pianist, Vieuxtemps, the
violinist, and plenty of material for grand concerts,
and we gave them. He also brought over Carl
Anschiitz, to conduct. Anschiitz belonged to the
class of conductors I have called "time-beaters,"
though he was the most intelligent and the best edu-
cated of them all. Besides a good general schooling,
45
46 THEODORE THOMAS
he had a liberal musical education, but he never
could be in sympathy or touch with an orchestra.
He neither played any stringed instrument, nor any
other used in the orchestra. He had never been in
the rank and file, and accomplished only a certain
kind of routine with small opera troupes. He pounded
the piano for the singers, which, we have seen, was
the custom of the day. His influence, for a time,
however, was good. He was a hard worker and a
well-meaning man ; but, after all, he was a routinier,
and succumbed gradually to his surroundings.
Those were busy days. An opera season was
begun without a library, so to speak. When works
like ' 'Robert the Devil" and ' The Huguenots," were
given, we had the orchestral parts, but they were new,
and had never been played from. To understand the
situation, it is necessary for me to explain that the
orchestral parts in those days were very faulty. The
Italian music was mostly manuscript, and seldom
corrected, and routine was necessary to know the
notes and traditions. I remember one season that
the last act of " Lucia di Lammermoor" (an opera
much given in those days), was missing in the part of
the first stand, at which Mosenthal and I sat, and we
had to "revamp" it, as the saying is. In the French
music the print was too small, to begin with, besides
being printed from worn-out plates. The general
outfit was so slovenly that the parts needed careful
revising before they could be used. As an illustra-
tion, ' 'The Huguenots" was announced by the man-
agement, and we had the parts, but the score had
^f I "
JENNY LIXD
(FROM A PAINTING)
LIFE WORK 47
not arrived from Paris, or had been lost. The usual
cuts had to be marked to save time in the rehearsals,
and we would find, for instance, a page from the
clarinet part in that of the 'cello; a flute part in the
trumpet, or a trombone part among the violins, etc.
Having no score to go by, clerical help could not be
hired to make these corrections, and it became a
work, not of love, but of nights, to straighten these
matters and put the parts in fit order for use on the
players' desks. Anschiitz was at home in this kind of
work, and I quickly became his assistant and ' 'right-
hand man" in everything on the stage and in the
orchestra. 1 It is hardly necessary to say that I thus
J The New York correspondent of "D wight's Journal of
Music," writing under date of December 10, 1860, thus refers
to Mr. Thomas as conductor of the Ullmann Opera: "Carl
Anschiitz appears to be involved in the fall of the Ullmann
dynasty and his place as conductor of the orchestra is taken
by Theodore Thomas, the young violinist, who looks 'severe
in youthful beauty,' as he wields the baton, rather nervously it
must be confessed, and directs the performance of venerable,
spectacled, and bald-headed 'cellists and trombonists, old
enough to be his great grandfathers. It is always a treat to
me to see him in the orchestra. He plays the violin with such
careless grace that even his elevation to the conductorship
does not reconcile me to the loss of his violin performance."
Mr. Thomas has touched but lightly upon the days of his
apprenticeship, but they were busy ones, like all his days to the
end of his career, and of importance as they were helping to
prepare him for that career. Before taking leave of this part
of his life, a few leading events should be recorded to com-
plete its story. The earliest of his collection of programmes
shows that he played as "Master Thomas" at "Dodworth's
Musical Festival" in Metropolitan Hall, New York, February
20, 1852, the other performers being Miss Laura A. Jones,
soprano; Mr. Henry Squires, tenor; Mr. George F. Bristow,
pianist; Herr Kiefer, corno bassetto player; Mr. Sedgwick,
48 THEODORE THOMAS
learned much from him, for he was at his best under
such circumstances.
These years I might call my ' 'apprenticeship,"
concertina player; Mr. Allen Dodworth, cornetist, and the
Dodworth Band. At this concert "Master Thomas" played
Ernst's " Othello" theme and variations. On the 26th of the
following April he played Lipinski's" Concerto Militaire" and
Ernst's "Carnival of Venice" at a concert for the benefit of a
member of Dodworth's Band. In 1856 his name appears for
the first time as leader in eleven sacred concerts at the City
Assembly Rooms, conducted by Carl Bergmann. At these
concerts Schumann's Fourth Symphony, Manfred overture,
and the "Overture, Scherzo and Finale," op. 52, Haydn's
D major symphony, Berlioz's "Carnaval Romain" and "Wa-
verly" Overtures were given for the first time in this coun-
try. April 13, 1857, at the Thalberg concert he played the
Beethoven B flat trio with Thalberg and Bergmann, and also
in a duo from "The Huguenots" with Thalberg. In the fall
of 1858 and spring of 1859 he made a concert tour with Ole
Bull in the West and South. In April and May, 1859, he
conducted opera for Ullmann. October 10, 1860, he was leader
to a gala performance of opera at the American Academy of
Music, Philadelphia, in honor of the Prince of Wales, Max
Maretzek and Sig. Muzio conducting. " Martha" and the first
act of "Traviata" were given and the principal artists were
Adelina Patti, Fanny Natali, Pauline Colson, Brignoli, Barili,
Errani, and Carl Formes. December 8, 1860, he conducted
"Stradella" with Fabbri as Leonora, Stigelli as Stradella, and
Carl Formes as Barbarino. January 24, 1861, he conducted
at an operatic entertainment at the American Academy of
Music, Philadelphia, in which Mme. Bertha Johannsen, Mme.
Von Berkel, Mme. Anna Bishop, Sig. Stigelli, and Herr Carl
Formes took part in selections from " Martha," " Tancredi,"
"Der Freischiitz," and " Masaniello," the whole concluding
with " a grand National Tableau of Washington in which the
entire company will sing 'The Star Spangled Banner.'" In
this year (1861), Mr. Thomas gave up all connection with the
theatre. He became animated by his great purpose of educat-
ing the public to an appreciation of music, and to this purpose
he devoted the remainder of his life, resolutely, courageously,
and untiringly, winning at last the laurels of success. EDR.
LIFE WORK 49
as a practical musician and conductor. It was easy
and pleasant to work with Anschiitz, for he was a
kindly, congenial, and most generous man. I was
gradually drawn into the conductor's chair by his
illness, though I avoided it as long as I could, for I
wished all my time for study.
CHAPTER VI
The New York Philharmonic Society. First Series of Thomas
Symphony Soirees, 1864. Belvedere Lion Park Concerts,
1865. Terrace Garden Summer Night Concerts, 1866.
Building of Central Park Garden Hall. Elected Con-
ductor of Brooklyn Philharmonic Concerts. Inception of
the Thomas Orchestra. Plans for a Permanent Symphony
Orchestra. Summer Concerts and Winter Travelling.
In Boston, etc. Proposals from P. T. Barnum.
TN 1862 I concluded to devote my energies to the
* cultivation of the public taste for instrumental
music. Our chamber concerts had created a spas-
modic interest, our programmes were reprinted as
models of their kind, even in Europe, and our per-
formances had reached a high standard. As a con-
cert violinist, I was at that time popular, and played
much. But what this country needed most of all to
make it musical was a good orchestra, and plenty of
concerts within reach of the people. The Philhar-
monic Society, with a body of about sixty players,
and five yearly subscription concerts, was the only
organized orchestra which represented orchestral
literature in this large country.
It is true that the public was admitted to a number
of its rehearsals, in addition to its concerts, but their
influence was not salutary. The orchestra was often
incomplete. If a member had an engagement, he
would go to it instead of to the rehearsal. When one
50
LIFE WORK 51
of the wind choir was thus absent, his place would be
filled for the occasion as best it could. A clarinet or
oboe part would be played on a violin, or a bassoon
part on the 'cello, etc. The conductor therefore
could not rehearse as he ought, and the audience
talked at pleasure. Under these circumstances
justice could not be done to the standard, much less
to the modern and contemporary works. Such con-
ditions debarred all progress.
I had been prominent before the public in chamber
concerts, and as concertmeister (leader of the violins),
of the opera since 1855, and during later years, also,
as conductor of concerts and opera, and I thought
the time had come to form an orchestra for concert
purposes. I therefore called a meeting of the fore-
most orchestra musicians of New York, told them of
my plans to popularize instrumental music, and asked
their cooperation. I began by giving some concerts
at Irving Hall, 1 and conducted some Brooklyn
Philharmonic concerts, alternating with Theodore
Eisfeld, and in 1864 I gave my first series of Sym-
phony Soirees, with an orchestra of about sixty men.
These concerts were at once successful artistically
but only moderately so financially. During the
1 The first of the Irving Hall concerts was given December
3, 1864. In his prospectus, Mr. Thomas says: "The desire
for good music and for a prompt acquaintance with the latest
works of the schools that produce it is now one of the settled
conditions of New York society, and in endeavoring, year
after year, to satisfy it, Mr. Thomas is always gratified to
know that he appeals to an ever extending audience. He is
persuaded therefore, that the present intention to lay before
the public some of the most interesting works of modern and
52 THEODORE THOMAS
summer of 1865 a series of concerts was given in the
afternoon at Belvedere Lion Park, One Hundred
and Tenth Street, with an orchestra of thirty players.
During the winter of 1865-66 more concerts were
given, and in the summer of 1866 a series of one hun-
dred Summer Night Concerts was inaugurated at
Terrace Garden, with enough success to give promise
for the future. An audience had been collected and
educated to enjoy that form of entertainment, and I
had succeeded in finding a respectable occupation
during the summer months for a small orchestra.
During the season of 1866-67 several concerts were
given, the number of which was increased by the
opening of Steinway Hall. There were concerts
with many soloists and an occasional symphony,
classical composers will meet with a ready and liberal support."
The programme of this memorable concert was as follows:
PART I.
1. Symphony, No. 8, F major .... Beethoven.
Orchestra.
2. Scena and aria, " Non piu di fiori " . . . Mozart.
Miss Fanny Raymond.
3. Concerto in F minor, op. 21 (larghetto and finale) . Chopin.
Mr. S. B. Mills.
PART II.
4. Suite, op. 113, in D Fr.Lachner.
Orchestra.
5. Cavatina, " Ah ! S'estinto" . . . Mercadante.
Miss Fanny Raymond.
6. Dramatic Symphony, "Romeo and Juliet" (second
part) Berlioz.
Orchestra.
It will be seen from this that the young conductor, at this
time twenty-nine years of age, was pluming his wings for an
eagle's flight. EDR.
LIFE WORK 53
under the management of L. F. Harrison, and a series
under the management of Bateman, in which Ma-
dame Parepa was the chief attraction, as well as many
others in both New York and Brooklyn. In this
year also I was elected conductor of the Brooklyn
Philharmonic Society for the season, which added to
the income of my orchestra, an engagement of twenty
performances fifteen rehearsals and five concerts. 1
The musical season in New York closed with
a festival under the management of Mr. Harrison,
in which I did not take part, having gone to Europe
to learn what orchestras were doing there. It lasted
a week, and the programmes are worth tran-
scribing as typical of the times.
In 1867 a second season of Summer Night Con-
certs was given at Terrace Garden, which opened
June 10, and continued until September 15. Dur-
ing my absence in Europe they were conducted by
F. J. Eben and George Matzka. I returned July i,
1 The letter offering the directorship to Mr. Thomas was
as follows:
BROOKLYN, N. Y., June 28, 1866.
MR. THEODORE THOMAS,
DEAR SIR: At a meeting of the Executive Committee of
the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn, held this evening, you
were elected conductor for the next season (1866-67) at a
salary of $500, and I was authorized to inform you of such
action. I was also desired to request you to meet the Music
Committee at an early date so that any details affecting your
acceptance or declination of the position might be thoroughly
understood before your decision in the matter.
Very truly yours,
GEO. WM. WARREN,
Chairman of the Music Committee.
54 THEODORE THOMAS
in time to conduct, bringing many novelties with me.
These concerts were very successful, and the pro-
grammes had improved and advanced. It was in
this season that some business men offered to build a
hall for me, which would be suitable for summer con-
certs. The Terrace Garden concerts had always
been given in the open air, the orchestra playing in
an inclosure, while the audience were seated under
the trees. When it rained there was a scramble for
a hall in the adjacent building. We also had many
little extravaganzas, which provoked much amuse-
ment. On one occasion, for instance, while playing
the "Linnet Polka," I requested the piccolo players
to climb up into the trees before the piece began.
When they commenced playing from their exalted
position in the branches, it made a sensation. I
remember another funny incident which happened
about this time. In the "Carnival of Venice" the
tuba player had been sent, not up the trees, but back
of the audience into the shrubbery. When he began to
play the police mistook him for a practical joker who
was disturbing the music, and tried to arrest him ! I
shall never forget the comical scene, as the poor man
fled toward the stage, pursued by the irate policeman,
and trying to get in a note here and there, as he ran. 1
1 The Terrace Garden concerts were given every evening
except Saturday. On that day there was a matinee perform-
ance. Every Friday evening in the first season the second
part of the programme contained movements of symphony
or classical overtures. In the second season the second part
was similarly arranged for both Tuesday and Friday evenings
and "composers' nights" figured on the programmes a
practice which Jullien introduced some years before this. EDR.
under the direction of Mr. L. F. HARRISON.
Monday June 3d. Handel's Oratorio of the Messiah.
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. MRS. ZELDA HARRISON-SEGUIX.
MR. WM. CASTLE. MR. ,T. R. THOMAS. MR. E. J. CONNOLLY.
New York: Harmonic Society and. Or'chestra,
Conductor, - - - Mr. F. L. HITTER.
Tuesday, June 4th. Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise^ 46th Hymn.
OVERTURE TO OTHELLO.
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. MRS. EMELINE REED.
MADAME RAYMOND HITTER. MR. W. J. HILL. MR. E. J. CONNOLLY.
!N"e\v York Harmonic Society and. Orchestra,
Canductor, - - - Mr. F. L. BITTER.
Wednesday, June oth Evening.
HAYDN'S ORATORIO OF THE CREATION.
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA.
MR. GEO. SIMPSON. MR. J. R. THOMAS. MR. E. J, CONNOLLY.
N"ew Yorlt Harmonic- Society and Orchestra,
Conductor, - - - Mr. F. L. RITTEE.
Wednesday Matinee, June 5th. Miscellaneous Concert.
MISS HENRIETTA BEEBE. MISS NETTIE STERLING.
MR. W. J. HILL. MR. S. C. CAMPBELL.
MR. ALFRED H. PEASE. MR. G. W. COLBY.
O r c li e s t v a ,
Conductors, - - - Mr. CARL ROSA and Mr. G. MATZKA.
Thursday, June 6th. ORCHESTRAL CONCERT,
MADAME CARMELINA POCH. SIGNOR BARAGLI.-
SIGNOR BELLINI. MR. WENZEL KOPTA.
MR. J. N. PATTISON. MR. G. W. COLBY. MR. G. W. MORGAN.
Full Orchestra, Conductor, Mr. CARL BERGMAN.
Friday, June 7th.
MENDELSSOHN'S OBATORtO OF ELMAH,
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. MISS CHARLOTTE V. HUTCHINGS.
MRS EMELINE REED. MISS ALICE HARRISON.
MK. GEO. SIMPSON. MR. JULES LOMBARD. MR. E. J. CONNOLLY.
New York Harmonic Society and Orchestra,
Conductor, - - - Mr. F. L. RITTER.
Saturday, June 8th. Evening. Miscellaneous Concert.
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. MR. WILLIAM CASTLE.
MISS MARIE GILBBKT. MR. S. C. CAMPBELL.
MR. J. N. PATTISON. MR. ALFRED H. PEASE. MR. G. W. COLBf
Full Orchestra. Grafulla Military Band. Graham's Drum Corps.
Conductors: Messrs. CARL ANSCHUTZ,C. MATZKA & C. S. CRAFULLA.
Saturday Matinee, June 811i.
svi? r? .*3 /P ro> ? s? A ftf fs 1 V.T> nr -s <P /IT* r^ ^ ?s f?> ?>
y/,[ sj ^j -I) iS Uft|b4uV3iB^vVv & NS/ UJ b IS la li
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. MRS. ZELDA HARRISON-SEGUIN.
MISS MARIE GILBERT. MR. WM. CASTLE.
MR S. C. CAMPBELL. MR. J. N. PATTISON.
- MR. ALFRED Fl. PEASE. MR. G. W. COLBY.
Orchestra,
Conductors, - - - Messrs. CARL ROSA and G. MATZKA.
Sunday^ June OtJt.
SELECTIONS from THE PROPHET and STABAT MATER.
TO JOHN" THE IB-A-IPTICST.
MADAME PAREPA-ROSA. BADAJR CARMELINA POCH
MADAME NATAIJ TESTA. MR. CARL ROSA.
SIGNOR BARAGLI. SIGNOR BELLINI. SIGNOR ANTONUCCI.
Orchestra,
Conductors, Mr*. MAX M.4RETZEK, G. W. MORGAN and G. MATZKA.
PROGRAMME OF A MUSICAL FESTIVAL, 1867
(FACSIMILE OF ORIGINAL)
LIFE WORK 55
The season of 1867-68 was a repetition of the pre-
vious year, but on May 25 the new hall, Central Park
Garden, was opened with the first concert of the
Summer Night series, which continued nightly
through the entire summer and even into November. 1
The occupation of the orchestra during the summer
season seemed now assured. During the winter
months there were the Symphony Soirees, the Brook-
lyn Philharmonic concerts and public rehearsals,
and numerous miscellaneous concerts besides. The
thought of a permanent orchestra was natural and
*As the Central Park Garden concerts were one of the
landmarks in Mr. Thomas's career the opening programme
may prove of interest:
CENTRAL PARK GARDEN
SEVENTH AVENUE, BETWEEN FIFTY-EIGHTH AND FIFTY-
NINTH STREETS.
Opening Concert, May 25, 1868.
PART I.
i. Opening March, "Central Park Gar-
den" ...... Theodore Thomas.
z. Overture, " Rienzi " ..... Wagner.
3. "On the Blue Danube" Waltz . . . Strauss.
4. Fantaisie, " Daughter of the Regiment " . Donizetti.
PART II.
5. Overture, "Oberon" .... Von Weber.
6. "Ave Maria" Bach-Gounod.
7. Allegro vivace from "Reformation Sym-
phony" Mendelssohn.
8. Scene de Ballet, "Robert le Diable" . . Meyerbeer.
PART III.
9. Overture, "Pique Dame" .... Suppe.
10. Polka Mazurka, "Libelle" . ) ~
Polka. " 'S giebt nur ein Kaiserstadt" j ' * * traus5 '
11. "Serenade" Titl.
Messrs. Siedler and Schmitz.
12. Quadrille, " La Grande Duchesse" . . Offenbach.
56 THEODORE THOMAS
inevitable. The support of the public was growing,
the orchestra was progressing in every way, and it
had gained in size and quality of tone. For the Sym-
phony Soirees, even as early as 1867, we had already
increased the number of the orchestra to eighty
men.
In the season of 1868-69, 1 began to travel with
the orchestra. I found, however, that although New
York and Brooklyn did not provide engagements
enough to fill the necessary time of an orchestra, they
nevertheless offered too many to permit us to go far
from home. After the summer of 1869, therefore, I
thought the orchestra was sufficiently well known
over the whole country, and I decided, as the only
means whereby I could keep my organization to-
gether, to devote our entire time to travelling. Ac-
cordingly I organized my orchestra on a permanent
basis, and for the first time (1869), went to Boston.
Our success there was instantaneous, and the people
of that city were loyal to me as long as I travelled. 1
1 "The visit of this famous New York orchestra has given
our music lovers a new and quick sensation. Boston had not
heard such orchestra performances before; and Boston in the
frankest humor gave itself up to the complete enjoyment and
unstinted praise of what it heard. . . . Picked men, most of
them young, all of them artists, all looking as if thoroughly
engaged in their work, eager above all things to make the
music together and as well as possible. . . . We rejoice in the
coming of this orchestra. It is just the kind of thing that we
for years have longed for in view of our own progress here.
We sincerely thank Mr. Thomas, first for giving us a hearing,
under the best advantage, of a number of works which were
new to us, but more we thank him for setting palpably before
us a higher ideal of orchestral execution. We shall demand
better of our own in future. They will demand it of themselves.
LIFE WORK 57
I gave a large number of concerts there every winter
until I went to live in Cincinnati.
After Boston I went west as far as Chicago, touch-
ing every city on our route, and returning by way of
St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, and intermediate
cities, to New York. In the latter city, however, I
had abandoned my Symphony Soirees and all regu-
lar series of concerts in winter. We travelled over
the whole country, giving concerts daily, and on
May 9, the Central Park Garden Summer Night
Concerts began again, continuing until September 24,
a series of one hundred and thirty-four consecutive
concerts. The season was very successful, and the
size of the orchestra was now enlarged. After this
travelling was resumed, and in 1870, which was the
centennial anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, I
gave a Beethoven programme, including a sym-
phony, all over the country.
The next year brought again the regular Summer
Night Concerts at Central Park Garden, and in the
fall we travelled again. The orchestra had now be-
come a first-rank organization, numbering sixty per-
manent members. Leading solo artists w r ere sitting
at all the first desks, and a high standard began to
appear higher in fact, than had ever been reached
before in America, both in programmes and in
They cannot witness this example without a newly kindled
desire, followed by an effort to do likewise. With the im-
pression fresh in every mind of performances which it is not
rash to say may (for the number of instruments) compare
with those of the best orchestras in Europe, improvement is a
necessity." "Dwight's Journal of Music," November 6, 1869.
58 THEODORE THOMAS
execution. The public began to be interested, and
the future looked bright.
It was sometime during the seventies that an
amusing incident occurred. I received a visit from
a man who was known over the whole civilized world
it is even said that the French, having no equiva-
lent in their language for the word "humbug,"
adopted his name as a substitute ! If so, they at least
recognized him as a master, and so did I. It is
P. T. Barnum to whom I refer. He called upon me
to arrange with me to ' 'star" around the country
under his management. Our interview, though
brief, was pleasant. After he had gone, and I had
recovered from my astonishment, can anybody blame
me for feeling properly elated that the greatest man-
ager of the greatest menagerie on earth considered
me worthy of his imperial guidance, and was willing
to place me advantageously before the public, beside
the fat woman and the elephants ! This was a high
tribute but what had I done to deserve it ?
CHAPTER VII
The Chicago Fire. Financial Losses. First Programme of
Finale from "Tristan and Isolde." Symphony Concerts
in New York. First Wagner Programme in America,
September 17, 1872. The Wagner Verein. Tour to
New Orleans. Travelling with Rubinstein and Wieniawski.
The New York Festival. First Cincinnati Festival.
Appointed Musical Director of the Philadelphia Cen-
tennial Exposition. Mrs. Gillespie and her Work. Failure
of Philadelphia Summer Concerts. First Season of Chicago
Summer Night Concerts, 1877. Summer Night Concerts
in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cleveland.
/"\NE Monday morning we suddenly found our-
^-^ selves facing one of the great historical fires.
It was October 9, 1871, and we were to open the
season at the Crosby Opera House that evening in
Chicago. 1 For the first time, everything, even from the
business point of view, looked very promising, but it
was an illusion. Providence evidently wished to disci-
pline me a little more. I was still too young, too pre-
suming, and had too much vitality. But let that pass.
1 The Crosby Opera House had been brilliantly decorated
and renovated throughout during the summer of 1871 and was
to have been dedicated anew by Mr. Thomas and his orchestra
on Monday evening, October 9. It was lit up for the first time
on Sunday evening, for the pleasure of friends of the managers,
and two or three hours later was in ashes. Mr. Thomas and
his orchestra reached the Twenty-second Street station of
the Lake Shore Railroad while the fire was at its height and
left the burning city at once, en route for St. Louis. EDR.
59
60 THEODORE THOMAS
It is sufficient that I became so involved financially
by this disaster, and the consequent interruption of
our tour, that it was many years before I recovered
from my losses, and the wearisome travelling had to
go on indefinitely. We got away from the burning
city as best we could, and spent the time intervening
before our next engagement, which was at St. Louis,
October 21, in rehearsals. We began by studying
the Finale of ' 'Tristan and Isolde," and I played it
in connection with the Vorspiel (which I had brought
out in 1865), for the first time in America in my next
series of eight concerts in Boston, the following De-
cember.
In January I began the year with a series of con-
certs in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
Washington, and then went South. In all the larger
cities on our route a series of concerts was given,
though in many places the people did not know what
to make of them. In one city a morning paper said,
'The concert last night was the greatest orchestral
circus the city has ever seen ! " In New Orleans,
the "Traumerei" made such a sensation that when
people met in the streets the morning after the first
concert, they greeted one another by shaking hands
and humming the tune. I have even received, dur-
ing the current year (1904), a letter from one who
heard this piece during that tour, and still enjoys the
recollection of it. In April we reached Boston again
for another series of concerts.
Our winter season closed May 8, and on May 13
the Summer Night season opened as usual, at Central
LIFE WORK 61
Park Garden, in New York. It will be remembered
that for three years I had discontinued my Sym-
phony Soirees in New York, and devoted my time to
travelling during the winter months. In September,
1872, however, the following letter came to me:
NEW YORK, August, 1872.
THEODORE THOMAS, ESQ.,
DEAR SIR: The undersigned, remembering with pleasure
the Symphony Concerts with which you favored us in former
years, take the liberty of requesting of you, if not inconsistent
with your plans, a series of similar concerts during the coming
season. They feel deeply how excellent an influence such
performances exercise in informing and elevating the public
taste for music, and sincerely hope that nothing will prevent
you from giving us the desired repetition of them.
JULIUS HALLGARTEN, CHARLES P. DALY,
CHARLES C. DODGE, DR. A. ZINSSER,
J. WREY MOULD, DR. KRACKOWITZOR,
J. W. SELIGMAN, MORGAN Dix, D.D.,
J. R. G. HASSARD, JOHN S. WILLIAMS,
FRED. DE BELLIER, A. FORSTER HIGGINS,
HENRY DE COPPET, WHITELAW REID,
DR. AUSTIN FLINT, JR., GEORGE WILLIAM WARREN,
S. J. GLASSEY, CHARLES COUTOIT,
S. LASAR, CHARLES M. CONGREVE,
J. H. CORNELL, CHARLES E. HARMAR,
DR. J. WEINER, P. BORNER,
and others.
To this letter I sent the following reply:
Messrs. JULIUS HALLGARTEN, CHARLES P. DALY, CHARLES
C. DODGE, and others,
GENTLEMEN: Your letter, dated August, 1872, has been
received. It is a satisfaction to me to know that the remem-
62 THEODORE THOMAS
brance of those concerts is still fresh after the lapse of three
years, in a country where the past is so soon forgotten. This
fact speaks for the influence they have had, and prompts me
to comply with your wish.
The interest manifested in your communication, together
with the improved taste in the musical community within the
last few years, gives me assurance that these concerts cannot
fail to be successful.
Respectfully yours,
THEODORE THOMAS.
NEW YORK, September 18, 1872.
It was in response to the foregoing request that I
resumed my Symphony Concerts in New York dur-
ing the season of 1872-73, but this time I gave six in
place f five, and called them "Concerts" instead of
"Sirees." Before the close of the Summer Night
season I gave, for the first time, at the one hundred
and twenty-eighth concert, September 17, a Wagner
programme, which met with tremendous success. 1
After the "Ritt der Walkiiren," which was played
that night for the first time (from manuscript), the
people jumped on the chairs and shouted. After the
concert a grand banquet took place, given to the
*On that evening, September 17, 1872, Mr. Thomas laid
before the members of his orchestra and other friends, assem-
bled at his invitation, his project of founding a Richard Wagner
Union, on the plan of similar societies in Europe. His pur-
pose was realized the same evening, and he was chosen president
of the Union. Its immediate object was to raise a fund by
subscription for the purchase of tickets to the Baireuth Festival
in the summer of 1874 for the use of members of the orchestra
and also to defray their travelling expenses. The fund was still
further increased by the proceeds of two concerts given by the
orchestra. EDR.
LIFE WORK 63
orchestra by prominent citizens of New York, and
that same night the New York Wagner Verein was
organized with great enthusiasm.
Our winter season, which opened as soon as that
of the summer had closed, September 26, found us in
Albany at the outset of our regular tour west to
Chicago. We returned via St. Louis, Pittsburg, and
intermediate cities, to New York in time for the first
Symphony Concert, November 9. This season,
1872-73, was doubly memorable; first, because the
Wagner programme, which I first gave at the Cen-
tral Park Garden, I now repeated in many cities
where I gave a series of concerts, thus familiarizing
the public everywhere with Wagner's music, which
at that time was unknown outside of New York;
and, second, because of the arrival of two great in-
strumentalists, Rubinstein and Wieniawski, who
were brought to America by Maurice Grau.
These two famous artists gave many concerts and
recitals in America, and afterwards, in December, a
' 'Grand Combination of the Rubinstein and Thomas
Concert Companies," as they were advertised, was
effected. The attraction was sufficient to justify me
for the first time in my life in making programmes
without making allowance for ignorance or prejudice.
Before the season closed, we had given many con-
certs in all the larger cities of the Eastern and Middle
states. Programmes of works of the highest stan-
dard, rendered by such artists and such an or-
chestra, were a revelation everywhere, and made a
lasting impression. They gave this country the
64 THEODORE THOMAS
great artistic impetus for which it seemed at last
to be ripe.
Our season closed with two Festivals, one at the
end of April, in New York, to which the famous
Handel and Haydn Society of Boston accepted my
invitation, and by its assistance enabled me to give
the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven. It also gave a
number of choral works under its own conductor, the
well-known Carl Zerrahn. 1 The other was the first
Cincinnati Festival, which took place in May, 1873.
On my return from the latter, the Central Park
Garden Concerts began, May 14, continuing daily
until September 23, when they closed with a Bee-
thoven-Wagner programme.
An agitation was now started in New York for a
hall, suitable for our concerts, for both the summer
and winter seasons, and this prospect of a home for
my orchestra encouraged us to announce our next
travelling season as "the last." I little thought that
my last season of travelling was still thirty years in the
future! We began the tour in Troy in September,
1 This Festival began April 22 and closed April 26. The
soloists were Mrs. J. H. West and Mrs. H. M. Smith, sopranos;
Miss Annie Louise Gary, alto; Mr. Nelson Varley, tenor; Mr.
Myron W. Whitney and Mr. J. F. Rudolphsen, bassos. The
instrumentalists were Rubinstein, Mills, and Mason, pianists;
Wieniawski, violinist; B. J. Lang, organist. Mr. Zerrahn
led his own society and Mr. Thomas conducted the remainder
of the works. The principal works performed were "Israel
in Egypt," Handel; "Hymn of Praise," Mendelssohn; "Eli-
jah," Mendelssohn; Concerto in D minor for three pianos and
string orchestra, Bach; "Im Walde" Symphony, Raff; Suite,
No. 3, in D, Bach; "Unfinished" Symphony, Schubert; and
Ninth Symphony, Beethoven. EDR.
LUIGI ARDITI
LIFE WORK 65
and took our usual route, going westward as far as
Chicago, returning through the more Southern cities,
and getting back in time for the first Philharmonic
Concert in Brooklyn. Both the Brooklyn Philhar-
monic and my New York Symphony Concerts were
successful, but nevertheless the travelling had to be
continued to fill out the rest of the time of the orches-
tra, for I had no subsidy from others to help to meet
the expenses of the organization, but was personally
responsible for the salaries of my musicians, and my
only source of income was the box-office.
In 1874 and 1875 the conditions of the previous
year remained unchanged. The usual Summer
Night Concerts were given, and, as the prospect of a
hall had evaporated, the travelling had to be con-
tinued. The only difference was in the programmes,
which became better and better, and in the public,
which began to show more appreciation. An audi-
ence had been obtained with a taste for intellectual
music, and a fair artistic standard had been reached
all over the country. Boston and its surrounding
towns and cities continued to remain loyal, and
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington likewise
gave their support to our organization, but the neces-
sity of returning constantly to New York for the
public rehearsals and concerts of the New York and
Brooklyn Philharmonic Societies, and of my own
Symphony Series of concerts, prevented us from
making extended tours, and was, also, because of our
large troupe, so expensive that I found myself, in
1876, again in the same position as in 1869, with only
66 THEODORE THOMAS
this difference that at that time I had to travel to
obtain a first-rank orchestra; now I had to do it to
maintain one.
The Summer Night Concerts at Central Park
Garden had been given for seven years, every night,
from May until October, with varied success. Mu-
sically these concerts exerted a greater educational
influence than any institution in America; for the
first time, the people enjoyed a good orchestra and
good music. Their popularity, of course, induced
others to try something similar. Band concerts were
given at more convenient locations, where talking
and encores could be indulged in without restraint,
and these took away from us the average amusement
seekers, and with them our pecuniary profits.
Meanwhile, I had been appointed musical director
of the opening ceremonies of the Philadelphia Centen-
nial Celebration, in the spring of 1876, and a company
was also organized in that city to provide a suitable
building for Summer Night Concerts during the
continuance of the Exposition. These concerts
were to be given under the auspices of the Women's
Centennial Committee, the president of which was
Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, one of the noblest women
whose friendship I have had the good fortune
to enjoy. She was as patriotic in art as for her
country a true descendant of Benjamin Franklin.
The prospectus of these concerts sets forth the pro-
posed scheme, mainly as follows:
"The appointment by the Commissioners of the
Centennial Exposition of Theodore Thomas as Di-
LIFE WORK 67
rector of Music for the inaugural ceremonies of the
Exposition, the highest possible recognition of his
labors in the cause of art, engendered a widely ex-
pressed desire that Mr. Thomas should give a series
of concerts in Philadelphia during the entire period of
the Exposition, for the purpose of illustrating the
musical progress of America. To carry out this idea
practically, the Women's Committee, under the
efficient presidency of Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, and rep-
resenting the wealth and culture of Philadelphia,
with one accord united in inviting Theodore Thomas
to give concerts in Philadelphia during the Centennial
season of six months, and offering to do everything in
their power requisite for the accomplishment of the
object in view."
Notwithstanding the efforts of Mrs. Gillespie and
her committees, the undertaking was a dismal failure,
and the orchestra had to be disbanded at the end of
July. It proved then as it has since that people
go to a World's Fair to see and not to hear, to be
amused, not to be educated. At the end of Septem-
ber, however, a successful series of Festival Concerts
at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia was ar-
ranged by Mrs. Gillespie and her ladies, which
brought my orchestra together again. 1
1 While the musical scheme for the Centennial Exposition
was under discussion, the gentleman who had purchased the
mansion and grounds formerly belonging to Edwin Forrest,
tendered them to the Women's Centennial Commission. Mr.
Thomas inspected and approved them and the outcome was
the Women's Centennial Music Hall and Garden, which were
opened to the public on the evening of May 1 1. A hall capable
68 THEODORE THOMAS
On October 4 the first of a series of concerts was
given in New York, and the first Symphony Concert
of our tenth season took place October 26, with the
following remarkable programme :
Beethoven Symphony No. 8.
Schubert Fantaisie, for piano and orchestra.
Berlioz Dramatic Symphony, "Romeo and Juliet," com-
plete.
Some more Festival performances were given in
Philadelphia, and on November 10, 1876, the closing
ceremonies of the Centennial Exposition took place.
Concert tours now had to be resumed, and as in
former years, Boston was our first place of refuge.
In the spring I continued travelling in the West, and
in the summer of 1877 I gave my first series of Sum-
mer Night Concerts in Chicago, beginning Monday,
June 1 8, in the old Exposition Building, under the
of accommodating 4,000 persons had been erected and the man-
sion was used as a restaurant. The programme of the first
concert included Beethoven's overture, " Consecration of the
House" ; Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" ; the aria, "In diesen
heil'gen Hallen," from Mozart's " Magic Flute," sung by Myron
W. Whitney; Liszt's "Fourteenth Rhapsody"; Strauss's "Blue
Danube Waltz "; Schubert's "Serenade"; overture toAuber's
" Masaniello, " and a repetition of the inaugural ceremonial
music, as follows: "Grand Centennial Inauguration March"
(written for the occasion) by Wagner; J. K. Paine's "Centen-
nial Hymn"; Dudley Buck's Cantata, " Centennial Meditations
of Columbia"; and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Sixty-
three Summer Night Concerts were given, and then ensued the
failure which Mr. Thomas mentions. The Festival concerts,
ten in number, beginning September 20 and closing November 4,
were given in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and are
noteworthy for the splendid composers' and international pro-
grammes which Mr. Thomas arranged for these occasions. EDR.
LIFE WORK 69
management of Carpenter and Sheldon. The build-
ing in which these concerts were given had been
erected for exposition purposes, and was an immense
structure, two Chicago blocks long, and proportion-
ally wide, and innocent of either partitions or interior
finish. One end only was used for concert purposes,
and was converted into a sort of German garden by
evergreen trees planted in tubs, and tables for re-
freshments in the rear part of the building. Com-
mon wooden chairs were placed in rows upon the
rough flooring of the front part for seats, and the
passing of many railroad trains outside at times com-
pletely drowned out the music. In short, it was the
last place in the world in which one would have ex-
pected orchestral concerts to succeed. Nevertheless,
there was something in the very size and informality
of the building which made these concerts always
delightful, notwithstanding its unsuitability for mu-
sical purposes, and the programmes, though popular
in character, were always rilled with good standard
music, besides many novelties, and each week we
gave one Symphony and one Composer's programme.
The season, though not very successful financially,
owing to a great railroad strike, which had affected
general business, nevertheless extended through fifty
concerts, and gave promise for the future which was
amply redeemed in many subsequent years, first
under the management of Mrs. Geo. B. Carpenter
and Mr. Milward Adams, and later under Mr.
Adams alone. At the close of the engagement I
received the following letter:
yo THEODORE THOMAS
CHICAGO, July 27, 1877.
MR. THEODORE THOMAS,
DEAR SIR: We believe it to be the universal sentiment of
our citizens that in the way of pleasure and musical instruction
there has been nothing in Chicago comparable with your
summer garden concerts. We regret that unlocked for occur-
rences have in some degree broken the attendance.
While your efforts in every way deserved success, we had
hoped that the result of this season would justify your return
next summer. In this expectation we trust our people may
not be disappointed.
Permit us to request you to name an evening for a concert
when our citizens, by their presence, may confer a compliment
personal to yourself.
Very respectfully,
WIRT DEXTER, ROBERT T. LINCOLN,
EDWARD S. ISHAM, HENRY W. BISHOP,
E.'B. McCAGG, J. M. WALKER,
HENRY W. KING, N. H. FAIRBANK,
J. D. HARVEY, A. A. MUNGER,
MARSHALL FIELD, C. E. DUNCAN,
JOHN G. SHORTALL, CHARLES D. HAMILL,
JAMES S. HAMILTON, and others.
I answered this as follows:
CHICAGO, July 28, 1877.
MR. WIRT DEXTER and others,
GENTLEMEN: In accepting the compliment extended to
me in your letter of the 27th, permit me to say that the cordial
welcome I have met with in public and private, during my
stay this summer has greatly attached me to your city.
When, eleven years ago, I inaugurated nightly summer
concerts in New York, I did it with a view of elevating my
profession and the public taste for music. In a few years
these concerts have become a recognized institution of the
country. However, as my repertoire extended, my orchestra
LIFE WORK 71
had to be increased to meet the enlarged demands of modern
composers. In order to sustain so large an organization I
was obliged to travel a portion of the year, and it was this
necessity which first introduced me to the West. Still it was
New York, Boston and Philadelphia that enjoyed the fruits
of all this labor, in the shape of Symphony Concerts which
could never have reached the high standard attained, had not
the whole country contributed to the support of the organization.
After eleven consecutive years of Summer Night Concerts
I have been obliged to leave New York for want of a suitable
hall in which to give them. What New York offered I refused,
and what I wanted I could not have. That metropolis not
having supplied my needs, I was induced to try the West, and
I gladly confess I do not regret the experiment. I find the
people here open-hearted, generous, and enthusiastic, and in
thanking them through you for their kind appreciation of the
labor my colleagues and myself have done here during the last
few months, it would give me pleasure, circumstances per-
mitting, to return here next summer.
The support we have received justifies me in saying that
Chicago is the only city on the continent, next to New York,
where there is sufficient musical culture to enable me to give a
series of fifty successive concerts.
Thanking you again for your kindness, I will, with your
permission, name next Wednesday, August i, as the evening
most convenient for the complimentary concert, 1 and will,
with your consent, combine with it a request programme.
Very respectfully yours,
THEODORE THOMAS.
Summer Night Concerts were continued after the
close of the Chicago engagement, in St. Louis two
weeks, Cincinnati two weeks, and Cleveland one
1 The programme on this occasion contained the Prelude,
Chorale, and Fugue of Bach, adapted for orchestra by Abert;
Handel's concerto for string orchestra, two solo violins and
72 THEODORE THOMAS
week, the summer season finally closing September
14, 1877.
violoncello, (Messrs. Jacobsohn, F. Hemman, and C. Hemman) ;
the andantino and March tempo from Spohr's "Consecration
of Tones" Symphony; the Overture, Scherzo and Finale of
Schumann; Liszt's symphonic poem, "Tasso"; Vieuxtemps's
"Fantaisie Caprice"; and ballet music to Wagner's "Rienzi."
Mr. H. A. Bischoff sang Schubert's "Erl King" and Lachner's
"Ueberall Du" with violin obligate by Mr. C. Hemman. It
was a jubilee week for the summer-nighters. The next evening
there was a Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner programme; August 3,
a request programme, the principal features of which were
Haydn's" Military Symphony," Brahms's" Hungarian Dances,"
the " Pastorale " from Bach's "Christmas Oratorio," and the
ballet music and wedding procession from Rubinstein's " Fer-
amors"; and August 4 the season closed with programmes
which included all the most successful features of the summer's
work. EDR,
CHAPTER VIII
The New York Philharmonic Society. Malicious Statements
Corrected. Elected Conductor of the New York Phil-
harmonic. Abandons Symphony Concerts in New York
for the Benefit of the Philharmonic Society. More Trav-
elling. Third Cincinnati Festival. Summer Night Con-
certs at Gilmore's Garden, Madison Square. Offers
from Europe Refused. Leaves New York to Live in
Cincinnati.
/ "T A HE New York Philharmonic Society is the oldest
* orchestral organization in America, and has the
great merit that it gave good music and an opportu-
nity to hear the great master-works when no other
society did so. Its endeavors were always for a
noble cause for art. Many misstatements and per-
versions of fact have been made, some with a sinister
purpose and others ignorantly, with reference to the
history of this society. It has been charged, for in-
stance, that it was forced to elect me its conductor on
account of my rivalry, and because I took away its
best men for my orchestra. Except for these untruth-
ful statements, I should not have alluded to the fol-
lowing facts, but I think I owe it to myself to give
them to the public, and show that the reverse was
the case.
My first instrumentalists were mostly brought
over from Europe, and as long as I travelled I could
offer them the inducement of a good engagement.
73
74 THEODORE THOMAS
I had the pick of the men, and had absolute control.
I could make changes in my orchestra when I thought
it necessary without consulting any one. The Phil-
harmonic Society could not. This was, of course, to
my advantage, but it was also for the benefit of the
public, for it resulted in progress. Previous to Carl
Bergmann's death, consultations had taken place be-
tween prominent members of the Philharmonic
Society and myself for the purpose of effecting a
combination which would enable me to become its
conductor. We could not come to an understanding,
however, because they desired me to give up my
Symphony Concerts. I refused to accept any con-
ditions. In 1876, Bergmann died, and I was ap-
proached again, but as the same conditions were
insisted upon, I again refused. Leopold Damrosch
was thereupon elected conductor, and the season was
financially disastrous. The following year I was
elected conductor without any conditions, but later
I voluntarily showed my respect for the society by
discontinuing my Symphony Concerts, against the
wishes and advice of my personal friends, because I
thought it better for the cause of art that a society
rather than an individual should be in authority.
Besides this, during all the years that I was its con-
ductor, I never drew the full amount of salary to
which I was entitled by my contract.
The Philharmonic and Thomas orchestras were
now united, and all my principal men became mem-
bers of the society. The situation, however, only
grew more aggravating for me. The house was sold
WILLIAM MASON AND THEODORE
THOMAS, IN 1855
LIFE WORK 75
out for the Philharmonic Concerts, and in the case
of my Symphony Concerts, which were not yet given
up, I had to add a second series of public rehearsals,
to satisfy the demands of the patrons. The result of
this was that the intervals between the various per-
formances in New York and Brooklyn were too
short to allow me to make any extended tours with
my orchestra. I would not have been sorry for this
had New York and its vicinity yielded sufficient en-
gagements to support the orchestra. Hence we were
obliged to travel when we could, and these "forced
marches" meant great hardship for the orchestra
and myself, and left no time at home for rehearsals.
It also involved great and constant financial risks for
me. For instance, during the previous winter we
had made a week's tour to Buffalo and return. A
storm came up on the way out, and we were snow-
bound, with the result that when we returned to
New York for the Symphony Concert, we had spent
most of the time in the ordinary day cars, had given
but two concerts on the trip, instead of six or seven,
and I had become indebted for salaries, etc., about
three thousand dollars. I confess I felt that I ought
to be relieved of this financial responsibility. As
time went on, I became still more involved, and re-
covery was more and more difficult. The so-called
"benefit concerts" tendered to me at the end of the
seasons by prominent citizens became very irksome.
Popular taste had developed, artistic rendering had
become a necessity, and I felt that the time had
arrived when a permanent orchestra ought to be
76 THEODORE THOMAS
established by the people, and that New York had
means enough to support easily both the Philharmonic
Society, with its six afternoon and evening concerts,
and a permanent, subsidized orchestra.
There could be no greater educational charity, in
an art centre like New York City, than to give its
people one or two weekly performances of orchestral
master-works in music free, or at low prices, following
the example of the picture galleries and museums,
which are free on certain days to the public. Justice
cannot be done to the present musical literature,
either in quality or quantity, except by a permanent
orchestra which rehearses together constantly. To
make such an orchestra earn its own maintenance by
playing every night which means anywhere and
everywhere and travelling all day, does not allow
time for proper rehearsals, nor for any high purpose,
and makes artistic performance impossible. I saw
no way of keeping together what I had built up during
so many years of hard labor.
When I travelled all over the country with about
sixty men, and returned to New York only at given
times for my Symphony Concerts, rehearsals would
go on continually while travelling, and portions of the
New York programmes would be given in our con-
certs. Then, on my return to New York, I would
rehearse with the twenty or thirty string players who
strengthened the orchestra for the New York per-
formance, separately, and previous to uniting the
forces. In this way New York City had the ben-
efit of an organization which the country at large
LIFE WORK 77
supported, and which the hardships of incessant
travelling and playing every night in a different city
made possible. I could not have carried this on for
so many years without the aid of my friend," Jacob
Gosche, who looked after the business side and sac-
rificed himself and me also for the cause.
The season of 1877-78 ended May 21, with the
third Cincinnati Festival, and a series of concerts in
Cleveland, and on Saturday, May 25, we began the
Summer Night Concerts in the Gilmore Garden,
Madison Square, New York City. The Cincinnati
Festival had been a tremendous success, both artis-
tically and financially, and its citizens were ready
for higher musical efforts. During the summer the
Cincinnati possibilities were discussed with some of
its leading men, whom I saw in New York, and I
began to look around for another centre large enough
to support an orchestra. I refused to leave this
country and go to Europe, which had made me some
offers. I knew this field, saw my opportunities, and
preferred to grow up with this country. So I ac-
cepted an engagement in Cincinnati.
The Summer Night Concerts in Gilmore's Garden
were continued daily until the end of September, and
after another of those well-meant but irksome "ben-
efit concerts," I left New York for Cincinnati, Octo-
ber 3, 1878, with many regrets expressed by my pro-
fessional friends, my orchestra, and the Philharmonic
Society.
CHAPTER IX
Cincinnati in 1869. Founding of the Cincinnati Festival
Association. Director of the Cincinnati Festivals. Musi-
cal Director of the College of Music. Disagreement with
its President. Resignation from the College. The Cin-
cinnati Festivals and their Board of Directors. The
Chorus. Arthur Mees's and Edwin W. Glover's Services.
The Festival Orchestra. Return to New York in 1880.
/CINCINNATI, one of the oldest settlements in
\* the West, not only possesses wealth and cul-
ture, but it also has sincere and capable musicians,
who by their influence as teachers developed a
genuine love and understanding of music in that
community. About one-fourth of its population,
thirty-five years ago, was German, or of German
descent, and while I, for one, do not believe that the
German in America is necessarily musical, he never-
theless has a high respect for art. For many years
music has been a large part of the daily life of the Cin-
cinnati people, and the city at that time ranked second
only to New York, Boston, or Philadelphia, in musical
achievement. When I made my first visit to Cin-
cinnati with my orchestra, in 1869, even at that early
time I found excellent choral societies there, and an
orchestra superior to that of any city west of New
York. On my next visit, in 1871, a young married
lady, who was a member of one of the leading fami-
lies of the city, laid before me a plan for a large
78
LIFE WORK 79
Musical Festival. She proposed that I should be
the conductor of it, saying that if I would be re-
sponsible for the artistic side, she would find the men
who would take charge of the business details. I
soon found out that this lady was not only very tal-
ented herself in many ways, but that her taste was
not amateurish in anything, and I readily consented
to undertake the work she wished me to do. Some
of the programmes were sketched at her house, and
the Festival took place, as planned, in May, 1873,
and was a great success. Its directors decided to
give a second of similar scope in 1875.
The programmes of the second Festival show at
once a high standard for the evening performances
in fact, fully up to that of the present day while
those for the afternoon concerts correctly reflect the
standard and taste of that time.
For the third Festival, which took place in 1878,*
1 The third Festival was one of the most memorable in the
whole series, for, during that week in May (1878), the new hall
and the great organ were dedicated, the programmes were in
keeping with the dignity of the occasion, and the financial
result was unprecedented. Mme. Eugenie Pappenheim, Mrs.
E. Aline Osgood, Miss Annie Louise Gary, Miss Emma Cranch,
and Messrs. Adams, Fritsch, Whitney, and Remmertz were the
soloists, and Mr. George E. Whitney was the organist. For
this occasion Mr. Thomas had an orchestra of 106 men and a
chorus of 700. The principal works performed were scenes
from Gluck's "Alceste," Mr. Otto Singer's "Festival Ode,"
Handel's " Messiah," selections from Wagner's " Gotterdam-
merung," Liszt's "Missa Solennis," Beethoven's "Eroica"
and Ninth Symphonies, and Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliet"
symphony. The financial showing was most gratifying.
The receipts were $72,000 and after all expenses were settled
the association found itself with $32,000 in its treasury, which
So THEODORE THOMAS
a large and handsome building was erected, which is
unlike any structure devoted to festival uses in Amer-
ica. It was the direct outcome of the Festivals, and
built only for festival purposes.
A school of music had already been established
there in the same year, known as the Cincinnati
College of Music, the musical directorship of which
was offered to me. This was the situation as I found
'it in 1878, and it was the high expectations raised
by the possibilites of the school and the Festivals
that induced me to try my fortunes in that Western
city.
The Festivals always maintained the high stan-
dard which characterized their inauguration, but un-
fortunately this was not the case with the school.
Two fundamental conditions which are necessary
for a successful school of music were not recognized
by its leading official first, talent in its pupils, and
second, a musical course of sufficient duration for
their education. Instead of this, the spirit which
governed the institution was financial. It was in-
sisted that "it must pay," and all kinds of pupils
were accepted, for any desired period of study, so
that no high standard of scholarship was possible.
Of course, under these circumstances my connection
with the school was short, for it was impossible for
me to work in harmony with the president and guid-
ing spirit of the institution. In the spring of the
second year I made conditions which brought mat-
placed it upon a secure financial footing. Its future was
assured. EDR.
LIFE WORK 8 1
ters to a crisis, resulting in my resignation. The
directors of the school made a statement to the public,
trying to explain from their point of view the reasons
for all this trouble. I do not know whether they
succeeded or not, for I did not care to read it. After
my retirement from the directorship, the school went
on, although I understand that it has passed through
many vicissitudes, and many changes have taken
place in its government. So much for the school.
My experience with the Festival Association was
very different, and my relations with the gentlemen
who were responsible and active in giving these Fes-
tivals with the exception of the first President of the
Board, who was also the president of the school be-
fore alluded to have been of the most pleasant and
harmonious character during the thirty-one years we
have worked together. Some of these gentlemen
have, of course, a better understanding of music
than others, but all have an appreciation of high
aims, and all love their city. So long as a community
has men like these to foster and promote its interests,
it need have no concern about its future.
It is not my province to write the history of the
Cincinnati Festivals, and, besides, I have always
been too closely identified with them for that. But
the work of the association has been too imporant to
be passed by without mention. I will also take this
opportunity to express my opinion on some points in
which improvement and progress are desirable, and to
show some of the disadvantages under which the Fes-
tivals have been carried on for more than thirty years
82 THEODORE THOMAS
With a single exception the Cincinnati Festivals
have been given biennially from 1873 to the present
year, 1904. A comparison of our programmes with
those of similar festivals in Europe would be in our
favor, and the fact of rehearsing the world's master-
works for so many years would alone stamp Cincin-
nati as a musical community. The chorus was com-
posed of local singers, and the programme book of
1904 states that since its inception it has included
more than ten thousand persons.
Here we note at once the first deficiency in the
organization, and one which is characteristic of
America; for while a constant change in the per-
sonnel of the chorus may be an advantage to the
community, it is not so to the association, for it pre-
vents the chorus from having a repertoire, and con-
sequently at every Festival the old works require as
much time for preparation as the new, instead of
requiring only to be re-polished, as would be the case
if they were in the repertoire of the chorus. The
percentage of members who remain for a number of
years in the organization, and those who are changing
constantly I do not know, but I believe the time has
come when the same system can be carried out with
the chorus as has already been done with the orches-
tra, and a higher standard can be reached with a
smaller body of singers.
Another difficulty has been the lack of a suitable
hall in which the chorus rehearsals could be held.
A rehearsal hall for chorus work should not be too
small, nor should it have too much vibration, for the
THEODORE THOMAS IN 1857
LIFE WORK 83
singers must be able to hear all the other parts easily,
and learn that the blending of voices is the same as
the blending of colors. Shouting is not singing, and
without shading expression is impossible. In 1880
I was able, owing to my residence in Cincinnati, to
superintend the work of the chorus and rehearse with
it a great deal. I treated its members like intelligent
beings, taught them to think, and compelled them to
distinguish the intervals mentally instead of merely
singing "by ear." As a result, such rapid progress
was made that the chorus of that year was pronounced
by the Eastern musicians who attended the Festival
the best in the country.
When I left Cincinnati I placed the chorus under
the direction of Mr. Arthur Mees, who had been my
accompanist, and who conscientiously continued the
work and further developed the chorus as long as he
remained in that city. After his departure it de-
teriorated, owing to several causes, the principal one
of which I will mention. Amateur musicians, of
whom American choruses are, of course, always com-
posed, need encouragement, and their work is good
only when their enthusiasm is aroused. But, in-
stead of encouragement, a singular hostility was
shown toward our chorus by the daily press of Cin-
cinnati. To such an extent was this carried, that
the confidence of our singers was destroyed, and, in-
deed, at one time it was even quite heroic for one to
be a member of the Festival Chorus. The reason for
this antagonism was probably that it gave more
satisfaction to a few musical reporters to create a
84 THEODORE THOMAS
sensation in the community than to help a noble
cause or advance art. Knowing the effect these ad-
verse press notices had upon the chorus, I used to ask,
after a performance, "How is the press?" The
answer was always, "The same." Owing to this
cause, as I have said, the chorus lacked confidence,
and the slightest untoward event during a perfor-
mance would create confusion. So we had our * 'ups
and downs," but notwithstanding this drawback,
good performances were given, and some were even
memorable.
In 1898 Mr. Edwin W. Glover, a former member
of the chorus, became its director, and since then it
has not only regained its former standard, but even
surpassed all previous efforts. I cannot say too
much in praise of the members of the chorus. Both
the ladies and gentlemen challenge the respect of
every music-lover, for the loyalty and enthusiasm
they have shown in making the Festivals a success,
and it is a hopeful sign that great works, some con-
taining almost insurmountable difficulties, appeal
more to the chorus than those of lighter calibre, or
those written by less intellectual composers. Public
sympathy and interest have been regained, and a
more friendly attitude is manifested by the press, and
I believe the Festivals have now such a hold on the
people that they will not allow them to be discon-
tinued. I trust that this may prove to be the case,
for while Festivals may not be necessary for the ad-
vancement in art of large world-centres because
everything in them is done upon a large scale they
LIFE WORK 85
are of vital importance in the smaller centres, in
enabling them to keep abreast of the times. This is
especially true in the art of music of the present day.
The orchestra employed at the Cincinnati Festi-
vals was, for many years, composed of my own, in-
creased to Festival proportions by the addition of the
better players of the Cincinnati Orchestra. But of
late years, owing to the higher standard of our choral
performances, the orchestra and I had to devote the
whole of our time in Cincinnati to the rehearsal of the
choral works, preparing those for orchestra alone
in Chicago before leaving home, and playing them
in the Festival without further rehearsal. As the
Cincinnati musicians could not, of course, come to
Chicago for the rehearsals, this naturally made it
impossible to engage them for any but the choral
works. In earlier years we could not have secured
satisfactory results without an orchestra of large
dimensions, but as the Chicago Orchestra progressed,
and its general standard became higher, we were
able to replace quantity by quality, and produce bet-
ter artistic results.
The soloists of the Festivals have always been
artists of the highest distinction obtainable in the
musical world. Nevertheless, it was one of the most
difficult problems to find soloists who were familiar
with the great choral works and could do them jus-
tice. The opera singer has not the time to learn
them, and only very few have had the training and
opportunity necessary to know the difference in style
between the operatic and the concert stage. As for
86 THEODORE THOMAS
taking part in concerted music, and subordinating
themselves to others, that would be a new idea for
stars! Here, however, I must except Mme. Lilli
Lehmann and Mme. Sembrich, and in former years
Miss Annie Louise Gary and Mr. Myron W. Whitney.
In England there is a demand for choral works, and
consequently singers are trained for that music. So
our best results have been with English singers
who also have an advantage in the matter of language.
American singers are at a great disadvantage. Choral
works are not in demand in this country, and the
public taste does not admit of their reaching the high
standard required for this class of music.
During the first winter of my stay in Cincinnati,
the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society had made ar-
rangements with the directors of the school which
permitted me to go to Brooklyn once a month to con-
duct the Philharmonic Concerts the school receiving
in return a certain percentage of my fee. The second
winter the New York Philharmonic Society com-
bined with the Brooklyn in the arrangement, and the
latter even changed its days to enable me to conduct
the concerts of both societies on my monthly visits.
By the time I had decided to leave Cincinnati, both
societies had made me offers, and, these being taken
as a basis, the future again looked hopeful in New
York, and I once more returned there in the fall of
1880.
CHAPTER X
In New York Again. The Monster Festival of 1882.
Wagner Performances, with Madame, Mater na. First
Chicago Festival, 1883. Establishes Low Pitch. Young
People's Concerts. Working People's Sunday Afternoon
Concerts. Wagner Concerts in Various Cities. Winkel-
mann and Scaria. Festival Tour from Ocean to Ocean,
Boston to San Francisco. German Opera Proposals.
American Opera.
AFTER a short vacation in Europe, I returned to
New York in 1880. The Brooklyn Philhar-
monic Society resumed concerts on its customary
days, Fridays and Saturdays, and both the Brook-
lyn and New York Societies began work with
renewed vigor, which was rewarded with financial
success for many years.
I did not resume my own Symphony Concerts in
New York, preferring to throw all my influence into
the scale of the Philharmonic Society. The Philhar-
monic Orchestra was then composed of all the best
players in the city. It was the largest, and, take it
for all in all, the best orchestral organization this
country had had. The men were quick in response
to the conductor, and certainly developed a good
quality of tone. We gave many concerts, and some
of them were great performances. But, as in former
years, we had to travel, and were soon overworked.
One sign of progress, however, was the formation of
8 7
88 THEODORE THOMAS
choruses in New York and Brooklyn of which I was
the conductor, and which gave variety to our pro-
grammes. 1 The work of these choruses culminated
in a gigantic musical Festival, given in the Seventh
Regiment Armory of New York, May 2-6, 1882.
1 Immediately after his return from Cincinnati, September
8, 1880, Mr. Thomas issued a prospectus announcing his desire
" of forming a chorus worthy to cooperate with his orchestra.
The immediate object of this organization will be the per-
formance of choral works in connection with the Philharmonic
Society of New York. The requirements necessary for
entrance are (i) good voices with ability to read music of
moderate difficulty fairly well at sight; and (2), regular and
punctual attendance at all rehearsals." The result was the
formation of the New York Chorus Society with Mr. Thomas
as conductor and Hon. Carl Schurz as president, which gave
regular seasons of concerts for five years. In this connection
the following statement of Mr. Thomas in an interview will
be of interest:
"It has been an old habit to treat the chorus like a body
of children, telling them simply to do so and so, to repeat a
phrase as directed, as though they were a lot of bullfinches
to whom a tune was whistled. What can you expect ? Treat
them like bullfinches and they are little else than a body of
those musical imitators of airs; appeal to their intelligence,
force them to read their music, to think it out, promptly correct
but intelligently explain their errors, and you have at last a
thoughtful, accomplished body of singers who comprehend
what they are undertaking and thoroughly succeed in its
accomplishment. Treat them like musicians, and they become
musicians. It is really ridiculous how some choral bodies are
taught. Music should be to the vocalist what painting is to
the artist. The score should be his brush and pigments. The
first should be only the rough materials and his intelligence
should so dispose them that the picture should be the master-
piece of his own work and imagination, not the single result of
direction or accidental combination of colors. Let these vocal
artists once understand that you expect them to think out their
musical picture and they will astonish you with the breadth
and truth of their imagination." EDR.
LIFE WORK 89
For this Festival the choral forces numbered three
thousand singers, and included the following eminent
societies :
The New York Chorus Society, 600 singers.
The Brooklyn Philharmonic Chorus, 600 singers.
The Boston Handel and Haydn Society, 550
singers.
The Philadelphia Cecilian Society, 350 singers.
The Worcester County (Mass.) Musical Associa-
tion, 450 singers.
The Baltimore Oratorio Association, 550 singers.
The Reading (Pa.) Choral Society, 100 singers.
The orchestra numbered nearly three hundred
players, and was composed wholly of musicians who
at one time or another had been members of my or-
chestra in previous years. It was a great reunion,
and there was much excitement and enthusiasm dis-
played at times. An incident happened in one of the
rehearsals which has been related in so many ways
and usually so incorrectly, that I will correct it here.
In "Wotan's Abschied," from "Die Walkiire," a
passage for the violoncellos occurs which begins in
the bass clef and continues with the tenor clef.
'Cellists, unless very familiar with the music, are apt
to make a mistake and read this passage in the bass
clef all the way through. On this occasion there
were thirty-six 'cello players, and the last stand was
about eighty feet away from me. When we came to
this place, I heard the mistake in the passage, and
remembering how it was written, suspected the cause
at once. I knew the mistake was made at the last
90 THEODORE THOMAS
stand of the 'cellos, and glancing at the players I saw
that one of them had his hand on his instrument in
the position where it would be if he had played in the
bass clef. I stepped quickly to the stand and pointed
out to the man his mistake, and returning to my
place, continued with the rehearsal. This took less
time than if I had made the correction from the con-
ductor's desk at that distance, but the orchestra was
aghast that I had been able to single out the man
who had made the mistake from amongst so many
players. The incident only illustrates that the con-
ductor sometimes hears with his eyes as well as his
ears!
I had placed the players on the stage so as to form
a triple orchestra, similar to an organ with three
manuals, which could be played on either singly or
in combination, at the pleasure of the conductor. Of
course the parts were all marked, and rehearsals had
been held accordingly, but in such an immense
auditorium as that in which the Festival was given,
the difference in the acoustics when it was empty and
when it was full of people was so great that I had to
be prepared for any emergency. I made use of my
combinations with good effect in the concerts, and
accomplished some unusual shading by manipulating
my triple orchestra, even in such works as Mozart's
' 'Jupiter Symphony." Some of the works given were
overpowering, but others again, such as the Bee-
thoven Mass, for instance, were disappointing, for
reasons easy to understand. Neither the chorus nor
the orchestra escaped encores entirely. The greatest
LIFE WORK 91
and most enduring effect was produced by the Wagner
programme, especially the excerpts from "Die Got-
terdammerung," for which Madame Materna had
been brought over from Vienna. This performance
created the greatest excitement I have ever witnessed,
and made many converts to the Wagner music dra-
mas. Considered from every point of view, this
Festival was one of those great and unusual occasions
which rarely occur twice in a lifetime; it will long
be remembered in the musical annals of New York. 1
*The New York Festival of 1882, like the Festival in Chicago
given the same year, was the outcome of the Cincinnati Festival.
In an interview at that time Mr. Thomas said: "The matter
of a great musical Festival under my direction was broached
to me by a number of gentlemen who were present at the
Cincinnati Biennial Festival and they were desirous to have
similar musical efforts undertaken here." The promoters,
163 of the leading citizens of New York and Brooklyn, organ-
ized under the name of the "Musical Festival Association,"
with Mr. Thomas for conductor and the following officers:
President, George William Curtis; Vice-Presidents, Cyrus W.
Field and Henry G. Marquand; Secretary, Daniel Lord, Jr.;
Treasurer, Joseph W. Drexel. The Festival was given May
2-6, and included four evening and three afternoon concerts.
The list of solo artists was an imposing one: Sopranos, Frau
Materna, Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, Miss Hattie Schell, Miss
Amalia Wurmb and Mme. Etelka Gerster; contraltos, Miss
Annie Louise Gary, Miss Emily Winant, Miss Antonia Henne ;
tenors, Italo Campanini, William J. Candidus, Theodore J.
Toedt; bassos, A. F. Galassi, George. Henschel, Franz Rem-
mertz, Oscar Steins, and Myron W. Whitney; organist, Dudley
Buck. The principal vocal works performed were Bach's
cantata, "A Stronghold Sure," Handel's "Utrecht Jubilate,"
Beethoven's "Missa Solennis" in D major, Handel's "Israel
in Egypt," Berlioz's "Fall of Troy" and selections from
Wagner's "Nibelung Trilogy"; instrumental, Mozart's sym-
phony in C major (Kochel, 551), Schubert's symphony in C
major, No. 9 and Beethoven's symphony in C minor, No. 5,
92 THEODORE THOMAS
During the same month of May, 1882, the fourth
Cincinnati Festival, as well as the first of the Chicago
Festivals, took place, in a style commensurate with
that of New York. The Summer Night Concerts
that year began in Cleveland, and continued during
the customary five weeks in Chicago, followed by
short seasons in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincin-
nati.
During the winter I introduced the low pitch into
this country, a difficult but important matter to accom-
plish. Two years previously I had held a consulta-
tion with my orchestra on the subject, and had given
them two years in order that the wind choir might
have time enough to procure new instruments of
lower pitch from Europe, and also to allow the string
players to prepare their instruments for the change.
On a given date one morning the low pitch became a
settled fact, and it was at once a success, in spite of
intrigues and coarse assaults by certain instrument
makers.
During the winter of 1883-84, many concerts
were given in New York besides those of the Phil-
harmonic Society, among which may be mentioned
the first series of Young People's Concerts, and also
a series on Sunday afternoons for the working people.
and Liszt's " Divina Commedia " symphony. It was contem-
plated to make the association permanent and by-laws were
printed, setting forth as its object: " The promotion of musical
art by musical Festivals, or in such other manner as it
shall determine." Unforeseen changes, however, in Mr.
Thomas's plans made regular Festivals in New York im-
practicable. EDR.
ANTON RUBINSTEIN
LIFE WORK 93
A tour through the South also was made, and sub-
scription concerts were given in Boston, Philadel-
phia, Jersey City, and Orange.
In the spring a Festival tour was made from ocean
to ocean 1 starting in New York and continuing to
San Francisco, and returning to Chicago, where it
ended in the Summer Night Season. The following
season, 1884-85, was only a repetition of former
ones, but it culminated, in the spring, in a series of
Wagner concerts, managed by Charles E. Locke,
and planned on a very large scale. Besides Mme.
Materna, Herr Winkelmann and Herr Scaria were
brought over, which enabled me to give all the
excerpts from Wagner's operas that were suitable for
the concert stage. We also had the assistance of the
New York and Brooklyn choruses, as well as that of
the New York Liederkranz, which did admirable
work in the third act of "Die Meistersinger." Our
orchestra was increased to one hundred and fifty
players, and in the New York concerts the chorus
numbered six hundred. After this I gave similar
Wagner concerts in all the principal cities, and every-
1 On the " March to the Sea" sixty-five concerts were given.
There were concerts at Baltimore, Bradford, Pa., Buffalo,
Erie, Cleveland, Columbus, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville,
Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Keokuk, Cedar Rapids, St.
Paul, Minneapolis, Waterloo, la., and a week's Festival in
San Francisco. Returning, concerts were given in Salt Lake
City, Denver, Topeka, Leavenworth, St. Joseph, Lincoln,
Omaha, Fort Dodge, Des Moines, Rock Island, and Burling-
ton'. The soloists who made the tour with Mr. Thomas
were Mrs. E. Humphrey Allen, Mrs. Anne Hartdegen, Mrs.
Belle Cole, Frederick Harvey, Franz Remmertz, and Julia
Rive-King, pianist. EDR,
94 THEODORE THOMAS
where they made a deep impression. 1 The season of
German opera, which was inaugurated the following
year in the Metropolitan Opera House, was due to the
success of these concerts. Before the organization of
the Metropolitan Company, offers were made to me
to take the conductorship of a company which should
include the famous Baireuth singers, Materna, Win-
kelmann, and Scaria, in the leading roles, and give
the Wagner music-dramas for the first time in Amer-
ica. At first I refused, as the promoters of the pro-
ject wished to put it into effect immediately. After
consultation, however, they agreed to my conditions,
and I consented. These conditions were that the
plan should not be carried out until 1885-86, and
that I should spend the intermediate year in Europe,
studying and familiarizing myself with the German
opera, and especially with the Wagner music-dramas
as given in Germany. The three singers also agreed
to this arrangement, and Winkelmann and Scaria
kept faith with us in the matter. Materna did not.
She accepted an engagement with the Metropolitan
Opera Company, which was formed the next season,
and our enterprise, consequently, was abandoned.
Meanwhile, I had spent the summer in Germany
with my family, and I returned to New York as
Wagner Festival tour began the first week in April,
1884, and ended in Montreal, June 28. The sixth biennial
festival in Cincinnati, May 20-24, was P af t of the scheme.
In addition to the Vienna artists mentioned by Mr. Thomas,
Christine Nilsson, Emma Juch, Emil Winant, Theodore
Toedt, and Fanny Remmertz sang in many of the concerts,
which numbered seventy in all. EDR.
LIFE WORK 95
usual in the fall for the customary Philharmonic
Concerts, and incessant travelling. The New York
Chorus was disbanded in 1886, because the travelling
and orchestral duties did not allow me the necessary
time for chorus rehearsals.
During this season a company was formed to give
grand opera in English, called the American Opera
Company, and it aroused such popular interest that
under ordinary circumstances it would have been
successful. The conductorship was offered to me,
and I accepted it, for I believed in the idea, and I
knew it would also give my orchestra a permanent
engagement, and relieve me from the responsibility
of paying salaries. My hopes, however, were doomed
to disappointment, for it soon became evident that
there were peculiarities of management which neither
art nor business could long endure. Financially the
case was soon hopeless, and the only question left for
me was how to get out of the toils in which I had been
cunningly ensnared. The management refused to
allow the much-abused and at last fatally stricken
organization to die a natural death or have decent
burial, and so it came about that toward the close it
was either a disgrace or a calamity to every one con-
nected with it. Even after it finally was dead and
buried, its apparition haunted different cities all over
the country for a time. My official connection with
it had been limited to that of musical director. I had
no business interest in it whatever, but I was for
years afterwards involved in lawsuits brought against
me by its victims.
CHAPTER XI
The End of the Thomas Orchestra, 1888. Why I Left New
York. Founding of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in
1880. Founding of the Chicago Orchestra in 1901.
Accepts Directorship of the Chicago Orchestra. The
Difficulty of Maintaining a First-rank Orchestra in
Chicago. Henry L. Higginson and his Influence. Chi-
cago Raises an Endowment Fund for the Orchestra by
Popular Subscription. The Building of a Home for the
Orchestra in 1904. The Work of the Chicago Board of
Directors. Coda.
A FTER my disastrous experiences with the Amer-
** ican Opera Company came to an end, in 1888,
I found myself in a very discouraging position,
for I was no nearer to the permanent orchestra for
which I had worked so long than I was in 1878, when
I left New York for Cincinnati. Nor was there any
prospect of a change in the situation. To maintain
my orchestra I must continue to follow in the same
weary and unsatisfactory round of travelling and
overwork, which precluded progress. The only
other alternative was to disband the orchestra and
retire from the field. I had now been travelling with
my orchestra almost continuously for twenty years,
and the situation, instead of being better, was even
worse for us than at the start, because all these years
of educational work were beginning to bear their
legitimate fruit. The people all over the country
9 6
LIFE WORK 97
were acquiring a taste for orchestral music, but were
not yet sufficiently cultivated to be very discrimina-
tive, and this opened a field for inferior orchestras
and military bands. As they interfered with our
pecuniary success, I preferred to stop. At the close
of our Summer Night Season in Chicago in 1888, I
made the following address to my orchestra at our
last rehearsal :
Gentlemen: The time has come to communicate to you
what I can offer for next season. This, however, is more easily
said than done owing to the peculiar circumstances in which
affairs in New York have placed me. I pray you, therefore,
to listen attentively in order that you may understand and
appreciate them.
You will remember that last spring, after the close of our
winter season, I said to you our future prospects were encour-
aging. What caused me to believe this was, first that the
building of a large and well-appointed music hall in New York
seemed assured. I was shown the detailed plans and under-
stood from the architect and other interested persons that its
construction would begin May i, and consequently that it
would be in readiness for our concerts next winter. But for
these assurances I should have told you then that our prospects
were bad and that we had better stop. In the second place,
my friends gave me the assurance that they would raise a
guarantee fund which would guard us against losses and insure
our position during the winter months in New York. Thus
encouraged I looked at a theatre (the Broadway), which was
suitable for matinees, and hoped to get through without serious
loss until the hall was built. So far as the hall is concerned,
however, I only know that it was not begun May i, and that
there are no signs any hall will be built, so we are left without
one. So far as the guarantee fund is concerned, it is in better
shape and has already been started, but it is accompanied by
98 THEODORE THOMAS
the condition that our concerts shall be given in some place up-
town more favorably located than that to which we have been
accustomed. All that is left to us is the theatre, which, as you
will see, would confine us to matinees. We have no hall. Even
if we should take the Metropolitan Opera House it is question-
able whether we could make dates that would be advantageous
to us. From a business point of view I should have no fears
of non-success, but for regular concerts we should have to have
an orchestra of eighty or ninety men and give our concerts
with a single rehearsal. Such concerts are not desirable and
can lead to no good results.
To retain a permanent organization there is apparently
only one thing we can do, and that is to travel during the whole
year. You, however, would not be willing, even if I were, to
lead such a life, which is wearisome and not conducive to the
retention of a high musical standard. So long, therefore, as New
York gives us no hold upon success in the shape of a hall and
declines to build one where the public can be pleasantly and
conveniently accommodated, a permanent orchestra seems to
me impossible.
It was only last week that I wrote the committee of
the guarantee fund that I could not say whether we would
give matinees or not, as that would depend upon the orchestra
at my disposal. I can tell you this: that I have been requested
to give winter concerts in Chicago, and that offers have been
made to guarantee them, but the number of concerts would
depend upon those we could give in other cities, in one at
least from New York here and in another on the return, to
make it practicable. This, even if it could be accomplished,
would take a long time to arrange. I hope you will under-
stand, therefore, that I cannot say how much work I can
promise you. It would seem that there might be several con-
certs, but the standard of such desultory work would be doubt-
ful. It is only lately that I have been able to come to a decision
and to know just what is best and right to do. It goes without
saying that I cannot keep you or prevent you from making
LIFE WORK 99
other engagements, signing other contracts, or giving lessons,
but I shall expect that you will notify me if you make any
engagements that will hinder you at any time from appearing
in concerts in or out of New York, and meanwhile will ascer-
tain as expeditiously as possible how many concerts will be
at my disposal.
The members of the orchestra could not believe
that this was the final disbanding of the Thomas
Orchestra, to which many of them had belonged for
years, and which they all loved and took pride in.
After our return to New York, many of them refused
to take engagements which would prevent their re-
turning to me, for they thought that New York would
not allow our organization to be abandoned after so
many years of service, but would raise an endowment
fund and make it a permanent institution. New
York, however, was now absorbed in its new operatic
venture, and did nothing at all.
I now ceased to make any further effort, and
merely conducted the various series of Philharmonic
Concerts in New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia,
and some Popular Sunday Night Concerts. I made
an occasional tour when I was engaged by others,
and had no financial risk, but I had no longer an
orchestra, nor any hall for rehearsals. I simply en-
gaged the men from concert to concert, and for the
first time in my life, "went on my reputation" as
the saying is to make my living.
I made a plain statement to my friends and the
Philharmonic Society, that I should wait two years
to see if any thing would be done in New York
ioo THEODORE THOMAS
toward a permanent orchestra, and if nothing were
done, I should then leave. So I waited, but beyond
personal offers made to me by friends, of from three
thousand to ten thousand dollars, nothing came of it.
These personal offers I of course refused. I needed no
assistance for myself, as I could always earn my own
living. What I wished was a large orchestra, suf-
ficiently subsidized to enable it to hold the rehearsals
necessary for artistic performances, its object and
aim to be to attain the highest artistic performance
of master-works, and to set a standard for the whole
country, and give New York one of the greatest
orchestras of the world. This would have been
progress, and the time was ripe for it.
In the meantime, Boston did what I had worked
for in vain in New York. A permanent orchestra
had been established there in 1880, and was expe-
riencing the customary vicissitudes of infancy. En-
couraged by its inspiring example, Chicago, newly
awakened to educational interests of all kinds, in
1890 became ambitious to do the same. What could
I do then, when Chicago offered me the conductor-
ship of its projected orchestra, but "go West," like
Mr. Greeley's young man, and make a new start?
What New York had denied, Chicago provided. I
should add, however, that while the maintenance of
a permanent orchestra would have been compara-
tively easy in New York, it was nearly impossible in
Chicago, for reasons some of which I shall presently
enumerate.
Modern musical literature requires an orchestra
LIFE WORK 101
of about ninety men. I took with me from New
York an orchestra of sixty, which included only half
a dozen of the members of the old Thomas Or-
chestra, and completed the new orchestra by the
addition of about thirty Chicago men. The sixty
whom I brought with me from New York made a
complete travelling orchestra, for we expected to
travel more or less in the vicinity of Chicago, in order
to help defray the expenses of the Association. The
result of our concert tours, however, was very dis-
appointing, for nearly all the towns and cities which
were large enough to support orchestral concerts
were so far from Chicago that the expenses of trans-
portation more than consumed the profits. The
general public of these places also preferred band
concerts, with double and triple encores, to our
programmes. So our travelling resulted in loss in-
stead of profit, and besides, the time required by
these long journeys left us insufficient time at home
for the rehearsals of our own concerts.
In Chicago the conditions at that time were very
unfavorable to success. Thus difficulties confronted
the Association on every hand. Chicago is a city .of
nearly two million inhabitants, but the great majority
of them belong to the class employed in mills, fac-
tories, and at all kinds of manual labor, while the
cultivated class is comparatively small. This gives
only a limited field of activity for a musician, and
offers him little opportunity to add to his income by
teaching or private engagements. The consequence is
that there is little inducement outside of the orchestra
102 THEODORE THOMAS
for men of the ability required for a first-rank
orchestra to settle there, and this makes it very diffi-
cult to procure them. The modern repertoire does
not permit any curtailment in the size of the orchestra,
and as Chicago could not furnish our leading players,
they had to be brought from other parts of the world.
In many cases the men thus imported were unused
to such a rigorous climate as that of Chicago, and
were driven away again by sickness, and had to be
replaced.
Another obstacle the Association had to contend
against was the lack of a building suitable for orches-
tral purposes. The only hall in which our concerts
could be given was the Auditorium an immense
theatre, with a seating capacity of four or five thou-
sand, which had been erected a few years previously
for opera festivals, political conventions, and other
large popular gatherings. The great size of this
theatre called for the largest possible orchestra, but
even then it was often ineffective, notwithstanding
the remarkable acoustic properties of the building.
It also contained so many seats that people felt under
no obligation to buy season tickets to our concerts,
knowing full well they could always find good places
at the box-office at the last minute, whenever they
desired to attend a performance. Thus our audience,
instead of being regular, fluctuated from concert to
concert, according to the weather or any other dis-
tracting cause. Our season was also interrupted
several times a year by the other engagements for
which the building was rented, such as the opera
HENRI WIENIAWSKI
LIFE WORK 103
season, flower show, balls, and the like. This had
the effect each time of scattering our audience and
preventing people from forming the habit of regular
attendance, as well as of interfering with our re-
hearsals, while the preparations for these events were
in progress. In other ways the Auditorium was not
suited to our use.
A building which is properly equipped for the
work of a large permanent concert orchestra should
contain, in addition to its stage, audience chamber,
and foyers, a large room in which the musicians can
tune and prepare their instruments before perform-
ances, and a cloak room for the use of the orchestra.
It should also have a suitable storage room with
lockers in which the instruments can be kept without
danger of injury from heat, cold, or dampness, and
where they will be safe from handling by meddle-
some or careless persons. It should have a com-
modious library, furnished with clean, closed cases
for storing the music, and long, well-lighted tables at
which copyists and librarians can bind, repair, copy,
and sort it for daily use. Finally, it should have
rooms for part-rehearsals, offices for the manager
and his staff, and a private office for the conductor,
in which he can transact his business undisturbed.
Nearly all of these conveniences were lacking in the
Auditorium, and therefore, while it may have been
well enough adapted for travelling opera troupes and
the festivals and public meetings for which it was
built, it was very unsuitable for our purposes.
A greater obstacle than any yet mentioned, how-
104 THEODORE THOMAS
ever, was the indifference of the mass of the people
to the higher forms of music. The Summer Night
Concerts had done valuable service by awakening a
general love of music, but it was chiefly music of a
lighter character, with symphonies administered in
very small doses. The people expected the same
class of music at the orchestral concerts as that to
which they were accustomed at the Summer Night
Concerts, and found much fault with my programmes,
which they thought were too severe.
It was a very discouraging time for us, for while
Wagner had to some extent interested the people, he
had also accustomed them to strong doses of excite-
ment, and contrast, and everything without these
tonic properties was regarded with indifference. In-
deed, the announcement of a symphony was enough
to keep many persons from going to a concert. The
situation at last became serious; and when it seemed
as if there were no immediate relief, the example of
the Boston Orchestra came to our rescue and helped
me to maintain the standard of our programmes.
When fault was found with their severity, I would
say, ' 'Do you wish our programmes to be inferior in
standard to those of the Boston Orchestra ? " ' ; No,"
was the answer. ' 'Well, we give every year a num-
ber of programmes without a symphony. The Bos-
ton Orchestra does not." That helped! I was able
to keep up the standard of my programmes, not-
withstanding all opposition, until finally the intelligent
and influential minority were ready to give up their
musical trifles for broader forms, carrying with them
LIFE WORK 105
the rest of our musical world, and at last I risked
arranging programmes for a cultivated audience,
though with many fears as to the result. But be-
hold ! it was said that I had never made such good
programmes! That was true enough, but had I
offered them a few years previously, it would have
been our ruin. It never occurred to our concert
goers that it was they who had progressed.
The service which Mr. Henry L. Higginson has
rendered to art in this country can hardly be fully
estimated at present. A man of broad intellectual
culture, and a lover of music, he felt the need of that
art in his city which only an orchestra could interpret.
He also estimated its beneficial influence upon
humanity. He was not only a philanthropist in his
undertaking, but also an experienced business man.
His first step was to secure a home for his orchestra
a suitable hall, where rehearsals and concerts
could be held at regular times without interference.
Natural causes and circumstances soon led him to
develop the organization he had formed into a first-
rank orchestra. His cultivated taste would not allow
him to make concessions to the ignorant, as he knew
perfectly well that a first-rank orchestra can be main-
tained only by preserving the highest standard, and
that the public ultimately would accept it. Other
cities soon had the benefit of his generosity, and the
influence of his organization spread; for New York
had now gone backwards, and the musical standard of
the East was set by the Boston Orchestra. He came
at the right time to help every sincere conductor
106 THEODORE THOMAS
throughout the land, and he certainly saved the ship
on which I was sailing, and which carried symphonies.
The influence of his work insured the permanency of
the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Pittsburg, and
Philadelphia.
The foregoing pages have set forth only a few of
the many difficulties which the Chicago Orchestral
Association encountered during the thirteen years
through which we struggled to establish the institu-
tion, and will give some idea of the complex nature of
the problem, both from the business and the artistic
standpoint. But although often disheartened and at
times almost discouraged, the men and women who
had founded it did not falter, but year after year
personally paid its large deficit without complaint.
Nor was I ever asked by our directors to lower its
artistic standard in order to gain the patronage of the
multitude. Some of our guarantors supported the
orchestra from love of art, others from a broad spirit
of humanity which sought through this agency to
establish an elevating influence in the community.
So they carried the heavy financial burden of it as
long as they saw any hope that the plant they were
protecting would take root and live.
At last the time arrived, however, when all agreed
that the institution must now stand on its own feet,
or else be abandoned. It was decided to test the
public and find out whether or not the work had
really taken hold of the community. A general
LIFE WORK 107
appeal was made to every music lover in Chicago to
come forward and do his share in raising an endow-
ment fund to be invested in a suitable building or
home for the orchestra, which would enable it to
carry on its work to advantage and serve as a nucleus
for the musical life of the city.
It was with many anxious doubts and fears that
this course was finally adopted. But the result more
than justified it, and there were some unlooked-for
and extremely gratifying manifestations of popular
interest. In less than a year, more than six-sevenths
of the great fund of $750,000 was given by eight
thousand subscribers, of all classes, rich and poor. It
was a wonderful example of the influence of
art in a community. I know of no similar instance
in which so large a sum has been given absolutely
without conditions by the general public of a city
for an institution dedicated to the highest form of
musical art.
When I left New York in 1901, it was prophesied
that my sojourn in the West would not be longer than
it had been when I went to Cincinnati in 1878. But
we are now in the fourteenth season of the Chicago
Orchestra. Its permanency is secure, its home is
built, and the object for which I have worked all my
life is accomplished. The old saying, "Better late
than never," comes to mind as I see in my seventieth
year the realization of the dreams of my youth. But
I trust I may still live long enough to show my grati-
tude to the men and women who have made this
io8 THEODORE THOMAS
possible, and to leave behind me a young and vigor-
ous institution to crown their achievement with a long
future.
[Sad as these last words seem which he wrote so hope-
fully, so thankfully, so happily, it is better they should remain,
that the men and women of all classes in Chicago who saved
his orchestra and gave it a permanent home may know his
love for them, his gratitude for their splendid achievement,
and the lofty purposes he contemplated before he should lay
down his baton and give over the position he held so long, so
honorably, so masterfully, to his successor. The dream of
more than fifty years was at last a reality, and he saw that the
reality was all and more than he had hoped for, and he knew
that his reward had come from the grateful hearts of the people.
He lived to consecrate the house, to direct the immortal
harmony of the symphony which he greatly loved, and then
the Master of Music passed from our sight. His fame was
secure, his work was finished, and " the end crowns the work."
EDR.]
THE
LAST DAYS OF THEODORE THOMAS
[The following account of the last days of Theodore
Thomas was written by Mrs. Thomas at my request. EDR.]
npHEODORE THOMAS died at daybreak, on
* Wednesday, January 4, 1905, in his city home,
No. 43 Bellevue Place, Chicago, Illinois. For sev-
eral years the magnificent health which had always
been his had been failing, little by little, but so
stealthy was the hand of time in its destruction of the
earthly tenement which held this great and pure soul,
that only those who lived under his roof were able to
note its remorseless progress. To the world at large,
Theodore Thomas retained to the very last his vigor,
freshness, and magnetic personality. His eye was
seemingly as bright, his ear as true, and his capacity
for work as inexhaustible as ever. But those who
watched him anxiously at home knew that this out-
ward appearance of health and strength was no
longer a reality, and that the overwrought and high-
strung nerves were now strained by public life to the
breaking point. He himself realized all this, but he
hoped that the peace and freedom from anxiety
which he anticipated would be his when the orchestra
should at last be permanently installed in its new
home, would permit him by a careful husbandry of
his powers to continue his work with the Chicago
109
no THEODORE THOMAS
Association until he had carried the orchestra safely
through the transition period, and could pass it on to
his successor a completed institution.
No doubt this would have been the case had not
untoward circumstances changed the natural course
of events. The first of these was an unavoidable
delay in the completion of the new hall. Every one
connected with its construction, from its famous
architect-in-chief down to its humblest hod-carrier,
worked with love and pride upon the noble structure,
and strained every nerve to have it finished at the
appointed time. But in spite of their almost super-
human efforts, when the Dedication Concert took
place on December 14, 1904, it was still far from
complete; to hold rehearsals and concerts in it
was a serious risk to the musicians, for the plaster
was not fully dry, the air was charged with lime dust
from recently removed scaffolds, and through the
still unfitted doors and windows strong draughts
flowed into the hall, bringing colds and influenza in
their wake. Many of the musicians were made
quite ill in consequence, and among them was Dr. 1
Thomas himself, who contracted a severe attack of
grippe. Even then it is probable that had he re-
mained at home a few days, under his doctor's care,
he would have recovered without difficulty. But
unfortunately an adverse criticism of the new hall
appeared, which he feared would injure its reputation
J The title Doctor of Music was conferred on Theodore
Thomas by Yale University in 1880; also by Hamilton College
in 1 88 1. EDR.
LIFE WORK in
unless immediately counteracted, and this made him
feel, all too keenly, the necessity of adjusting the
orchestra to its new surroundings in the shortest pos-
sible time, in order that the fine acoustics which he
knew the hall possessed, and with which he was per-
fectly satisfied, might be made apparent to the world
also without delay.
When art or duty called he never considered him-
self, and so, in spite of the fever and lassitude of the
disease, he arose from his sick bed every day, with his
old indomitable will, and conducted concerts and re-
hearsals for ten days. But outraged nature revenged
herself at last, and on Christmas Eve, 1904, at the
close of the concert, he laid down the baton for the
last time. Christmas Day he was very ill, neverthe-
less the next morning he insisted on dressing, and
came down-stairs with the intention of going as usual
to the rehearsal. But even his heroic will was no
longer equal to the effort, and after sitting at the
breakfast-table for a few minutes, like one dazed, he
yielded to the solicitations of his family physician,
Dr. C. F. Ely, whose anxiety had prompted him to
call at this early hour, and returned to bed.
The sad details of the ten days which followed
need not be recounted. By Friday grippe had de-
veloped into pneumonia, and from then on it was a
losing battle, fought, inch by inch, by doctors, nurses,
family, and friends, armed with all the facilities of
modern science, reinforced by the tenderest love and
by the public and private prayers of the whole nation.
During Sunday and Monday it seemed as if his
H2 THEODORE THOMAS
splendid constitution would triumph over the disease,
for he made such steady improvement each day that
by Tuesday morning every one was jubilant with
hope. All through his illness, speaking had been very
difficult for him, and although he was not at any time
unconscious or delirious, he had hardly noticed the
various members of the family as they came and
went at his bedside, and had seemed anxious only to
make as little trouble as possible for his kind nurses.
But on this morning he observed everybody made
little jokes with the doctors and his sons, and talked
to his wife about their White Mountain home, ' 'Fel-
sengarten," which was always much in his thoughts.
About twelve o'clock the effort of even these broken
sentences seemed to tire him; he paused a while,
and then said to her in a dreamy, almost ecstatic
voice, "I have had a beautiful vision ... a
beautiful vision," and then drifted off into silence.
She little thought that these were to be his last words,
but fearing he was tired she left him to rest, and
went down-stairs to luncheon. He had given her at
Christmas a little chime of silver bells, to be used to
summon the family to meals. As he had been ill
ever since Christmas Day these bells had not been
used, for fear of disturbing him. To-day, however,
he had seemed so much better that she thought per-
haps he might like to hear his bells for once. So she
stopped as she passed them, and played a little bugle-
call which came into her head. Hardly had she
finished when one of the family said, "Do you
know that you have just played 'taps' the call
LIFE WORK 113
that is sounded over the graves of dead soldiers?"
Struck with consternation at the sinister omen which
she had unconsciously wrought, she rushed back
to the bells and played another call which was
engraved upon a metal plate above them. After-
wards she noticed that it was ' 'reveille" the soldier's
signal to arise. And thus it chanced that the last
music heard by Theodore Thomas on earth was sym-
bolical of death and the resurrection. Like the true
soldier he was he obeyed the command. Within an
hour came the change which placed him beyond all
human help, and at daybreak the next morning he
passed quietly and painlessly into the presence of the
God he had served so faithfully and well.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION
REMINISCENCE AND APPRE-
CIATION
BY GEORGE P. UPTON
MY FIRST MEETING WITH MR. THOMAS
T FIRST made the acquaintance of Theodore
* Thomas November 27, 1869. He arrived in
Chicago on the morning of that day, a stormy Satur-
day, with his Central Park Garden travelling orches-
tra of forty members, and announced three concerts
at Farwell Hall. Being musical editor of "The
Chicago Tribune" at that time, I was invited by
Mr. Adolph W. Dohn, a mutual friend, to call upon
the young conductor who had already made such
a strong impression on musical taste in the East.
Mr. Dohn, who had been the conductor of the Men-
delssohn Society, and who was elected first conductor
of the Apollo Musical Club in 1872, was a man of
great influence in the musical affairs of Chicago by
reason of his comprehensive scholarship, his thorough
training in music, and his intimate knowledge of both
vocal and instrumental work. He was also of much
service to Mr. Thomas from that time to the end of
his life 1 in many matters pertaining to the orchestra,
and several times assisted him in score-marking and
preparation of vocal texts. An introduction by an
*Mr. Dohn died in February, 1901.
117
u8 THEODORE THOMAS
intimate friend, for Mr. Thomas held most persons at
arm's length until they had been tried and tested, was
an open sesame to a gracious reception. He greeted
me most cordially, with a strong grip of that powerful
hand, and then with that peculiar smile of his, which
had so many different meanings, said in a brusque way :
" I am glad to meet any friend of Mr. Dohn's, and will be
pleased to have you come and see me while I am here. You
must not expect me to call upon you, for I am too busy, and
besides, I never go into newspaper offices. I have no need to
cultivate the critics, for I know my work. I do not care to
read what they write, and would not have time if I did care."
I replied in effect that this was a new experience.
I had been so persistently visited by advance agents,
business agents, artists, and even impresarios of con-
cert and opera troupes, that it was refreshing to meet
a musician who did not care to see the interior of a
newspaper office.
Such was my first meeting with Theodore Thomas,
the man.
The first concert was given that evening to a small
audience. Musicians and connoisseurs attended.
The great public stayed away. Eight of the twelve
numbers on the programme, Stigelli's "Tear," which
Letsch, the trombonist, sentimentalized so pleasantly,
Schumann's ' 'Traumerei," the overture to ' 'William
Tell," Strauss's ' 'Blue Danube Waltz," and his polkas
"Lob der Frauen" and "Jocus," Meyerbeer's first
"Fackeltanz," and the Titl "Serenade" for flute and
French horn, are now rarely taken from the shelf.
There were three numbers, however, which had stay-
THEODORE THOMAS, JULIUS FUCHS, ADOLPH \V. DOHN,
IN 1875
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 119
ing qualities Mendelssohn's ' 'Midsummer Night's
Dream" music, the overture to ' 'Tannhauser," and
the allegretto to Beethoven's Eighth Symphony, the
last two belonging to his programme "pillar" work,
of which he speaks elsewhere. It was the little
reverie of Schumann's, however, with its Matzka
romanza, and the Thomas string setting, that proved
to be the musical revelation. The "Traumerei" had
been played the evening before upon the same stage
by a local orchestra under the direction of Hans
Balatka. The difference in setting and reading, the
precision, shading, and tonal beauty, and particu-
larly the "pianisissimo," as Mr. Thomas calls it, of
the close, all proclaimed a new musical departure for
Chicago. It would never again be content with the
old musical performances. The "Traumerei" was
the dawn of a new musical day for the West.
Such was my first meeting with Theodore Thomas,
the musician.
This was Mr. Thomas's first visit to Chicago as a
conductor. He came here for festivals, hall, and
summer night concerts, almost every year afterwards
until 1891, when he made Chicago his home, organ-
ized the Chicago Orchestra, and subsequently re-
alized the dream of his life in the dedication of its
permanent home. In one of our numerous conver-
sations touching upon the preparation of the work
with which he honored me, he said, after long per-
suasion on my part: "I will write my autobiography
as part of our work. It will be only a general sketch
of my life, and you must fill in the details, for which
120 THEODORE THOMAS
I have not time." At that time I expected his judg-
ment upon what I should write, but fate ordered
otherwise. I will strive, however, to carry out his
request in "our book" to the best of my ability,
touching upon some matters which it is proper to
attend to now, avoiding any invasion of his personal
affairs, which would have been repugnant to him,
but seeking to give him his just meed of praise, to
which he would have offered objection in life, but
which is due to him now that his great service for
music is ended, save in its enduring influence.
II
APPRENTICESHIP
TV/TR- THOMAS has told the story of his early
**-* years with a certain reserve, due to his often
expressed belief that the public cared little for his
personal affairs, as well as to his aversion to personal
publicity. A few details may be added, however, mak-
ing the account of his apprenticeship more complete.
The period between 1845 an d 1850 may be called
his "wander years," and their story he has told with
sufficient detail. Then came his years of violin
playing in concerts and operatic performances which,
uncertain and desultory as they were, nevertheless,
as he often has said, were of great importance to him
in developing his style, cultivating his tone, and, in-
deed, helping to shape his career; for from a player
in the ranks he was soon leader or ' 'concertmeister,"
and at last operatic conductor. It is curious to note
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 121
in these early days the outcropping of those charac-
teristics which so sharply differentiated him from
other conductors. The boy, in his way, was as much
the musical autocrat as the man. During Madame
La Grange's concert tour he was not only leader of
the orchestra which accompanied her, but had the
sole power of hiring or discharging players. The
prima donna requested him to place her valet, who
was a musician, among the violins. He courteously
declined. She insisted. He still refused, whereupon
she testily said, ' 'Have I got to get down on my knees
and beg you?"
' 'I do not care whether you kneel or not, Madame.
I should think it would be more convenient to stand
upright. But your man can't play, and that is the
end of it."
Mr. Thomas played an obligate to one of her
numbers that evening. Afterwards the Madame
said to him: "You were real mean to me, but you
played like a god."
Mr. Thomas has related one story in his auto-
biography relating to Ullmann, the impresario. Upon
another occasion Frezzolini, the prima donna, who
was notorious for her tardiness, was an hour late at
rehearsal, and sent no word. She arrived just in
time to see the last of the orchestra leaving the stage.
There was no rehearsal, consequently no perform-
ance. Ullmann, in a towering rage, sought Mr.
Thomas, and declared that some one must be dis-
charged. ' 'Certainly," replied the conductor. ' 'Dis-
charge me. I am the only one responsible. If you
122 THEODORE THOMAS
don't, and Signora Frezzolini continues coming late
to rehearsals, I will discharge myself." Frezzolini
was not late after that.
He even had the temerity to disagree with Adelina
Patti once about the tempo of an aria. She claimed
she ought to have her way because she was the prima
donna. "I beg your pardon, Madame," he replied,
''here, I am prima donna."
Of his ability as a violinist I shall speak further
on. The earliest programme in his half-century
collection, February 20, 1852, is reproduced else-
where in fac-simile. About two months later his
name appears again upon a programme of a benefit
concert, in a style at which he laughed heartily in his
later years. The programme is as follows:
M. CONKLIN
of
Dodworth's Band
begs leave to announce to his friends and the public that his
Benefit Concert
will take place at the
Apollo Saloon
on Monday evening, April 26, 1852
when he will be assisted by the following eminent talent, who
have most kindly volunteered their valuable services:
DODWORTH FAMILY
MASTER THEODORE THOMAS
probably the most extraordinary violinist in the world of his age,
DODWORTH'S BAND
MASTER MARSH
the infant drummer, and
MR. DANIEL DA VIES.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 123
Parti
1. Introduction from "Lucrezia Borgia" . Donizetti.
Dodworth's Parading Band.
2. Serenade, " Star of Love " . . . . Wallace.
Dodworth's Serenade Band.
3. "Concerto Militaire," for violin . . Lipinski.
Master T. Thomas.
4. "Glendon Polka" .... A. Dodworth.
Dodworth's Parading Band.
5. Cavatina, " Still so gently," for ebor cornet, from
"Sonnambula" ...... Bellini.
Mr. Charles P. Dodworth.
6. Infant Drummer's extraordinary performance.
PartH
7. Grand Quartet from "Bianca e Faliero" . Rossini.
Dodworth's Serenade Band.
8. Violin Solo, "Carnival of Venice" . . . Ernst.
Master T. Thomas.
9. Serenade from "Don Pasquale" . . . Donizetti.
Dodworth's Serenade Band.
10. Cavatina, " Son vergin vezzose," from " I Puritani,"
for cornet ....... Bellini.
Mr. Allen Dodworth.
11. Quadrille, "Grove Songsters" . .H. B. Dodworth.
Dodworth's Quadrille Band.
12. Trio from "Norma," "A di qual se" . . Bellini.
Messrs. Allen, Harvey B., and Charles R. Dodworth.
13. "Trip by Railroad". . . . H. B. Dodworth.
Dodworth's Quadrille Band.
14. Reveille H. B. Dodworth.
Messrs. M. Conklin and D. Davies.
1 24 THEODORE THOMAS
The confidence which the young musician had in
himself at this period of his career is shown in the
following incident, related by William Mason in his
''Memories of a Musical Life":
" One evening, as Thomas came home, tired out from his
work, and after dinner had settled himself in a comfortable
place for a good rest, a message came to him from the Academy
of Music, about two blocks away from his home in East Twelfth
Street. An opera season was in progress there. The orchestra
was in its place, and the audience seated, when word was re-
ceived that Anschiitz, the conductor, was ill. The manage-
ment had not provided against that contingency, and was in a
position of much embarrassment. Would Thomas come to
the rescue? He had never conducted opera, and the work
for the evening performance was an opera with which he was
unfamiliar. Here was a life's opportunity, and Thomas was
equal to the occasion. He thought for a moment, then said,
'I will.' He rose quickly, got himself into his dress suit,
hurried to the Academy of Music, and conducted the opera
as if it were a common experience. He was not a man to say
'Give me time until next week.' He was always ready for
every opportunity."
Mr. Mason's version of this incident is not his-
torically complete. The first opera conducted by
Mr. Thomas was Halevy's "Jewess." It was first
given under the management of Max Maretzek, in
1859, and was revived by Ullmann in 1860, with
Carl Formes and Mme. Fabbri in the principal roles.
Notwithstanding its musical success it did not pay,
and after five performances Ullmann withdrew it and
also retired from the management of the Academy
of Music. This was in December, 1860. "The
Musical Review and World," of December 8, 1860,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 125
says In this connection: "We hear that Mr.
Anschiitz will not conduct under the new manage-
ment, but that Mr. Theodore Thomas will take his
place. Considering what this young, talented leader
achieved during the last performances of 'The
Jewess,' when he took the baton at a moment's no-
tice * and brought the performance to a very satis-
factory close, we should think that the change is a
highly acceptable one."
Ill
LIFE WORK BEGINS
/ "T" S HE year 1854 may be called the close of Mr.
* Thomas's apprenticeship. In 1855, as first
violinist of the Mason-Bergmann Chamber Concerts,
a year later known as the ' ' Mason-Thomas," he was
the master-musician master in every sense, for he
dominated that organization in its methods, its
music, its programmes, and its progress. Mr.
Thomas in his autobiography dwells at some length
upon the personnel of its members and the work they
accomplished. Mr. Mason, in his Memories, from
which I already have quoted, supplies the informa-
tion as to the part Mr. Thomas took in this work: 2
"The organization as originally formed would probably
have remained intact during all the years the concerts lasted
had it not become apparent almost from the start that Theo-
is evidently refers to the incident mentioned by Mr.
Mason. EDR.
2 Mr. Thomas at this time was in his twentieth year. EDR.
126 THEODORE THOMAS
dore Thomas had in him the genius of conductorship. He
possessed by nature a thoroughly musical organization, and
was a born conductor and leader.
"Before we had been long together, it became apparent
that there was more or less friction between Thomas and
Bergmann, who, being the conductor of the Germania and
afterward of the Philharmonic Orchestra, also a player of long
experience, and the organizer of the quartette, naturally as-
sumed the leadership in the beginning. The result was that
Bergmann withdrew after the first year, and Bergner, a fine
violoncellist and active member of the Philharmonic Society,
took his place. The organization was then called the 'Mason
and Thomas Quartette,' and so styled, it won a wide reputation
throughout the country. I should say in passing that Berg-
mann was an excellent, though not a great, conductor.
" From the time that Thomas took the leadership, free and
untrammeled, the quartette improved rapidly. His dominating
influence was felt and acknowledged by us all. Moreover, he
rapidly developed a talent for making programmes by putting
pieces into the right order of sequence, thus avoiding incon-
gruities. He brought this art to perfection in the arrangement
of his symphony concert programmes."
Mr. Thomas was now fairly launched upon his
life work. To understand the nature and the diffi-
culty of that work, it should be borne in mind that up
to 1855, and, indeed, for a few years after, music had
been only a source of amusement to New York.
There had been a few chamber concerts given by
the Eisfeld Quartette, but they were only sparsely
attended, and were without any important results.
As for an orchestra, the Philharmonic Society had
been in existence for about ten years, but its existence
was precarious, and it had little vitality at best until
Mr. Thomas saved it from financial collapse and
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 127
elevated its standard of performance several years
later. Opera was the musical staple, and was then,
even more than now, simply an occasion for social,
fashionable, and musical entertainment. The young
conductor conceived the noble purpose of elevating
the musical standard, introducing the higher music,
and making people not only acquainted with it, but
desirous of hearing it. Thus he was the musical
pioneer, and he always had faith that he could ac-
complish his mission. Some years afterwards, in
1874, when the directors of the Brooklyn Philhar-
monic Society tendered him a complimentary benefit,
he said in his reply to them:
"Throughout my life my aim has been to make good
music popular, and it now appears that I have only done the
public justice in believing and acting constantly on the belief
that the people would enjoy and support the best in art when
continually set before them in a clear, intelligent manner."
This extract sufficiently explains the musical pur-
pose of his life. His courage and determination to
accomplish that purpose are still further illustrated
by a statement made at the time when he was striving
to secure support for his orchestra:
"I was hungry last night, but no fox gnawing at my side,
as in the Spartan story, can make me abandon the course of
life I have laid out for myself. I have gone without food
longer than I should, I have walked when I could not afford to
ride, I have even played when my hands were cold, but I shall
succeed, for I shall never give up my belief that at last the
people will come to me, and my concerts, will be crowded.
I have undying faith in the latent musical appreciation of the
American public."
128 THEODORE THOMAS
Without money, without backers, having no capi-
tal but his indomitable will, untiring energy, sublime
faith in himself, and confidence in the people, he set
about the task of securing an orchestra, and a hall
which should be suitable for his concert purposes, as
well as the elevation of the popular taste. His ideal
of an orchestra is contained in a letter which he
wrote me many years ago :
"Musicians playing together year after year rehearse to-
gether. This co-working is not disturbed by playing in theatres
and concert combinations. Nothing impairs the artistic
morale. By thus offering permanent engagements, the con-
ductor can induce the best artists to join him. That is a
permanent orchestra in the true sense. With such an orchestra
its first charm is the purity and vitality of the intonation, and
besides the good tone-quality and color of each instrument,
the mutual subordination and blending of them all. Next,
careful, admirable phrasing, and gradation of light and
shade."
As for the hall, in a letter dated in 1887, he writes:
" Give me a proper concert-hall, where the beautiful works
of the great masters of symphony and purely orchestral com-
positions can be properly given and properly heard, and I will
banish opera and musical drama excerpts from my perform-
ances. My life work has been for the concert-hall, and year
after year, but never more than at the present time, have I
deplored the absence in New York of a large hall suitable
for producing large works."
He once said to me, speaking of a musician who
was reported to have died broken-hearted, ' 'He had
no Chicago to go to." It was Chicago which gave
him his permanent orchestra in its permanent home
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 129
and the opportunity to do his best work, after fifty
years of herculean labor.
I have spoken of opera as the main source of
entertainment for the musical New York of that day,
but how little operatic managers appreciated or
understood the real work Mr. Thomas had in view,
even after his orchestra had become established, is
shown by the following incident. During the Nilsson
season in New York, Max Strakosch, the impresario,
came to one of the orchestra rehearsals with Vieux-
temps, the violinist, and Mr. Jarrett, Nilsson's agent,
who desired to make Mr. Thomas's acquaintance.
The latter had long known Vieuxtemps. Strakosch
introduced Jarrett with his customary beaming smile,
saying, "Mr. Jarrett, allow me to present Mr.
Thomas, our American Strauss." Vieuxtemps re-
garded Strakosch with mingled surprise and indig-
nation, perceiving which, Strakosch recognized the
mistake he had made, and jumped from the frying-
pan into the fire with the ludicrous amendment,
"Strauss in the Beethoven style!"
I should except one manager, however, from this
criticism. Col. J. H. Mapleson, in the second vol-
ume of his entertaining Memoirs, says:
" Better even than the orchestra of M. Lamoreux is that of
M. Colonne. But I have no hesitation in saying that M.
Colonne's orchestra is surpassed in fineness and fullness of
tone and delicacy of expression by the American orchestra con-
ducted by Mr. Thomas. The members of this orchestra are
for the most part Germans, and the eminent conductor is him-
self, by race, at least, a German. Putting aside, however, all
question of nationality, I simply say that the orchestra directed
1 3 o THEODORE THOMAS
by Mr. Theodore Thomas is the best I am acquainted with;
and its high merit is due, in a great measure, to the permanence
of the body. Its members work together habitually and con-
stantly; they take rehearsals as part of their regular work; and
they look to their occupation as players in the Theodore Thomas
Orchestra as their sole source of income. As for substitutes,
Mr. Thomas would no more accept one than a military com-
mander would accept substitutes among his officers.
"There has, from time to time, been some talk of the
Theodore Thomas unrivalled orchestra paying a visit to Lon-
don, where its presence, apart from all questions of the musical
delight it would afford, would show our public what a good
orchestra is, and our musical societies how a good orchestra
ought to be formed and maintained." *
IV
GARDEN MUSIC
TV/TR. THOMAS began his real life work in 1862,
when he gave his first orchestral concert. That
was the seed from which grew his symphony concerts,
inaugurated in 1864, followed up by his concerts at
Terrace Garden (1866) and Central Park Garden
(1868), the latter being maintained for several years,
so that his players should be kept together summer
and winter. Just before a concert in Chicago, in
1872, he said to me, "I am going to play the 'Liebes-
tod' from 'Tristan and Isolde' to-night. I want to
give the audience something to chew on." A few
years later there was no number on his programmes
more eagerly anticipated, more gladly welcomed.
f The above tribute was written in 1882, just after the
great New York Festival, which Mr. Thomas conducted.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 131
This was what he was doing with the New Yorkers
in that period, and what he did in the tours which
began in 1869. He was giving them something to
"chew on." It made no difference how much they
protested, what wry faces they made, or how much
they complained that they could not understand
symphonies, classical overtures, and startling excerpts
from the so-called "music of the future." He put
them in the first or second part of the programme,
and rilled the third with the delicacies they liked, so
that they could not get away from the better music
without giving up the tinkling tunes. He played the
better music until it was soon understood. If un-
usual protest were made against a certain number,
like the "Liebestod," for instance, he kept people
"chewing" upon it until it was digested and they
grew to like it, and became discontented with the
syllabubs.
A glance over those remarkable Central Park
Garden programmes, which had such incalculable
influence upon the musical taste of New York, and
indirectly upon that of the whole country, will dis-
close how patiently and resolutely he led the people,
and how surely and steadily they followed him. He
began with a classical overture sandwiched in between
Offenbach, Strauss, Lanner, Gungl, Bilse, and many
another composer now utterly forgotten. Then he
would add to his classical overture some fragment
from a Wagner music-drama, and the two would
appear in a setting of light and popular melodies.
Presently there appeared a symphony movement,
132 THEODORE THOMAS
something by Raff, Spohr, Schumann, Schubert, or
Beethoven, repeated over and over in connection with
the light stuff also repeated over and over, until peo-
ple found the latter did not stand repetition like the
former, in which they discovered new beauties at each
performance. At last he ventured upon an entire
symphony, and soon regular symphony programmes
were performed to large houses.
In his announcement of the second season in Cen-
tral Park Garden he says:
"The repertoire has been largely increased year by year,
and is now one of the most extensive and varied to be found in
any country. It will be further augmented, from time to time,
by the introduction of the latest European and American suc-
cesses. The programmes will be composed with the same care
and discrimination as heretofore, and will, while consulting
every taste, leave nothing to be desired, even by the strictest
musical purist."
He inaugurated the Garden Concerts with an
orchestra of forty, Matzka being his concertmeister,
Grupe leading the second violins, Schwartz the violas,
Bergner the 'cellos, and Pfeifenschneider the double
basses; Liedler was first flute, Eller first oboe, Wen-
delschaefer first clarinet, Hochstein bassoon, Schmitz
horn, Dietz trumpet, Letsch trombone, Listmann
tuba, Loewe drums, Klugescheid bass drum, and
Benedict zither and triangle. Loewe was the only
one of this orchestra who took part in the concerts of
the Chicago Orchestra. In 1872 the orchestra was
increased to fifty members, and June 20 of that year
Mr. Thomas had a benefit concert for which the
number of players was increased to sixty. The fol-
lowing description of him at this concert, by a con-
temporary, shows that he set his face against encores
at an early period :
"The conductor was evidently in the best of moods. In
front of his desk hung a beautiful garland of lilies. Above
him the crystal chandelier chimed gaily, swayed by the river
breeze. From his cheerful demeanor one would not have
guessed that three sonnets had recently been written to him,
yet there they were, printed on the second leaf of the pro-
gramme, for every one to read. He seems somehow to be en
rapport with hearers as well as with orchestra. Even when
his audience relapses into barbarism on the subject of encores,
he quietly but firmly controls them. I have seen him under
circumstances almost as trying as the famous charivari at the
Cirque Napoleon, when Pasdeloup nearly broke his baton in
frantic rage leave the stand and quietly take a seat in a corner
of the orchestra, remaining there until he had carried his point."
He never lost his temper in the Garden Concerts.
Upon one occasion a youth on the front seat had been
talking almost incessantly in a low tone of voice to
the young lady with him, while the allegretto to Bee-
thoven's Eighth Symphony was being played, and at
last began scratching explosive matches to light his
cigar. After two or three had snapped and gone out,
Mr. Thomas gave the signal to his orchestra to stop,
laid down his baton, turned to the young man, and
said with one of his sweetest and most cynical smiles,
in a voice audible to all around him, "Go on, sir!
Don't mind us ! We can all wait until you light your
cigar." The cigar was not lit, and the couple
were quiet through the rest of the concert. Upon
134 THEODORE THOMAS
another occasion he applied a more drastic remedy.
The orchestra was playing the l 'Midsummer Night's
Dream" music of Mendelssohn, and Mr. Thomas
was much annoyed by the talking of a couple near by
him. Suddenly he gave a signal to the drum player,
and a long roll went rattling through the fairy music
which startled every one. The conductor quietly
turned round and fixed a significant look upon the
talkers, which informed them they were responsible
for the liberty which had been taken with the score.
There was no further talking.
At the opening of the Garden in 1873, the orches-
tra had grown steadily in excellence. These concerts
had also made Mr. Thomas's more ambitious sym-
phony concerts possible, for without this preparation
it would have been impossible to have given them.
These Garden Concerts also made it possible for him
to produce in that season ten symphonic works, four
of them novelties, as well as overtures representing
the development of music from Bach to Berlioz and
they also paved the way for the Rubinstein concerts,
and gave that composer the opportunity to present his
"Ocean" Symphony. At last the symphony became
the regular Thursday evening feature of the Garden
Concerts, and every Thursday evening the audience
was the largest of the week, and this notwithstanding
an increase in the price of admission, to meet the
expense of an increased orchestra. The programmes
of that season would hardly have been listened to
with patience in the opening season at Terrace Gar-
den in 1866. During that season, besides the Garden
THEODORE THOMAS IX 1875
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 135
Concerts, he had given thirty-two strictly symphonic
concerts. The effect of the winter and summer con-
certs was such as to make each more complete, and
Mr. Thomas now thought he was on the road to the
organization of a permanent orchestra. He also had
visions of a permanent hall, for a movement was
begun in New York to erect one. But for both he
was yet to wait more than thirty years. The story
of this period was so well told by "The New York
Evening Post," in 1873, that it is worth preserving
as musical history. The "Post" said:
" With the expiration of the season of 1873-74 the series
of concerts given by Thomas's orchestra, which will have ex-
tended through a period of six years, will come to an end.
The announcement will be made in due form at the proper time,
but knowing that the cessation is inevitable, it may not be in-
opportune, even in advance of it, to ask how far the organization
has succeeded in the accomplishment of the task it has set itself
to perform. To do this fairly, it is impossible to regard its
labors with the spirit of one who has been simply entertained,
though at the same time it is allowed that the record of pleasures
received from this fine band of musicians would be an unex-
ampled one. It has done much more than to amuse; it has
earned for itself a character as an educator.
"Its labors were commenced at Terrace Garden; after two
seasons they were transferred to Central Park Garden, with
which it has since been identified. Like all enterprises in
which are germs of good, it encountered at the outset a heavy
counter-current of disasters and cold sympathies. Financial
troubles blocked the way; doubters in newspapers, in society,
in musical circles, looked askance, and the attempt of one man,
with two score of players at his back, to gain the ears of a raw
public by interpreting the best works of the best composers was
thought to be a very pattern of temerity.
136 THEODORE THOMAS
" One cannot sufficiently applaud the energy and faith that
supported Mr. Thomas through the difficulties which for three
long years environed him and his orchestra. It is told of him
that he never once doubted that he should ultimately succeed
in winning regard among the people who at first had regarded
him so coldly. He knew us better than we did ourselves. We
were inert. We were told that he was an experimenting in-
novator; that he was a closet enthusiast; that he was a fierce
specialist, who intended to ply us with what he called music;
that we should finally be forced to receive it by tolerance.
Therefore we stayed away. His benches remained empty. It
was said in the lower town that somewhere in the upper town
there was a fine orchestra perpetually engaged in playing fine
music. But we did not listen until the persistent story was
heard one year after another.
"Curiosity and the appeals of a few believers began to
work a change. Those who had been abroad and had heard
the orchestras which are supported by royal subsidies, told us
that we had at our doors an organization that was equal to the
best. Then people began to visit the place where this wonder
was. The venture which had been so hazardous and so profit-
less began to be strengthened. It commenced to acquire a
fame commensurate with its deserts.
" Mr. Thomas had collected fifty men from all parts of the
world where the science of music was understood and practised.
From that foreign city he brought a violin virtuoso, from this,
one celebrated for his mastery of the cornet; from here, another
famous as a performer on the oboe ; from there, a great harper,
and so on, picking out the best and selecting the specialists,
until he had under his control a true galaxy. It was only such
a one as would fill his desire. He was not content to amass a
quantity of mediocre talent, and to bedizen it here and there
with a light, but the spirit of his endeavor required that all the
portions should have equal radiance. These materials he
bound together by arduous drill, intelligent direction, and
supreme tact, until he produced an harmonious entirety, a toned
and symphonic whole. Each ingredient had its value, each
function its influence, each proportion its true and exact weight,
and made a unity with that sympathy and accord that long
communion alone could give; the true orchestra was at length
produced. It began its work. The character of that task has
been described. It entailed upon the laborers losses, disap-
pointments, ridicule everything but discouragements. There
were no rebuffs that they did not encounter, and no disasters
that did not fall to their lot; but their leader, full of his purpose
and with a definite goal before him, carried his enterprise
through, and attained, and more than attained, the result he
wished. That result was to imbue his hearers, wherever he
found them, with a sincere love for good music ; not a transient
and fallible desire, susceptible to various prettinesses and
fashions, but a deep and earnest regard for the works of the
masters.
" What are the evidences that he has done this ? In what
does it appear that this process of induction has been successful ?
First, in the improved character of his auditors. That must be
a powerful magnet that draws a congregation of cultivated
Americans two miles from their homes to gain pleasure under
circumstances which are new to them. At first the listeners
were of a poor quality of people. They gained for the Garden
a name that was indifferently good. But in spite of this preju-
dice, in spite of the fact that Americans do not appreciate popu-
lar pleasures, in spite of the distance, of the crowded convey-
ances, of the time wasted in travelling, the people whose ears
Mr. Thomas wanted to reach at length began to throng upon
him. Second, in his periodic journeys with his orchestra into
New England and the West and the South, he has been wel-
comed with an ardor never accorded to others who have paid
visits for like purposes. He carried with him the power to
render the finest music in the finest way. He was received
with open arms. The third witness is himself. He is more
than satisfied, and nothing could have greater significance than
this admission. That he who has assumed the task of teaching
138 THEODORE THOMAS
the uneducated in that in which he is so perfectly educated him-
self is willing to assert that he has surpassed his expectations,
and has found the public to be warmer and more ardent than
he hoped, is an indication of great, not possibilities, but proba-
bilities.
" Mr. Thomas found, as soon as his work and intention be-
came clearly understood, and rose above the strata of spasmodic
adventures and dishonest enterprises with which the people had
long been deceived, that he was welcome. Now, then, these
two great things appear to have been achieved : First, there has
been produced in New York an orchestra inferior to none of its
size in the great world. It is perfectly trained, perfectly at-
tuned, perfectly combined, and is an excellent as well as a
prodigious power. Second, a comprehension of the works of
the great composers has been animated all over the country.
Where in former days an orchestra would, in stirring abroad,
pass into a chilling atmosphere, it now encounters applause and
warmth. The change has been great, it might almost be said
marvellous."
V
SYMPHONIC SOIREES
TT WAS in December, 1864, that Mr. Thomas or-
ganized an orchestra and began his famous series
of symphonic " soirees" which closed in 1869. In
his reference to these he disclaims any intention to
compete with the Philharmonic Society, much less
to injure it. Undoubtedly he felt that the latter
society was not doing as effective work as it should
in the cause of good music, and therefore that his
new project was justifiable. Nor can it be ques-
tioned that the effect upon the Philharmonic was
healthy, for at once its managers increased the
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 139
number of players, raised the standard of perform-
ance, and began looking about for new works. In
this way the Thomas Symphony Orchestra was a
much-needed stimulus for the Philharmonic. In these
soirees Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert,
and Schumann were his foundations, as they were
ever afterwards, but he made many an incursion into
the field of the modern romanticists as well as that of
the ' 'music of the future." As Mendelssohn revived
Bach in Europe, Mr. Thomas revived the father of
modern music in this country, and brought out in
rich profusion the works of the modern school of
Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, Rubinstein, Raff,
and Saint-Saens, besides some of the lesser lights.
The second season was made memorable by the first
production (December 3, 1866) of Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony. Of this concert, the second in the sea-
son, Professor Ritter wrote at the time:
"The second symphonic soiree of Mr. Thomas was one of
the finest concerts ever given in New York, perhaps the best as
regards the works which formed the programme, for these
were Mozart's 'Figaro' overture, a Schumann pianoforte con-
certo, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony entire In
the name of the highest interests of art, Mr. Thomas deserves
our thanks for bringing out this symphony; with energy and
industry he overcame the impediments that lie in the way of
such a performance, and the call he received at the end of the
evening was certainly only a well-merited recognition."
The third season of the soirees is particularly
noteworthy by reason of Mr. Thomas's efforts to re-
inforce the orchestra with a chorus, the beginning of
a work which he made still more effective with the
140 THEODORE THOMAS
Philharmonic Societies of New York and Brooklyn.
His words in the announcement for the season are
significant:
" No well-directed effort has yet been made to accomplish
the union of the vocal and instrumental forces necessary to
success in this important and unlimited branch of art. We
have had and still have well-trained choral societies and
orchestras, but owing partly to local relations and partly to the
great cost of an orchestra, a union of these forces has seldom
or never been effected. Until this result shall have been per-
manently secured, we have no right to claim for New York an
advanced position with regard to music, nor can we hope to
interest the people generally and develop properly their natural
taste for the art."
The soirees were discontinued in 1869, and the
concert tours began. Mr. Thomas makes frequent
reference to them in his part of this work, and they
need no further mention, except in connection with
a few incidents which illustrate the crude ideas of
music and orchestral playing which existed thirty
or more years ago in various parts of the country.
When his manager was canvassing the prospects
for a concert in a New York town he was informed
by a leading citizen that the "show" wouldn't pay
much unless 'Thomas had a good end man." In
Utah it was gravely suggested that the more wedding
marches he had on his programmes the better. At a
concert in an Iowa city the Boccherini Minuet was
played, as usual, pianissimo and con sordini. After
the concert, Mr. Thomas was entertained at dinner.
When the conversation turned upon the Minuet, the
mayor said, with considerable emphasis: "You should
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 141
have played it louder." "But," said Mr. Thomas,
' 'it is marked pp." ' 'No matter if it is," replied the
municipal critic, ' 'such a pretty tune deserves to be
played louder." Upon one of the tours the orches-
tra was engaged to dedicate a Coliseum in an
Illinois city. One of the promoters, in closing ar-
rangements with the orchestra manager, suggested
that after the concert the floor should be cleared and
the orchestra should play dances for the crowd.
When informed that it did not do that kind of work,
the promoter seemed greatly surprised, and asked,
' 'Why not ? Can't they play dances well enough ? "
It was in Keokuk, Iowa, that Mr. Thomas met with
one of the few criticisms which he cared to read, and
which he carefully preserved, and once showed to me
as a specimen of honest criticism. The programme
for the concert contained in succession the overture
to "Tannhauser," the andante movement from Bee-
thoven's Fifth Symphony, and Weber's "Invitation
to the Dance." Under the latter was inscribed
"Adapted for orchestra by Hector Berlioz." The
critic, evidently supposing that the inscription in-
cluded all three numbers, wrote:
" The first piece was that fine trilogy which Hector Berlioz,
with exquisite art, made from Wagner, Beethoven, and Weber.
The thought of Hector Berlioz evidently, in arranging the
trilogy, was to put after the passionate action of the one the
ocean-like, star-like, measureless calm and harmony of the
symphony. After you have bathed in that luxury and languor
long enough, there comes Von Weber's 'Invitation to the
Dance.' Oh! there has been nothing heard in Keokuk like
that trilogy as Thomas's Orchestra gives it."
142 THEODORE THOMAS
Mr. Thomas was frequently entertained after his
concerts by prominent people, and on one such occa-
sion he asked a gentleman who had been at the con-
cert how he enjoyed it. "Well," said the gentleman,
"I don't know much about music. But, I tell you
what, Mr. Thomas, the way those violinists turned
over the leaves all at once is one of the most remark-
able things I've ever seen."
The reader must not infer from these incidents
that the Thomas Orchestra was not appreciated. In
many places there was unusual eagerness to hear its
concerts. This was the case at Jackson, Michigan.
The citizens of that city hailed the announcement of
a concert with enthusiasm. The city government
also was on the alert, as will be apparent from the
following official note sent by the Committee on
Licenses to the City Clerk:
CAPT. GEORGE W. STEVENSON:
In virtue of the authority given to us by the Common
Council of the City of Jackson, the license of the Theodore
Thomas Orchestra troupe is hereby revoked unless arrange-
ments can be made for eighteen tickets for the Common Coun-
cil of the city.
GEO. A. FOSTER, Chairman.
BENJ. PORTER,
J. D. BROWN.
When Captain Stevenson presented this "hold-
up" note to the suave Gosche, Mr. Thomas 1 : business
manager, he was received with the blandest courtesy.
The eighteen tickets were handed him with the com-
pliments of the management. The concert was
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 143
given in the Court House. The court-room was
crowded with Jackson's "beauty and chivalry." Just
as the orchestra was in place, and Mr. Thomas had
come to his desk, there was a stir in the rear of the
hall. The Common Councilmen had arrived. They
were escorted by Mr. Gosche himself to the seats
their tickets called for, and the only seats left in the
house those in the jury box and the prisoner's pen,
where they were seen conspicuously by the audience,
and made uncomfortable by its unconcealed enjoy-
ment of their situation.
The symphony soirees were resumed in 1872,
under the name of symphony concerts. In reply to
the invitation of a large number of music lovers Mr.
Thomas wrote : ' 'It is a satisfaction to know that the
remembrance of these concerts is still fresh after the
lapse of three years, in a country where the past is so
soon forgotten. This fact speaks for the influence
they have had, and prompts me to comply with your
wish." He announced six concerts, and the first of
these, at which the overture to Gluck's ' 'Iphigenia in
Aulis," Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, "Wotan's
Farewell," from "Die Walkiire," and Liszt's "Me-
phisto Waltz," besides songs by Mr. George L. Os-
good, were given, is particularly noteworthy because
for the first time Mr. Thomas used regularly anno-
tated programmes. The symphony concerts, how-
ever, were not long continued. They did not receive
a support which justified the expectation of making
the orchestra permanent, much less of securing a
permanent home for it. It was apparent to him that
144 THEODORE THOMAS
his work must proceed upon other lines. One of
these was the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, with
which he had been associated as conductor, directly
and alternately, for several years.
VI
THE BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY
/ ~I~ V HE Brooklyn Philharmonic Society was organ-
*- ized in 1857, and Theodore Eisfeld was its first
conductor. Mr. Thomas always referred to its con-
certs with great pleasure. While engaged in selecting
and editing his programmes, it seemed to me that the
Brooklyn Philharmonic programmes were among the
most important in the collection, and I asked him
whether it would not be well to print them complete.
He replied that the Brooklyn concerts were always
a satisfaction to him, and he would be pleased if all
the programmes were included. He added that the
Brooklyn people were always very friendly and appre-
ciative, and that without their patronage it would
have been difficult to keep up his New York concerts.
From 1862 to 1865 Mr. Thomas alternated with
Eisfeld and other conductors. A letter in "Dwight's
Journal of Music," November 8, 1862, written by a
Brooklyn man, says:
" In your paper of last Saturday you make Mr. Theodore
Thomas our conductor in toto, which is not exactly correct. It
is the intention of the directors (as far as I can learn) to choose
a conductor for each concert, not for the whole season, as here-
tofore. Mr. Eisfeld was elected by acclamation for the concert
of Saturday, and never did he acquit himself more brilliantly
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 145
or carefully. For the second concert, conducted by Theodore
Thomas, the talented violinist of the classical firm of Mason
and Thomas, and a very skilful and able director, although
young, ardent, and progressive (good faults such are), we are
to have the following orchestral pieces: Symphony No. i, C
major (first time), Beethoven ; overture, 'Struensee,' with chorus,
Meyerbeer; overture, 'Dreams on Christmas Eve,' Hiller."
Mr. Thomas was conductor for the season of
1866-67, an d at the close of the season the Society
passed the following resolution :
"Resolved, That the thanks of this Society are eminently
due Mr. Theodore Thomas for the great ability and untiring
energy displayed by him the past season in conducting to a most
successful issue the rehearsals and concerts of this Society."
The directors sent him the resolution and with it
a handsome baton.
As this was Mr. Thomas's first regular season
with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the programme of
his first concert, October 27, 1866, is appended:
1. Symphony No. i, D major, op. 31, " Columbus" ././. Abert.
[First time in America.]
2. Cavatina, "Una donna," from "The Hugue-
nots" Meyerbeer.
Miss Adelaide Phillipps.
3. Solo for oboe, "Scene et Ballet" . . De Beriot.
Mr. Eller.
4. Overture, "Leonora," No. 3 ... Beethoven.
5. Fantasia for harp, "Un Ballo in Maschera" . Toulmin.
Mr. Toulmin.
6. Cuban Song, "Maria Dolores" . . . Yradier.
Miss Phillipps.
7. "Ritter March" Schubert.
[First time in America.]
146 THEODORE THOMAS
At the close of the sixteenth season (1874), the
directors tendered Mr. Thomas a complimentary
concert.
In 1878 Mr. Thomas's conductorship was inter-
rupted for a time by his removal to Cincinnati to
assume the duties of conductor of the College of
Music in that city. On the eve of his departure,
prominent citizens of New York and Brooklyn ten-
dered him a farewell concert, for which he made a
programme which was ever afterwards a favorite
with him. Its chief interest lies in the fact that upon
this occasion he gave Brahms's Second Symphony its
first performance in this country. The programme
was as follows:
1. Overture, " Coriolanus, " op. 62 . . . Beethoven.
2. "Der Doppelganger" Schubert.
Mr. Franz Remmertz.
3. Symphony No. 2, D minor, op. 73 [first time] . Brahms.
4. Fantaisie on Hungarian Airs .... Liszt.
Mr. Max Pinner.
5. "Wotan's Farewell" ) ..
A/r ir- c r Walkiire" Wagner.
"Magic Fire Scene' }
Mr. Thomas soon left Cincinnati, for reasons ex-
plained elsewhere, and returned to the East, though
during the time spent in that city he was permitted
to go to New York and conduct the Philharmonic
concerts. Among the important features of the
remaining concerts with the Brooklyn Philharmonic
were the performance of Beethoven's Fifth Sym-
phony, scenes from "Rheingold," and "Siegfried's
Death," with an orchestra of one hundred and twenty
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 147
pieces, at the close of the twenty- fourth season; "The
Messiah," and Gounod's "Redemption" in the
twenty-fifth season; Bach's "Christmas Oratorio,"
Mozart's "Requiem," and Liszt's "Saint Elizabeth"
in the twenty-seventh; and Gounod's "Mors et
Vita," and Dvorak's "Spectre's Bride" in the twenty-
eighth.
Season after season brought its splendid array of
programmes, but at a concert given April 18, 1891,
the programme contained the following announce-
ment:
"The engagement of Mr. Theodore Thomas as Musical
Director of the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn terminates
with this concert, in consequence of his departure to Chicago.
The directors make this announcement with sincere regret. Mr.
Thomas has served the Society as its conductor for more than
twenty years. Its most brilliant and most prosperous seasons
have been given under his management. The Society thanks
him for his generous devotion to its highest interests. It
wishes for him the greatest success in his new field of duty,
and it bids him an affectionate farewell."
There can be no doubt as to the sincerity of this
expression, or of Mr. Thomas's hearty appreciation
of it. He always cherished the memories of his
Brooklyn Philharmonic period, and in our consulta-
tions always spoke of it in a manner which showed
he looked back to it with the same affectionate regard
which his Brooklyn friends entertained for him.
148 THEODORE THOMAS
VII
THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY
]\/[R. THOMAS has said that he accepted the
* conductorship of the New York Philharmonic
Society because he thought the musical interests of
that city would be better cared for by a society than by
an individual. That readers who are unfamiliar with
the venerable New York Philharmonic may under-
stand this more clearly, some of the details of the
peculiar system or organization should be stated.
Again, as his connection with that Society was one
of the leading events of his long career, a brief
sketch of its history may not be out of place. 1
The Society was founded in April, 1842; its first
concert was given December 7 of that year, but it
was not incorporated until 1853. Its first officers
were: U. C. Hill, president; A. Reiff, vice-president;
F. C. Rosier, secretary; A. Dodworth, treasurer, and
W. Wood, librarian. The governing body also in-
cludes the conductor, who is elected by the mem-
bers. The conductors for the first season were U. C.
Hill, H. C. Timm, and Mr. Etienne. How the
finances of the Society are administered is explained
by the first section of its constitution :
"SEC. i. After the last regular concert of each season the
Board of Directors shall, after defraying or providing for all
expenses of the Society, divide among the actual performing
members of the season thus passed, the funds remaining in the
'For many of these facts I am indebted to the History of
the Philharmonic Society, published a few years ago. EDR.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 149
hands of the treasurer with the exception of a small balance
that is to be carried over to the next season; each performing
member shall receive his full dividend or part of the same
according to the time of attendance."
It will be seen from this that the Society is on a
cooperative basis, and is probably the oldest coop-
erative organization in the country. During the first
ten seasons, ending in 1853, the Society had two,
and sometimes three, conductors in a single concert.
From the tenth to the thirty-sixth season, when Mr.
Thomas was elected, the list of conductors was as
follows :
Eleventh season, 1852-53, Theodore Eisfeld.
Twelfth season, 1853-54, Theodore Eisfeld.
Thirteenth season, 1854-55, Eisfeld and Timm.
Fourteenth season, 1855-56, Carl Bergmann.
Fifteenth season, 1856-57, Theodore Eisfeld.
Sixteenth season, 1857-58, Theodore Eisfeld.
Seventeenth season, 1858-59, Carl Bergmann.
Eighteenth season, 1859-60, Bergmann and Eisfeld.
Nineteenth season, 1 860-61, Bergmann and Eisfeld.
Twentieth season, 1861-62, Bergmann and Eisfeld.
Twenty-first season, 1862-63, Bergmann and Eisfeld.
Twenty-second season, 1864-65, Bergmann and Eisfeld.
Twenty-third to thirty-fourth, 1865-76, Bergmann.
Thirty-fifth season, 1876-77, Leopold Damrosch.
At the close of the thirty-fifth season the Society
was in a critical situation. Musically and financially
its affairs were at a low ebb, while Mr, Thomas's
symphony concerts were flourishing. As Mr. Thomas
says, there was no rivalry between the two organiza-
tions. There could be none. It was pretty certain,
150 THEODORE THOMAS
however, that unless there should come a change, one
of the two must go under, and there was little doubt
which of the two it would be. In this emergency the
Philharmonic people invited Mr. Thomas to take the
conductorship. After giving the invitation careful
consideration, he promptly and magnanimously de-
cided to give up his flourishing symphony concerts,
and rescue the old-established Philharmonic institu-
tion from its low estate and make it again a power
for music in New York. He at once increased the
orchestra by reinforcements from his old symphony
players, and gave his first concert November 24, 1877,
the programme including the overture to Cherubini's
"Les Deux Journees," Beethoven's "Pastoral" Sym-
phony, selections from Schumann's "Manfred," and
Liszt's symphonic poem, "Mazeppa." S. B. Mills,
the pianist, played the Raff suite, op. 200, for the first
time in this country. The next year found Mr.
Thomas in Cincinnati, and Adolph Neuendorf! was
conductor, but in the thirty-eighth season he came
to New York for each concert, and in the thirty-ninth
returned for residence, and was conductor until the
close of the forty-ninth season, in 1891, when he came
to Chicago, and Anton Seidl took his place. What
had he done in the meantime for the finances of the
Society ? The treasurer's evidence on this point is
convincing. Here is his statement of receipts and
dividends from the twenty-fourth season to the forty-
ninth, Mr. Thomas's last:
THEODORE THOMAS IN 1880
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 151
24th season
1865-66
25th season
1866-67
26th season
1867-68
27th season
1868-69
28th season
1869-70
29th season
1870-71
3oth season
1871-72
3ist season
1872-73
32d season
1873-74
33d season
1874-75
34th season
1875-76
35th season
1876-77
36th season
1877-78
37th season
1878-79
38th season
1879-80
39th season
1880-81
4oth season
1881-82
4ist season
1882-83
42d season
1883-84
43d season
1884-85
44th season
1885-86
45th season
1886-87
46th season
1887-88
47th season
1888-89
48th season
1889-90
49th season
1890-91
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Carl Bergmann
Leopold Damrosch
Theodore Thomas
Adolph Neuendorf?
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Theodore Thomas
Divi-
Receipts
dends
$ 6,441
$ 95
3,923
70
6,163
70
14,255
156
12,75
150
i5,85
203
15,480
216
13,830
180
9,45
126
3,212
75
1,641
30
841
18
6,402
82
1,493
25
8,714
123^
i,73
132
12,913
*54
15,933
195
16,022
^95
i7,9 J 4
223
16,066
200
15,562
225
14,168
168
14,962
189
200
Mr. Thomas rehabilitated the finances of the
Society, but, what is far more important than this,
he restored its prestige, infused management and
members with something of his own energy and spirit,
and raised its standard. It is curious to read now,
when Mr. Thomas's method of rehearsing by choirs,
sections, and even individuals is so well known, this
152 THEODORE THOMAS
statement in "Harper's Weekly," written about this
period :
''During the season after Mr. Thomas's return from Cin-
cinnati, the Philharmonic gave a performance of Beethoven's
Eighth Symphony, which was remarkable for the delicacy and
absolute precision of the violins in the scherzo. After the con-
cert a member of the orchestra told me that during the inter-
mission the conductor had called the violinists into the green-
room and made them play over their part of the scherzo several
times."
In an interview in 1882 Mr. Thomas gave ex-
pression to what he called the "Philharmonic Creed,"
though all the musical work of his life was planned
and executed in accordance with the tenets of this
creed. It contains the very core of his musical be-
lief the principles which he held sacred the
Alpha and Omega of his life work. It reads:
"To endeavor always to form a refined musical taste
among the people by the intelligent selection of music; to give,
in order to accomplish the desired result, only standard works,
both of the new and old masters, and to be thus conservative
and not given to experimenting with the new musical sensa-
tions of the hour. I may exemplify this further by saying that
while Berlioz, Liszt, Rubinstein, Brahms, and others may be,
and will be given, such masters are never allowed representa-
tion to the exclusion, even in a degree, of Beethoven and
Mozart. Nor would the first mentioned be permitted on the
programme if the great symphonies were not thoroughly
understood by the public."
It may be interesting here to note some of the
significant events growing out of Mr. Thomas's rela-
tions, active and otherwise, with this Philharmonic
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 153
Society. He was elected an active member in 1853,
being then in his eighteenth year, and played in the
ranks until 1858, when he resigned his membership.
Thereafter he occasionally played as soloist at its
concerts. At the first concert of the twenty-third
season, November 5, 1864, for instance, he played the
Mendelssohn Concerto, op. 64. In 1866 "Dwight's
Journal of Music" contains a hint of incipient rivalry
between the Thomas Orchestra and the Philhar-
monic. It says (October 13):
"The Philharmonic, with Bergmann for conductor, has
made up its programmes for the five subscription concerts.
The first public rehearsal takes place October 20, the same day
on which Theodore Thomas gives his first symphonic soiree.
The 'Neue New Yorker Musik Zeitung' intimates that the suc-
cess of this enterprising young rival has prompted the symp-
toms of progress shown by the older society in the Liszt,
Wagner, Berlioz selections above named. Certainly the pro-
grammes of both parties have many novelties in common. But
Thomas is the bolder of the two, and has undertaken to do in
five concerts work that might well tax the energy of an orches-
tra for a couple of years. He makes the production of great
orchestral works with chorus the special mark of his ambition
this year."
In 1868 Mr. Thomas played at the last concert
of the season (April 1 8) the Beethoven Concerto, op. 61.
In 1871 there was great need of Mr. Thomas's dis-
cipline and mastery in the Philharmonic ranks. Berg-
mann was then the conductor, but he was already in
his decadence. A critic says of one of its concerts:
"In the 'Overture, Scherzo, and Finale' by Schumann,
there was some unusually crude and slovenly playing. There
154 THEODORE THOMAS
were times when belated instruments were heard coming in
after each other at a pause, and there was also a general lack
of finish in much that was done. This was the more notice-
able by contrast with the recent concerts given by Theodore
Thomas's orchestra, which were, in every respect, superior to
those of the Philharmonic Society."
The troubles of the Philharmonic, however,
began to disappear in 1879. In May of that year
"The New York Tribune" contained the following
statement :
"The New York Philharmonic Society is to be congratu-
lated. At the annual election, held yesterday, Mr. Theodore
Thomas was unanimously elected conductor. On the first
ballot the vote stood fifty-four for Thomas, nine for Damrosch,
and six for Neuendorff. The minority subsequently changed
their votes so that Mr. Thomas became the choice of the whole
Society. Mr. Julius Hallgarten was elected president; Mr.
Boehn retains the vice-presidency, and the Board of Directors,
we understand, is not changed except that Messrs. Brandt and
Arnold replace two of the older members. The directors will
soon have a conference with Mr. Thomas, and it will then be
determined whether arrangements can be made to permit of
his accepting the conductor ship."
The conference was held, the symphonic concerts
were given up, and Mr. Thomas became conductor
of the New York Philharmonic Society, a position
he held for thirteen seasons, resigning it when a call
came from Chicago, which he could not resist.
Those thirteen seasons were the golden days of the
Philharmonic. They include seventy-eight concerts
and the same number of public rehearsals. The fol-
lowing list of symphonies, with the number of times
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 155
performed, shows the rich profusion of music in his
programmes :
Beethoven Second, i; third, 5; fourth, 5; fifth, 4; sixth,
5; seventh, 4; eighth, 4; ninth, 3.
Mozart D, 2; G minor, 4; C, 2; E flat, i.
Brahms First, 2; second, 2; third, i; fourth, i.
Schubert Eighth, 3 ; ninth, 4.
Schumann First, 4; second, 4; third, 3; fourth, 3.
Haydn B flat, i ; D major, i ; E flat, 2 ; G major, i.
Rafi "Im Walde," 3; "Lenore," i.
Rubinstein "Ocean," 3; "Dramatic," 3; fifth, i.
Cowen "Scandinavian," i; "Welsh," i.
Dvorak D, 2; D minor, i.
Tschaikowsky "Manfred," i; fifth, 2.
Berlioz's "Harold in Italy," Liszt's "Faust," Huber's
"Tell," Strauss's F minor, Scharwenka's C minor, Scholtz's
B flat, Bruckner's seventh, Saint-Saens's third, Mendelssohn's
fourth, Franchetti's E minor, Goldmark's second, and Spohr's
"Consecration of Tones," i each.
The works produced for the first time in this coun-
try were:
Suite for piano and orchestra, op. 200, Raff; "Tragic Over-
ture," Brahms; overture, "Demetrius," Rheinberger; Second
piano concerto, Tschaikowsky; Fifth symphony, Rubinstein;
"Tell" symphony, Hubert '/'Scandinavian," symphony, Cowen;
vorspiel to "Parsifal," Wagner; Symphony in D, Dvorak;
Serenade in G, Villiers-Stanford ; "Husitzka Overture,"
Dvorak; F minor Symphony, Strauss; symphonic variations,
Nicode; "Welsh" symphony, Cowen; prologue to "Othello,"
Krug; "Scherzo Capriccioso," Dvorak; C minor symphony,
Scharwenka; D minor symphony, Dvorak; B flat symphony,
Scholtz; Seventh, Bruckner; "Manfred" symphony, Tschai-
kowsky; Third and fourth symphonies, Brahms; Third sym-
phony, Saint-Saens ; E minor symphony, Franchetti ; E flat sym-
156 THEODORE THOMAS
phony, Goldmark; overture, "Twelfth Night," Mackenzie;
Suite No. 2, Moszkowski; "Prometheus Bound," Goldmark;
"Antony and Cleopatra," overture, Rubinstein; fantaisie
overture, "Hamlet," Tschaikowsky.
The solo artists who appeared during these thir-
teen seasons were:
Pianists, S. B. Mills, Franz Rummel, Hermann Rietzel,
Rafael Joseffy, Madeline Schiller, Carl Baermann, Richard
Hoffman, Carl Faelten, Adele Aus der Ohe, and Fanny Bloom-
field-Zeisler.
Violinists John F. Rhodes, Maud Powell, Camilla Urso,
and Leopold Lichtenberg.
Violoncellists F. Bergner and F. Giese.
Sopranos Mathilde Wilde, Eugenie Pappenheim, Alwina
Valleria, E. Aline Osgood, Emma Thursby, Agnes B. Hunt-
ington, Mme. Fursch-Madi, Louise Pyk, Helene Hastreiter,
Emma Juch, Lilli Lehmann, Laura Moore, Miss Griswold,
Frau Schroeder-Hanfstangl, Clementine de Vere, Frau Ritter-
Goetze.
Altos Emily Winant, Antonia Henne, Helen D. Camp-
bell.
Tenors Italo Campanini, W. C. Tower, William Can-
didus, William H. Rieger.
Baritones Antonio Galassi, George Henschel, Emil
Scaria, Alonzo E. Stoddard, Theodore Reichmann.
Bassos Franz Remmertz, William Ludwig, Emil Fischer.
Great as was this work, and fine as were these
programmes, greater work and finer programmes
were to come in Chicago and Cincinnati during the
next thirteen years.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 157
VIII
A NATIONAL TESTIMONIAL
TN 1889 a series of testimonial concerts was ten-
dered Mr. Thomas. He had made tours through
the country for twenty years, with varying success
financially, but with musical results of a solid and
enduring character. The seed which he had sown
so carefully and so hopefully had already reached its
blossom, and in many places its fruitage. His great
musical skill was everywhere recognized. His edu-
cational work was prospering. His concerts were no
longer looked upon as mere amusements. Person-
ally he was everywhere respected for his courageou?
and honest devotion to the cause of good music.
Even those who did not thoroughly understand his
work were proud of it when they saw that European
artists were eager to appear at his concerts, and Euro-
pean composers were equally eager that he should
perform their new works. When, therefore, a series
of testimonial concerts was proposed, the sugges-
tion met with a quick and cordial response. In this
connection it is significant to note that the proposi-
tion was first made by a gentleman in Minneapolis,
who wrote to "The New York Tribune," April 22,
1889, as follows:
"Understand that no benefit scheme is contemplated by
this suggestion. Mr. Thomas would be the first to turn his
back upon such a proposition. Let him simply take his
orchestra and give, in the various cities, as he always does, a
158 THEODORE THOMAS
quid pro quo and more, for all he receives, but let the tour be
understood to be a distinctive opportunity for the people to
testify the high estimation they place upon Mr. Thomas's life-
work in behalf of the music of his country. If Mr. Thomas
doubts there is a deep feeling of regard for him among the
musicians and people of America, and that, whatever may be
said of the sharp points of his character, they are ready to
testify it, let him give them the opportunity in the way I
suggest."
The first response to this suggestion came two
weeks later from the Brooklyn Philharmonic Soci-
ety, which was always to the fore in everything
pertaining to its leader. It heartily seconded the
Minneapolis suggestion, and hoped the tour would
be made in October, and that Brooklyn would be
included. These hopes were fully realized, and the
Brooklyn Philharmonic Society's programme was
one of the most noteworthy of the tour. New York
City spoke next. Boston and other leading cities
fell in line, and even many of the smaller towns
expressed a desire to participate in the testimonial.
In the light of what occurred two years later, the
following utterance of "The Chicago Tribune," May
19, foreshadows Mr. Thomas's important change:
" Should it eventuate in securing Mr. Thomas as
our orchestra leader in the near future, it will be a
consummation devoutly to be wished, and it will
place Chicago on a secure and prosperous musical
footing." In this case, at least, the old saying, "a
prophet is not without honor save in his own coun-
try," was reversed. George William Curtis, the
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 159
distinguished editor and scholar, and a staunch friend
and supporter of Mr. Thomas, wrote the invitation,
for the New York Testimonial Concert, which I
append, because the dignity and high character of
its signers make it one of the most valuable tributes
Mr. Thomas ever received:
THEODORE THOMAS, ESQ.,
DEAR SIR: Learning that you have been invited to un-
dertake a series of concerts in various parts of the country
during the next autumn, we desire to express to you our sin-
cere interest in the enterprise proposed, to assure you of our
heartiest good wishes for its complete success, and to ask that
New York, which is your home and the scene of your most
arduous labors, may be included among the cities which are to
share the opportunity of showing their appreciation of your
v/ork. In this centennial year of national pride and joy, not
the least pleasant reason of general congratulation is the growth
and development of a taste for the higher forms of art, because
this taste is one of the powerful forces to which we must look
for the necessary chastening of the material and commercial
spirit, which has thus far largely dominated American progress.
Among these forces none is more popular or more effective than
music; and in the education and elevation of musical taste in
this country, no individual influence is more universally ac-
knowledged, and none is more distinctive, constant, intelli-
gent, and effective, than yours.
Your public service of this kind has been so signal that to
call attention to it on the eve of a tour such as is contemplated,
is but to refresh the grateful memory of lovers and students of
music throughout the country, and to secure their cordial co-
operation in earnestly promoting the success of the projected
series of popular concerts which will be peculiarly significant
among our centennial commemorations as illustrating in them-
i6o
THEODORE THOMAS
selves the character and degree of the advance of the pubh'c
taste, knowledge, and skill in music.
With sincere regards, we are, dear sir,
Respectfully yours,
LEVI P. MORTON,
CARL SCHURZ,
WM. M. EVARTS,
HORACE WHITE,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
HENRY HOLT,
EDMUND C. STEDMAN,
C. L. TIFFANY,
W. D. HOWELLS,
R. W. GILDER,
R. M. HUNT,
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS,
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW,
WARNER MILLER,
JOSEPH H. CHOATE,
J. PIERPONT MORGAN,
D. HUNTINGTON,
JOHN BIGELOW,
HjALMAR H. BOYESEN,
C. VANDERBILT,
CYRUS W. FIELD,
HENRY VILLARD,
R. G. INGERSOLL,
CALVIN S. BRICE,
GROVER CLEVELAND,
C. A. DANA,
W. R. GRACE,
PARKE GODWIN,
F. R. COUDERT,
HOWARD CROSBY,
ROBERT COLLYER,
AUGUSTUS ST. GAUDENS,
BRANDER MATTHEWS,
MONCURE D. CONWAY,
C. P. HUNTINGTON,
ANDREW CARNEGIE,
WILLIAM STEINWAY,
and many others.
The tour began October 9, 1889, in Brooklyn,
Joseffy, the pianist, accompanying the orchestra as
soloist, and concerts were given at the following
places, in the order named : Brooklyn, Poughkeepsie,
Albany (the concert in Albany occurred on his birth-
day, which was made all the more pleasant to him by
the receipt of telegraphic congratulations from all
parts of the country), Utica, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland,
Toledo, Detroit, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Jackson,
Indianapolis, Chicago, Decatur, Louisville, Colum-
bus, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Wilkesbarre, and
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 161
New York. The concert in New York was given
November 6, and its programme will be found else-
where. For this concert Mr. Thomas prepared two
programmes and submitted them to the committee of
invitation for their choice. To complete the history
of the testimonial tour I present both:
No. i.
Overture, "The Flying Dutchman" .. . . Wagner.
Adagio, "Prometheus" Beethoven.
[Violoncello Obligate by Mr. Victor Herbert.]
Invitation to the Dance .... Weber-Berlioz.
Concerto, E minor Chopin-Tausig.
Mr. Rafael Joseffy.
a. Fugue in A Minor Bach.
b. Theme and variations ..... Brahms.
String Orchestra.
Symphonic Poem, "Les Preludes" . . . Liszt.
No. 2.
Overture, "Rienzi" Wagner.
First and second parts of Symphony, "Lenore" . Raff.
Fantasia on Hungarian airs ..... Liszt.
Mr. Rafael Joseffy.
Overture, "William Tell" Rossini.
Traumerei ....... .Schumann.
String Orchestra.
[ a. Berceuse ..... Chopin.
Piano Solo < b. Valse Impromptu (new) . Joseffy.
[ c. Marche Militaire . . Schubert-Tausig.
Mr. Rafael Joseffy.
Waltz, "Hochzeits Klange" Strauss.
"Damnation of Faust" Berlioz.
a. Invocation Minuet of the Will-of-the- Wisps.
b. Dance of the Sylphs.
c. Rakoczy March.
162 THEODORE THOMAS
IX
FAREWELL TO THE EAST.
'"T" S HE year 1891 was a memorable one in Mr.
* Thomas's life, for it was his farewell year in
the East. Before it closed he was at home in
Chicago, where his life-dream was destined to be
realized fourteen years later. That he had been
considering the possibility of this change for a long
time is evident from a letter written to me under
date of November 28, 1888, in which he says:
"I shall soon be ready to spend most of my time
in Chicago. It is the old story what New York
offers, I refuse; what I demand, she refuses." Three
years later he made the change, but even twelve years
after that, wearied with much labor he sometimes
doubted whether his dreams were to be realized.
On December 9, 1903, at the very verge of their ful-
filment, he met me and said that he had almost given
up hope of success in the struggle to secure a perma-
nent home for the orchestra, and that he might yet
have to discontinue his work and retire from the field,
although Chicago was then rousing herself to secure
the memorable gift she soon made to the man
whom she loved, and to his men, whom she admired.
Is it unnatural that after fifty years of colossal labor,
of many discouragements, and defeated hopes, at a
time when his strength was failing, though his intel-
lectual powers were as strong as ever, he should occa-
sionally have given way almost to despair ?
To return to 1891. It was a busy year. He was
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 163
making his farewell calls. Between March 31 and
April 1 7 his orchestra played at five concerts given by
Arthur Friedheim, the pianist, at the Metropolitan
Opera House. April n he bade good-bye to the
New York Philharmonic Society with a programme
including Mendelssohn's overture, "Fingal's Cave,"
Tschaikowsky's overture-fantasia, "Hamlet," and
Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony. Adele Aus der
Ohe, the pianist, played the Schumann concerto, A
minor, op. 54. Philadelphia came next in order,
April 14, and the programme, chosen by vote, in-
cluded Beethoven's Seventh Symphony; the "Song
of the Rhine Daughters," and "Siegfried's Death
and Funeral March." Mile. De Vere was the vocal-
ist, and Mr. Bendix played the first movement of
the "Emperor" Concerto of Beethoven. April 18
he gave his Brooklyn patrons the following noble
good-bye programme: Schubert's "Unfinished" Sym-
phony; Beethoven's Seventh Symphony; Wagner's
"Faust Overture," and his own fine setting of the
Chopin "Funeral March." The next evening he
took leave of the Lenox Lyceum with Grieg's "Peer
Gynt" Suite, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and
Liszt's Second Rhapsody. There were five soloists
at this concert, Mile. De Vere, Miss Maud Powell,
Miss Adele Aus der Ohe, Sig. Del Puente, and Sig.
Campanini, the concert being in the popular series.
Then he came to Chicago and gave six concerts
at the Auditorium, which, for thirteen years, was to
be his big concert-hall. During May he gave scat-
tering concerts here and there, and in the latter part
164 THEODORE THOMAS
of that month directed the third annual festival at
Indianapolis. From that time until the middle of
June he made a concert tour, playing at Kansas
City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Detroit,
Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Burlington, Vt, in
the order named. July 6, 1891, he began his fare-
well series of New York concerts at Madison Square
Garden. They were forty-two in number, and their
characterization upon his programmes as "Sym-
phony," "Request," "Ballroom," "Popular," and
"Composers'," recalls the never-to-be-forgotten sum-
mer night concerts in Chicago. The last of the forty-
two concerts was given August 16, 1891, the "Re-
quest" programme being as follows:
1. Prelude and fugue ...... Bach.
2. Ballet air, "Paris and Helen" .... Gluck.
3. Andante and finale from Fifth Symphony . Beethoven.
4. Song, "Les Rameaux" Faure.
Mr. Leo Stormont.
5. Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 12 . . . Liszt.
6. "Marche Funebre" .... Chopin-Thomas.
7. Polacca from "I Puritan!" .... Rossini.
Miss Louise Natali.
8. March movement, "Lenore Symphony" . . Raff.
9. "Largo" ....... Handel.
[Violin obligate, Mr. Bendix.]
10. "Spring Song" ..... Mendelssohn.
11. Duet from "II Trovatore" .... Verdi.
Miss Natali and Mr. Stormont.
12. "Tannhauser Overture" .... Wagner.
His last word to New York was the "Tannhauser
Overture," always a favorite with him, and then he
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 165
turned his face to the West, there to continue his
great work, for which there was no longer need in the
East, and to remain working with heroic will and
sublime patience until death laid its pitiless hand
upon him and he rested from his labors.
X
IN CHICAGO
TV/TR. THOMAS made the acquaintance of Chi-
cago in 1869. For twenty- two years he was
an honored visitor; for fourteen years afterwards it
was his home. I have already made reference to the
three opening concerts in November, 1869. Mr.
Thomas did not leave Chicago in very good humor
at that time, but he found some stanch friends who
guaranteed him an audience if he would make an-
other visit. He did so, on the yth of November,
1870, and gave seven concerts, six atFarwell Hall,
and a sacred concert at Crosby's Opera House, with
large audiences in attendance. Miss Mehlig, the
eminent pianist, assisted and, in addition to some
minor pieces, played concertos by Weber, Liszt,
Schumann, Chopin, and Hummel, which were new
to Chicago. His most memorable concert of that
season was on the i4th, in which the programme
was devoted to Beethoven, including the "Pastoral"
Symphony, the "Leonora" overture, No. 3, the
Septet, op. 20, and the "Choral Fantaisie," op. 80,
for which Mr. Dohn, the leader of the Apollo Club,
drilled a select chorus. Mr. Thomas went away
166 THEODORE THOMAS
happier. He had found his way to the Chicago
people, and they had found their way to him.
In April, 1871, he came again, and gave seven
more concerts. The programmes were light, the
most important work being the Beethoven concerto
in G, No. 4, played by Anna Mehlig. The next
season was to have commenced at Crosby's Opera
House, on the fatal night of October 9, 1871. Among
the fire losses which were not enumerated at the time
were Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies,
Schubert's Ninth and Schumann's First and Fourth,
besides seven piano concertos which were to have
been played by Marie Krebs. Mr. Thomas did not
come again until the 7th of October, 1872, when he
opened the new Aiken's Theatre with a series of con-
certs, assisted by Mr. George L. Osgood, the tenor
singer. The most important works in that season
were Schumann's First Symphony, op. 38, and Bee-
thoven's Seventh; but in addition to these works
he brought out Liszt's "Preludes," the Beethoven
Quartet, op. 18, for string orchestra, two move-
ments of Rubinstein's "Ocean" Symphony, Liszt's
"Mephisto Waltz," and several works by Raff,
Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, which were new to
Chicago.
In 1873, under engagement with Messrs. Carpen-
ter and Sheldon, Mr. Thomas gave five concerts, com-
mencing February 17, at the Michigan Avenue Bap-
tist and Union Park Congregational churches, which
were, at that time, the only available concert places.
Both Miss Mehlig and Mr. Osgood assisted him,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 167
and the concerts were unusually brilliant and suc-
cessful. A week later, under the same management,
he gave two more concerts, the second of which was
devoted exclusively to Wagner's music. The audi-
ences were smaller and much more select than those
which a little later "crowded the house" on "Wagner
nights," and continued to do so until Wagner was
permanently displaced by Beethoven. On the iyth
of March, under the same management, and in com-
bination with Rubinstein and Wieniaw r ski, two mem-
orable concerts were given, in which Rubinstein
played his own concerto in D minor, No. 4, Handel's
air and variations in E major, a Mozart rondo, and
a Bach gigue, Scarlatti's "Katzenfuge," Beethoven's
concerto in E flat, No. 5, and Schumann's "Carni-
val." Wieniawski's numbers were the Mendelssohn
concerto, Ernst's "Othello" fantaisie, and his own
concerto, No. 2. Mr. Thomas did not come again
until October 6 of the same year, when he dedicated
Kingsbury Hall with a series of eight concerts,
assisted by Myron W. Whitney, the basso. The
programmes were unusually brilliant. The first four
were popular. At the fifth concert, Beethoven's
Eighth Symphony and the four overtures to "Fide-
lio" were performed. Mr. Whitney sang Mozart
and Beethoven arias, and Mr. Listemann, the violin-
ist, played Joachim's "Hungarian Concerto." The
last concert was given with the assistance of the
Apollo Club in selections from "Frithjof " and
"Lohengrin," and the soloists, Mr. M. W. Whitney,
Mr. S. E. Jacobsohn, violinist, Mr. Julius Fuchs,
1 68 THEODORE THOMAS
pianist, and the local singers, Mrs. Clara Huck, Mrs.
O. K. Johnson, and Mr. Fritz Foltz. The orchestral
numbers were selections from Wagner's "Meister-
singer," Beethoven's overture, "Coriolanus," and
Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody.
In February, 1874, four concerts were given with
the assistance of the Apollo Club and Germania
Mannerchor, at the last of which (February 18),
Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri" was produced
for the first time in this country. Upon this occa-
sion, Miss Clara Doria, of Boston, was the "Peri."
The remaining parts were sung by Mrs. O. K. John-
son, Mrs. O. L. Fox, Mrs. T. E. Stacey, Miss Ella A.
White, Messrs. M. W. Whitney, Fritz Foltz, E. W.
Reuling, and L. A. Phelps. In September, 1874,
four more concerts were given, Miss Emma Cranch,
soloist.
On the 25th of September of the same year, many
lovers of music tendered Mr. Thomas a testimonial
concert, in connection with which the following cor-
respondence is of interest:
CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 1874.
THEODORE THOMAS, ESQ.,
DEAR SIR: After having at times in the last five years, list-
ened with almost infinite delight to the music you have brought
us, and feeling that your visits to our city may become less
frequent hereafter as your duties increase, we would desire to
express to you our thanks for happiness, pure and lasting; and,
knowing of no method of giving the public an opportunity of
expressing this gratitude other than by a Complimentary Ben-
efit Concert, we would, on behalf of the community, ask you to
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 169
accept of such a tribute of esteem from your friends here ; and
fearing this approaching visit may be your last for a time, we
would ask respectfully if you cannot add this complimentary
evening to the series of concerts you are about to give in this
city.
LEVI Z. LEITER, W. F. COOLBAUGH,
WM. SPRAGUE, P. H. SHERIDAN, U. S. A.,
HENRY FIELD, ANSON STAGER,
HENRY W. KING, A. C. HESING,
DAVID SWING, FRANKLIN MAC VEAGH,
HENRY GREENEBATJM, JAMES B. RUNNION,
POTTER PALMER, WIRT DEXTER,
HORACE WHITE, Louis WAHL,
N. K. FAIRBANK, W. S. WALKER,
ROBERT GOLDBECK, EDWIN LEE BROWN,
GEO. P. UPTON, JOHN B. DRAKE,
JOHN L. PECK, GEO. H. LAFLIN,
GEO. A. FORSYTH, N. S. BOUTON,
J. D. WEBSTER, CARL WOLFSOHN,
W. E. DOGGETT, J. McG. ADAMS,
F. W. PALMER, WM. BROSS,
L. D. BOONE, A. H. DOHN,
JOHN G. SHORTALL, DR. ISHAM.
J. IRVING PEARCE,
To this Mr. Thomas replied :
PALMER HOUSE, CHICAGO, Sept. 28.
To MESSRS. LEVI Z. LEITER, WILLIAM SPRAGUE, HENRY
FIELD, AND OTHERS:
GENTLEMEN: In accepting your generous invitation, re-
ceived by telegraph in Syracuse, I desire to express my sincere
thanks for the kindly expressions of esteem shown in your letter
toward me personally. But I desire to place on record more
fully an expression of my grateful feelings for the tribute you,
170 THEODORE THOMAS
through me, have paid to the art to which my life has been
exclusively devoted.
I assure you that this evidence of appreciation, coming, as
it does, from the representative city of the West, is an additional
encouragement for me to continue the work of elevating the
standard of musical art. In naming Saturday, October 3, for
the concert, I am very respectfully yours,
THEODORE THOMAS.
In the latter part of April, 1875, while en route to
the Cincinnati Festival, Mr. Thomas gave four fes-
tival concerts and a matinee in McCormick Hall, the
Germania Mannerchor, a mixed chorus of two hun-
dred voices, Miss Cranch, and Messrs. Bischoff and
Remmertz, soloists, assisting. The principal instru-
mental works were Beethoven's "Pastoral" Sym-
phony, Mendelssohn's "Scotch" Symphony, and
Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony. The choral
numbers were selections from Gluck's "Orpheus,"
Mendelssohn's "An die Kiinstler," Rietz's "Morgen-
lied," and the "Armorers' " chorus from Wagner's
"Rienzi."
Eighteen hundred and seventy-seven will always
be a memorable year in the history of music in Chi-
cago. After a brilliant series of festival concerts,
given early in June by the Apollo Club, in which Mr.
Thomas's orchestra participated, he began that re-
markable series of summer night concerts in the
Exposition Building, upon the Lake Front, which
were not discontinued until the summer of 1890.
The opening concert was given June 18, with the fol-
lowing popular programme:
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 171
Overture, "La Gazza Ladra" , r ... Rossini.
Waltz, "Die Vorstadter" . .;-,.. . . Lanner.
Ballet Music, "Reine de Saba" . . . Gounod.
Rhapsodic Hongroise, No. 2 .... Liszt.
Overture, "Egmont" Beethoven.
Larghetto I Symphony "Lenore" . Raff.
March Tempo )
Selections, i st act "Lohengrin" . .-.".: . . Wagner.
Overture, "Martha" . : . ./, . . . Flotow.
"Serenade" (adapted for orchestra), by Theodore
Thomas . . . . . . Schubert.
Waltz, "Illustrationen" ' . .' Strauss.
"Coronation March" Farbach.
I have Mr. Thomas's authority for the statement
that Mr. George B. Carpenter, the manager of these
concerts in 1877, first suggested to him the idea of
the "request" programme, which explains the follow-
ing announcement in the programme of July 12:
"For Monday evening, July 16, Mr. Thomas has in prep-
aration a novel programme, in which he will endeavor to satisfy
the expressed wishes of his audiences, as shown in the letters
daily received, urging repetition of certain selections. This
will be the 'Request' programme. It will contain only those
numbers, repetition of which has been urged, making a pro-
gramme representing the popular taste of the lighter pro-
gramme music, reserving for another time the pieces of the more
serious composers, repetition of which has been requested."
In conversation with Mr. Thomas about a year
before his death, I asked him why he had discon-
tinued making "request" programmes. He replied:
"Because it is no longer necessary. My audiences no
longer request. They are satisfied with what satisfies
me." In this statement he referred to the regular
172 THEODORE THOMAS
patrons. "Transients" sometimes sent in requests,
but he paid no attention to them.
The first summer night season, notwithstanding
labor strikes and riots, was a great success. As it
drew to a close concert goers bestirred themselves to
secure another season in 1878. The agitation at last
resulted in a letter signed by many prominent citizens
asking Mr. Thomas to return the next summer, and
tendering him a complimentary concert.
He came the next summer, and every summer but
two, until 1891. In a general sense these thirteen
seasons of summer night concerts are noteworthy.
Their popular success, and the appreciation and en-
couragement extended to him when his prospects
seemed darkest, and it appeared as if the longer
existence of his famous orchestra were hopeless,
greatly influenced him in his decision to make Chi-
cago his home. Again, these thirteen seasons of
garden music judiciously combined with higher
music gradually elevated the popular taste, and
prepared his audiences for his fourteen seasons
of more dignified and more purely intellectual music
which were to follow them in the concert-room.
From the narrower and more purely personal point
of view, who that had the pleasure of attending those
Exposition summer night concerts will ever forget
the brilliancy of the programmes, their consistency
with the surroundings, the familiarity, as it were,
between the conductor and orchestra on the one hand
and the audience on the other, the freedom of inter-
course, the Bohemian informality, and the absence
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 173
of the concert-room's etiquette of dress and de-
meanor ?
Meanwhile, Chicago had its two festivals, the first
in 1882, the second in 1884. The first was the result
of Mr. Thomas's years of educational effort, which
led steadily forward to such a culmination. The
1882 festival was associated with the New York and
Cincinnati May festivals, all under the same leader,
employing the same solo artists, and utilizing the
same orchestral material; but, as I have previously
said, the biennial feature of the scheme was dropped.
New York had one and Chicago two festivals. Cin-
cinnati alone was able to continue them, and since
Mr. Thomas's death has pledged itself to keep up
festival work, and, so far as it is able, to maintain his
high standard.
For the 1882 festival there was the following
brilliant array of artists: Sopranos, Mme. Friedrich-
Materna and Mrs. E. Aline Osgood ; contraltos, Miss
Annie Louise Gary and Miss Emily Winant; tenors,
Sig. Italo Campanini, Mr. William Candidus, and
Mr. Theodore J. Toedt ; bassos, Mr. George Henschel,
Mr. Franz Remmertz, and Mr. Myron W. Whitney.
The principal vocal numbers were Handel's "Utrecht
Jubilate," scenes from "Lohengrin," Handel's "Mes-
siah," Bach's cantata, "Festo Ascensionis Christi,"
selections from the Nibelungen trilogy, Schumann's
Mass in C minor, and "The Fall of Troy," from
Berlioz's "Les Troyens." The principal works per-
formed by the orchestra were Beethoven's Fifth
and Ninth Symphonies, Mozart's Symphony in C
174 THEODORE THOMAS
("Jupiter"), the supplementary movement to Rubin-
stein's "Ocean" Symphony, and Brahms's "Tragic"
overture.
For the festival of 1884, the foundation of which
was a chorus of nine hundred and an orchestra of one
hundred and seventy, the soloists were Mme. Fried-
rich-Materna, Herr Emil Scaria, barytone; Herr
Hermann Winkelmann, tenor, all from the Imperial
Opera House, Vienna; Christine Nilsson, Emma
Juch, Emily Winant, Theodore J. Toedt, and Franz
Remmertz. The principal vocal works were Haydn's
"Creation," selections from "Tannhauser," "Die
Walkure," "Lohengrin," "Die Gotterdammerung,"
"Parsifal," and "Die Meistersinger," Berlioz's "Messe
des Morts," Handel's "Dettingen Te Deum," and
Gounod's "Redemption." The symphonies were
Mozart's G minor, Beethoven's "Eroica," and Schu-
bert's Ninth.
Four years later the Thomas Orchestra was dis-
banded, for reasons stated elsewhere, but the next
year came the national testimonial, and a widespread
popular demand that the concert tours should be
revived. For the testimonial tour Mr. Thomas organ-
ized an orchestra in which were some of the members
of the old organization, but the "Thomas Orches-
tra," as it had been known so many years, had
closed its labors. Two years later, the Chicago
Orchestral Association was incorporated, the incor-
porators being N. K. Fairbank, E. B. McCagg, A. C.
Bartlett, C. D. Hamill, and C. N. Fay, who consti-
tuted the first board of trustees. It is no injustice
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 175
to any of the incorporators to give Mr. Fay the credit
of being the originator of the Association. He gave
generously of his time and labor and money to it,
secured the original subscriptions, and was largely
instrumental in maintaining it until it was able to
stand on its own feet. Contracts were made with
Mr. Thomas to serve as director for three years,
beginning July i, 1891, with Mr. Milward Adams to
serve as manager for the same time, and the Audito-
rium was secured for the concerts. Fifty-one gen-
tlemen assured the finances. These fifty-one original
sponsors of the Chicago Orchestra were: Marshall
Field, C. N. Fay, E. B. McCagg, N. K. Fairbank,
H. H. Porter, A. A. Sprague, T. B. Blackstone, Walter
C. Larned, George A. Armour, O. S. A. Sprague,
R. T. Crane, John M. Clark, Thomas Murdock,
Edson Keith, Franklin MacVeagh, John R. Walsh,
O. W. Potter, Henry Field (estate), Charles Counsel-
man, C. L. Hutchinson, N. B. Ream, T. W. Harvey,
C. W. Fullerton, Henry W. Bishop, Dr. Ralph N.
Isham, Eugene S. Pike, C. R. Cummings, George M.
Pullman, P. D. Armour, Victor F. Lawson, A. C.
Bartlett, S. A. Kent, Henry W. King, L. J. Gage,
Norman Williams, Albert Keep, Martin A. Ryerson,
H. W. Higinbotham, Cyrus H. McCormick, E. W.
Blatchford, Byron L. Smith, Carl Wolfsohn, J. Mc-
Gregor Adams, Allison V. Armour, J. J. Glessner,
S. E. Barrett, J. M. Loomis, W. G. Hibbard, L. Z.
Leiter, Charles H. Wacker, and O. W. Meysenburg.
The story of the Chicago Orchestra, of its strug-
gles and vicissitudes, of the patience and courage of
176 THEODORE THOMAS
its leader, of the noble generosity of the little band
of guarantors, for the original number was largely
reduced after the three years' contract expired, of
the arrival at the parting of the ways, and of the un-
precedented popular tribute of Chicago to the orches-
tra bearing its name, and of its attachment to its
leader, is familiar to every one. Mr. Thomas lived
long enough to dedicate the permanent home which
Chicago had given to its orchestra, and passed away,
knowing that his life-work had not been in vain, and
that the purposes which had been nearest his heart
for fifty years were at last realized.
XI
DISAPPOINTMENTS
/ "T" V HERE were three great disappointments in Mr.
* Thomas's life growing out of his connection with
the Cincinnati College of Music, the American Opera
Company, and the World's Columbian Exposition
Bureau of Music. These disappointments were all
the more bitter because in each case he had planned
musical schemes upon the broadest foundations, and
for the highest and noblest purposes, and in each
case he hoped for results which should not only
justify the time and labor and money expended, but
should be far reaching in their influence. In other
words, he looked forward to a college which should
be not merely a conservatory, but a university of
higher musical learning; to an opera organization of
a national and purely American character, which, in
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 177
time, should give a great and much-needed impetus
to musical composition, as well as performance, in
this country; and to such an exposition at the
famous White City of musical progress, that its
evolution should be marked, and its promise made
clear to every one. All three projects failed, but
not because of his fault. His plans were too great
for one man to carry out unaided.
It would be a thankless task to stir up the old
embers of strife all the more thankless now that
Mr. Thomas is not here to make answer. In each
case, when he saw that persistence in his plans must
involve a long and bitter contest, and that these
plans were either misunderstood or antagonized, he
resigned, and bore his disappointment with philo-
sophical composure. He cherished no resentments,
but turned to the great purpose of his life with fresh
courage and renewed activity. I have had letters
from him during these three periods, but only in one
of them does he refer to his troubles, and in that he
merely says: "I cannot tell you what pain these
attacks have given me. My age and my record
should have protected me from them. But let it
pass. Art is long." So, as the Master said, "let it
pass." It will not revive strife nor pain any one now,
however, to define his relations to the three schemes
mentioned, all of which were nobly conceived, and
to show what he intended, though his plans failed.
Mr. Thomas, in his autobiography, refers to the
unpleasantness of his connection with the Cincinnati
College of Music in a general way. It was the only
178 THEODORE THOMAS
unpleasantness he ever had there. He went to that
city as a young man. He conducted every one of its
biennial festivals from 1873 to 1904, the last one with
a series of programmes so colossal, so grandly con-
ceived, so perfectly put together, so admirably exe-
cuted, as to excite the wonder and attract the admira-
tion of the whole musical world. If he had left no
other great achievement behind him, the programme
book of the sixteenth Cincinnati festival would have
been a sufficient memorial of his greatness. What
the Festival Association thinks of him, how it cher-
ishes his memory as musician and friend, how
proudly it recalls his triumphs, how faithfully it prom-
ises to follow in the course he laid out for it, is stated
in its beautiful and dignified memorial contained in
the appendix of this volume. There were no disap-
pointments in his connection with the Musical Associ-
ation ; with the College, unfortunately, it was different.
The College was incorporated under the laws of
Ohio in the summer of 1878, its directors being R. R.
Springer, John Shillito, George Ward Nichols, Jacob
Burnet, Jr., and Peter R. Neff. Mr. Nichols was
made president. On August 16 of that year the fol-
lowing letter was addressed to Mr. Thomas by many
leading citizens of Cincinnati, inviting him to take
the position of musical director :
CINCINNATI, August 16, 1878.
MR. THEODORE THOMAS, NEW YORK:
DEAR SIR: The undersigned, citizens of Cincinnati, on
the part of the College of Music of Cincinnati, cordially invite
you at the earliest opportunity to make your residence in this
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 179
city, and accept the musical directorship of the college. It is
proposed to establish an institution for musical education upon
the scale of the most important of those of a similar character
in Europe; to employ the highest class of professors; to organ-
ize a full orchestra, with a school for orchestra and chorus,
and to give concerts.
This city has superior advantages for the success of this
project. We have the new Music Hall, where the College will
be held, and the great organ, which offers decided attraction.
Our community is cultivated in music; living is cheap and
comfortable here.
In this invitation we recognize your especial fitness for a
trust so important, and believe if you accept that you will be
taking another step forward in the noble work of musical edu-
cation to which your life has been so successfully devoted.
R. R. SPRINGER, PETER RUDOLPH NEFF,
JOSEPH LONGWORTH, JOSEPH KINSEY,
JOHN SHILLITO, A. HOWARD HINKLE,
GEORGE K. SHOENBERGER, LAWRENCE MAXWELL,
ROBERT MITCHELL, GORDON SHILLITO, JR.,
DAVID SINTON, JACOB BURNET, JR.,
W. H. ANDREWS, JULIUS DEXTER,
RUFUS KING, ROBERT F. LEAMAN,
WILLIAM RESOR, JR., M. E. INGALLS,
C. H. GOULD, CHARLES SHORT,
T. B. RESOR, GEO. WARD NICHOLS.
Mr. Thomas promptly accepted the invitation,
and signed a contract for five years, because he be-
lieved that the College would be just such an institu-
ton as he had long desired for the cultivation and
diffusion of knowledge of the higher music. He
organized it upon the basis of a great musical univer-
sity. In addition to the tuition in all the common
branches of music, he organized an orchestra of large
i8o THEODORE THOMAS
proportions, a quartette for chamber music, a chorus
for oratorio work, and provided for regular recitals
upon the great new organ. The College was soon
humming like a hive, and there were no drones in it.
In the first season (November 7, 1878, to May 29,
1879), there were twelve orchestral concerts with
programmes of the highest order, and eminent solo-
ists, twelve chamber concerts in which Mr. Thomas
took part, with Jacobsohn, violin, Baetens, viola,
and Hartdegen, violoncello, besides choral, closing
examination, and miscellaneous concerts, and organ
recitals by Mr. George E. Whiting, three or four
times a week. During the second season there were
eight orchestral and six chamber concerts, organ
recitals twice a week, and miscellaneous concerts.
A letter to "Dwight's Journal of Music," January
25, 1879, says:
"The influence exerted by Theodore Thomas in his new
field of labor cannot be overrated. A faculty has been formed
of local teachers, and in addition Jacobsohn, Baetens, and
Hartdegen, with Theodore Thomas, make a strong quartette.
Mr. Whiting has been engaged as organist, Signor and Mme.
La Villa as vocal instructors, and Perring as teacher of ora-
torio. It is also a success from a business point of view. Its
most potent influence is exerted through the orchestral, cham-
ber, and organ concerts, and the College choir. Every mem-
ber of the latter is rigidly examined, and discipline is strict.
In the orchestral concerts Beethoven's Second, Haydn's Ninth,
Schumann's Fourth, and Brahms's C minor symphonies have
been performed; in the chamber concerts, quartets by Bee-
thoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, and Schumann, and a
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 181
quintet by Brahms ; and at the organ recitals the best works
of Bach, Mendelssohn, Hesse, Thiele, Fink, Lemmens, Best,
and Smart."
A second letter to the same paper, written
February 8, 1879, says:
"In the instrumental and vocal departments, the system in
vogue in European conservatories is adhered to, except that
more attention is paid to the individual. The chorus classes
are instructed in musical notation, sight singing, etc. Theory
is thoroughly taught, and the attendance in classes is con-
trolled by carefully kept registers. For the orchestral concerts,
Mr. Thomas took the standing orchestra, which had been
directed by Michael Brand, and supplemented it, and made
Jacobsohn concertmeister."
In February, 1879, Mr. Thomas, owing to his
manifold and engrossing duties, gave up his place in
the string quartette to Eich, a resident violinist. In
March of that year the College choir was studying
Handel's "Hercules," Schubert's E flat Mass, Verdi's
"Manzoni Requiem," Beethoven's "Ruins of
Athens," and other important works. Mr. Whiting,
the organist, had added to his department instruc-
tion in church music. Apparently all through 1879
everything was prosperous, but early in 1880 sinister
rumors were afloat, and there was talk of disagree-
ment between Mr. Thomas and the Board of Direc-
tors. The correspondence "connected with the
withdrawal of Mr. Theodore Thomas from the Col-
lege of Music of Cincinnati" explains the disagree-
ment. In February, 1882, Mr. Thomas submitted
1 82 THEODORE THOMAS
certain recommendations to the Board of Directors.
The report they made upon them was not satisfac-
tory to him, and on the 27th of that month he wrote
to the Chairman of the Board as follows:
CINCINNATI, February 27, 1880.
MR. A. T. GOSHORN, CHAIRMAN:
DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of your communication of the
25th, inclosing the report of your committee for my examina-
tion, and requesting me to make such further suggestions as I
wish, concerning said report, before its return by your Commit-
tee to the Board.
There are some minor matters of detail, concerning the
curriculum and prospectus, which will require further consid-
eration. But there are two matters of fundamental import-
ance, as to one of which my former suggestion is disregarded,
and as to the other of which the report is ambiguous.
In the first place, I am clear that the school year cannot be
divided into more than two terms. According to regulation
No. 2 of your report, the Musical Director is to be charged
with, and held responsible for, the musical conduct of the Col-
lege. I am willing to assume this responsibility, but I must
insist upon being intrusted with the exclusive direction of the
school in all its departments, reserving, of course, to the Board
of Directors all questions involving the expenditure of money.
In other words, I insist upon occupying that relation to the
school which is ordinarily involved in the office of President of
a College, and I expect the Board of Directors and its officers
to sustain the relation ordinarily sustained by the Trustees of
a College.
Under these conditions, with a curriculum established and
discipline maintained, I have confidence in the prospect of
building up a great musical College. Under any other condi-
tions, I consider further effort in that behalf futile, and I there-
fore desire to know at the earliest convenient day whether my
suggestions are acceptable. If they are, I think it important
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 183
that the changes which they involve in the office of the College
should be made at once. I shall be glad to receive an answer,
by, say, next Tuesday. Yours truly,
THEODORE THOMAS.
Mr. Goshorn replied to this letter, asking Mr.
Thomas to explain more definitely his understanding
of the relations of the President of a College to the
Board of Trustees. In his reply Mr. Thomas ex-
plained at length, and as his letter contains the
reasons for his subsequent resignation, I append the
most important portion of it. Mr. Thomas says:
"With the experience which you say you have had in such
matters, I must assume that you are familiar with the usual
character of the office of President of a College, and I beg to
assure you that your apprehensions of an erroneous under-
standing on my part are groundless. I understand, as you
do, that the President of a College is an executive officer who is
appointed by the Board of Trustees, and administers the affairs
of the College under authority derived from them, and conform-
ably, of course, to any rules and regulations adopted by them.
"But the Trustees of a College never come in contact with
the students or take any personal part in the administration
of the internal affairs and government of the College. All that
is confided to the President and Faculty, and that is what I
desire to have done in our College. I must have exclusive
direction of the school in all its departments. Everybody
connected with the school must be under my control, and re-
ceive his instructions from me, and be accountable to me alone.
I in turn would expect to be accountable for my administra-
tion to the Board of Directors. I would not expect to submit
my judgment to theirs in musical matters, and in everything
concerning which I would be obliged to consult them, I would
rely upon mutually sympathetic cooperation. I believe that
I could easily administer the affairs of the office of the College
184 THEODORE THOMAS
with the assistance of a Secretary. An additional Clerk or
Treasurer might be necessary for a few days at the opening of
each term.
"In view of your allusion to my contract, I beg to say that
rumors, which have not escaped my ears, to the effect that I
am desirous of being relieved from it, are entirely false. I assure
you that it is my earnest desire to adhere to my contract,
and go on with the College, in whose success, under proper
organization, I lack no confidence.
"But you must appreciate that my professional reputation
is at stake, and that I cannot, in justice to myself, consent to
continue longer responsible for a school whose direction is not
confided in me; and that therefore I am entitled to know,
without delay, whether that will be done. I simply insist upon
being in fact what I am now only in name, viz., Director of
the College. That office I am entitled to under my contract,
and I decline longer to act as Assistant or Associate Director."
Several more letters passed between Mr. Thomas
and various members of the Board, but at last he
wrote March 4, 1880, the following letter of resigna-
tion:
CINCINNATI, March 4, 1880.
THE BOARD OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE COLLEGE OF Music
OF CINCINNATI:
GENTLEMEN: I am in receipt of the letter of your com-
mittee dated ad instant. I regard it as a misrepresentation of
my position and an evasion of the real issue. That position
and issue you certainly cannot misunderstand in view of the
communications, written and verbal, which I have had with
your committee and the President of your Board. I, therefore,
deem further negotiations useless, and respectfully request that
you relieve me from my duties October i, or as soon thereafter
as will enable you to secure a successor. Yours truly,
THEODORE THOMAS.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 185
The directors accepted the resignation, but not
the date named by Mr. Thomas, and after consulta-
tion with them his official relations with the College
terminated April 8, 1880, and, with one exception, they
parted good friends. He had differed from them in
his views as to the scope of a Director. To carry out
the purpose he had in mind, he needed more personal
authority than the trustees were willing to concede
to him. But even had they conceded all he asked, it
is doubtful whether Cincinnati was ready for such a
great university as he had planned, which, if he could
have carried out those plans, would have been one of
the greatest seats of musical learning in the world.
Nor was there the student material for such an
institution. Simply, the time was not ripe for such a
great project, and from that point of view the contest
was immaterial, and left no rancor behind it, dis-
appointing as the result was to him. He had greater
and in many respects more important work to do, not
alone for Cincinnati but for the whole West, and
work for which no other city in the West but Cincin-
nati could give him the opportunity of doing. Nobly
and most generously she stood by him and main-
tained those great festivals which have made her
name famous, and shed added lustre upon his
renown.
Mr. Thomas's experience with the American Opera
Company was a bitter one, not alone because of
the disappointment entailed by its failure but also
because of the exasperating litigation and petty
1 86 THEODORE THOMAS
persecution to which he was subjected for some time
after the collapse by those who thoughtlessly assumed
that he was financially responsible. Mr. Thomas's
only financial connection with the enterprise was a sal-
aried one, and he sacrificed several months' salary in
order that the orchestra should receive its pay. The
American Opera Company, though a distinct institu-
tion from the School of Opera, which was incorpo-
rated as the National Conservatory of Music, was
conducted under the same patronage and in sym-
pathy with its practical workings. The prospectus
shows that the American Opera Company, Limited,
was incorporated in 1878, for the purpose of perma-
nently supporting "opera sung by Americans." Its
capital was $250,000. Its officers were: President,
Andrew Carnegie; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. August
Belmont, Mrs. William T. Blodgett, and Mrs.
Levi P. Morton; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs.
Jeannette M. Thurber; Musical Director, Theodore
Thomas. It was not a local but a national enter-
prise. The leading artists came from twenty differ-
ent cities, and the chorus, originally selected from
six hundred and thirty applicants, represented twenty-
three different States of the Union. The distinct
features of the Company were enumerated in the
prospectus as follows :
"FIRST. Grand opera sung in our own language by the
most competent artists;
SECOND. The musical guidance of Theodore Thomas;
THIRD. The unrivalled Thomas Orchestra ;
FOURTH. The largest regularly trained chorus ever
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 187
employed in grand opera in America, and composed entirely
of young and fresh voices;
FIFTH. The largest ballet corps ever presented in grand
opera in America, and as far as possible American in its com-
position;
SIXTH. Four thousand new and correct costumes for
which no expense has been spared in fabric or manufacture ;
SEVENTH. The armor, properties, and paraphernalia, the
handiwork of artisans employed solely for this department,
and made from models designed by the best authorities;
EIGHTH. The scenery, designed by the Associated Artists
of New York, and painted by the most eminent scenic artists
in America.
In a word, the object of the American Opera Company is
to present ensemble opera, giving no single feature undue
prominence to the injury of others, and distinctly discouraging
the pernicious star system, long since discountenanced in con-
tinental Europe."
The purpose of the American Opera Company
was most commendable. It was one which had been
contemplated by other eminent musicians, among
them Anton Seidl. At this writing it is again on trial
by Mr. Savage, and its latest manifestation is the
ambitious attempt to produce "Parsifal" in English.
While opera in English is still an experiment, yet it
has been the dream of many conductors. Mr.
Thomas entered upon the work with enthusiasm.
He had an ensemble the like of which had never been
seen in opera in this country before an orchestra
splendidly trained, a most capable chorus of young,
fresh voices, artists who, if not great, were yet effi-
cient, the largest and best-trained ballet ever seen
on the American stage, and scenery, costumes, and
1 88 THEODORE THOMAS
properties in lavish profusion, and at the head of all
this was the most accomplished conductor in the coun-
try. Surely he had reason to begin his work enthusi-
astically, and good grounds for hope that it would
be supported by the American people and prove a
success. And yet, before two years had elapsed, he
wrote upon the back of the programme of his last
performance, "the most dreadful experience I have
ever had!"
The principal singers engaged for the first season,
which began in New York January 4, 1886, and
closed at Albany June 27 of the same year, were as
f ollows :
Sopranos Pauline L'Allemand, Helene Hastreiter, Char-
lotte Walker, Annis Montague, Kate Bensberg, May Fielding,
Christine Dossert, Minnie Dilthey, and Emma Juch.
Mezzos and Contraltos Mathilde Phillipps, Mathilde
Muellenbach, Sara Barton, Helen Dudley Campbell, and Jessie
Bartlett Davis.
Tenors Charles Turner, William H. Fessenden, Whitney
Mockridge, Albert Paulet, George Appleby, and William Can-
didus.
Barytones Alonzo E. Stoddard, William H. Lee, George
Fox, Homer A. Moore, Eugene E. Oudin, and William Ludwig.
Bassos William H. Hamilton, John Howson, Edward J.
O'Mahony, and Myron W. Whitney.
The repertory for that season included Goetz's
"Taming of the Shrew" (given for the first time in
this country, New York, January 4, 1886), performed
five times; Gluck's "Orpheus," thirty times; Wag-
ner's "Lohengrin," fifteen times; Mozart's "Magic
Flute," five times; Nicolai's "Merry Wives of
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 189
Windsor," fourteen times; Delibes's "Lakme,"
twenty-five times; Wagner's "Flying Dutchman,"
eighteen times; Masse's "The Marriage of Jean-
nette," and Delibes's spectacular ballet, "Sylvia,"
given together, fourteen times in all, one hundred
and twenty-six performances.
The principal artists engaged for the second sea-
son, which began at Philadelphia, November 15, 1886,
and ended in collapse in Toronto, June 1 8, 1887, were
as follows:
Sopranos Mme. Fursch-Madi, Emma Juch, Pauline
L'Allemand, and Bertha Pierson.
Mezzos and Contraltos Cornelia Van Zanten, Mathilde
Phillipps, and Jessie Bartlett Davis.
Tenors Charles Bassett, Henry Bates, Charles Wood,
William Candidus, and C. W. Lenmane.
Barytones William Ludwig, Alonzo E. Stoddard, and
John E. Brand.
Bassos Myron W. Whitney, D. M. Babcock, and William
H. Hamilton.
The repertory for the second season 1 included
"Faust," "Oipheus," "Lakme," "Lohengrin," "Fly-
ing Dutchman," ' 'Aida," ' 'Galatee," ' <Bal Costume "
'I am unable to assign the number of representations
of each opera, as in the first season, because the last two or
three months' programmes are missing from the Thomas col-
lection. In common with sundry other property of the Amer-
ican Opera Company, a trunk containing them was either
carried off by the manager to keep it out of the sheriff's hands,
or the sheriff levied upon it and carried it off for the benefit of
creditors who were growing uneasy. Little incidents of the
kind were so common in the Spring of 1887 that the librarian
of the orchestra, who was responsible for programmes, is un-
certain as to the fate of these missing ones.
190 THEODORE THOMAS
music of Rubinstein for ballet, ' 'Marriage of Jean-
nette," ''Sylvia," "Huguenots," "Merry Wives of
Windsor," "Martha," the ballet "Coppelia," and
Rubinstein's "Nero," the latter given for the first
time in this country at the Metropolitan Opera
House, New York, March 14, 1887. To this per-
formance, which was given upon a most brilliant
scale, the composer was invited. His reply to the
invitation was as follows:
ST. PETERSBURG, February 4.
DEAR SIR : I was extremely happy to hear from your letter
that you intend to perform my "Nero" this season in the Amer-
ican Opera. All I wish for my work is that the American
public should be as kind to it as it always was to my piano
playing.
It pains me very much indeed not to be able to cross the
ocean and be present on this occasion in New York, but the
names of Mr. Hock, rggisseur, and Mr. Theodore Thomas,
conductor, insure the perfection of the performance and quiet
me entirely as for the artistic wants.
I shall be all the time in a feverish impatience to hear about
it, and hope you will let me know instantly of the result of the
performance for fas and nefas.
I humbly pray Mr. Hock and Mr. Thomas that the cou-
pures they surely intend to undertake in the work (and some are
indispensable, as the work is long and fatiguing) should not
become amputations. Believe me, dear sir,
Yours very sincerely,
ANT. RUBINSTEIN.
During the second season, notwithstanding Mr.
Thomas's herculean efforts to make American opera
successful, and notwithstanding the brilliant manner
in which every opera was staged, troubles arose and
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 191
rapidly increased. The management was speedily
in arrears to every one, from stage hands to soloists,
but Mr. Thomas, who was unswervingly loyal to his
orchestra musicians, succeeded in keeping them paid,
though, as I have said, he sacrificed his own salary
for months to accomplish it. Strikes among the
stage hands, the chorus, and the ballet followed in
quick succession. How to provide for transporta-
tion was a difficult problem. Sheriffs had to be
dodged. Hotel and lodging-house keepers had to be
satisfied. Constables with writs had to be evaded.
The original backers of the enterprise had long ago
backed the other way, all save one, who was so finan-
cially involved that she was unable, or at least un-
willing, to get out without saving something from the
impending wreck.
Mr. Thomas held on to his unsalaried position,
and worked faithfully to save the organization, but at
last, when the affairs of the American Opera Com-
pany, Limited, were in a condition for which there is
no other name but anarchy, he left it at Buffalo, June
15, 1887. The poor old organization, which had
just vitality enough left to get to Toronto, gave one
last convulsive, expiring performance, and then col-
lapsed and went to pieces, fortunately for the name
of the thing, in a foreign land. Even then, some un-
wise persons sought to galvanize it into life again
but it was dead beyond all hope of resurrection,
leaving behind it a long array of bills, levies, law-
suits, and sheriffs' sales.
On the ninth of July, 1887, nearly a month after
192 THEODORE THOMAS
he had resigned his position, Mr. Thomas wrote a
letter to the management of the company, in which
he said: "We have had in ourselves all the elements
for good work and prosperity if only the first and
vital condition of success in any undertaking had
been observed by the directory and managers of the
National Opera Company, namely, prompt payment
of all employes. The National Opera Company
owes me between five and six months' salary, and I
have put the matter into the hands of my lawyer.
The directors have had ample time to make arrange-
ments to meet their indebtedness to the members of
the company."
For the first time Mr. Thomas speaks of "my
lawyer." He had to employ a lawyer, who vainly
tried to collect his back salary, but was more success-
ful in warding off the many suits brought against him
by creditors who supposed that he was responsible
for the debts of the company. On the thirtieth
of July of that year, Mrs. Thurber filed a bill in the
Court of Chancery at Trenton, N. J., to have the
company declared insolvent and a receiver appointed.
August 27, the ill-fated American Opera Company
disappeared from the musical world. Its assets were
sold under foreclosure of mortgage made by Mrs.
Thurber to Mr. Frank R. Lawrence. The total
original value of all these assets was $150,000. They
were sold for $26,101.
The failure of this scheme, so nobly conceived and
with such a legitimate and praiseworthy object in
view, was a source of keen disappointment to Mr.
THEODORE THOMAS IN 1888
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 193
Thomas, the more so because it happened from no
fault of his, and because he had to suffer for the
faults of others. He gave the American people an
operatic ensemble such as they had never seen before
and an orchestral accompaniment such as they had
never heard before. It was an experience he did not
like to talk about. Once, in our consultations, I said
to him: "Mr. Thomas, to what shall I attribute the
American Opera Company disaster?" He replied:
"To inexperienced and misdirected enthusiasm
in business management, and to misapplication
of money. It is not necessary to say more than
that."
Mr. Thomas's experience with expositions was un-
fortunate. He records in his Autobiography that his
musical scheme for the Centennial Exposition at
Philadelphia in 1876 was ' 'a dismal failure." Seven-
teen years later he undertook the duties of Musical
Director at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago,
but adverse circumstances forced him to resign his
position before the great work he had planned was
accomplished. When, in 1904, he was consulted by
the Commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase Expo-
sition at St. Louis, he advised them to give plenty of
military band music out-of-doors, as people did not
go to expositions to be educated but to be amused.
The commissioners wisely followed his advice. Some
went to hear the great organ in the Festival Hall, but
the thousands were entertained at the plaza band-
stands and in the Tyrolean Hall, where the orchestra
i 9 4 THEODORE THOMAS
served as an accompaniment for private and public
banqueting, certainly not as an educational institu-
tion.
Every one who has the interests of music at heart,
and who recognizes [the far-reaching importance of
the scheme which Mr. Thomas sought to carry out
at the Columbian Exposition, must regret its unfor-
tunate outcome. He gave a great deal of time and
labor, after his appointment as Musical Director, to
the preparation of a complete exhibit of musical art.
In this exhibit he proposed to show all that had been
done in music, excepting opera, from an early period
in its development to the present. Two large music
halls were built on the Exposition grounds, one for
symphony and chamber concerts, the other for fes-
tivals and daily free popular concerts. An orchestra
of one hundred and forty players was engaged, and
all the elements of a great musical exposition, such as
had never been attempted elsewhere in Europe or
America, were provided.
With a liberal equipment of material, and with
encouraging prospects before him, Mr. Thomas or-
ganized his bureau, and June 30 issued the following
outline of the scope which music would have at the
Exposition :
" Recognizing the responsibility of his position, the musical
director groups all intended illustrations around two central
ideas:
" i. To make a complete showing to the world of musical
progress in this country in all grades and departments, from
the lowest to the highest.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 195
" 2. To bring before the people of the United States a full
illustration of music in its highest forms, as exemplified by the
most enlightened nations of the world.
"In order to carry out this conception of the unexampled
opportunity now presented, three cooperative conditions are
indispensable :
" i. The hearty support of American musicians, amateurs
and societies, for participation on great festival occasions of
popular music, and for the interpretation of the most advanced
compositions, American and foreign.
"2. The presence at the Exposition of many of the rep-
resentative musicians of the world, each to conduct perform-
ances of his own principal compositions and those of his coun-
trymen, all upon a scale of the utmost completeness.
"3. A provision on the part of the Exposition authorities
of the means necessary for carrying out these plans, in the
erection of the halls indispensable for successful performances,
and in the engagement of solo artists, orchestras, and bands."
The general classification of concerts during the
six months, May to October, was announced by the
Bureau as follows:
1 . Popular orchestral concerts.
2. Symphony concerts.
3. Festivals, with chorus, orchestra, and eminent soloists.
4. Concerts by famous visiting orchestras, bands, and
choral societies from other cities.
5. Concerts by famous European or American artists and
composers, exhibiting their own works.
6. Open-air band concerts.
7. Chamber concerts.
8. Amateur concerts.
To what extent this scheme was carried out the
programmes of Volume II. of the present work will
show.
196 THEODORE THOMAS
The inaugural ceremonies took place October 21,
in the stately Manufacturers' and Liberal Arts Build-
ing. The dedication music, which was performed
under Mr. Thomas's direction, included l 'Columbus
March and Hymn," written for the occasion by Prof.
John K. Paine; dedicatory ode, music by G. W.
Chadwick; Mendelssohn's cantata, "To the Sons of
Art," accompanying the award of medals to the
master artists of the Exposition: Haydn's chorus,
"The Heavens are telling"; Handel's "Hallelujah"
chorus; the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Hail
Columbia," with full chorus and orchestral accom-
paniment; and Beethoven's chorus, "In Praise of
God." The musical forces for the occasion were
composed of the following musicians of Chicago:
Apollo Club and auxiliary, 700; the World's Fair
Children's Chorus, 1,500; surpliced choirs, 500; mem-
bers of quartette choirs, 200; German societies,
800; Scandinavian societies, 200; Welsh societies,
200; orchestra and bandsmen, 300, besides 100 drum-
mers for a few phrases in the Chadwick music, and
six additional harps.
As a further evidence of the comprehensiveness of
Mr. Thomas's scheme, an exhibition, of which
Mrs. Thomas was the executive, was planned which
was designed to show the musical standard of the
American people in their homes and private life
the standard of the audience in contradistinction to
that of the stage. To illustrate this idea, Mrs.
Thomas organized a convention of the amateur
musical clubs of all parts of the country, the sessions
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 197
of which extended through four days In May. Its
object is denned in the following paragraph, quoted
from her address at the opening meeting:
"The Bureau of Music believes that these meetings of
women's amateur musical clubs from widely separated parts
of America will be productive of important results by showing
the world the character and quality of the educational work
being accomplished by women in this direction; by stimulating
the formation of similar clubs in places where they do not yet
exist, and by the interchange of ideas which will take place
amongst clubs whose homes, objects, and methods of work are
so widely diverse."
This convention was successfully carried out.
Many clubs accepted the invitation, and each was
assigned forty minutes in which its president read a
short paper before the Convention, sketching its
organization and work, followed by a programme
rendered by its delegates, illustrating its standard of
musical performance. The eight sessions of the
Convention were of great interest, and those who
attended them all were astonished to find that the
musical standard of the clubs farthest removed from
the great centres, such as those of Tacoma and Los
Angeles, in the far West, or Portland, Maine, in the
far East, were as high as those of New York or Chi-
cago, and their performances equally good.
Several years later, a number of musical women,
most of whom had been delegates to this convention,
and desired to perpetuate the good work inaugurated
there, organized the "National Federation of Wo-
men's Musical Clubs," under the presidency of Mrs.
198 THEODORE THOMAS
Edwin F. Uhl, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which
now numbers many thousands of members in all parts
of America; and thus one of the objects of the Con-
vention has been realized. Mrs. Thomas was not
connected actively with this work, which was carried
out chiefly by Mrs. Uhl, and Mrs. Sutro of New York,
but in recognition of her services at the Columbian
Exposition Convention, of which it was the offspring,
she was elected its Honorary President.
Such were the general outlines of this great
World's Fair music scheme, nobly and artistically
conceived and successfully carried out from May
until August. It is unnecessary to explain the rea-
sons for the discontinuance of the scheme. Adverse
influences gradually undermined and destroyed the
Bureau of Music after three months of concerts which
those who heard will never forget, and on August 4
Mr. Thomas resigned his position and sent the fol-
lowing manly communication to the Chairman of the
Music Committee:
CHICAGO, August 4, 1893.
JAMES W. ELLSWORTH, ESQ.,
CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON Music.
DEAR SIR: The discouraging business situation, which
must of necessity react upon the finances of the Fair, and which
makes a reduction of expenses of vital importance to its interests,
prompts me to make the following suggestions, by which the
expenses of the Bureau may be lessened. The original plans
of the Bureau, as you know, were made with the design of giving,
for the first time in the history of the world, a perfect and com-
plete exhibition of the musical art in all its branches. Arrange-
ments were made for regular orchestral and band concerts; for
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 199
performances of both American and European master-works of
the present day, under the direction of their composers; for con-
certs by distinguished European and American organizations;
for chamber concerts and artists' recitals; for women's concerts,
etc., besides a general review of the orchestral literature of all
kinds and countries, in symphony and popular concerts through-
out the season.
The reduction of expenses at the Fair has obliged the
Bureau to cancel all engagements made with foreign and Amer-
ican artists and musical organizations, and to abandon all future
festival performances, thus leaving very little of the original
scheme except the bands and the great Exposition orchestra,
with which are given every day popular and symphony concerts.
My suggestion is, therefore, since so large a portion of the
musical scheme has been cut away, that for the remainder of
the Fair music shall not figure as an art at all, but be treated
merely on the basis of an amusement. More of this sort of
music is undoubtedly needed at the Fair, and the cheapest
way to get it is to divide our two fine bands into four small
ones, for open-air concerts, and our Exposition orchestra into
two small orchestras, which can play such light selections
as will please the shifting crowds in the buildings and amuse
them.
If this plan is followed, there will be no further need of the
services of the musical director, and in order that your com-
mittee may be perfectly free to act in accordance with the fore-
going suggestions, and reduce the expenses of the musical
department to their lowest terms, I herewith respectfully
tender my resignation as musical director of the World's
Columbian Exposition.
Should, however, any plans suggest themselves to you, in
furthering which I can be of assistance, I will gladly give you
my services without payment.
Very respectfully,
THEODORE THOMAS,
Musical Director.
200 THEODORE THOMAS
Mr. Thomas's resignation was accepted, the
orchestra was disbanded, and he went to his country
home for much-needed rest until the regular winter
season of symphony concerts with the Chicago
Orchestra opened.
It will never cease to be a matter of regret to those
interested in the progress of music that this great
scheme could not have been carried out as Mr.
Thomas planned it. It would have marked an epoch
in the musical history of the world. How resolutely
he upheld his standards of performance, and what
persistent stress he laid upon the elevation of music,
is shown in this extract from one of his many bureau
instructions:
"The musical director holds that while cooperation is
asked of all grades of attainment, every musical illustration
there produced must be justifiable upon artistic principles;
that is to say, it must be what it honestly purports to be. The
ounce or the pound of progress will be regarded as art, and
every step, from the lowest to the highest, will be acceptable
provided it faces in the right direction, thus fulfilling its true
use and popular ministry."
Through his entire career, whether in a garden
concert, a symphony concert, a festival, or a World's
Exposition, he never lost sight of the importance of
elevating the standard of music and educating the
popular taste. That was his ambitious determina-
tion when, in 1855, a young man of twenty, he set
the standard, and though it cost him well-nigh half
a century of labor, and he had to face disappointments
and overcome obstacles that would have daunted
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 201
almost any other musician, he lived to see his work
accomplished, and knew it would endure. He
"hitched his wagon to a star" and it remained
there.
XII
THE MUSICIAN
^HEODORE THOMAS began his musical
* career as a violinist, and during the years of his
boyhood and youth not only supported himself but
helped support the family by playing anywhere and
everywhere that he could find the opportunity. He
has said himself that he has no remembrance of a
time when he was not playing. The earliest recorded
appearance on his programmes as a violinist is in
1852, he being at that time in his seventeenth year,
but he had played in concerts before that, and was
even then so well known that his services were in fre-
quent demand in theatre and opera orchestras, as well
as in concert-rooms. He had played before he was out
of his teens in the accompaniments of nearly all the
great singers of his time, some of them the greatest
singers of all times. His ability was so reliable, his
musical endowment so unmistakable, and his quali-
ties of leadership so convincing, that he was soon
promoted from the ranks to the position of concert-
meister, or "leader," as it was called at that time.
More than once, in the absence of the conductor, he
had to take his place, and at such times never failed
to give signs of those extraordinary abilities which
202 THEODORE THOMAS
were destined to be manifested in after years, when
the bow was finally exchanged for the baton.
Doubtless had he continued playing the violin he
would have become a famous virtuoso, but "Frau
Musica" had other work and other triumphs for
her favorite. His musical knowledge, his accu-
rate musicianship, his perfect ear, and his ability
in producing absolute purity of tone, as well as his
great love for tone-color, fitted him to become a great
violinist; but back of all these qualities and domi-
nating them was the noble ambition to make peo-
ple acquainted with the higher music, as well as that
perfect mastery of self and sure knowledge of his
own power which impelled him to become the leader
of men, the interpreter of the great composers, a
player upon the orchestral choirs rather than a player
upon a single instrument. He had all the ability
and all the knowledge to make himself one of the
best of violinists, but his temperament urged him to
become not a player but a leader of players not an
Ysaye or Wilhelmj, but the master of the Ysayes and
Wilhelmjs.
I never heard Mr. Thomas play in his days of
mastery. There are few living who have. I have
been with him on social occasions, and at suppers
with his orchestra, when, upon urgent request of
friends, or to entertain his own players, for he was
always in the best of humor on these informal
occasions, he would take the violin and gratify
them, but of course these were not examples of his
real skill, when fingers had grown stiff from want
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 203
of practice for years, and arms had been used so long
for time-beating. But even on such occasions there
were evidences of his old-time skill and purity of
tone. It is upon the old accounts, therefore, that we
must rely to ascertain his position as a violinist. He
was first violin in the famous Mason-Thomas Quin-
tette for many years, and two members of that quin-
tette, Bergner, the 'cellist, and Mason, the pianist,
are still living. Bergner enthusiastically said upon
one occasion, "One of the best violinists in the
world was spoiled to make the best conductor in the
world." In his "Memories of a Musical Life,"
William Mason more critically says :
" Thomas's fame as a conductor has entirely overshadowed
his earlier reputation as a violinist. He had a large tone, the
tone of a player of the highest rank. He lacked the perfect
finish of a great violinist, but he played in a large, quiet, and
reposeful manner. This seemed to pass from his violin playing
into his conducting, in which there is the same sense of large-
ness and dignity, coupled, however, with the artistic finish
which he lacked as violinist."
Some contemporary notices of his playing may
help the reader to form an idea of his ability and
style as a violinist. Of his playing in the Beethoven
Quartet in F, op. 59, at one of the Chamber Concerts
in 1855, "The New York Times" says:
" Mr. Thomas is a young and praiseworthy artist who reads
with great accuracy, but who is not quite so steady in the
upper part of the instrument as a sensitive ear requires. There
was nothing, however, to call for condemnation, and very little
even of false intonation to mar the effect of a great and thor-
oughly appreciable work."
204 THEODORE THOMAS
"The Musical Review and Gazette," in a notice
of a sacred concert given April 14, 1856, at the City
Assembly Rooms, in which Carl Bergmann was con-
ductor and Mr. Thomas ''leader," says:
"Mendelssohn's interesting concerto for the violin was
played by the talented leader, Mr. Thomas, in a superb manner,
much better than we ever heard it before in this country. The
only objection we would make is to the somewhat thin tone
of the player, but this, we presume, was more the fault of the
instrument than of the performer." *
At the closing concert of the Mason-Thomas sea-
son, in 1856, Mr. Thomas played the Bach "Cha-
conne." The correspondent of " Dwight's Journal
of Music" says:
" Decidedly the most wonderful performance of the concert
was Mr. Thomas's playing of the celebrated Chaconne by Bach.
This young artist (and very young he is, although the stamp of
genius matures his almost boyish face) bids fair to rise high
in the musical world. . . Young Thomas played the whole
unfalteringly, without notes, and consequently with all the
more freedom and abandon. His mechanism, too, gives proof
of untiring industry in practice, but more than all, his evident
enjoyment of what he was playing, and his thorough entering
into the spirit of the music, showed the true artist in him. His
choice of pieces also betokens real art love and reverence.
He never plays any but good music. Such men are or ought
to be the missionaries of art in this country." 2
1 Upon the programme of this concert in the Thomas col-
lection is a notation in which Mr. Thomas complains of the
inferiority of his instrument. EDR.
2 Dwight's correspondent prophesied better than he
knew. EDR.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 205
Referring to a Mason and Thomas matinee at the
Spengler Institute, April 19, 1858, "The New York
Tribune" says:
" Mr. Theodore Thomas, a young and rising artist, whose
modesty is only equal to his merit indeed, he is hardly con-
scious of his own powers and who is well known as a devoted
and enthusiastic laborer in the higher walks of art, played a
solo upon the violin, by Bach, admirably, and received an
encore. The chief points in Mr. Thomas's style are a pure,
full, rich tone, and unexceptionable bowing; he is also an ir-
reproachable timeist and has great powers of execution."
Mr. Thomas appeared at a concert in Philadel-
phia, June 10, 1858, with Carl Formes, the basso,
and Musard. "The Evening Journal" of that city
says:
" Mr. Theodore Thomas created a very pleasant impression
at this concert by his correct and spirited conductorship. Mr.
Thomas is a young man of large and brilliant promise. He is
wedded to his art, and devotes himself to it with assiduity and
enthusiasm. As a violinist he is already eminent. Thus
much in all sincerity for the young and modest leader, whose
name does not appear on the bills in letters a foot high."
Mr. Thomas was in Chicago in 1859, and played
at a concert March 28, in which Carl Formes, Satter,
the pianist, and Mile. Poinsot, vocalist, also appeared.
"The Illinois Staats Zeitung" says:
"Theodore Thomas, a worthy associate of these artists,
develops an extraordinary volume of tone, and also displays
extraordinary skill in bowing. Mr. Thomas's art shows that
he has devoted himself to the study and understanding of
musical theory with unwearied industry. During the last two
206 THEODORE THOMAS
years he has become America's most accomplished violinist.
His beautiful staccato and admirable performance of the
Kreutzer Sonata are worthy of the highest praise."
November 24, 1860, Mr. Thomas played in one
of the famous Wolfsohn 1 Chamber Concerts in
Philadelphia, of which the correspondent of
' ' D wight's Journal of Music " says:
" Mr. Thomas came next, playing Schubert's ' Tarentelle '
with a vigor and execution unsurpassed. As a leader we had
heard him before in the opera orchestra, and had remarked his
perfect coolness and self-possession when the conductor was
most nervous and perplexed, and by his bowing they were
several times prevented from coming to a dead halt. With his
solo every one was delighted, and for an encore he played a
beautiful reverie by Vieuxtemps."
March 2, 1861, he again played in the Wolfsohn
concerts, and the Philadelphia correspondent of the
"Deutsche Musikzeitung " says:
"Mr. Theodore Thomas was in his best form, and the
public, whose favorite he has become, lavished upon him the
heartiest applause and frequent recalls. The Berlioz ' Reverie'
which he played is as restless as a butterfly, and abounds in
rich tone-color, as well as in difficulties which, however, were
not difficulties for him."
At the first concert of the twenty-third season
(1862) of the New York Philharmonic Society, Mr.
1 Mr. Carl Wolfsohn is a resident of Chicago and is still
teaching. Chicago owes much to him for his important musical
service. He was one of the first to guarantee the Chicago Or-
chestra concerts, and has ever been a stanch friend of Mr.
Thomas, in whose earlier concerts he often played and with
whom he gave very successful chamber concerts in Philadelphia
in the early days.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 207
Thomas played the Mendelssohn Concerto, op. 64.
"The New York Times " says:
" The second solo was performed by Mr. Theodore Thomas,
a worthy and prominent member of the Society who, we are
glad to find, is at length acknowledged to be able to play the
fiddle. Mr. Thomas produced . firm tone and stops abso-
lutely in time, and plays without any affectation of sentiment.
He was completely successful."
A correspondent of "Dwight's Journal of Music"
writing January 6, 1868, of his playing at one of the
Mason-Thomas Chamber Concerts, says:
"Mr. Thomas played superbly. We have gradually be-
come so accustomed to that gentle preeminence in anything
which he undertakes that we sometimes overlook the fact that
he is one of our first violinists. His performance did not compare
unfavorably with that of Joachim in this same sonata (Bee-
thoven's op. 47, for violin and piano). He deserves the greatest
credit for acquitting himself so well, because just in the middle
of the first movement one of his violin strings snapped, and a
delay of some minutes was thereby occasioned. Mr. Thomas's
ease and insouciance of manner were enviable."
The most important pieces in Mr. Thomas's violin
repertoire which I have been able to find in his pro-
grammes are: Lipinski's "Concerto Militaire";
Ernst's ' 'Elegie" and ' 'Otello" theme and variations;
Tartini's "Trille du Diable"; Mozart's Symphony
Concertante, for violin and viola; Berlioz's "Ro-
mance" and "Reverie"; Raff's Sonata, op. 73;
Vieuxtemps's "Reverie," "Fantaisie Caprice," and
Concerto in E major; Schubert's "Tarentelle" and
"Rondo Brillante," op. 70; Mendelssohn's Concerto,
op. 64; Bach's "Chaconne" and Double Concerto;
208 THEODORE THOMAS
Beethoven's F major Romanza, Kreutzer Sonata,
and Concerto in D ; Schumann's ' Tantaisie," op. 131 ;
and several of the first-violin parts in chamber music
of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.
The citations I have made from contemporary
sources of information may serve to answer the
question frequently asked during the latter part of
his life how did Mr. Thomas play ? Before leaving
this period of his career, the following letter, which
he wrote about two years ago to a prominent music
house in Chicago, with regard to the well-known
Hawley collection of violins, will be of interest, par-
ticularly for its information concerning violin bows
and the Cremona instruments.
CHICAGO, October 19, 1903.
GENTLEMEN: The well-known collection of violins, form-
erly owned by Mr. Hawley, of Hartford, and which you have
purchased with the intention of placing them on the market, I
have known of from boyhood. I am glad that they will now fulfil
their mission, and pass into the hands of artists and art-loving
amateurs, instead of being silent, locked up in the cases of a
collector. The undertaking can hardly be called a speculation,
as there are risks in such a venture which make it difficult to
manage successfully. But if it does pay, you should be wel-
come to the profits of the transaction, for the public is the
gainer thereby.
It is safe to say that without the Cremona instruments of
the seventeenth century the world would not have had the
master-works, quartets, and symphonies of Haydn and Mozart.
It was, in particular, Stradivari who created a tone which ap-
pealed to musicians, and Francois Tourte, born 1747, died 1835,
who invented a bow which made the modern orchestra with
all its shading and nuances and a Beethoven, possible.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 209
Without these instruments and the Tourte bow, invented over a
century later, the music of to-day would have been developed
on altogether different lines. One cannot help thinking of a
quotation from Pascal, that if Cleopatra's nose had been
shorter, the world's history would have been different.
The best Cremona violin is as much an art work as a great
statue, and an expert will derive as much pleasure from con-
templating its form as from a fine piece of sculpture. The
tone of these instruments in master hands has never been
equalled, and as an interpretative vehicle of great compositions
they are a necessity. It is also well to bear in mind that they
are becoming daily rarer. Many have been ruined by ignorance
and Europeans are not willing to part with these art treasures
any more than with their national paintings and sculptures.
Of the thousands of men and women studying music, but
very few show any sign of having a soul. Even the first step
toward artistic expression, light and shade, and beauty in tone-
color, is only achieved by a small percentage, and consequently
they make no impression. I am convinced that the prime reason
for this defect amongst violinists was the lack of a good instru-
ment in early life, which might have awakened a sense of tone-
quality, instead of noise. The production of a full, soft, warm
tone cannot be taught. We can only cultivate and develop the
sense for tone-color. Johann Joachim Quantz, a musical au-
thority born 1697, died 1773 and teacher of Frederick the
Great, says, " Auffassung ist die Kunst mit der Seele zu spielen." l
In placing such fine instruments within the reach of Ameri-
can musicians, your undertaking should meet the appreciation
and encouragement which it deserves.
Yours truly,
THEODORE THOMAS.
In the early days of his career, Mr. Thomas had
a strong ambition to be a composer, but after he
1 Freely translated, " Conception is the art of playing the
soul of music." EDR.
210 THEODORE THOMAS
knew his own powers better and came to understand
the needs of the time, he felt convinced that he could
do better work for his country as an executant than
as a creator. He did not feel that his creative ability
was of the highest order, and so he deliberately made
his choice, though he wrote several pieces for ' 'occa-
sions." As an arranger of piano and other solo
instrument compositions for full, or string orchestra,
however, and an adapter of the old music for the
modern orchestra, his work was of the highest
importance, because of his absolute knowledge of
orchestral resources and his musical scholarship and
interpretative ability. He seemed to read the very
soul of the composer in a score, and to have an
intuitive sense of what the composer would have
freely expressed had he not been hampered by the
comparative lack of instrumental resources in his
time. In this respect he followed in the steps of
Mendelssohn, Robert Franz, Esser, and others. A
publication of the works which he has thus adapted
for orchestra, as well as of his markings and revisions
to supply omissions or fill out mere suggestions in the
works of the old masters, would be extremely valu-
able for conductors and musicians generally.
Among Bach's works, he adapted the cantata,
"Ein feste Burg," for performance at the fourth
Cincinnati Festival, in May, 1880. In this cantata
he substituted modern instruments for the obsolete
ones which Bach used, such as the viola d'amore,
viola da gamba, oboe d'amore, oboe da cassia, etc.,
filled in harmonies, transposed where it was necessary
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 211
for a modern instrument, divided the instruments
variously, and augmented where strength was effec-
tive and all this without violating the traditions, or
introducing any foreign matter or new motives, or in
any way destroying the balance between chorus and
orchestra. Such work is scholarly, but like much
scholarly work, it passes unnoticed. He has also
adapted three of Bach's violin sonatas the andante
and allegro of No. 2, which is set for the full
violin section of the orchestra, with the correction
of some errors; the No. 3, E major, for violin and
cembalo (piano), in which the accompaniment has
been filled out in the genuine Bach spirit; and
the No. 5, in F minor, in which Mr. Thomas has
assigned the solo- violin part to the violins and
violas and the pianoforte part to the wood winds
and basses. Besides these sonatas, Mr. Thomas,
using the copy belonging to the Leipsic Bach Ge-
sellschaft, restored the Suite No. 2, in B minor,
to its original form by correcting phrasing and
expunging the numerous errors which had crept
into the score from time to time, and adapted it to
the needs of the modern large orchestra without
sacrificing any of the Bach spirit. He was always a
great student of Bach. In his earlier years his aim
was to adapt Bach to the modern orchestra, but
during the last few years of his life he returned to the
old forms by adapting the modern orchestra to Bach,
and by making a most careful study and reproduction
of the classic ornaments. This was evidenced in his
arrangement of the Passion Music, and especially in
212 THEODORE THOMAS
the great D minor Mass, in which he restored the
balance of the Bach orchestra and its quality of tone.
The composition of his orchestra for the production
of this mass in the Cincinnati Festivals was as fol-
lows: Four first flutes; four second flutes; two oboes
d'amore; six first oboes; six second oboes; two third
oboes; two D clarinets and four A clarinets, to take
the place of the old high trumpets in the original
score; eight bassoons; two horns; six cornets; four
tympani, and the usual string section. His markings
and additions to the score are extremely interesting,
and, although numerous, he has not once violated the
Bach spirit. On the other hand, he produced this
mass as nearly as possible as Bach produced it. It
was his purpose, and had he lived longer he would
have carried it out, to give Bach's music with a Bach
orchestra, Mozart's with a Mozart orchestra, and the
same with that of Beethoven, Wagner, Strauss, and
other composers.
One of the most popular adaptations made by
Mr. Thomas is that of the andante and variations
from Beethoven's "Kreutzer Sonata," with which he
was particularly familiar, not only from frequent
performances of the violin part himself, but from
having conducted it on so many occasions when
played by prominent artists most prominent of all,
Rubinstein and Wieniawski. In this arrangement,
the theme is stated by the English horn, first violas,
and 'cellos, and the variations are assigned to a
variety of instruments, the trumpets, bells, and
violins pizzicato taking the theme in the first variation.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 2i$
The analyst of the Chicago Orchestra programmes,
Mr. Hubbard William Harris, said of this adapta-
tion when it was first performed: "Through-
out the entire movement, the modifications and
enlargements of the original score necessary for the
present style of performance are handled with fine
musicianly skill, and with an accuracy of judgment
which is acquired only through long experience with
the manifold complexities of the modern orchestra"
a statement which is characteristic of all Mr.
Thomas's adaptations. The arrangement was made
in one of his summer vacations at his much-loved
' Telsengarten," in New Hampshire, and is dedicated
to his friend, Mrs. J. J. Glessner. The title-page
bears the inscription, "Beethoven's Theme and
Variations from the 'Kreutzer Sonata,' adapted for
Grand Orchestra, and dedicated to the Mistress of
the 'Rocks,' by Theodore Thomas, July, 1900," and
the last page, the annotation, "Fine, July n, 1900,
Felsengarten."
Mr. Thomas's felicity in adaptation is also shown
by his arrangements of the Chopin Polonaise in
A flat, and the "Marche Funebre" by the same com-
poser. When Rubinstein was in this country he
besought him to orchestrate the Polonaise, but he
could not then find the time. Subsequently, at Mrs.
Thomas's request, the work was done at Felsen-
garten, and is dedicated to her. The "Marche
Funebre" arrangement, with which every one is
familiar, is dedicated to Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, his
friend and an enthusiastic promoter of music and
THEODORE THOMAS
the arts, who died in Philadelphia a few years ago.
Mr. H. M. Finck, the accomplished critic of "The
New York Evening Post," said of this adaptation,
when the Chicago Orchestra played it in New York :
" The funeral march, wonderful and pathetic as it is on the
piano, nevertheless seems to call for the sombre colors and the
overwhelming power of the orchestra to give full vent to its
bitter grief. In those thrilling fortissimos which follow the
slow dull thuds of the march movement, and which Mr. Thomas
has assigned to the brass choir, there is a world of heartrending
agony that would convulse even those to whom music is usually
an unknown language. For the funeral of a great man of
genius, the grandest piece in existence is the Chopin Funeral
March as orchestrated by Theodore Thomas." l
Among lighter works, Mr. Thomas adapted
Schubert's three marches, op. 40 No. i for full
modern orchestra, No. 2 for a reduced orchestra,
strings the most prominent, and No. 3, same arrange-
ment as No. i, but without drums; also a concert
ending for the overture to Mozart's ' 'Don Giovanni" ;
Schumann's "Traumerei"; Schubert's "Serenade,"
"Erl Konig," "Am Meer," "Der Doppelganger";
Wagner's "Traume," and several settings of scenes
as well as of single numbers from his operas, among
them a beautiful arrangement of ' 'Siegmund's Love
Song," and other songs and piano compositions.
Mr. Thomas was not a creator in the sense that
1 Mr. Thomas once said in conversation with a friend :
"The Chopin Funeral March is growing hackneyed. The
'Eroica' march is for 'a great man.' The Siegfried march is
for a demigod. What shall we plain people have for our
dirge ? Let it be the Beethoven A flat Sonata March." His
adaptation of the last named is extremely impressive.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 215
the great composers are, but he was the interpreter of
the messages of the composers, with the ability to
transmit them to the world, to make those under-
stand who might misunderstand, to make those listen
who are indifferent, to rouse thousands of people
from their prejudices or their lethargy, and make
them acquainted with the great thoughts of great
souls, and to read what is to them a sealed book, so
that they shall not only understand but come to love
it. In this sense he was the re-creator.
It was as the conductor, however, as the inter-
preter of the composer's message to the people, that
Theodore Thomas greatly excelled and nobly crowned
his mission, though in the supreme moment of his
career the cypress was interwoven with the laurel.
Few have come to that position more richly endowed.
Practically he was a self-educated musician, as he
was a self-made man. From the first he was master
of himself, and there is no higher quality of leader-
ship than this. In the concert orchestra he was the
dominant player. In the theatre orchestra he was
the self-possessed one when others were nervous.
When he took his place in that famous Mason-
Bergmann organization, he dominated it at once.
He dictated its programmes, inspired the performance,
and his four associates, though older musicians,
never disputed his supremacy. He was born to
command. He had great power over men, and that
extraordinary gift of making men obey, and at the
same time holding their respect and admiration.
Add to this his skilled musicianship, his knowledge
216 THEODORE THOMAS
of the resources of an orchestra, his wonderful musi-
cal perception, which enabled him to interpret so
accurately, and his rare gift of absolute pitch, it is
not remarkable that at the first opportunity he
dropped the bow for the baton, and never relinquished
it, never faltered in his great task, never missed a
concert or a rehearsal, until death summoned him.
He had taken the baton in hand forty-three years
before for a lofty purpose, namely, to give the peo-
ple the best music, played in the best manner, to
make them acquainted with it, to make them inter-
ested in it, to make them like it, and finally, to make
them impatient of the trivial and unworthy. He
never wavered in the belief that he could do this,
and the end crowned his work.
Mr. Thomas also brought to his work as conduc-
tor great strength and simplicity of character, a
nature not given to the emotional or sentimental, but
rather intellectual, forceful, and temperate. He had
strong passions, well under control. Under great
provocation, his wrath would fairly blaze, especially
if he were provoked by an act of cruelty or injustice;
but he was usually philosophical and patient. Finally,
he had the same faith in the people that he had in
himself. He was sure that he was right, and he was
sure that the people would see he was right. It might
take ten, twenty, fifty years, but he knew that in the
end truth would prevail. I met him once at the time
of the great railroad strike, in Chicago. It was dur-
ing the summer night concerts, and that evening I
went to the Exposition Building much earlier than
o
-:
V.' >
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 217
usual. One end of the huge structure was occupied
by troops. At the concert end a solitary person was
sitting at one of the tables with his head bowed upon
his hands. As I came nearer, in the dim light, I saw
it was Mr. Thomas. He looked up, and beckoned to
me. I sat down by him. He said: "I guess I am a
little blue to-night. I have been thinking, as I sat
here, that I have been swinging the baton now for
fifteen years, and I do not see that the people are any
farther ahead than when I began, and, as far as my
pocket is concerned, I am not as well off. But," and
he brought that powerful fist of his down on the table,
"I am going to keep on, if it takes another fifteen
years." That was the kind of man needed for the
kind of work before him pioneer work in a most
unpromising soil, sowing seed apparently among the
stones, hard work, discouraging labor, but making the
way easier for all who follow him. In any estimate
of the work he did, this should not be lost sight of.
He had no precedents, no traditions, no experiences
of others to aid him in his great task. He was doing
the kind of work for music in this country that the
first settler does who ploughs his furrows in the pri-
meval wilderness. It is not difficult now for others
to follow in the way he opened.
It is probable that to most people Mr. Thomas
appeared impassive and unemotional in the concert-
room. They could not see his face, and perhaps they
did not observe the significance of his quiet and
graceful motions. They had not seen him' in
rehearsals, where the real work was done and well
2i8 THEODORE THOMAS
done, or he would not have allowed it to be done in
public. Some persons, observing the quietness of
his beating, his easy pose, and the absence of physical
gesticulations or frantic demonstrations, have fancied
perhaps, that the orchestra could have played just as
well without him. The secret of his ease and quiet-
ness, however, was that the players had learned their
lessons before they came to school, and that with such
players as constitute the Chicago Orchestra, drilled
and trained in his methods, as well as being compe-
tent musicians, it is not essential that there should be
any extraordinary demonstrations with the baton,
jack-in-the-box jumpings, or sensational motions of
the head, arms, and feet. These sometimes indicate
that the conductor is posing for effect, or that he is
not confident of his players' ability perhaps not of
his own. An "impression" of his conducting, which
appeared in "The Outlook" for February, 1905, illus-
trates this point. The writer says:
"In his conduct of an orchestra in the concert-room Mr.
Thomas had always seemed to me impassive and imperturbable.
The perfection of his orchestra's work I recognized; but he
seemed to be not only without passion, but without feeling.
. . . I had, therefore, entertained a notion, the truth of
which, however, I always suspected, that the excellence of the
interpretation and the rendition was in the orchestra rather
than in the leader. Mr. Thomas seemed to me simply a kind
of human metronome, beating time. I learned the contrary on
one occasion, when I was permitted to witness one of his private
rehearsals. At a certain point in the symphony, which the
orchestra was playing in perfect time and in perfect tune, but
with a certain mechanical effect of crescendo and diminuendo,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 219
which, however, I had not noticed, he suddenly rapped on the
music-stand before him. The orchestra stopped; with hand
and foot acting together, he imitated the movement of an
organ-grinder; then, with only a word to indicate the bar at
which the orchestra was to take up the music, he struck the
music-rack before him again for attention, then, with the move-
ment of his baton, gave the orchestra the signal, and they re-
peated the passage the execution of which by dumb signal he
had criticized. The orchestra repeated the passage with the
spirit and fire, before lacking, infused into it. It was a trifling
incident, but a significant one."
Mr. Thomas was the least demonstrative of all
the great leaders of his day, but he was the most
graceful, dignified, and easy of them. He knew his
players intimately, their physical and moral defects.
If their defects were incurable, he soon found it
out, and supplied their places. He never tolerated
scandals of any kind in the orchestra. With moral
defects he had little patience, and once displayed in
hours of duty there never was opportunity for a sec-
ond display, no matter how excellent the player
might be. They, in turn, knew all his ways almost
intuitively. He really had no code of signals, for
there was no need of it. His right hand was the indi-
cating member, his left hand the persuasive one
and how gracefully and eloquently persuasive it was,
whether in the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven or the
''Village Swallows" waltz of Strauss! Some of his
players have told me that they could feel his beat, so
completely was he in touch w r ith them, and so intimate
the sympathy between them. It was a kind of mag-
netic leadership. The impression which he made
220 THEODORE THOMAS
upon others, others sometimes made upon him. In
an interview he once said :
" Before the first note is played, there is a something in
the air that whispers what sort of a concert we are going to have.
Sometimes I breathe it in, and know that the night is going to
be a triumph, and that every man waiting to respond to the
baton is determined to find the true meaning in every note he
plays. Then again there are times when the music, though
technically correct, is mechanical, the audience restless and un-
sympathetic an indefinite, intangible something hovering over
everybody that says as plainly as if it had a human voice, ' You
cannot win hearts to-night, Theodore Thomas. Nature is out
of sorts.' "
Sidney Lanier, the poet, also musician, has put on
record one of the best descriptions ever written of
Theodore Thomas's leading. He says:
"To see Thomas lead is music itself. His baton is alive,
full of grace, of symmetry; he maketh no gestures, he readeth
his score almost without looking at it, he seeth everybody,
heareth everything, warneth every man, encourageth every in-
strument, quietly, firmly, marvellously. Not the slightest shade
of nonsense, not the faintest spark of affectation, not the
minutest grain of effect is in him. He taketh the orchestra in
his hand as if it were a pen, and writeth with it."
It has been said that he was a martinet in his dis^
cipline, and kept his players at such a distance that
they stood in fear of him, and felt that they were mere
machines. It is true that he was autocratic so far as
music was concerned. His word was law, and he
would brook no opposition. If any player discov-
ered that he knew more than the conductor, and did
not keep that knowledge a secret, known to himself
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 221
only, he speedily found that a player with such vast
knowledge was not needed, even though he might be
the concertmeister, as once or twice happened.
When some one was commiserating him upon the loss
of his first violin, he coolly replied: "I never lose any
one." He was intolerant of any trifling, or boy's
play, among his men at rehearsals. He disapproved
of the eccentricities of dress and manner affected by
some musicians. He was sometimes merciless in his
musical demands, but he never asked his men to do
anything he was not ready to do himself. His re-
bukes were always brief, but pointed. Once in a
rehearsal of a Mozart symphony, the attack was not
prompt enough to suit him. "Some people," he said,
"are born behind time and never catch up with them-
selves." At one rehearsal the playing did not suit
him. It was careless and mechanical. Suddenly he
raised his hand he rarely rapped upon his desk as
a signal either to begin or stop and the music
ceased. With a significant look over the ranks he
said: "Young men, I am sixty-eight years old, and
am still advancing. There are some of you who will
lose your places right away if you continue standing
still." It is needless to say that progress was made.
Upon another occasion Beethoven's Ninth Sym-
phony was in rehearsal, and he had set his heart upon
an excellent performance of it. Some extra players
had been engaged who manifested inexcusable care-
lessness in not coming in promptly on the beat.
He remonstrated with them several times, and,
finally, losing his patience, threw off his coat and
222 THEODORE THOMAS
announced that he would "thrash" the next man
who came in out of time. The certainty that he
would do so had its effect, and from that time the
precision of the outsiders was admirable.
He was also rigid in his ideas of musical decorum
so far as audiences were concerned. He has explained,
in his introduction to the second volume of this work,
why he disapproved of encores. He began opposing
them at his very first concert, and in all the years
which followed, he never yielded where an encore
would injure the effect of his admirably constructed
programmes. Many have been the contests he has
waged with audiences upon this point. It is a proof
of the high esteem in which he was held that they
always submitted good-naturedly. Late coming was
another of his aversions. He laid down the law to
fashionable patrons, and to those "born late," in his
Central Park Garden programmes forty years ago.
At the first Cincinnati Festival, in 1873, he said to
the committee on the opening day: "When I com-
mence the 'Te Deum,' you will close the doors and
admit no one until the first part is finished." The
committee remonstrated some, as they were afraid
of its effect upon the public. Mr. Thomas replied
firmly: "It must be done. When you play Offenbach
or Yankee Doodle, you can keep your doors open.
When I play Handel's 'Te Deum,' they must be shut.
Those who appreciate music will be here on time.
It makes little difference to those who come late how
much they lose." He was rigid, also, in the enforce-
ment of rules for rehearsals. In his long service as
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 223
conductor he not only never was absent but he never
was tardy at a rehearsal. Promptly on the minute
he was in his place, and he demanded of his players
that they should be equally prompt. No outsider
was allowed in his rehearsals. He once explained to
me the reasons for this rule. Often he had to
rehearse by sections, sometimes by small groups, and
occasionally he had to call a single player to account.
Such a player, he said, would not mind going over a
passage again and again before the orchestra, but it
would not be just to him to make him do it before
outsiders.
Never was leader more strict, but never was
leader more just and kind. The men knew that he
had their interests at heart, that he was thoroughly
loyal to them, that he would sacrifice himself for
them, as he did more than once, and that in moments
of success he always unselfishly sunk himself out of
sight and awarded them the praise. When off duty
and enjoying himself with his players at their infor-
mal functions, he was a boy with them, and led
their mirth as enthusiastically as he led their music.
Even in rehearsals, when all was going well, he
kept his players in the best of humor with his hearty
jokes or quiet sarcasms, but when things were not
going well, Jove frowned. But the strongest reason
why his men not only respected, but had a feeling of
affection for him, was because they never questioned
his superior attainments, and appreciated the kind,
humane, loving nature behind his austere seeming.
The following incident shows the extraordinary
224 THEODORE THOMAS
quickness with which his players responded to him.
In a festival given in a southern city a choral number
with instrumental prelude was on the programme.
The chorus came in four bars ahead of time, causing
a frightful discord; but in an instant singers and
orchestra were moving smoothly along as if nothing
had happened. After the performance the manager
inquired of Mr. Thomas how it was done. "Oh,"
was the reply, "I just jumped the orchestra ahead
four bars."
He also had a quick ear for false notes, and never
failed to locate the offender, even when the full or-
chestra was in action. Once in rehearsing the "Good
Friday Spell," from "Parsifal," he suddenly dropped
his hands, and the music stopped. Glancing at a
player in the front row he simply said to him, in his
peculiarly high pitched tone of voice, "Well ?" The
offender well knew what he meant. "It was only a
wrong note, sir," he replied, "that was all." "Oh!
Only a wrong note! That was all, was it?" with
a world of sarcastic meaning in his voice.
In July, 1904, he went to Milwaukee from his
summer home in New Hampshire to conduct the
festival of the North Western Sangerbund. He had
considerable trouble with some of the local players,
who had been hired to reinforce his own orchestra,
and who were bent upon earning their salaries as
lightly as possible. While rehearsing, he noticed one
of these shirks drawing his bow in a peculiar way.
He listened, but could hear no tone from him. Stop-
ping the orchestra, he called him to the front rank,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 225
where he had to play. The orchestra had hardly
begun, before it was stopped again, and Mr. Thomas
wrathfully addressed the man: "First, you don't play
at all. Then, when you do play, you play all wrong."
He did not put in an appearance again.
His recognition of any new peculiarity in the
player, or any change, however slight, in an instru-
ment, was most extraordinary. Unger, one of his
'cellists, had had his instrument repaired, without
Mr. Thomas's knowledge, and the repairer had
changed the position of the sound-post. After the
rehearsal of the first number, he turned to him and
said: "Is that a new instrument you have there, Mr.
Unger ?" In his autobiography he has himself related
an incident, which occurred in the New York Fes-
tival of 1882, illustrating his quickness of sight as
well as of hearing. His gift of absolute pitch was
infallible. While he was walking with a friend one
day in the street a whistle sounded. The friend
asked him if he could give the tone. "Oh, yes; the
tone is C sharp; the overtone is F sharp, or,
rather, G flat."
In a letter, written by him December i, 1889, Mr.
Thomas, referring to the first New York Philhar-
monic concert of that season, tells some of his tribu-
lations. He writes:
" I had a curious rehearsal this morning, and I had to do a
good deal of fighting. I could not get the men to play as I
wanted, and finally I slammed the score on the floor and took
up another number with the same difficulties; but at last, by
talk and insistence, and making stands play alone, I began to
226 THEODORE THOMAS
get the effects I wanted, and behold, it went to the ears and
hearts of the men, and then, of course, it was easy. They were
more delighted than I was when they heard the result and
understood what I wanted; but that is a terrible fight over a
hundred men of ability trying for something, and one man
beating the stand, shouting at the top of his voice, scolding,
entreating, etc., and finally taking out his watch to show them
all that it has taken an hour. The trouble is, they can play
elsewhere as they please, and when they come to me after a
short interval it always takes half of the first rehearsal time be-
fore they again realize the proportions and proper conditions.
Well, I feel better for the fight, and it is also a satisfaction to
have the whole profession stand and own it up."
William Mason is right when he says, in his
"Memories of a Musical Life," that Mr. Thomas's
"talent for programme making, by putting pieces in
the right order and sequence, thus avoiding incongru-
ities, was unsurpassed . " He showed this ability at the
outset of his career, when he was making programmes
for the Mason-Bergmann concerts in his twentieth
year programmes of a kind that led Bergmann to
say, "You have lifted the veil from our eyes." In
one of his earliest symphony concerts in Boston
(1866), they played the following perfectly con-
structed programme: Overture to "Manfred," Schu-
mann; concerto for two pianos, Mozart; introduction
to "Tristan and Isolde," Wagner; and Fifth Sym-
phony, Beethoven. After the concert "The Boston
Orpheus" said:
" And now let me say one word in regard to the taste with
which Mr. Thomas had made the programme, even if I run
the risk of being denounced as partial and in favor of that
gentleman's ruling the instrumental music in New York. The
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 227
programme is short. It comprises music from a period of
more than two hundred years. The classical and romantic
schools are well and equally balanced. There is a unity of
character in the whole programme a character of loftiness
and nobility, and properly the programme ends with the jubilant
and soaring flight of the soul in the finale of the Fifth Symphony.
It is my opinion that it is just as difficult to make a good pro-
gramme as it is to conduct well. In this art Mr. Thomas has
not been outdone by any one in this country."
This is high and merited praise for this one pro-
gramme, but it is equally due to thousands more in
his half-century of programme making. Instances
of his consummate skill are thickly strewn through
the programme groups in the second volume of this
work. Though the old music constituted the prin-
cipal part of their framework, and Beethoven and
Wagner were his "pillars," yet he was always on the
alert for new music. Some pieces he read through
and never tried. He had his orchestra play through
others for a surer test, and many of these pieces were
carefully consigned to Mr. McNicol, his librarian,
with the remark, "More stuff for the closet, Mac."
And yet, of late years, he rarely made a programme
which did not contain new music. I asked him once
why he played so much of it. He replied: "People
cannot read the new music, but they should keep
abreast of it, and the only way to know it is to hear
it. It does not follow that I approve or indorse it
because I play it. It is due to the public to hear it
once. This has been a lifelong idea with me."
In this connection attention may be called to the
chronological list of works which Mr. Thomas pro-
228 THEODORE THOMAS
duced for the first time in this country, and which will
be found near the end of the second volume. Since
that compilation was made, I have received from Mr.
Bernhard Ziehn, the well-known musical theorist
and scholar, a list made two years ago showing the
dates at which Mr. Thomas produced noted compo-
sitions, and the time at which they were first heard
in European cities, which are usually supposed to
be progressive. The list is as follows:
Franck, "Les Bolides" . . Chicago, 1895; Vienna, 1903
Strauss, R., "Eulenspiegel" . Chicago, 1895; Vienna, 1903
Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 Chicago, 1893; Dortmund, 1903
Charpentier, " Impressions d'ltalie " . Chicago, 1893;
Frankfurt a'M., Sondershausen, 1903.
Liszt, "Mephisto Waltz" . . Chicago, 1893; Hanover, 1903
Tschaikowsky, "Francesca da Rimini" . Chicago, 1896;
Vienna, 1903.
Franck, "Le Chasseur Maudit" Chicago, 1898; Hanover, 1903
Glazounow, "Le Printemps" Chicago, 1898; Munich, 1903
D'Indy, "Istar" . Chicago, 1898; Sondershausen, 1903
Dukas, "L'Apprenti Sorcier" . Chicago, 1900; Dresden-
Munich, 1903.
Franck, Symphony, D minor . Chicago, 1900; Frank-
furt a'M., 1903.
Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 . Chicago, 1901; Dessau-
Leipsic, 1903.
Fibich, "Evening" . . . Chicago, 1901; Vienna, 1903
Schillings, "Prologue to King CEdipus" . Chicago, 1901;
Stuttgart, 1903.
Weingartner, Symphony'No. 2 . Chicago, 1901; Berlin, 1903
Humperdinck, " Dornroschen" . Chicago, 1902 ; Berlin, 1903
Hausegger, " Barbarossa " . Chicago, 1902; Bremen, 1903
Sibelius, " Christian II. " . . Chicago, 1902; Munich, 1903
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 229
Mr. Ziehn also says:
"Furthermore, for some years the Chicago Orchestra,
under the direction of Theodore Thomas, has been the only
orchestra in this, as well as foreign countries, which executes
the ornaments of classic compositions correctly as explained
by Quantz, Leopold Mozart, C. Ph. Em. Bach, and others, and
before that time there was none since the classic era. These
two out of a great many items of importance are sufficient to
answer the question, 'Shall this orchestra go ?'" '
In describing his system of programme making,
Mr. Thomas speaks of Beethoven and Wagner as
the two ''pillars" of his programmes in earlier years.
In later years, they were not so necessary. His pro-
grammes, so to speak, could stand alone, so great
had been the progress of popular taste and appreci-
ation. He could introduce more new matter and
freely acquaint his hearers with what was going
on in the musical world without any danger of their
"running after false gods." He knew that they
would accept his standards of taste. So of late
years he gave much attention to the works of Ameri-
can composers, drew liberally from the Russian,
Bohemian, and Scandinavian schools, and promi-
nently brought out the music of the advanced style,
represented by Richard Strauss and others, as well
as the much disputed works of Bruckner and his
disciples. What French art also owes to him is
shown by a letter of condolence to his widow from
the celebrated composer Vincent d'Indy, in which
1 This was written at a time when the existence of the orches-
tra was at stake. EDR.
230 THEODORE THOMAS
he says, "Accept, Mme. Thomas, this expression
of profound sympathy for the cruel loss which
musical art has sustained by the death of the illus-
trious master to whom French composers and
M. d'Indy in particular, are solely indebted for
their recognition in America."
Nothing that was new and worth hearing escaped
his vigilant eye. His programmes, especially since
the organization of the Chicago Orchestra, are a
record of musical accomplishment during fourteen
years in every field of music. Thus his audiences
have been kept abreast of musical thought and crea-
tion. It is doubtful indeed whether any other audi-
ences in the world have been as well "posted" in
contemporary musical literature. And yet he never
neglected the old for the sake of the new. To the
end Beethoven remained the foundation of his pro-
grammes and Wagner was their strong dramatic
support, but at the same time what other conductor
has done a greater and more enduring work for
Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, and Brahms,
as well as Liszt, Berlioz, Tschaikowsky, and Rubin-
stein ? What other conductor has done the musi-
cal world more important service in making it ac-
quainted with Bach through the medium of scholar-
ly adaptations and arrangements, to which I have
made reference elsewhere in this volume ? He had
that broad catholicity of taste which recognized the
value of the best modern works as well as of the
accepted classics.
While studying his immense half-century col-
i >::.
WORLDS COLUMBIAN
THEODORE THOMAS.
7
, \j
+
c , .
FACSIMILE OF A LETTER
L
WRITTEN BY MR. THOMAS IN 1892
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 231
lection of programmes I was continually impressed
with his preference for Beethoven, not alone for his
symphonies but for his overtures and incidental
music, his readings of which came at last to be
authoritative. Who ever studied him more closely,
more intelligently? It was a labor of love, almost
a labor of life with him. He had conducted the
Fifth Symphony hundreds of times, and yet every
time that he took it up the performance showed
the influence of fresh care in phrasing or tone-quality,
to make it more effective, and more elasticity in
conducting. He has been criticized by the con-
servative for his tempos, but the fact remains that
he had no equal as a conductor of the Beethoven
symphonies, especially of his favorite three, the
"Eroica," the Fifth, and the Ninth, and no equal
as a conductor of the "Fidelio" overtures, the
"Coriolanus" overture, the "Egmont" music, the
"Prometheus" ballet, or, among the choral works,
the Mass in D. In his hours of leisure during the
last few years he prepared analyses of the first five
symphonies and had intended to prepare the other
four in a similar manner, but death prevented the
fulfilment of his purpose. The five which he has
finished, however, are masterpieces of musical study
and skill, and it is to be hoped that some day they
may be given to the musical world.
In this connection, the following extract from a
letter written to me by Dr. Julius Fuchs, the musical
scholar and writer, who was a friend of Mr. Thomas
many years, is of special interest:
232 THEODORE THOMAS
" It should be a duty to keep his library intact. 1 The works,
of course, may be replaced for money, but what has been written
down by this giant with his meritorious and technical additions
to the classics, can never be rebought. These so exact works
exact in the smallest details of art, should be kept intact and
unchanged as models. All the live experiences of Liszt, Billow,
Klindworth, Riemann, etc., are accessible to the public in the
editions of the classics for piano music of Robert Franz for
vocal music.
"Thomas was, as you know best yourself, a man of practical
deed. He mastered work which would have taxed the powers
of many. Hence the singleness of his work, the singleness of
his unexcelled orchestra. The means and ways for this model
singleness are not published. As yet, we have no 'Edition
Thomas ' of the orchestra work of the classics. Now, what can
be done so that this life-work shall not be lost to art, as was,
for instance, the work of the old Miiller String Quartette in
Germany ? Every great leader has to offer the classic works
together with his own individuality in order to influence the
public. To this end, however, the technical means of execution
will always change, as we may observe in the various con-
ceptions and the technical material of the classics of piano
music, from Liszt to the present time.
"Now, in case the contents of the Thomas library should
be made use of for public performances, permission should be
granted only with the special proviso that absolutely no changes
should be made in any direction so that the additions made
by Thomas may remain as an inheritance of his conceptions
until a 'Thomas Edition' is published. I mean that only the
works contained in a ' Thomas Edition,' or such as are already
supplied by the composers themselves with all technical mate-
rial, as, for instance, the Russian compositions of the present
1 Steps have already been taken in this direction, and all
musicians will be glad to know that his scores will soon be
collected and classified by expert hands so that they will be
available for reference. EDR.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 233
time, should be open for public performances or technical
changes. It may not be possible to keep together the entire
library and to supplement it in such a way that all the prom-
inent works of the present time will be contained in it, but as
it stands it is unique and can be made the nucleus of a library
to which students will come from far and near as they do to
the library of the Vatican there for the old, to America for
the new.
"When the 'Amen' of the 'Hallelujah' for Thomas has
died away on the heights, there will probably be no end to
questions. Beethoven will say, 'How have you conquered
this violin passage, even if transposed to C minor?'
"And Thomas will answer: 'How could you write so un-
practically ? '
"Beethoven will say then: 'Had I known that you were
to have such an orchestra, I should have written still more
difficult music. In my tune there was no Chicago, no
Thomas.' "
Mr. Thomas gave frequent expression to his
admiration for Beethoven. It was his belief that
"the man who does not understand Beethoven, or
has not been under his spell, has not half lived his
life." In an interview he once said:
"Take Beethoven'? music, it is something more than mere
pleasure; it is education, thought, emotion, love, and hope.
I do not doubt that when my orchestra plays one of his sym-
phonies, every soul in the audience is stirred in a different way
and by a different suggestion. I care not from what station
in life come the thousands who sit back of me. Beethoven
will touch each according to his needs, and the very same
cadence that may waft the thoughts of one to drowsy delight
or oblivion may stir the heart of another to higher aspirations
may give another hope in his despair, may bring to yet another
a message of love."
THEODORE THOMAS
At one of the rehearsals for the Cincinnati May
Festival of 1904, the Bach B minor mass and the
Beethoven Mass in D were taken up. Just before
beginning, Mr. Thomas, turning to the chorus, said :
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a difficult programme
to perform, but with due attention from your side to the con-
ductor, I think this Festival will be memorable in history.
By due attention I mean you must not take your eye from the
conductor, that you may be in sympathy with him. With
Beethoven, music becomes a language, which is the most
emotional, and never sentimental. There is none of that so-
called 'rubato' desirable in his style, but the constant light-
and-shade expression marks are needed to give life to every
phrase, which you cannot do without the aid of a conductor.
As I have remarked to you before, you must often allow time
for expression marks, but immediately take up the tempo
again. For the music of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies you must allow time for ornamentation ; since Beethoven,
for expression."
While the music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven
held the highest place in Mr. Thomas's esteem he
did a great work for Wagner, and for what in
Wagner's day was called "the music of the future."
The credit for giving the first performance of a
Wagner composition (the overture to ' 'Tannhauser")
in this country belongs to Carl Bergmann, but Mr.
Thomas was the first to make the .country well
acquainted with that composer's music. With the
persistence always characteristic of him, he played
it over and over, season after season and as rapidly
as he could procure the manuscripts. When they
were accepted only under protest and he was told
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 235
that people did not like them, he coolly replied:
"Then they must hear them till they do." He
did not have to force them upon his audiences,
however, after the New York Festival of 1882,
when he gave selections from some of the Wagner
works with Frau Materna for his soloist, and the
Wagner festival tour of 1884, in which he had the
assistance of Winkelmann, Scaria, and others, and
performed selections from all the music-dramas,
including "Parsifal." In his concerts, also, he
greatly advanced the Wagner cult by his fine settings
and arrangements for the concert stage and at last
made his music so popular that the "Wagner nights"
were excelled in point of attendance only by the
"Beethoven nights." He was for a long time
accused of being "a Wagnerite," when that word
conveyed something like a reproach, but he was in
no sense a Wagnerite. He exploited Wagner's music
because it was a new revelation in the musical world
and some hailed it as the dawning of a new light
which was to eclipse all others. This he never
believed. He knew that Bach and Beethoven and
Mozart had laid the foundations of music and that
they never would be disturbed. But he thought
it due to the people that they should be well informed
and keep pace with what was going on, and so he did
for Wagner what he later did for Richard Strauss,
and in both cases did it more promptly and more
thoroughly than any other. In a letter to me,
reproduced elsewhere 1 in facsimile, he says: "I do
'Page 230, Vol. I.
236 THEODORE THOMAS
not care to dwell long on the subject but I will say
that I have neither sympathy nor patience with
those so-called 'musicians' whose education begins
and ends with Wagner." In another letter, written
in 1877, when he was busiest with Wagner's music,
he writes: ' 'I am a Wagnerite, but not in the modern
and New York sense. Your New York Wagnerite
tramples under foot everything that is not Wagnerian.
I do not think I can be accused of showing a lack
of appreciation for Wagner's works but I still think
there is something else besides Wagnerian music;
so, in that sense, I am possibly not a Wagnerite."
Before closing this appreciation of Mr. Thomas,
the musician, I should like to quote another impres-
sion from "The Outlook," because it makes an in-
teresting comparison between his interpretation and
that of Mr. Gericke, a conductor for whom he had
high respect. The writer says:
" Sometime in the eighties I happened to notice in a New
York paper the advertisements of the Thomas Orchestra and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which were to play on the
same day. Mr. Gericke was to give his concert in the after-
noon at old Steinway Hall, and Mr. Thomas, his concert in
the evening at the Metropolitan Opera House. As I looked
over the programme announced in the paper I saw that each
programme had on its list of compositions to be given, Gold-
mark's 'Sakuntala' overture. Such an opportunity to hear
two of the great orchestras of the world play the same com-
position on the same day was not to be missed, and so, although
I had to consider the expenditure both of time and money in my
concert going, I got tickets for both performances. It was
well worth making the effort to hear this splendid overture
performed by two great conductors. I purposely say performed
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 237
by two great conductors, because the concerts were convinc-
ing illustrations of the fact that a conductor of skill and
genius plays upon his band of men as an organist plays
upon his organ. Both orchestras were composed of musicians
of the first rank, and of expert, technical skill; both scores
were exactly the same; the same instruments were used, and
in the same number and with the same volume of tone. But
there was quite as much difference, both sensuously and
intellectually, between the two renderings as there would be
between a reading of Hamlet's Soliloquy by Sir Henry Irving
and by Edwin Booth. Mr. Gericke's interpretation as I
recollect it, was the more definite and elegant; Mr. Thomas's
the more temperamental and impressionistic. Both were
beautiful and satisfactory in their respective ways. I learned,
I think, one lesson from this experience that music is a
plastic art and that it is folly to lay down rigid lines with which
any given composition shall be performed and insist that all
conductors shall follow those lines. It is perfectly logical and
reasonable for an auditor to say that he prefers Irving's Shy-
lock to Edwin Booth's, but it is unreasonable for him to assert
that preference as a proof that his friend who may prefer
Edwin Booth's interpretation is ignorant or stupid. Inter-
pretative art has a very wide range. If this were not so, the
best way to hear a Beethoven Symphony would be when it
was performed upon an orchestrion instead of by an orchestra.
Theodore Thomas's genius was not that of a mere discipli-
narian of a band, although some critics have laid emphasis upon
his skill as a disciplinary officer; it lay in the power of his
imagination to penetrate a composition and discover its hid-
den and poetic meaning and then to inspire his men with an
understanding and appreciation of that meaning."
Mr. Thomas's most active, personal work for
music was measured by the span of fifty years.
Forty-two of these years he conducted an orches-
tra, in addition to performing many other duties
238 THEODORE THOMAS
connected with the progress of music in this country.
He reached the highest standard of success ever
attained by a musician in America, and left an
impression upon his art which can never entirely
disappear. To him and to his two orchestras the
Thomas Orchestra in the East and the Chicago
Orchestra in the West, this country owes its edu-
cation and its progress in instrumental music and
to a large extent in vocal music also. He accom-
plished this great work because he believed in him-
self and in it. Upon the very threshold of his career
he announced his high purpose and no obstacles
were too great, no disappointments too bitter, no
antagonism too severe to cause him to swerve from
it. Often despondent, sometimes almost despairing,
he struggled on year after year. He reached the
goal when the years had come which have "no
pleasure in them" and the physical powers were
waning, but his eyes did not close in final slumber
until they had seen the triumph of that cause to
which he devoted himself in the strength of his young
manhood, and he had heard the approving "well
done, good and faithful servant." He has told us
himself how he accomplished it ' 'by perseverance,
hard work, and stern discipline." He has told us
what was his greatest pleasure ' 'to render perfect
music perfectly." He has told us, though not with
that intention, of what must have been his great
consolation in his dark hours ' 'the power of good
music! Who among us can tell or measure it?
Who shall say how many hearts it has soothed,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 239
how many tired brains it has rested, how many
sorrows it has taken away ? It is like the power of
conscience mighty, immeasurable."
In closing this sketch of Theodore Thomas,
the Musician, let some of his great contemporaries,
whose words are authoritative, declare the full value,
the real meaning, and the actual accomplishment of
the two orchestras he founded :
" I have found in America something that I least expected
to find. . . I had no idea that such a new country had
an orchestra like Theodore Thomas's. Never in my life,
although I have given concerts in St. Petersburg, Vienna,
Berlin, Paris, London, and other great centres, have I found
an orchestra that was as perfect as the organization Theodore
Thomas has created and built up. When he accompanies me
with his orchestra, it is as though he could divine my thoughts
and then as though his orchestra could divine his. It is as
perfect as the work of some gifted pianist accompanying a
singer with whom he has often rehearsed. I know of but one
orchestra that can compare with that of Theodore Thomas,
and that is the orchestra of the Imperial Academy of Paris,
which was established by the first Napoleon in the year 1808,
into which only artists, when young, are admitted; and they
may have any number of rehearsals until they arrive at
absolute perfection. It is that orchestra alone which is as per-
fect as Theodore Thomas's but, alas, they have no Theo-
dore Thomas to conduct them." Anton Rubinstein.
" I can give you no better idea of my opinion of the Orches-
tra than by saying that when I was listening to it I said to
myself, 'I wish Wagner himself were here to hear his music
so perfectly rendered.' It was magnificent, grand, nothing
could have been finer. When I sang in Berlin and Vienna,
Wagner rehearsed with the orchestra most carefully until it
was near perfection. But that Theodore Thomas should,
240 THEODORE THOMAS
here in America, and without having heard Wagner, so faith-
fully reproduce the very effects which I heard Wagner teach his
musicians, amazes me. It was simply perfect." Frau Fried-
rich-Materna.
"I have always supposed the Vienna Orchestra to be the
best in the world, but it cannot be compared with the Chicago
Orchestra. Thomas plays upon his orchestra as other artists
play upon a solo instrument." Cesar Thomson.
" I have never in my life been so wonderfully accompanied
as by Theodore Thomas and the Chicago Orchestra."
Eugene Ysaye.
"It is a duty as well as a pleasure to compliment this
Orchestra, which for sight-reading, promptness of attack,
broadness and steadiness of tone, firmness and delicacy of
touch, has no superior in the world; and I consider it an honor
to have conducted it." Hans Von Billow.
"Gentlemen: I came here in the pleasant expectation
of finding a superior orchestra, but you have far surpassed
my expectations, and I can say to you that I am delighted
to know you as an orchestra of artists in which beauty of tone,
technical perfection, and discipline are found in the highest
degree. I know that this is due to your, by me, most highly
revered meister, Theodore Thomas, whom I have known
for twenty years, and whom it gives me inexpressible pleasure
to meet again in his own workroom. Gentlemen, such a
rehearsal as that which we have held this morning is no labor,
but a great pleasure, and I thank you all for the hearty good-
will you have shown toward me." Richard Strauss's address
to the Chicago Orchestra.
"Theodore Thomas, under whose leadership I first ap-
peared [season 1898-99] a full-blooded musician of the Hans
Richter type, should serve as a model for our modern time-
beaters. His style of leading is a convincing proof that shades of
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 241
expression and tonal effects may be produced without hysterics,
contortions, and such foolery. He has his excellent band under
wonderful control and produces the most impressive effects
without apparent effort. This gifted man, whose services
for the musical life of America cannot be overstated, is as
unostentatious and sensible in everyday life as he is at the
desk." Emil Sauer.
" The greatest conductor in the world is Theodore Thomas."
Ignace Jan Paderewski.
"Thomas's Orchestra is in truth what Americans love
to call it with national pride 'the unrivalled orchestra of the
world.' Not only the works of the great masters are played
with spirit and inspiration, but even the waltzes of Strauss
are given with a piquancy unequalled anywhere. This, the
writer says, in view of the fact that he has himself been a
member of Strauss's own Vienna Orchestra and other great
European Orchestras." Berlin "Allgemeine Muzikzeitung."
Bernhard Ziehn, resident in Chicago, and well
known in Europe as in this country as a profound
musical theorist, scientist and scholar, is an expert
in all matters pertaining to the higher music. Very
intimate musical, as well as personal, relations
existed between him and Mr. Thomas, for the latter
had great respect for his opinions and judgment
and when in doubt was accustomed to consult with
his friend, though it must not be assumed that they
did not have some pretty strong contests together. I
recently asked Mr. Ziehn to put in a few words his
estimate of Mr. Thomas as a conductor. He did
so and I give his statement in his ow r n words. The
characterization could hardly be more accurate or
comprehensive. Mr. Ziehn says:
243 THEODORE THOMAS
"Theodore Thomas treats the compositions, whether
classic or modern, with the same conscientiousness, earnest-
ness, and accuracy. There is no sentimentality, no affecta-
tion, no mere calculation, no animosity, but veracity and true
cognizance. Under his baton the works were safe. He never
undertook alterations of any kind, arbitrary omissions or ad-
ditions, to show 'a genial conception.' Still his genius was
continually at work to put life in the dead scores, and one re-
ceives the impression this interpretation is the proper one.
I know of only one man, who can be compared with Thomas
as conductor it is d' Albert as pianist."
Upon another occasion, Mr. Ziehn said:
"A score could not be in safer hands than those of Mr.
Thomas. Such violence as has been committed recently by
famous conductors of Germany and Austria upon the scores
of Beethoven and Bruckner could not have been committed
here."
XIII
THE MAN
pictures of Mr. Thomas are satisfactory
to those who were well acquainted with him.
His earlier portraits bear little resemblance to the
later, and the later sometimes differ widely from one
another. His moods were many, and his expression
depended largely upon the interest of the occasion.
It is quite certain that the photographic process had
little interest for him when he was the victim of it.
If the camera could have caught him at one of those
Olympian feasts when he was thoroughly enjoying
the Gemuthlichkeit of the occasion, or in the height of
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 243
a discussion, or when the triumphant measures of the
finale of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony were surging
upwards to suit him, then we might have had a
picture of the real Theodore Thomas. It is still
more difficult to draw a pen picture of him. Though
he seemed tall upon the concert-stage he was only
of medium height, but he carried himself like one
born to command. He stepped to the conductor's
desk as of right, his bow was courtly, his presence
always dignified, his gestures always graceful, and
the lines of his figure in leading, statuesque. It
all spoke of authority, self-mastery, the gift of leader-
ship, the certainty of accomplishment, the freedom
of the "art to conceal art" in other words, the
respose of art, which is the consummation of the
highest endeavor. Nothing could be less osten-
tatious than his manner in the concert-room. He
walked in an easy but dignified way to the desk,
turned and made a graceful bow to his audience,
then turned to his players who were always in
readiness, simply lifted his arms, gave the signal and
the work began. There was no fuss, no disorder,
no desk rappings, no instructions to his concert-
meister, no waiting for this man or that man to get
his instrument ready, no nervousness, no hesitation.
You could settle down to your seat with the absolute
conviction that everything was right and everything
was going right. Everything he did was sure, strong,
sane, healthy. It was never necessary for his hearers
to feel anxious about results.
He was a man of sturdy physique, as he was a
244 THEODORE THOMAS
man of sturdy character, with strong shoulders, a
well-set head, powerful arms, full chest, resolute
mouth and chin, strongly marked face, earnest in
repose, intense in listening, radiant when in good
humor, and eyes of shifting hue that had ways at
times of flashing, again of darkening, and sometimes
of looking through you. His strength was extraor-
dinary. It was probably due in the beginning
to his perfect health, for his last sickness was in
reality his first one, and was still further developed by
his long years of violin playing and his still longer
years of conducting. While I was walking with him
one day in Chicago, four hoodlums approached us
abreast and taking up the whole width of the side-
walk. To get by them it was apparently necessary
to go out into the muddy street, but Mr. Thomas
was not in the habit of making such concessions.
Squaring his elbows in front of him he collided
with the unsavory quartette directly in the centre.
Two of them were flung against the building on
their right and the other two went sprawling into
the gutter. They were too much dazed by the
suddenness of the onset to assail him and mean-
while he went on as unconcerned as if he had only
brushed four straws out of his path. At the con-
clusion of the second Cincinnati festival some of
his friends gave him a supper "over the Rhine" at
which many musicians were present. It was the
famous "tenth symphony night," so called because
it followed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 245
had been excellently given earlier in the evening.
At one time the talk turned upon strength of wrists
and fingers. Andres, the pianist, placed his hand
flat down upon the table and raising his third finger,
brought it down like the hammer of a piano, pro-
ducing an extraordinary degree of sound. Others
tried the same thing but none equalled Andres,
until Mr. Thomas brought his finger down with such
force that he not only excelled the sound Andres
had produced but made the glasses on the table
fairly dance. It was this tremendous physical power
that enabled Mr. Thomas to bear a burden of labor
for fifty years that would have soon broken down
any ordinary person.
Mr. Thomas was simple and unpretentious in
his dress and never indulged in any of those eccen-
tricities of garments or physique or personal habits
which so many professional musicians affect to
produce sensation. When he first went to "Felsen-
garten," his New Hampshire home, a neighboring
farmer who had been very anxious to see him told
a gentleman, who had a summer home near by, that
he didn't believe Mr. Thomas was a musician for he
didn't look like one, showing that among people in
general the eccentric type has come to be regarded
as the normal type of the professional. There was
nothing in his make-up to indicate that he was a
musician, but there was something in his appearance,
that indefinable distinguishing mark of greatness,
which impressed even the most casual passerby.
246 THEODORE THOMAS
In the tide of being that sweeps through the street
he would instantly have been singled out by a
stranger as one in authority, and who had achieved
greatness in his calling. Upon one occasion, while he
was travelling to his summer home, the regular con-
ductor asking for his ticket addressed him as ' 'judge" ;
not long after, the sleeping-car conductor called him
"professor"; a gentleman near by soon hailed him
as "general"; and the porter was profuse in his
appellation of "boss." Foreign artists who played
under his direction always addressed him as "meister"
or "maestro." The simplicity which marked his
own dress and manner he also sought to cultivate
among his players. He strongly disapproved of
any affectations or eccentricities among them, and
his rebukes were so prompt and sometimes so sharp
that no orchestra ever exhibited a saner or more
normal body of players than the Chicago.
He was one of the most modest and unpretentious
of men. He was elected an honorary member of
the Italian Society of Artists at Milan, which was
under royal patronage. He was also elected a
member of the "Verein Beethoven Haus" in Bonn,
the object of this union being the preservation of
Beethoven's birthplace, the collection of all his
works, pictures, busts, and literature concerning
him, and the erection of a memorial to him. Other
European cities and societies had honored him. In
this country he received the degree of Doctor of
Music from Yale College in 1880, and from Hamilton
College in 1881, as the following letters attest:
THEODORE THOMAS IN 1898
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 247
YALE COLLEGE.
New Haven, Conn., Sept. 27, 1880.
THEODORE THOMAS, ESQ.,
Dear Sir: It is my duty to inform you officially of the
action of the President and Fellows of Yale College at the recent
commencement, the conferring upon you the honorary degree
of Doctor of Music, by way of recognition of the substantial
service which you have rendered to musical culture in the
United States. The diploma certifying to this degree is sent
by mail herewith; and I must apologize for the long delay in
forwarding it, owing to my ignorance of the fact that you had
returned from Europe.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your most obedient
servant,
FRANKLIN B. DEXTER,
Secretary.
HAMILTON COLLEGE.
Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 30, 1881.
THEODORE THOMAS, ESQ.,
Dear Sir: I have the honor to announce that the Board
of Trustees of Hamilton College have this day conferred upon
you the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. May I express
the hope that this recognition of eminent services in the cause
of music may be agreeable to yourself and your friends? If
it should tend, even in the remotest degree, to bring that noble
art into closer connection with the college, and into still higher
esteem, it would bring to us also another degree of satisfaction.
I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
S. G. BROWN,
Preset oj Hamilton College.
While Mr. Thomas was greatly pleased, especially
with the American honors, because they signified ap-
preciation of the work he had done for music in his
248 THEODORE THOMAS
own country, he never used the degrees In any way.
It would have been an exhibition of personal vanity
of which he was utterly incapable. He preferred
to be plain Theodore Thomas, and as such he
remained to the end of his life.
He was not a demonstrative man and his brusque-
ness and impatience of manner sometimes repelled
people; but once a friend, he was always a friend.
There was one associate, William Mason, the pianist,
whom he always called ''William" whenever he
spoke of him to me. I never knew another similarly
favored. After more than thirty years of friendship
with me he one day suggested that it was unnecessary
to use the prefix "Mr." in addressing each other.
"We know each other well enough to drop these
stupid formalities," said he with a smile. Probably,
as Mr. Mason once said of him, it was not that he
meant to be short with people but he simply felt that
he did not have time to be anything else. The
consciousness of his work was always with him.
Naturally, like many forceful men, he had a violent
temper, but he kept it well under control. He
would exhibit it only under great provocation as
when he was misrepresented, or his orders were
disobeyed, or outsiders interfered with his business,
or singers and players aired their ignorance or dis-
played their vanity before him. He never recognized
or permitted a man to speak to him who deliberately
misrepresented him.
Two little incidents illustrate his impulsiveness.
In a rehearsal at one of the Cincinnati festivals a
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 249
tenor, who was not a professional, but an amateur
who had an exaggerated opinion of the character of
his singing and of his musical knowledge, and was
by no means backward in airing it, offended Mr.
Thomas several times not alone by his airs but also
by his gross mistakes. When the rehearsal was fin-
ished he accosted the singer: "Are you a profes-
sional singer?" "No, sir." "What do you for a
living?" "I am a mechanic." "Well, you had
better go home to your trade. What are you doing
here ? The shoemaker should stick to his last."
Upon another occasion a prominent soprano
was rehearsing with him for an important concert.
She sang her aria through and Mr. Thomas did not
interrupt her, but at the close he asked, ' 'Is that the
way you have always sung this aria?"
"Oh, yes," she somewhat loftily replied, "it is
the way we artists always sing it."
Mr. Thomas asked her to repeat the aria and
she did so, singing it exactly as before. "Do you
think you sang the aria right ?" he asked.
* 'Oh, yes, I know I have, I always have sung it
that way."
' 'Then you had better take your music home and
study it. Come again to-morrow morning and we
will try it again."
The lady returned the next morning in a less
confident state of mind and asked Mr. Thomas if
he would not show her how the aria should be sung.
"Certainly," said he. Patiently he explained to her
just how she should sing it, both for phrasing and
250 THEODORE THOMAS
for expression, and when at last she sang it properly
he cordially shook her hand. She told me some
years afterwards that she never had a better friend
than Theodore Thomas and that she owed her
concert success to him. There are other singers
who have had similar experiences.
Mr. Thomas was not a fluent conversationalist
except when he was interested in the subject dis-
cussed, and then his crisp, epigrammatic, emphatic
manner was delightful, for it was always accom-
panied, especially upon purely social or convivial
occasions, by his strong sense of humor and his
pleasure in the good stories of others. He was not
at home in public speaking. Once in Cincinnati,
at a banquet given to him he was called upon to
reply to a toast to his health. It is said that he arose,
tried to speak, murmured a few words and sat down,
like Thackeray at the Boston banquet, whereupon
Michael Brandt, the 'cellist, rose and said that
Mr. Thomas ought not to be expected to make a'
speech, "He is a 'Lieder ohne Worte.' ' But his
pithy epigrammatic style of talking and writing, and
his ability to express his meaning precisely and say
much in the fewest possible words, are shown in
such examples as these:
"How great a gift God gave to the world when
music was breathed into creation!"
"Music has the strongest influence of any art if
properly controlled, because of its powerful appeal
to the emotions. It can also do great harm where
there is no character."
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 251
' 'Music, in its psychologic aspects, is little under-
stood as yet, but we are gaining in our knowledge.
Some feel only the emotional influence, others realize
that a powerful character-building force has by its
uplifting influences put them on a higher plane."
"I have always worked hard and always work
ahead, and know little about the past."
"To play correctly, that is something. But to
find the soul in music and play it that is every-
thing."
"In art the first rule is system and form."
"In art you cannot count your time."
"We don't work for the penny."
"The world is moving in music; we must keep
pace with the change."
"By permanent work alone can we accomplish
our purpose."
"For artistic work the surroundings must be
artistic."
"I agree with the present time and prefer truth
to European (culture) hypocrisy; but I also admire
to some extent good manners, and confess that I am
in my inner self enough a German that it makes me
feel better if I can treat some one or some thing
with respect."
' 'Everything revenges itself on this earth. Wagner
fights just as much to-day as when alive perhaps
when he wants peace; and Berlioz, with whom we
have thought we were through, had his centennial
fall at a time to force the world to make up for lost
time at the other end."
252 THEODORE THOMAS
' 'I shall soon be ready to spend most of my time
in Chicago. It is the old story what New York
offers, I refuse; what I demand, she refuses."
"I have suffered much these weeks playing
before the iron curtain 1 and placed as we are, besides
being sick with a cold. I began to think that there
was a vacancy in the angel choir, and that I was
preparing to fill it. Well, I hope I shall be able to
help the new scheme along until it is safely launched.
That will be enough." 2
He was very fond of social gatherings in his
home and of little dinners, with a few chosen friends,
and at such times he was always ' 'the bright, partic-
ular star." Like Dickens he was continually dis-
covering a place where the chop was done to a turn,
and like Thackeray he could take you to the restau-
rant where the wine was something rare, and bouilla-
baisse was excellent. How well I remember one
invitation, "Come and have a good time and drink
to the gods as the Greeks did, who loved only the
good and the true," and his radiant humor and
genial comradeship that night. And all save one who
were at the board ' 'all, all are gone, the old familiar
faces!" This side of his nature was for his friends,
as well as a certain healthy German poetic sentiment
which rounded out his character so finely.
While music was the work of his life, and he
1 This was written shortly after the Iroquois Theatre fire
in Chicago, when the fire ordinances were rigidly enforced.
2 Referring to the permanent orchestra and the new
Orchestra Hall in Chicago.
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 253
devoted himself to it almost continuously for half a
century, yet he found time for general culture. In
literature, as in music, only the highest appealed to
him. This is all the more peculiar because he had
no literary traditions or inheritance. His studies
were in history and philosophy, and Shakespeare,
Goethe, and Schiller were his literary favorites.
At one time, when everything looked darkest and he
saw no way of escape from financial ruin, he took
down his Shakespeare and read far into the night.
The next morning he awoke with renewed hope and
devoted himself to his work with fresh courage. His
sense of humor was also a saving grace to him. A
dinner was once given him in Toledo at which a
gentleman persisted in introducing his son, an
infant phenomenon, who could play two cornets at
once. After the youth had performed his feat,
Mr. Thomas was asked by the proud parent what
he thought of it. ' 'Better learn to play on one before
he takes two," was all he replied. In making out
his list of players for the permanent Chicago Orches-
tra the ranks were filled with the exception of one
'cello player. In order that the vacancy should
not appear on a programme list, he inserted the
name "Fr. Stelle." For a long time his players
wondered who "Franz" or "Friedrich" Stelle might
be, and why he did not appear, and what kind of a
player he would be when he did appear. At last the
secret leaked out, "Fr. Stelle" was simply "Freie
Stelle" or "open place."
German born, associated with German musicians
254 THEODORE THOMAS
all through his life, meeting them daily, and living as
it were in a German atmosphere, yet he was the
strongest of Americans in sentiment, disposition,
feeling, and patriotism. Many a time have I heard
him resent foreign slurs upon American institutions
and defend the national government's policy against
its critics. His love for the United States, where
he had lived from boyhood, and his respect and
admiration for the broad-minded views of its people
as well as their public spirit, was deep, sincere, and
hearty.
Notwithstanding his sternness of demeanor, he
was in reality the kindest hearted of men. He had
great sympathy with suffering humanity and animals.
In her pleasant little book, ' 'Our Mountain Garden,"
Mrs. Thomas tells of his love for animals. After
much labor he had made a pond near the house,
which he jocularly used to call his "ocean." A
friend, visiting him, suggested that he might stock
it with trout and thus supply his table. His reply
was, ' 'What ! First feed a creature and then eat it ?
I do not like that idea. I wish we could get on
without this everlasting killing and eating of meat,
but, since that is not practicable, let us at least not
devour our friends." Let me tell another incident
in Mrs. Thomas's own words:
"My private opinion is that it would take a champion
squirrel to handle any of the Felsengarten birds, for they are
past masters of the noble art of self-defence, and keep their
claws and beaks in good practice by fighting each other all
day long. One day the Meister looked out of the window
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 255
and beheld two of them lying prone upon the grass, clutching
each other so fiercely by the throat that they paid no heed to
his pounding on the window, nor yet when he went out and
shouted to them from the piazza; and it was not until he had
descended to the ground, and almost reached them, as they
lay struggling in the grass, that the combatants finally let go
their savage clinch and flew off. This exhibition of ferocity on
the part of creatures he had hitherto supposed to be the gentlest
and most delicate examples of animated nature, was, I regret
to say, such a shock to all his preconceived ideas, that it
seriously cooled his ardor towards our birds and caused him
to regard them as ruffians and swash-bucklers."
A few weeks before he died he entertained two
other gentlemen and myself at lunch. The immedi-
ate object was to settle some business matters. These
were quickly finished, and then a social afternoon
was spent. During the pleasant talk and he never
was a more gracious host than on that occasion, for
he was feeling very happy because he was so soon
to go into the new Orchestra Hall the conversation
turned upon Port Arthur and General Stoessel,
who was upon the eve of surrendering the fortress to
the Japanese. One of the gentlemen spoke of
Stoessel as a hero, because he had held out so long
and made such a stout defence. Clenching his fist,
a habit he always had when he wished to emphasize
his remarks, Mr. Thomas replied: "Hero! not at
all a hero. He is a brute. A general who knows
that his case is hopeless, that there is no possible
relief, and that he must surrender, and yet continues
to sacrifice thousands of men, nine-tenths of whom
do not know what it is they are fighting for, to
256 THEODORE THOMAS
starvavation, to sickness, and to death from shot and
shell, is to me a brute. When Stoessel surrenders
he will march out of Port Arthur with all the honors
of war and will be lionized as a hero. But what of
the dead and wounded, the lifelong cripples and
invalids, so uselessly made victims of his so-called
bravery?" He was evidently not an enthusiastic
lover of the military, for on that same afternoon,
he took a cutting from the morning paper out of his
pocket and read that the civil courts in Germany
had justified an officer who had killed a private
soldier for some petty reason. "More brutes," said
he; ' 'it almost makes me sorry that I am a German."
Like his favorite composer, Beethoven, Mr.
Thomas was ardently fond of nature, and he looked
forward to his long summer vacations at "Felsen-
garten" with all the eagerness of a child. As the
time drew near for the annual journey he could
hardly wait for the conclusion of the final concert.
In an interview he once said:
"How do I get my inspiration? Why, up in the White
Mountains of New Hampshire I have a cottage hidden away
from the world. A cunning little bypath runs through the
woods, and without a guide you cannot find your way in.
And when you are in, you do not want to find your way out.
I go in the morning and at night and talk to my trees, and my
mountains that I love. And I catch a little bit just a little
bit of what they answer me.
" What is it they say ? Ah, that is it. It is nothing, and
yet everything. Nature is all music, and whatever she whis-
pers to us is the heart of melody and the soul of rhythm. Some
of us are lucky enough to catch a few of her disjointed words,
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 257
and are allowed to tell them to our brothers. That is called
inspiration."
Mrs. Thomas, in the work already mentioned,
gives us an entertaining picture of his indefatigable
industry in redeeming the wild tract of rocky land
and making it a pleasant summer retreat. She her-
self took charge of the building of the cottage and
the making of the garden, while he devoted himself
to the grounds, laying out avenues and making
wood paths, turning a marsh into a pond, cutting
away unsightly growths, felling useless trees, cutting,
pruning, and digging like a common laborer.
"Before leaving Felsengarten in the fall," says Mrs.
Thomas, "he would select the locality he meant to improve
the following summer, and wander over every inch of it until
he was familiar with all its features ; and its trees and boulders,
humps and hollows, and general topography were 'photo-
graphically lined on the tablet of his mind.' During the
winter he would plan his improvements, and the following
spring he was ready to put them into execution. First he
would clear the section of rubbish, ragged growths, inferior
trees, dead branches, and other unsightly objects. Then he
would stake out the path or avenue to be constructed, and,
beginning at one end, he and his young assistant would work
at it quietly, day by day, and as the work progressed the
embellishment of the adjacent land naturally suggested itself."
He spoke of this "recreation" once in a quietly
humorous way. It was evidently before he had
become well acquainted with the possibilities of
stones "in the old Granite State." "I don't seem
to make any impression upon the stones of New
Hampshire. For years I have spent my summer
258 THEODORE THOMAS
days with a pick in one hand and a crowbar in the
other. I have been attempting to clear a small
place of all the stones and have found it impossible.
Somehow, when I go there at the beginning of the
summer, it always seems to me that there are more
stones upon that patch of ground than when I
left."
Those were happy days in Felsengarten "under
his own vine and fig-tree" days of quiet enjoyment
of nature, of healthy outdoor work which was a
grateful remedy for overstrained nerves, and a rest
after the hard round of a season's rehearsals and
concerts. At Felsengarten also he met his children,
who, having homes of their own, were separated from
him at other seasons of the year, and with his boys
he was like an elder brother. It was his delight
after the day's work to sit upon his piazza and watch
the mountain horizon line in the afterglow of sun-
set, so strangely contrasting with the darkness
settling down on the slopes below. In his last
moments he saw this picture again and said to his
companion who had labored with him and helped
to transform those waste lands into a mountain
garden, "I have seen a beautiful vision." And
then he smiled and his voice was hushed forever-
more. And soon the sun set and ' 'all the land was
dark." He had passed to the heights where great
souls rest. "Ueber alien Gipfeln ist Ruh."
Thus passed from our midst the great musician
who had wrought so long, so devotedly, so courage-
ously for the things that make for the refinement of
REMINISCENCE AND APPRECIATION 259
life and for the ennobling of the spirit, never once
degrading the great gift which had been given him,
never yielding to a sordid consideration, nor com-
promising his art with commercialism. His We is
an example for American youth of a great purpose
nobly striven for, nobly won, of work for civic and
individual righteousness, of patience in well-doing,
of honors modestly received, of success richly earned.
He has affected the lives of thousands of men and
women for good, by diverting their tastes from the
trivial and meretricious to nobler and purer things,
for great music is a moral influence whose extent
can hardly be measured. Life and music may be
more intimately related than we know. Music helps
to keep body and soul in health, and no man's edu-
cation can be called complete without it. As Wilhelm
Hoffman says in " Scrap ionsbriider" : "No art, I
believe, offers so much evidence of the spiritual
in man as music, and there is no art that requires
so exclusively means that are purely intellectual and
ethereal." Measured by every standard, viewed
from every standpoint, tested by every canon of
music and of morals, Theodore Thomas's career
tended to the elevation of popular taste and the uplift-
ing of the national life. His work was a public bene-
faction. His life is a noble example. His memory
will be cherished by his contemporaries, and history
will record his name as that of the pioneer of the
higher music in America.
CHRONOLOGY
THEODORE THOMAS'S LIFE WORK
1835 Born at Esens.
1843 Began playing the violin.
1845 Family came to America.
1845-47 Played in concerts.
1847-52 Played in theatres and at opera, and travelled in
the South.
1852 Soloist at a Dodworth Band concert.
1854 Elected a member of the New York Philharmonic
Society.
1855 Mason-Thomas chamber concerts began.
1856 Leader of concert orchestra in sacred concerts.
1857-58 Travelled with Thalberg, Formes, and other
artists.
1858 Conductor of Ullmann opera season.
1860 Concerts with Carl Wolfsohn in Philadelphia.
1861 Operatic conductor in New York.
1862 Classical soirees in Orange, N. J. First concert
with his own orchestra at Irving Hall, New
York.
1862 Alternate conductor with Th. Eisfeld, of the
Brooklyn Philharmonic Society.
1863 Matinee concerts at Irving Hall.
1864 Begins symphony soirees.
1865 Musical director of the New York Institute for
the Blind.
1866 Elected conductor of Brooklyn Philharmonic
Society. Garden concerts at Terrace Garden.
260
CHRONOLOGY 261
1867 European visit. Founded the Thomas Orchestra.
1868 Elected conductor Mendelssohn Union. Began
Central Park Garden concerts.
1869 Symphony concerts closed. First concert tour.
1870 First Wagner concert.
1872-78 Symphony concerts resumed in Steinway Hall.
1872 Musical festival in New York.
1873 Cincinnati festival inaugurated.
1876 Philadelphia Centennial concerts.
1877 Conductor of the New York Philharmonic Society.
1878 Director of Cincinnati College of Music.
1879 Returned to New York. Conductor of the
Philharmonic Society.
1880 Organized New York chorus.
1882 Festivals in New York and Chicago.
1883 Tour to Pacific coast.
1884 Wagner festival concerts.
1885 Director of American Opera Company.
1891 Removed to Chicago and founded Chicago
Orchestra.
1893 Director of the World's Fair Music Bureau.
1904 Dedicated Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
1905 Died January 4.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
MUSICAL POSSIBILITIES IN AMERICA
[A paper written by Theodore Thomas for "Scribner's
Magazine," March, 1881, at the special request of its editor.]
A I V HE Americans are certainly a music-loving people.
* They are peculiarly susceptible to the sensuous
charm of tone, they are enthusiastic and learn easily, and
with the growth in general culture of recent years, there has
sprung up a desire for something serious in its purpose in
music, as in the other arts. The voices of the women
although inclined to be sharp and nasal in speaking, are
good in singing. Their small volume reveals the lack of
proper training, but they are good in quality, extended in
compass, and brilliant in color. The larger number are
sopranos, but there are many altos, and there would be
more and they would be better were it not for ruinous
attempts to make sopranos of them. The men's voices
do not compare favorably with those of the women. They
lack strength and character, and a well-balanced chorus is
hardly possible as yet without a mixture of English or
German voices to give body to the tone. Of late years,
probably because of the growing attention to physical
training, there has been a marked improvement, and many
good and beautiful voices have been developed, chiefly
barytones or high basses. The incessant pressure of work
which every American feels, prevents the men from pay-
ing much attention to music, but as the country advances
in age and begins to acquire some of the repose which age
265
266 THEODORE THOMAS
brings, there will come possibilities of development which
cannot now be estimated.
In considering, therefore, the present condition of musi-
cal development in this country, I am led naturally to speak
first of vocal music. Although the contrary has been
asserted, I think it is in the vocal direction, and not in the
instrumental, that the present development of the art
tends. We have no public instrumental performers of
American birth who can rank with our singers in public
estimation, nor is there at present more than a very limited
demand for instrumentalists. New York is the only city
in the country in which an orchestral player can make a
living, and even here he must give lessons or play at balls
and parties, thereby losing or injuring the finer qualities
of an orchestral player. Boston, in spite of many efforts,
cannot support a large, well-balanced orchestra. Phila-
delphia has no standing orchestra, and in Cincinnati and
Chicago the orchestral musician must eke out a living by
playing in beer-gardens and saloons. The only demand
for piano players, except of the highest order, is as teachers,
and of those we have many and good ones, who do what
may be called missionary work. Singing, on the other
hand, appeals to almost every one, and there is a certain
demand, even if limited, for singers in the churches.
When we consider that music is taught in the public
schools throughout the country, we might expect some
evidence or result of this teaching among the people.
Much money is spent in our schools for instruction in this
branch, and what does it amount to ? Many of the chil-
dren learn like parrots, and soon forget the little which
they have learned. Those who retain this knowledge
find it a drawback when wishing to go on in the study of
music. The fault is not in them, but in the system taught.
APPENDIX 267
So faulty is that system that it would be better to abolish
singing entirely from the schools than to retain it under the
present method. It does more harm than good. I con-
sider the system at present followed in this elementary
instruction, called the "movable do system," fundamentally
wrong, and experience has confirmed me in this opinion.
It is a make-shift, invented by amateurs. Pupils should
learn something about absolute pitch of tones, instead of
merely their relative pitch. The "movable do system"
shuts the door against this knowledge. The first tone of
the scale in every key is do, and that term do never suggests
to one who has thus studied music any fixed, absolute con-
ception of pitch; for example, do is sometimes C and some-
times D, while to the musician C and D are as distinct
sounds as the vowels a and e. The system will enable a
pupil to sing a simple hymn tune which has no accidental
sharps or flats, but it is wrong thus to limit pupils to so
restricted a capacity. In my experience, those who have
learned to read music according to this method never
free themselves altogether from it. It should be con-
sidered as necessary to be thorough in the study of music
as in that of mathematics. I do not say that it should be
carried to the same extent, but that, so far as it is carried,
it should be taught understandingly and well taught
so as to pave the way for future study, when desirable, and
not so as to block it up. I attach a great deal of import-
ance to this matter of correct musical instruction. If we
start right in the schools, the public taste will soon advance
to a higher standard. It is from the young that the church
choirs and singing societies must be recruited, and if a
correct foundation is laid when the rudiments are learned,
the progress to a more advanced position is natural and
easy.
263 THEODORE THOMAS
While singing under proper direction is a healthy
exercise, great injury can be done to the throat and vocal
organs by allowing the children to sing, or rather scream,
at the top of their voices. Most of the school singing
which I have heard in this country is screaming, not sing-
ing, while in England and Germany I heard nothing of
the kind. On the principle that no person can teach
another what he cannot do himself (a principle which I
believe in to a great extent), I hold to the opinion that the
teachers of singing should themselves be singers, with a
good method. Singing ought also to be taught without
the aid of an instrument, unless it be occasionally to sup-
port the pitch.
At present, the musical standard of the American
public, taken as a whole, must be pronounced a low one.
If we should judge of what has been done in music by the
programmes of concerts given in the larger cities, we
might rightly claim for this country a high rank in culti-
vation. Those concerts, however, appeal not to the gen-
eral public, but to one class only, and that a limited one,
as any one who observes the audiences can easily see.
This class is growing in numbers as well as in cultivation,
but it is still far too small to support more than a limited
number of concerts, as at present those of the New York
and Brooklyn Philharmonic societies. The general public
does not advance in music, partly from want of opportu-
nity, partly from the habits of the people. The average
American is so entirely absorbed in his work that when he
goes out in the evening he looks for relaxation in some
kind of amusement which makes little or no demand
upon his intellect, and he has no difficulty in finding it.
As regards general musical culture, the public may be
divided into two classes those who go to the theatres,
APPENDIX 269
and those for whom the church is the social centre. In
both church and theatre, the standard of music is a low
one. In the church, where first of all sincerity should
prevail, and where nothing but healthy food should be
given, the music is looked upon as an attraction and given
as an amusement. It is largely operatic, it appeals to the
senses only, and is too often of the sickly sentimental order.
In those churches only which have congregational singing
is the sense of what is suitable and decorous not offended.
In this criticism I do not include some of the Roman
Catholic churches. The priest estimates at its full value
the power of music over the masses, and cooperates with
the organist to produce a good musical service. Why
cannot this be done in the Protestant churches ? Pleasing
music need not be trifling or sentimental; there are many
beautiful works, not suited for the concert-room, which
are intended for devotional use. But the greater part of
the church music is a sort of patchwork a little piece
from this composer and another piece from that, put to-
gether by an amateur. A higher aim ought to be set, if
not in the first place because of the art itself (though why
this is not a praiseworthy purpose I do not see), at least
for the sake of truth and propriety. The most exalted
and artistic church service is the most proper one. The
music that will inspire those feelings which ought to fill
the soul of every worshipper is noble, good music not
sentimental, not secular, but lofty and devotional. That
this low standard of church music exists is not owing to
the want of competent organists, for we have many of
ability, but rather to the fact that they are hampered in
their attempts to introduce better music by the solo singers,
as well as by the want of interest on the part of the minister,
and, in many cases, by the desire of the business committee
270 THEODORE THOMAS
to "draw" and please the congregation. Recent years
have also given us composers of undoubted merit.
It can hardly be expected that the managers of our
theatres will carry on their business solely on art principles,
nor can they afford to make the theatre an educational
institution; but they ought to try to have the music in
keeping with the general character of their houses, and,
as far as possible, appropriate to the plays given. A small
but well-proportioned band of twenty pieces, for which
the leader can adapt and arrange music, such as opera
selections, overtures, dances, with solos for different in-
struments, is competent to furnish music which will give
pleasure to the educated ear, and be at the same time an
educator of the popular taste. If an orchestra of twenty
is too expensive, it would be better to reduce the number
to a half-dozen players, and have, in addition to a piano
and a cabinet organ, a fair violinist, a violoncellist, or
some other solist. Instead of that, we have now a blatant
cornet or trombone, drums, bells, wood and straw instru-
ments, every one making the greatest possible noise,
headed by an important conductor, with a baton in his
hand instead of a violin bow. We had better music in
the theatres twenty years ago than we have at present.
Why appeal in music to a lower class, or allow in the
orchestra a lower standard than is in keeping with what
is presented on the stage ?
I have mentioned thus hastily some of the defects of
our methods of musical instruction, and pointed out some
of the obstacles to our advancement to a higher musical
standard. What are the remedies? I was once asked
by a gentleman what he ought to do to make his children
musical. He perhaps expected me to advise him to send
the girls to Italy to study vocalization, and to set the boys
APPENDIX 271
to practising the violin so many hours a day and studying
harmony. I told him to form for them a singing class
under the care of a good teacher, that they might learn to
use their vocal organs, to form a good tone, and to read
music; after they became old enough, to let them join a
choral society, where, for two hours once a week, they
could assist in singing good music; and, above all, to
afford them every opportunity of hearing good music of
every kind. This gentleman knew nothing of music, but
thought the advice "sounded like common sense."
If we have arrived at that point where it is considered
necessary to give music a place in the common-school
education, it is time that something like organized work
should be done for the general cultivation of taste. The
formation of singing societies would reach the people, and
the knowledge which the children are supposed to gain in
the schools would be sufficient for participation in such
societies. So far as the singers themselves are concerned,
everybody who has ever sung in a chorus knows that
nothing so awakens an interest in music as helping to make
it. The sympathies of hundreds are enlisted through
their personal relations with the singers, and gradually a
correct taste is formed and developed. If the proper
means be put in use, and those who are willing to do some-
thing for music will organize for work with a purpose in it,
such is the power of music that the growth will be steady
until the general state is one of worth and dignity. In
European countries, while the highest mark attained by
the advanced class is no higher than here, the love for and
understanding of music is more widely diffused. The
Philharmonic concerts do not appeal to the general public ;
they are for this advanced class, and are well supported.
But this class does not grow in numbers as rapidly as it
272 THEODORE THOMAS
ought. The steps by which the people can be led up to
the plane of these concerts are lacking. They were once
partly supplied by the Central Park garden concerts,
which were managed in a way that gave no offence to the
social ideas of the people, and hence had their support. It
is of great importance at present to give the people the
right kind of food. Their taste has been awakened and
they are willing to be led. The way in which music is
often taught is an insult to any person of common intellect.
The intelligence is not appealed to, but the pupil is treated
like a child, and often remains, musically speaking, a
child his life long.
The value of a visit to Europe, at the proper time, is
of course great for those studying music; but pupils should
not be sent there for technical instruction, but for the
knowledge of other schools and methods in short, for
the experience. A great many singers are sent to Italy;
and what results have we ? If they devote themselves to
vocalization and really learn to vocalize and many do
not they come back without a repertory of practical
value. They display their acquirements in some show
pieces of operatic airs to which they have given all their
attention, and for which there is no demand. Many
singers are excluded from opportunities of appearing in
good concerts, because they have no pieces in keeping with
the character of the programmes. Why send them so far
to acquire that which is of no use to them ? What a waste
of money and, more serious still, what a dreadful ruin of
moral character often results! No teacher in a foreign
country can rightly understand how to prepare pupils for
practical work here. Though the taste for singing was
awakened by Italian opera, and though the Italian method
of using the voice commends itself to us, the educated
APPENDIX 273
American is not satisfied with the Italian repertory, and
soon outgrows it. I am satisfied that we shall never have
a standard opera, that will take hold of the people, until
we educate our own singers for the stage, and choose our
repertory from the best Italian, French, and German
works.
We want home education and thorough home education
of a kind suited to the needs and demands of our people,
and calculated to promote the new life which we hope is
opening before us. We want an end of amateurism in
teachers and other professionals. Those who present
themselves to guide the people must have thoroughly
studied music, not dabbled in it. We need some provision
for the talent which is developing every day we need
institution, well endowed, which will not be obliged to
adopt a mere commercial standard for want of the means
of support. We need the influences coming naturally
from such institutions. We need them, not only to give
instruction to pupils, but to keep up a high standard of
excellence. We need them for our numerous earnest
teachers to come to from time to time, to rub off the rust
of teaching, and refresh themselves by contact with those
who live in a musical atmosphere. The greatest enemy
to fight is mediocrity, and an institution of standing is the
only sure defence against it. Such an institution would
afford an opportunity for public or semi-public perform-
ances, by which ability would be tested and experience
gained. It would also give us what we have not now
a suitable place for the performance of the works of young
composers. A concert of a society like the Philharmonic
is not the proper place for experimental music.
There are many ways in which such an institution
would be of national advantage. It would not only
274 THEODORE THOMAS
develop our native talent and give us a true standard of
excellence, but it would also give fresh impetus to the
mechanical branch of the art, wherein this country already
occupies an enviable position. It is generally acknowl-
edged that we make the best pianos. Our organs are
good, and our brass and reed instruments are of a superior
quality. But the most noteworthy fact of all is that we
are making the best violins. Some of the first living
violinists claim that the violins made by George Gemiinder
are worthy to rank with those of the famous Italian makers,
needing only age to prove their great excellence. Mr.
Gemunder, who has shown himself a master in this most
difficult art, says that we have an extraordinary variety of
woods suitable for instrument-making, and that his experi-
ence, which he has dearly bought by indefatigable labor
since 1847, shows our woods to be in no way inferior to
the best used by the old Italian makers. We have, fur-
thermore, an abundant supply, whereas in Europe there
is a great scarcity. The rough tone of the violins of
German manufacture is due largely to the inferior quality
of the wood. A striking tribute to the superiority of Mr.
Gemimder's work is furnished by the following authentic
anecdote : At the Vienna Exhibition there was a collection
of the best specimens of violin-making. It included not
only the famous instruments of the Italian makers, but
those of modern workmanship. Mr. Gemunder sent a
remarkable violin, made by him after the pattern of
Joseph Guarnerius. The judges, who had been selected
from all parts of Europe to pronounce upon the merits of
the various instruments, refused to admit this particular
one to competition, declaring that the competitor was
trying to deceive them with a genuine old instrument in an
unusually good state of preservation.
APPENDIX 275
It will be seen, therefore, that we have in this country
the possibilities of a great musical future. We have the
natural taste of the people for music, their strong desire
to have only the best, and their readiness to recognize
what is the best when it is presented to them. We have
exceptional natural resources for the making of musical
instruments. Nature has done her part of the work
generously; it remains for us to do ours.
MUSIC IN CHICAGO
[Written by Mr. Thomas for "The Chicago Tribune,"
January 23, 1894.]
I have always regarded Chicago as a music-loving
city, and although when we first began to come here,
many years ago, comparatively few persons knew much
about music, we found here a widespread love for it,
which very soon developed into an appreciation of and
desire for music of the best kind.
During the old summer night concerts of former years,
I noticed each season a marked advance in musical taste,
as expressed in the "requests" sent in for our weekly
"request programmes." Indeed so high a class of music
was asked for in the last few seasons of these concerts,
that I could have made up a regular symphony pro-
gramme of the most classic order, every week, without
departing in the least from numbers actually requested,
had it seemed wise to do so. As an instance of this I
might mention one of the most largely attended and
warmly applauded "request programmes" we ever gave,
the first part of which contained six successive numbers
by Bach, and the Dvorak Symphonic Variations; the
second part, compositions by Beethoven, Brahms, and
276 THEODORE THOMAS
Wagner; while the third and lightest part asked for
nothing more popular than Liszt's " Twelfth Rhapsody "
and a portion of Moszkowski's Suite, op. 39. I remember
that this programme called forth some comment from
some of the Eastern papers, whose editors refused to
believe that its numbers were really requested by the
audience of a summer night concert.
The interest thus early manifested in music has steadily
advanced, as the public have had the opportunity to hear
it more frequently. No surer proof of this is needed
than the recent successful effort to establish a great per-
manent orchestral organization on lines of the very highest
art. I have been very much encouraged by the attitude
which the Chicago people have taken in regard to this
work. Only those who are directly interested in the
management of such an organization have any idea of the
many difficulties which have to be surmounted in order
to make its maintenance possible. In Chicago these
difficulties are increased a hundredfold, because the city
is situated so far from all other large cities that the great
expense of transporting the orchestra makes it impossible
to take engagements for single concerts in them, and so we
cannot look for any assistance from outside sources, but
our city has to bear the whole burden alone.
Under these circumstances, and when it is also taken
into consideration that the orchestra has been maintained
as an art institution, and not, as an amusement bureau, it
naturally follows that the expense has been a large one to
those generous and cultivated citizens who have sup-
ported it. But I have not yet heard one murmur of dis-
content on this head from any one who has given liberally in
either money or time toward the support of this institution.
But one spirit seems to pervade the minds of those
APPENDIX 277
who are working together in this noble cause it is the
best Chicago spirit which has made realities of such vast
undertakings as the Art Institute, the Chicago University,
the World's Fair, and the Field Columbian Museum, and
which thinks only of establishing something ennobling and
refining in our great Western metropolis, to temper the
influences of the daily struggle of life and to lighten its
sordid cares. Such a spirit does not seek to cramp its
artistic standards within the limits of the means provided,
but rather to enlarge the means to meet the requirements
of the standards.
When Chicago men start a good work, and are con-
vinced that it is good, they do not pull it down because it
is more costly than they supposed it would be. On the
contrary, they merely make a stronger and more deter-
mined effort to maintain and develop it to its highest per-
fection. The architecture of the World's Fair was the
most extraordinary instance of this peculiar characteristic.
Rather than lower its artistic standard a jot, they threw
millions into the work without a thought of ever getting
back a dollar. How wise this policy was the sequel
proved, for hi the financial stringency of last fall only a
meagre crowd would have come to the Fair without the
glories of the Court of Honor and the enchantment of
its fairy palaces.
It is this scorn of mediocrity and this indomitable
determination to have the best, and maintain only the
highest standard in all its enterprises, which makes the
greatness of this city. I believe, therefore, that having
once had the best in music, Chicago will not go backward
in this art any more than in any other, but will find the
means of continuing the good work so auspiciously begun,
and of constantly enlarging its field of usefulness.
278 THEODORE THOMAS
That the musical taste and culture of the people here
will advance from year to year as the art grows more
familiar to them naturally must follow. Already I have
observed a very marked change in the conduct of our
audiences, showing a far better understanding of the work
than was apparent three years ago. At that time our
audiences regarded the Orchestral Association concerts in
the same light as they had formerly regarded the summer
night concerts, and acted accordingly. They came late,
or went early, constantly moved about, talked, and in
general kept up a little restless disturbance throughout
the entire programme which seriously marred the per-
formance. Also, they were all the time clamoring for the
old summer night programmes, and complaining because
they had to pay more than the old scale of summer night
prices. It was some time before they could understand
that a great symphony orchestra of ninety men could not
be supported through the whole winter for the same price
paid to the little orchestra of less than sixty for a month
at midsummer. Nor could they at first appreciate the
vast artistic difference between the standards of the two
organizations, or comprehend that a standard of pro-
gramme which might even be high in a garden concert
would be as wholly unsuited to our winter concerts as a
chromo hung among the Dutch masterpieces at the Art
Institute.
But already this has changed. Our audience has
learned that the master works of the great composers
contain more good for brain and soul than the prettiest
waltzes that ever were penned; it has discovered that
there is a deeper joy and a nobler spirituality to be gained
from familiarity with the higher art forms than it ever
dreamed of seeking in the lower. It has discovered that
APPENDIX 279
while Strauss or Bizet will charm the ear, Beethoven and
Wagner will warm and thrill the whole nature. Hence
we find that our popular programmes do not now draw
as large an audience as our symphony programmes; the
largest audiences in the three years having been those of last
winter, when Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed
with the exception of those at which Paderewski played.
And having learned to value and appreciate the music,
our audience now wishes to hear it all. The late comers
are much fewer, and are content to wait for a pause in the
music before disturbing others by taking their seats.
Talking has almost wholly ceased, and only those leave
early who are obliged to take suburban trains. When the
orchestra gives an especially fine rendering of any number,
we generally find now that the audience takes notice of it,
and very few people have any idea how intelligent and dis-
criminating listeners react upon the performers. A stupid
audience kills the orchestra dead in five minutes, as water
kills fire, whereas an intelligent and responsive audience will
stimulate the musicians at once to their best efforts.
In conclusion, I need hardly say that the musical future
of Chicago looks to me full of the brightest promise. That
this promise may find ample realization is my earnest
hope.
FAREWELL BANQUET IN NEW YORK
[As a testimonial of respect and admiration many leading
citizens and musicians of New York tendered a farewell
banquet to Mr. Thomas at Delmonico's, on the evening of
April 22, 1891, Hon. George William Curtis occupying the
chair. Among the guests were many of the most distinguished
citizens of New York. Mr. Curtis made the following speech
in proposing the health of " a public benefactor." The other
speakers were Mr. Parke Godwin, Mr. William Steinway,
Rev. Arthur Brooks, and William Mason. EDR.]
280 THEODORE THOMAS
"I rise to propose the health of a public benefactor
an artist whose devotion to a beautiful, refining, and
ennobling art has greatly distinguished his name and
given great distinction to the city in which he lives the
health of the central figure of the musical life of New York
for a generation, and your hearts go before my tongue in
saluting Theodore Thomas. He has made the conductor's
baton an imperial sceptre, with which he rules, not only
an orchestra but an ever widening realm of musical taste
and cultivation. In his hand it has become an enchanter's
wand which has transformed our musical ignorance and
crudity into ample knowledge and generous appreciation.
While it has introduced us to the learned and acknowl-
edged masters of the past, it has summoned and revealed
the still shadowy figures of the future. Musical artists
have come and gone. Virtuosos of every kind have
appeared, have charmed us and have vanished. Our
private accomplishment has advanced from the "Battle
of Prague" and the variations of Henri Herz to the
symphonies of Schumann, the songs of Rubinstein, the
Schubert transcriptions of Liszt, and is still pushing on
and on like Columbus, sailing beyond the horizon into
unknown seas. But the one figure which has remained,
the laureate of the past and the herald of the future, is
Theodore Thomas.
"I suppose there are very few guests at these tables of
memories so daring as mine, which recalls the coming of
Jenny Lind to this country. I remember her always with
a certain selfish pleasure, because I heard her, I believe,
every evening that she sang in this city, and when on the
last evening she sang her farewell to America at Castle
Garden, she held in her hand a bouquet that I had sent
her, and which still perfumes my recollection of that
APPENDIX 281
incomparable singer. A few years before, when Fanny
Ellsler was here, bewitching the heels rather than the
heads or hearts of the golden youth of that time they un-
harnessed the horses from her carriage and drew her across
the street to her hotel, merely substituting, as an elderly
cynic of the time remarked, jackasses for horses. We
did not draw Jenny Lind in her carriage, but the youth of
her day of whom my friend Parke Godwin was one, who
paid her tribute in the charming tale of "Vala" have
borne her in their hearts across a generation, and their
hearts still rise at the mention of her name as the Garde
du Roi sprang cheering to their feet when the Queen
appeared.
" There is one story of Jenny Lind which I always recall
with entire confidence in its truth, because it ought to be
true. After her return from her American triumph she
was in Italy, and went one day from Florence to the con-
vent at Vallombrosa, to which the young Milton went when
on his travels. When she came to the chapel the monks
with courteous and deprecating regret told her that no
woman could enter. She smiled as she said: 'Perhaps
if you knew who I am you would let me in.' 'And who
might the gracious lady be ? ' returned the monks. But
when she said, ' I am Jenny Lind,' every head was bowed
and the doors were flung wide open. Then when she
seated herself at the organ and sang where Milton had
sat and played, I can imagine the heavenly visions that
floated before the minds of the monks and that they
crossed themselves reverently as they listened and believed
that St. Cecilia had descended.
" That is what I have always thought of her visit to
America. St. Cecilia descended upon these shores, com-
ing to give the right impulse to our musical development.
282 THEODORE THOMAS
But St. Cecilia would have descended in vain if there had
been no continuing personal force in the country of her
own spirit in art, of a kindred enthusiasm and lofty pur-
pose. Happily in the orchestra at her concerts there was
a youth who played the first violin, and who has continued
to play it ever since, everybody else playing second fiddle,
and to the genius, the untiring devotion, the intelligence,
the energy, the masterly skill of that youth, more than to
any other single force, we owe the remarkable musical
interest and cultivation and the musical preeminence of
New York to-day.
"I do not mean, of course, that there have not been
other admirable artists and effective influences cooperat-
ing to this noble result. Certainly I do not forget Berg-
mann and Damrosch. I do not forget those upon whom
my eyes fall at this moment. But during all this time the
constant dominating personality has been that of Theo-
dore Thomas. It was Thomas with Bergner, Mosenthal,
Matzka, and Mason in the old Dodworth salon. It was
Thomas in the Central Park Garden ; Thomas in the Phil-
harmonic Society; Thomas in the great festival of 1882.
It was always Thomas and his orchestra, and always
Thomas and his baton, like the valiant Henry of Navarre
and his white plume waving in the van of victory.
"The great works of the great composers, the mighty
music of the masters who have given to their art an equal
renown with the kindred arts of literature and painting
and sculpture; the music of Bach and Handel, of Mozart
and Haydn and Beethoven names that in their kind shine
in equal lustre with those of Raphael and Angelo and
Shakespeare has been played continuously from year
to year under Thomas's direction in a manner not often
surpassed at the Conservatoire or the Gewandhaus; while
APPENDIX 283
the music of a later day and of another charm has been
so interpreted by him that after the great Wagner after-
noon at the Festival Mme. Materna said to me that Wagner
had never heard that work of his own so magnificently
rendered. Thomas's whole career has been a campaign of
education. If he has revealed to us more fully Beethoven,
whom we knew, it is he, also, who first showed us that
there was a Wagner who might be worth knowing. He
has given to New York a musical distinction without which
no great city is a metropolis; and Chicago has shown the
true metropolitan instinct in securing his musical leader-
ship. It is because of the dignity of his career, its absolute
fidelity to a high ideal, its total freedom from charlatanry
of every kind that his service to this city has been so sig-
nal a public benefit and that his departure is a public
misfortune.
" But a great interpreter of music and such is a great
conductor wherever he goes carries his own welcome wkh
him. It is not as a stranger that he goes to Chicago; it
is because he is not a stranger, because Chicago knows
him well, that she asks him to come. And he does not go
alone. He takes with him our gratitude, our admiration,
and our affection. He goes wreathed and garlanded with
our cheers and hopes and our perfect confidence in his
return. For New York only lends Theodore Thomas to
Chicago. With metropolitan magnanimity she decorates
with one of her own precious jewels her younger and
successful competitor for the prize of the great Fair. But
presently she will reclaim it and restore it to her crown with
a fresher lustre gained from her sister's coronet. There-
fore on your behalf, on behalf of the great multitude of
New Yorkers who follow him with a pang of farewell, but
with a hearty godspeed, I say to him in a language familiar
284 THEODORE THOMAS
to him before he knew that in which I am speaking:
'Wir sagen nicht, Lebewohl; wir sagen nur, Gott be-
fohlen, bis auf Wiedersehen ! '"
THE NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF 1882
[George William Curtis, in the " Editor's Easy Chair, "
"Harper's Magazine," July, 1882.]
From the Philharmonic concerts of the last generation
in the old Apollo Rooms upon Broadway below Canal
Street, and from the Italian opera, and opera singers, of
which Mr. Richard Grant White, the master critic of that
day, is giving us charming reminiscences, to the Music
Festival of 1882 in the Seventh Regiment Armory, is a
step of progress which is amazing and incredible. The
Philharmonic audience was a pleasant little assembly,
which listened doubtfully to the music of Beethoven
pleasantly played by a moderate orchestra. The Festival
audience was a vast multitude bursting into a tumult of
delight over the music of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert,
and Wagner, played incomparably by a vast orchestra of
three hundred exquisitely trained musicians, and the
mighty Handelian choruses rolled sublimely forth from
a host of three thousand voices.
It was not the first music festival in the country.
There had been festivals in Cincinnati and Chicago, and
a monster performance in Boston, and the admirable
Damrosch Festival in New York. But the legitimate
grandeur of the Festival of this year, the symmetrical
precision and perfection of the orchestra, over whose won-
derful richness of effect the spirits of the great masters
might well have hovered, satisfied and approving; the
vast chorus gathered from different cities, which, suddenly
APPENDIX 285
brought together, blended under the magic baton of the
conductor in a majestic and inspiring volume of sound;
and the solo singers, greatest of the world in their various
kinds, from the grand dignity of Materna to the exquisite
delicacy and grace of vocalization of Gerster, and from
the broad, manly, fresh vigor of Candidus to the sweet and
fervid charm of Campanini all these combined to make
the first week of May memorable, and to indicate the high-
water mark in the musical annals of the country.
We have mentioned the various musical elements of
this great success, but we have not mentioned the supreme
organizing and directing force. Many things were im-
portant to the result, but one thing was indispensable.
That was the conductor. It was a misfortune that Miss
Gary was unwell, and could not appear until the last day.
It would have been a serious blow had Madame Materna
been prevented by any reason from appearing, or had she
failed to justify the high anticipation that awaited her
coming. But it would have been fatal had any mishap
befallen Theodore Thomas. In the sense that Napoleon
was Austerlitz, Thomas was the Festival. Without Na-
poleon there had been no Austerlitz; without Thomas,
no Festival. For him, indeed, it was a peculiar triumph.
To those who have known his long, unwearied, most
efficient, and most unselfish devotion to the development
and education of the best musical taste in this country, it
was a profound satisfaction to feel the immense musical
success of this Festival. The long selection of music to
be performed was of sustained excellence. There was no
attempt to catch a cheap applause, or to tickle the ears of
a multitude. The purpose was not superficial entertain-
ment, but the enjoyment that comes from the highest art.
As those who were directly interested in the prepara-
286 THEODORE THOMAS
tions saw the leader massing his vocal and instrumental
lines to scale the rugged and perpendicular heights of the
most inaccessible Beethoven and Handelian chorals, or to
thread the weird and bewildering labyrinths of the Wag-
nerian orchestration, they could not but feel that at least
the director was no doubting Thomas, and his courageous
confidence inspired the enterprise. Indeed, that is the
secret of Mr. Thomas's success. He believes in his cause,
and therefore he conquers. He believes that the public
will accept and enjoy the best music, and he makes them
enjoy it. When it was asked of a certain concert whether
it was not beyond the public taste, the answer was, "This
is the only way to lift the public taste." Like the old
warrior who hurled his javelin far into the ranks of the
enemy, and fought his way forward to recover it, Thomas
flings his baton higher and higher toward the pure
and awful peaks, and we all gladly press after, up, up,
into a more inspiring air and a broader and grander
horizon. . . .
As the week's performances ended toward Saturday
midnight amid a tumult of delight from the thousands
that crowded the vast hall, and after five minutes of a
continuous roar of demand from the audience that would
not depart until he appeared, Mr. Thomas came forward
to receive such a greeting as we have never seen surpassed
upon any occasion. Amid the tornado of excited applause,
the retiring auditor of a philosophic and contemplative turn
undoubtedly asked himself what was the real permanent
result of so great a musical triumph. The result, how-
ever, was evident. It is shown that a festival need not
be merely a series of "big," or "monster," or "mammoth"
concerts, but that larger numbers both of instruments and
singers may greatly increase the true effect of the music.
APPENDIX 287
Indeed, the grandest choral effects require vast space and
a mighty volume of sound, which are possible only under
the conditions of a festival, and most of the finest con-
temporary instrumental music contemplates an immense
orchestra. Nor is an adequate voice and a noble manner
lost in a festival, however large the space.
ORCHESTRA HALL DEDICATION
[Address of Hon. George E. Adams upon the occasion of
the dedication of Orchestra Hall, Chicago, December 14, 1904.]
"The president and trustees have asked me, as a
former president of the Association, to bid you welcome
to the dedication of the permanent home of the Chicago
orchestra.
"It is an event to which we have looked forward with
hope, hope sometimes discouraged but never entirely cast
down, for the last fourteen years.
"Fourteen years ago the Orchestral Association was
formed. It was founded on an agreement between
Theodore Thomas and five gentlemen of Chicago, the
charter members of the Association. They were N. K.
Fairbank, E. B. McCagg, A. C. Bartlett, Charles D.
Hamill, and C. Norman Fay. Between Mr. Thomas and
these gentlemen there was the mutual pledge that in the
concerts of the orchestra the highest standard of art should
be maintained whatever the effect on the box office receipts
might be. I need not say that that pledge has been kept.
"It involved a serious pecuniary loss to Mr. Thomas,
and it was known beforehand that it would involve a
serious pecuniary loss to the Association. Annual deficits
were expected, and they came. They were made up
willingly. They were paid willingly in the hope that if
z88 THEODORE THOMAS
the orchestra could be supported from year to year,
sooner or later a movement would be started to establish
it in a permanent home. Such a movement was started
two years ago, and the result is the beautiful hall where
we are gathered to-night.
"The erection of this home of music is notable in
more ways than one. That in this eager, driving, indus-
trial city nearly three-quarters of a million dollars could
be raised by voluntary contributions, not for profitable
enterprise, but to aid the highest manifestation of the
most spiritual of all the arts is in itself significant. But
the true significance of the fact lies in the source from
which the money comes. It is not the easy gift of million-
aires. There are more than eight thousand contributors.
They represent the rich, the well-to-do, and the poor.
And the poorest contributor of the smallest sum has the
same right as any other to look on this beautiful building
with pride and a sense of personal ownership.
"Much of this money has come directly from indi-
viduals, but it is significant of one of the social forces of
our time and country that a considerable sum comes from
associations of individuals. It comes from musical socie-
ties and from social and literary clubs ; from all trades and
professions, from railroads, from the public schools, from
janitors, and scrub-women. It comes from Chicago and
its suburbs; from Evanston and Aurora and other towns
of Illinois; from Iowa and from other States, and part of
it comes from Europe.
"But why, it may be asked, is it necessary to ask or to
receive these contributions from those who perhaps can
never expect to listen to music in this hall ? There are
those who have said that an orchestral association, like a
vaudeville company, ought to be supported by its box
APPENDIX 289
office receipts, and that if it cannot be so supported it has
no right to exist at all. Those who think so forget that
orchestral music is a means of education as well as a
means of amusement, and that its influence for good, like
the influence of a great university, is indirect as well as
direct, and spreads far beyond the circle of its immediate
hearers.
"I have read somewhere that more than half of the
wealth of Oxford University comes from the gifts of
charitable women, gifts to the cause of higher education,
the direct benefits of which these women could not expect
to share. But for such gifts neither Oxford nor Cam-
bridge would have existed no, nor Yale, nor Harvard,
nor any other great institution of learning.
"As it has been with the higher forms of learning, so
it has been with the higher forms of art. Painting,
sculpture, architecture, and music were for centuries up-
held by the mighty hands of the church and when the
influence of the church declined, and the Renaissance
followed the age of faith, it was the splendid personal
generosity of popes and Italian princes that gave
Michael Angelo and Raphael for an eternal possession.
"Disinterested patrons of art there must be whenever
and wherever art is to find its highest expression. The
difference between former times and now is that then the
patron of art was a pope or a prince, while now and in
this country the most effective patron of art is an associa-
tion like this, in which rich and poor, learned and un-
learned men and women, merchants and bankers, pro-
fessional men and workingmen, join hands to serve the
higher life of the community in which they live.
"Nor need we suppose that a contributor, large or
small, to this orchestral fund, is moved solely by love of
290 THEODORE THOMAS
music. He may be moved partly or altogether by civic
pride. When the merchant princes of the house of Medici
adorned Florence with paintings and statues and beauti-
ful buildings may we not believe that they were moved
not only by the love of art, but also by pride in their be-
loved city ?
"So it may be with us. Whatever Chicago may be
hereafter, up to this time she has been the most public-
spirited city in the world. We are proud of our rapid
growth in wealth and population, but we are not satisfied
with the merely industrial achievements of our city we
demand something more and something better.
"We look through the dust and smoke of Chicago as
she is, to see the fair and noble form of our city as she will
be, a centre of influence, intellectual and artistic as well
as industrial, a school of the nation, as Pericles declared
that Athens was the school of Greece.
"One thing more. We have built here a noble hall
of music. It is a merely material structure of brick and
stone and steel. We have not and we cannot put into
this building its living soul. That is a task for other
hands than ours.
"How can I fitly express the sense of our obligation
to the members of the orchestra and their great leader
for what they have done for this community and the
greater community that lives around it ?
"Mr. Thomas and Gentlemen of the Orchestra, we
hope and believe that this building will outlive every one
of you and every one of us. We hope and believe that it
will stand for generations to come. But if it stands for
centuries, it will not outlast the beneficent influence which
you have bestowed upon the higher life of the American
people."
APPENDIX 291
THE CHICAGO ORCHESTRA'S TESTIMONIAL
[In November, 1904, the members of the Chicago Orchestra
decided to give their leader a banquet in the latter part of
January, 1905, and passed a series of resolutions, which were
beautifully engrossed by the artist Rascovitch. These were
to have been presented to him on that occasion as a testimonial
of esteem and loyalty, but he did not live to receive them.
After his death they were presented to Mrs. Thomas. EDR.]
RESOLVED, That we place on record the gratitude we
owe to you as our respected and revered leader in our
own campaign of education, for your patience, so untir-
ingly displayed, for your help so freely given, for the
vigilant watchfulness with which you have always guarded
our interests.
RESOLVED, That we place upon record our admiration
of the high musical standard you have maintained and
of your straightforward, unswerving course, and of our
love for the man who has never "trifled with his gifts"
and who has never sacrificed the honor of his art to gratify
personal ambition or further personal ends.
RESOLVED, Now that your reward has come and
leader and players are in their own home, given to them
by lovers of music, that we extend to you our heartiest
congratulations. Fifty years of honest work have not
been wasted. You have come to your own, nobly striven
for, nobly won. You are recognized and will be remem-
bered for your self-sacrificing, courageous devotion to
the highest in our noble art. None recognized it sooner,
none will remember it longer than those who have worked
with you.
RESOLVED, That as a token of our admiration for you
as a musician, of our loyalty to you as our leader, and our
affection for you as a man, we ask you to accept this
292 THEODORE THOMAS
tribute with the wish that we may have many happy and
useful years together in the new home, which stands as a
testimonial of the popular love and respect for an honored
leader under whose baton we have served so long and
pleasantly.
MEMORIAL OF THE CINCINNATI MUSICAL
FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
"Theodore Thomas died at his residence in Chicago
on Wednesday, January 4, 1905, after a short illness.
His funeral was held at St. James Church in that city
on Friday, January 6, and was attended by President
Hinkle, Directors Rawson and Wiborg, former President
Hobart, and Mr. Glover, representing this Association.
The Directors have met to-day for the purpose of record-
ing on the minutes of the Association their acknowledg-
ment of the services of the great leader to the cause of
music in Cincinnati, and of expressing their sense of
personal bereavement at his death.
"Mr. Thomas has been musical director of the festi-
vals from the beginning. He conducted the first concert
of the first festival, on Tuesday evening, May 6, 1873, and
every concert of every festival thereafter until he laid
down his baton after the memorable performance of Bee-
thoven's Missa Solennis and Ninth Symphony, with
which he brought the sixteenth festival to a glorious
close on Saturday night, May 14, 1904. What he accom-
plished for the education of the public and for the cause
of music in this city during those years of service is not
recorded in any written annals, and cannot be; it is part
of the history of Cincinnati, and of the lives of her citizens,
which he enriched and made purer and better and happier
APPENDIX 293
by inspiring them with an appreciation of the highest and
best forms of music, and by revealing to them the inef-
fable beauties of the art to which he devoted his life
with noble and unselfish purpose. His upright character,
his high ideals, his sound judgment, matured by years of
study and labor, his indefatigable energy, his courage
and patience in time of trial, his catholic spirit, his faith
in the people, and his confidence in the ultimate triumph
of his appeals to their intelligence, and of his efforts to
raise the standard of art in their midst, are the qualities
of heart and mind which have endeared him to his asso-
ciates, and have laid the foundation of his enduring fame
as a benefactor of mankind.
"He came to us when he was a young man ; he gave to
us a large part of his life; he has gone, full of years and
honor. He fought a good fight and kept the faith. We
deplore the loss of our leader and mourn the death of
our friend. In the shadow of his death we pledge our-
selves to continue the work which he began, and to main-
tain the Cincinnati Festivals on the plane of excellence
where he placed them, and in the spirit of conscientious
endeavor and high artistic purpose with which he
endowed them."
TRIBUTES TO THEODORE THOMAS
[The following are selected from the many tributes paid
to the memory of Theodore Thomas on account of their close
insight into the character and results of his work. EDR.]
FROM "THE NEW YORK TIMES"
"It is hard to estimate the debt that this country owes
to Theodore Thomas. It is the debt of a pupil to a
teacher; or it is the debt of a people led out of a wilderness
294 THEODORE THOMAS
to the prophet who has shown them a sight of the promised
land. To Mr. Thomas more than to any other single
force is due the present state of musical culture in this
country. To an amazing persistency in the face of
repeated discouragement and piled-up difficulties he
joined the fine and catholic taste, and most of all, the
willingness to make his propaganda gradually, that were
precisely the qualities necessary for his success. He knew
that there were many kinds of good music; and that the
love and appreciation of the greatest kinds were best
attained by a gradual uplift through the lesser.
"The older generation of music-lovers learned to
know their classics through Mr. Thomas's temperament
and methods. To them he was the ideal conductor;
and his breadth, repose, and clarity of view gave to his
conducting artistic qualities that could never be inval-
idated. Other ideals have arisen in later years. Some
accused him because he did not remould his artistic nature
nearer to their hearts' desire; because he was not, and in
the nature of things, could not be the 'modern' conductor
that has been evolved from Wagner's influence, and the
movement set going by his famous essay. But in grasp
of all that pertains to the direction of an orchestra, in
authority over men, in knowledge of his own mind and
purposes and the way to get them realized, and most,
perhaps, of all, in full possession of that subtle art that is
called programme-making, there were few who were the
superiors of the great artist who is dead. The immediate
loss is Chicago's; but the whole country, and New
York in particular, will not let the Western city mourn
alone."
APPENDIX 295
FROM "THE NATION," NEW YORK
"The most remarkable characteristics of Mr. Thomas
as a musician were his catholicity of taste and consequent
versatility. No one ever interpreted the oldest masters
Bach, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart more impress-
ively than he, or with a keener insight into the antique
spirit of music. Beethoven and Schubert he worshipped,
and he made propaganda for them every week of his life.
At the same time he was an enthusiastic champion of
modern music. He did missionary work for Wagner,
Liszt, and Berlioz, at a time when it meant money out
of his pocket and the incurring of critical censure. And
he kept his interest in new music to the last moment, his
latest proteges having been Elgar and Strauss. In this
catholicity of taste and ability to interpret the old and the
new equally well, Theodore Thomas resembled Franz
Liszt. He had chosen for his Philharmonic programme
in this city, in March, Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony,
and Richard Strauss's 'Death and Glorification,' thus
exemplifying his liberal-mindedness. Had there been
room he might well have added some work like Professor
Paine's 'Island Fantasy,' by way of calling attention to
the fact that he did more for American composers than
any other conductor has done.
"Theodore Thomas was a bora commander. As a
general he would have held Port Arthur as long as Stoessel
held it. His stubborn determination to carry out his
plans and wishes frequently got him into trouble, and he
made many enemies; but they were for the most part
enemies to be proud of. He was not without jealousy,
and when Anton Seidl came to America he looked on
him, unfortunately, as a rival rather than as a helper.
296 THEODORE THOMAS
But when he became more familiar with Seidl's admirable
work (with the Thomas orchestra) at some of Mr. Grau's
operatic performances in Chicago, he cordially offered
his colleague his friendship and praise. Dr. William
Mason, speaking of the early days when he and the future
conductor played chamber music together, says that Mr.
Thomas 'rapidly developed a talent for making pro-
grammes by putting pieces into the right order of sequence,
thus avoiding incongruities. He brought this art to
perfection in the arrangement of his symphony concert
programmes.' Here, indeed, lies one of his chief dis-
tinctions."
FROM "THE OUTLOOK," NEW YORK
"... More than any other man Theodore
Thomas educated the public of New York to an apprecia-
tion and love of the best music. He made no concessions
to popular taste; but he was so thoroughly the master of
the art of conducting, so profoundly imbued with the
musical spirit, so firm in his faith in the power of the
highest music to appeal to and satisfy even those who
were musically uneducated, that he built up rapidly a
devoted constituency, and accustomed them to the best
interpretation of the best music.
"It is to Theodore Thomas, more than to any other
man, that the intelligent appreciation and understanding
of music which characterize New York are due. His
taste was wonderfully catholic. He held to the old with
tenacity, but he welcomed the new with hospitality. No
man loved Beethoven more, no man interpreted Bach
with the orchestra with greater sympathy; but, on the
other hand, no man so persistently, and finally so vic-
toriously, interpreted and popularized the music of
APPENDIX 297
Wagner. The large number of men and women in New
York who went to school to Mr. Thomas and gained
their insight into music from his baton have not forgotten
the quiet, persistent enthusiasm with which in those days
he made Wagner's music familiar in New York City.
"This catholicity Mr. Thomas retained to the last
day of his life, together with unworn enthusiasm and
freshness of feeling; his latest programmes included the
oldest and the newest music. What he did in New York
in the earlier part of his career he repeated in Chicago
in the later years; and to him more than to any other
single man, as a result of his earlier work in Cincinnati,
and his latest work in Chicago, is due the widespread
and growing enthusiasm for music in the Central West."
FROM "THE BROOKLYN EAGLE"
"The hands are folded at whose beck great music
once filled our halls. Theodore Thomas is dead. Amer-
ica owes more to this man for its musical taste and knowl-
edge than it can ever owe to another, and the glory and
the pathos of his death is that he passed in the hour of
his best success.
"Brooklyn came to know him well, for he conducted
our Philharmonic concerts for years, and he had the
personal friendship of scores of our citizens. His concerts
at the Academy, always decorated for the occasion with
flowers, palms, and sometimes with fountains, were
events, for there was no better music in the world than
we heard then. His programmes were models, his
mastery of the orchestra was complete. In private life
Theodore Thomas was modest, conscientious, quiet in
manner, obstinate in what he deemed to be right; in
short, a good citizen, a fond husband and father, a man
298 THEODORE THOMAS
of clear name, and of the best ideals. Had it been possible
to pay the debt we owe to him he would have died rich;
but he died better, in the knowledge that he had enriched
the world. The placing of a laurel on his bier is but a
form, yet as a tribute to his art he would have prized it.
Earthly music is still for us, but for what he did to make
the inheritance sublime, 'he sings to-day the Trisagion
in heaven.'"
FROM "THE BOSTON TRANSCRIPT"
"In these days of endowed symphony orchestras in
some of the wealthier cities of the country, it is difficult
for younger generations to understand the honor in which
the name of Theodore Thomas has been held by his
contemporaries. Nowadays it is merely a matter of
setting aside a million or so and issuing the fiat, and an
orchestra exists. In Thomas's day, the taste and desire
for good music had to be built up in the first place. In
New York there was, to be sure, the old Philharmonic,
and in Boston there was the old Harvard Musical Asso-
ciation, giving symphonies and other classical music to
subscribers. It was Theodore Thomas's destined life
work to create the broader popular base for musical
culture, on which alone it can have any vital relation
to or influence on the national character and refine-
ment. . . .
"Many were the devices he had to resort to to obtain
support by the public, for our 'benevolent feudalism'
had not risen as yet in the seventies. His strategetics
included luring the public to one of those popular resorts
called 'gardens,' introduced in New York and the West
from Germany. He also sought maintenance for ms
APPENDIX 299
permanent organization in tours, and many were the
leanly recompensed or downright disastrous visits of the
Thomas Orchestra to Boston then, to him, it is sad to
recall, 'the enemy's country.' Good Mr. John S. Dwight,
as the champion of the then decadent Harvard musical
symphonies, and as the leading musical critic of his day,
used to insist that 'a certain rugged naturalness' in the
interpretation of symphonies was, after all, superior in
appeal to a really refined appreciation to the mechanical
perfections of the Thomas men!
"Thus all of Thomas's efforts to make a financial
surety of fine music in America were, one after another,
year by year, doomed to disappointment. It is this
pathetic and heroic struggle, during all of which it never
occurred to him to give it up, that accounts for his being
held by those who witnessed it all, one of our American
heroes, a man to be ever remembered and looked up to
as a public character and benefactor. Of course, there
were with him the usual ' defects of his qualities.' A born
leader fit for such a struggle must be made of the sternest
stuff, and Theodore Thomas, though personally modest
to shyness, was a dictator in matters of music, and a
hard master with his players. Nor did he ever lower his
crest after those great musical foundations of Cincinnati
and Chicago adopted him, and finally solved the financial
problem of his famous orchestra. He has died in har-
ness, as he would have chosen, and with his place in art
and share in the evolution of a better American culture
honorably recognized, and the great work of his planting
in full bearing."
300 THEODORE THOMAS
FROM "THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN"
"Theodore Thomas, the greatest of American or-
chestral conductors, one of the greatest of American
musicians, playing, as he did, on thirty or fifty or a
hundred instruments at once with all the accumulated
spiritual and mental power and all the exquisite physical
skill of nerves and muscles which their performers had
attained, Thomas has died, just at the entrance of his
seventieth year. It is a great loss to music in the future,
more especially in Chicago, the centre of that culture for
the West, and where at least he had gained the great
aim of his life, the endowment and home possession of
a great orchestra, in which he could carry out all his
purposes and ideals without fear of deficits in the season's
income. The disappointment is no longer personal to
him, it is true 'far has he gone from wish or fear ' but
who shall seize and wield his baton hereafter must trouble
Chicago not a little. Thomas was in himself Berlin
or Vienna, Leipsic or Paris; where he was the greatest
orchestral results were produced the greatest and the
finest. He had no fellow in America, not even in the
best men that have ruled Boston's symphony orchestra,
or that of the Philharmonic Society of New York. Not
even Anton Seidl endangered his supremacy in this line."
FROM "THE PHILADELPHIA LEDGER"
"The most conspicuous figure in the modern history
of music in America has passed away in the death of
Theodore Thomas, who completed, with the opening of
this season, an active career of forty years as an orchestral
conductor of the highest authority. It is not too much
to say that he created, in this country, by long and
APPENDIX 301
laborious effort, the popular taste for orchestral music
that now finds gratifying expression in the support of
great orchestras in many principal cities. Though
younger men have taken up the work, none has dis-
puted Thomas's leadership, and the receptive mind and
broad appreciation which early put him at the head of
the modern movement in the United States were main-
tained to the very end of his strenuous and useful life.
"Though born in Germany, and retaining many Ger-
man traits, his whole life, from childhood, was passed in
America, and was devoted to the service of the American
people. His reputation as a violinist was earned as a
boy, and increased in early manhood, but it has been al-
most forgotten in his larger fame as a master of the
orchestra. He was the first man here to build up a
complete orchestra upon modern lines, as a permanent
organization, and to weld it into that absolute unity that
made it an instrument obedient to the conductor's mind.
The work was so new in this country, and the public
to be addressed was at first so small, that it required all
of Thomas's stolid temperament and uncompromising
will, and the obstacles he met would have disheartened
almost any other man; but Thomas never wavered, even
in the face of repeated defeats, though from time to time
compelled to change his base. Unmoved by opposition
or by financial loss, he worked on, raising his standard
always higher and higher, and it is gratifying to know
that in Chicago, where he had recently made his home,
he had at last placed his orchestra on a substantial basis,
in a hall of its own, that will remain as a monument.
"A not less durable monument he has built for himself
in the grateful memory of the many who owe to him no
small measure of their own awakening to the boundless
302 THEODORE THOMAS
resources of the orchestra, and of their early acquaint-
ance with that musical development which is the dis-
tinctive manifestation of the modern aesthetic sense. He
wrought a great work, in whose results we are all in some
degree the sharers, and though he had come to his three
score years and ten, his firm and forceful personality has
left an impression on the musical life of the country that
the lapse of years cannot efface."
FROM "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE"
"One of the few really great orchestral conductors
of the world, and the foremost leader of musical progress
in the United States, has passed away, after more than
fifty years of honorable, dignified, consistent, and un-
commercial service. He was a musician with great gifts,
which he never degraded, and with which he never trifled.
Music was never an amusement to him, but the highest
expression of aesthetic possibility, and his work for it
was always of an educational character.
"While yet a youth he conceived a far-reaching pur-
pose, and he labored for it until he reached the scriptural
limit of age, never lowering the standard he set, and never
doubting that he should live to see its fruition. That
purpose was to make the best and highest music popular
by the best and highest performance possible of it, and
by insistent repetition if necessary. For such a great
work he was magnificently equipped. He brought to
it profound musical scholarship, exceptional general
culture, catholicity of taste, rare technical skill, and in-
herent qualities of leadership, which made his men
devotedly attached to him, while they submitted to his
stern discipline.
"His life work was singularly complete. It reached
APPENDIX 303
half a century, and in that period is comprised a successful
growth, with a future promise such as few musical leaders
have ever achieved. He lived to see the accomplishment
of his purpose, and to receive his reward in such a popular
gift as no other musician has received, as no other city
has attempted to make. Grand in his ideals, unswervingly
honest and honorable in his career, splendid in musical
gift, and noble in manliness of character, with a great,
loving heart behind his austere seeming, he has gone,
and thousands will mourn for him. Who can take the
place of Theodore Thomas ? "
FROM "THE CHICAGO RECORD-HERALD"
"Not only will Theodore Thomas be celebrated as
the founder of the Chicago Orchestra, and as the educator
of at least two generations of music- lovers, but he will
live in musical history as one of the world's great
conductors. His catholicity and sympathy were as re-
markable as his grasp and profundity. Some conductors,
like the great Seidl, for example, are admirable in Wagner-
ian and other essentially modern music. Some are at
home only in the classical compositions. Some are
purely emotional, others are distinguished for precision
and technical perfection. Theodore Thomas had pref-
erences, and very decided ones, but no limitations.
While it is well known that Beethoven was to him the
Alpha and Omega of symphonic music, he never allowed
this conviction to mar in the faintest degree his treatment
of other composers. He was as good in Brahms and
Liszt and Tschaikowsky as he was in Beethoven and
Mozart.
"He was a true and masterly interpreter of music.
He understood the spirit of a composition, 'the tone of
304 THEODORE THOMAS
time' in it, the national genius when it was in any manner
colored thereby, the deepest meaning of the composer.
He was criticised for his readings of Bach, but the more
one studies the life, thought, environment of that master,
the more one appreciates the legitimacy of Mr. Thomas's
interpretation of him. Outwardly stern and impassive,
Mr. Thomas had a rare instinct for the sensuous beauty,
the passion and emotional significance of music. He was
always vital, never perfunctory or 'academic' in his work."
FROM "THE ST. PAUL DISPATCH"
"American music seems dead with Thomas. For he
made it all that it is, built it slowly, line on line, phrase
after phrase, wrote its signature in the C major of sanity
and clarity, experienced all its accidentals, its capricious
modulations, its movements from lento to presto, formed
it into a mighty chorus, where the main theme is being
repeated from the four corners of the land but now,
alas, never to be written da capo. What music in
America is, and why it is, every man who comprehends
music may answer Thomas. What it may be to-morrow
no man dares answer. For though there are good men
and capable, there is not another Thomas.
"Thomas was not an American. Had he been there
would have been less American music, or of a lesser sort.
He came hither in the middle of the fourth decade, and
America itself scarce existed then, so chaotic, so diverse,
were its endeavors, its Puritan element so barren of art,
its Cavalier so tinkling. Thomas came as a mere boy,
not more than ten years old, but it was because of this
youth, and because music was great within him, and
because he made his mastery equal his opportunity, that
he is the great American in music, and American music
APPENDIX 305
is potentially great. What those dreary middle years of
the century meant to him we may learn from the forth-
coming autobiography, but they were not more uncertain
than was American life itself. Yet this was touched with
an idealism, without which Theodore Thomas could
not have wrought so masterfully. And, moreover, they
were malleable years. The orchestral conductor, as he
moved restlessly from place to place, seeking his own,
must often have doubted his mission, must nearly always
have doubted his mission field. But he won, not the
ease in musical Zion which Weingartner finds in Berlin,
Nikisch in Leipzic, or Lamoureux and Colonne in Paris,
but the consciousness of tremendous accomplishment,
which these men can never know, the foundation and
superstructure of the music of a nation. And it is typical
that the last thirteen years of this sixty years in America
should be lived in Chicago, where, perhaps, after all, the
truest appreciation and the least prejudice may be found,
without which art cannot be lasting."
FROM "THE CHICAGO CHRONICLE"
"It is forty years since Mr. Thomas gave to Americans
the first adequate testimony they ever had of the possi-
bilities of orchestral music. Ten years earlier some of
them had heard the big orchestra or band of M. Jullien;
but that was more sensational than artistic. Theodore
Thomas, foremost of all men, opened to Americans as
a whole their first appreciation of the union in orchestra
music of the profoundest science with the utmost refine-
ment and polish in art.
"Thomas antedated all others in this regard, though
in Boston the conditions existed which later blossomed
in the Boston orchestra, but Mr. Thomas's work owed
306 THEODORE THOMAS
nothing to that. It was original and independent in
him and in his devotion to the highest and purest in music,
both as science and as art, he never wavered for a
moment in all the long battle of forty years.
"For the inspiration of a like devotion in others,
and the appreciation by them of the rewards it may win,
thereby widening and deepening and elevating the hold
of music on the public love and taste, Mr. Thomas has
done more than all his fellow-laborers. They can hardly
be called his rivals, because he never so regarded them,
but only as co-laborers."
FROM "THE NORTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE,"
CHICAGO
"Mr. Thomas's claim to public recognition and
gratitude is many sided. He was a reformer; and he
gave the world a striking example of the spirit and method
of the true reformer. He sedulously effaced himself;
he said little, wrote nothing, and was the despair of the
newspaper man. He accepted the disapproval of his
audiences with the same imperturbability that he accepted
their approval; apparently he was never conscious of
anything personal to himself in either. He was a man
of one work. He doubtless might have been a great
performer, or a great composer, or a great impresario;
he had it in him to achieve greatness in many ways.
But he decided to do one thing, in its way the most impor-
tant thing of all; he decided to educate the musical taste
of the people of this country, so that the riches of their
inheritance in the greatest masters of music might be-
come accessible to them. He had a sound and worthy
conviction that any people might be brought to appreciate
what was best in music if they had it properly presented
APPENDIX 307
and presented often enough. It was simply a matter of
training. Never was mother more patient with unknow-
ing and wilful child than Mr. Thomas with his mammoth
baby-public. The task before him was tremendous.
First, he had to create an orchestra and mould musicians
to his ideals not so easy a matter as it seems on paper;
then he had to woo a public which could not be com-
pelled. He played Bach; the people cried for Strauss
waltzes; he gave them Strauss and more Bach. He
played Wagner; and the public, unintelligent and bored,
clamored for more Strauss. Strauss was conceded, but
Wagner followed. He played Beethoven, and his public
yawned; he aroused them with Strauss again, and fed them
more Beethoven. For forty years Mr. Thomas went on
with this work, never complaining, never scolding, but
never openly discouraged, and never yielding. It would be
too much to say that even now the average concert goer
is exuberant over a programme exclusively 'classical';
but it is not too much to say that there is not a man or
woman, boy or girl, that has any musical taste whatever,
who has not been made to feel that in these classics
the heaven of music lies. For this temper, so bracing
and hopeful in itself, so full of promise for the future
of American music, the nation is debtor, in larger degree
than to any other one man, to Mr. Thomas."
FROM "THE DIAL," CHICAGO
"It is not easy to adjust our minds to the fact that
Theodore Thomas is dead. Those who, like the present
writer, have heard something like five hundred concerts
given under his leadership during the past thirty years,
who owe to him practically their whole acquaintance
with orchestral music, must be simply dazed by their
3o8 THEODORE THOMAS
loss. To such, he has stood for all these years as the
beginning and the end of music, almost as their sole
means of access to its fountain of inspiration. The
contrast between those who have had the inestimable
opportunity of long continued contact with his work
and those who have not is like the contrast between
persons who have all their lives had the use of a com-
prehensive collection of English poetry and the persons
who have had within reach only some 'Library of Poetry
and Song,' or 'Golden Treasury' of excerpts. It is only
by thus transferring the case to its literary parallel that
it is possible to realize what such a loss means, or to
imagine how much poorer life would have been without
his labors for its enrichment. There are in this country
there are in Chicago alone many thousands of men
and women who have enjoyed a liberal education in
music through his agency, and who could not without
that agency have had anything but a casual and frag-
mentary acquaintance with the art which for the past
two centuries from Bach to Brahms has contributed
at least as largely as any other art to the upbuilding of
the spiritual life.
"Mr. Thomas was in his seventieth year when he
died, and sixty of his years were spent in the country of
his adoption. It is easily within bounds to say that no
other musician during those years has done so much as
he for the development of musical taste in the United
States. And the secret of his achievement if we may
call it a secret is found in his steadfast devotion to the
highest ideals of his art. His rugged and uncompro-
mising temper, in all questions directly concerning his art,
often made him enemies, but of a kind for which his
APPENDIX 309
followers loved him all the more. It is barely ten years
since, in the city which he had honored by choosing it
for his permanent home, he was made the victim of a
vicious and virulent attack, accompanied by every imagi-
nable form of mean and malicious insinuation, solely
because he refused to lower his standards for the sake of
a cheap popularity, or to prostitute his art to commercial
considerations. And even after the fury of that outburst
was past, and those responsible for it had been revealed
in all their contemptible insignificance, there were still
raised against him from time to time the voices of those
who should have been better advised, urging that he make
concessions to the ignorant humor of the public, and
give them the music for which they clamored, instead of
the music which he knew that they ought to hear.
"To all these appeals Mr. Thomas turned a deaf ear,
and continued in his imperturbable course. And if we
accord him all honor for this attitude, we must permit
the honor to be shared with the men upon whose invita-
tion he had come to Chicago in 1891, and who gave him
unfailing support to the end. It was a loyal body of
public-spirited citizens fifty at first, the number after-
wards dwindling to much less than that who made
with him in the beginning the solemn compact that only
artistic considerations should prevail in the management
of the enterprise, that the question of box-office receipts
should never be allowed to modify a standard of excellence
which art alone should dictate. How well that promise
was kept, and at how great a personal sacrifice on the
part of those who kept it, is a matter of history."
THEODORE THOMAS
FROM THE CHICAGO AUDITORIUM ASSOCIATION
[Extract from resolutions adopted by the directors of the
Chicago Auditorium Association, on motion of Ferdinand W.
Peck.]
"Theodore Thomas was the great missionary in our
country of the 'music of the brain' a music which
not only appeals to the soft emotions of the human heart,
but also elevates, refines, ennobles, inspires, stirs, and
impassions the mysterious weft of the human mind.
With him music was an art and a science art in its
highest, most dignified form. He was the great music
teacher, not of a city, or of the East, or of the West, or the
South, or the North; he was the great music teacher of a
nation. In this cause he lived and labored and suffered
and triumphed like a true hero. And to-day not only
this city, in which he closed his magnificent career, but
this nation mourns his loss as deeply, as sincerely, as it
ever mourned the death of one of its illustrious sons.
His life is gone, but his work lives."
FROM PROMINENT MUSICIANS
"Theodore Thomas was the pioneer of music in
America. We younger composers must always be espe-
cially grateful to him because he often brought out our
works in the United States before they were presented here.
His memory will never be forgotten."
FELIX WEINGARTNER.
"Not only America but we all owe Theodore Thomas
enormous thanks. Without his indefatigable pioneer
work we musicians of the Old World could never have
had such success in the United States."
ARTHUR NIKISCH,
Conductor Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
APPENDIX 311
"I confess the death of Theodore Thomas shocked
me in the highest degree. Art loses in him a musician
of the rarest purity and strength of character. I myself
mourn the deceased great master as a faithful friend,
whose memory I shall always honor. What Thomas
signified for musical development in America is universally
known. What we Germans owe him shall be held in
everlasting remembrance."
RICHARD STRAUSS.
"America has lost one of the greatest musical leaders
this or any other country ever had."
EMIL PAUR,
Conductor Pittsburg Orchestra.
"It is impossible to exaggerate the great loss the death
of Mr. Thomas means to the musical world. His position
was unchallenged; the greatest orchestra conductor in
the w r orld. He had no equal. There is none to take his
place." WILHELM GERICKE,
Conductor Boston Orchestra.
"It was in 1855 I met Theodore Thomas, and the
affectionate friendship we then formed has continued
through the half-century that has elapsed. He was a
very great conductor, the greatest we have ever had in
America; great not only in the Beethoven symphonies
and other classics, but also in Liszt, Wagner, and the
extreme moderns."
WILLIAM MASON.
"To Mr. Thomas is unquestionably due the greatest
credit for his consistent and heroic work in advancing
the cause of good music in this country."
FRANK D. VAN DER STUCKEN,
Conductor Cincinnati Orchestra.
312 THEODORE THOMAS
"It is the death of a man who never swerved from
his lofty artistic purpose, no matter what the difficulties
met with or personal sacrifice demanded. No discour-
agement could make him falter, or trials cause him to
lower the art standard he had set for himself and his
musicians. He did more for musical art in America than
any man ever did or ever will accomplish. 'We ne'er
shall look upon his like again.' "
HEINRICH CONRIED,
Director Metropolitan Opera House Co., N. Y.
SEATTLE, January 5, 1905.
MRS. THEODORE THOMAS :
The entire musical world joins you and your family in
deepest sorrow over your terrible bereavement. The pass-
ing away of your illustrious husband is an irreparable loss
to our art, for scarcely any man in any land has done so
much for the musical education of the people as did Theo-
dore Thomas in this great country. The purity of his
character, firmness of his principles, nobility of his ideals,
together with the magnitude of his achievements, will
assure him everlasting glory in the history of artistic cul-
ture. Personally, I deplore from the bottom of my soul,
the loss of one of my very dearest and most beloved friends.
To you, madame, who have been the devoted companion
of the great departed, who have given him so much of hap-
piness, we send the homage of our profound affliction and
mournful sympathy.
I. J. PADEREWSKI.
APPENDIX 313
EARLY MUSIC IN CHICAGO
Mr. Thomas and his two orchestras were such promi-
nent factors in the musical progress of Chicago, by reason
of his many visits to that city, his extraordinary series of
summer night concerts, and his fourteen seasons as leader
of the Chicago Orchestra, that some reference to its mu-
sical history should be made in any volume dealing with
his life. It was his home in his closing years, the city
where his greatest successes were made, and where the
ambition of his life was gratified. Some of the events
leading up to his first appearance there in 1869, and
of those preceding his organization of the Chicago
Orchestra in 1891, should form part of a memorial of
his life.
Julius Dyhrenfurth, a German amateur violinist, was
the father of the orchestra in Chicago. He came to this
country in 1837, and made some tours with Joseph Her-
mann, a pianist, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and northern
Virginia, but returned to Europe in 1841. Six years later
he landed again in New York, and went to Chicago. He
purchased a farm in the outskirts of the city, and made it
a kind of retreat for expatriated Germans. Curiously
enough nearly all of them were musicians. They repaid
him in music for their subsistence, and at last he organized
them into the nucleus of what was Chicago's first orchestra.
Mr. Dyhrenfurth christened it the " Philharmonic Society,"
and announced a series of eight concerts, at the new
Tremont Hall, the programmes to consist of "orches-
tral pieces, choruses combined with orchestra, vocal
and instrumental numbers, etc." The first concert
was given October 24, 1850, with the following pro-
gramme :
THEODORE THOMAS
i. Potpourri, "Fille du Regiment" . . . Orchestra
2. Song, with vocal quartette accompaniment . Palme
3. Violoncello solo .... Carlino Lassen
4. Comic song and chorus . . . Weinmann
5. Chicago waltz, for orchestra, composed for the
occasion Lassen
6. Vocal trio . . Davis, Lumbard, and Dunham
7. Medley of negro airs, arranged by . Dyhrenfurth
8. Polka French song 'cello accompaniment Lassen
9. French grand chorus, with full orchestral ac-
companiment, from "Preciosa," arranged by Weinmann
Up to 1851 the Philharmonic efforts were of a desul-
tory nature, and depended for their success upon the
labors of a single individual. During the fall of the next
year, however, there was a more general effort to achieve
something of importance, and in November, 1852, a
Philharmonic Society was organized for the practice both
of vocal and instrumental music, with G. P. Abell for
conductor. On the 22d of February, 1853, the Legislature
incorporated the Society by an act entitled "An Act to
encourage the Science of Fiddling." With this undignified
christening, the Society sprang into complete existence,
with Christopher Plagge for conductor. Carl Bergmann
succeeded Plagge, as I have related elsewhere, but re-
signed after giving two concerts, and the Society went to
pieces. It was reconstructed in 1856, and the conductor-
ship was assigned to Professor C. W. Webster, whose
term was barely longer than that of Bergmann.
These short-lived organizations, however, were gradu-
ally preparing the way for a full grand orchestra. A
very decided impulse was given to the good work by the
concerts of the famous Germania Orchestra in June,
1853. At one of their concerts, a symphony (Beethoven's
APPENDIX 315
Second) was given entire for the first time in Chicago,
and, of course, was not appreciated, for the symphonic
days were yet afar off. Nevertheless, the Germania
Orchestra did a great work in making the people ac-
quainted with orchestral music, and the possibilities of a
full orchestra. Gradually the material shaped itself for
a local orchestra. In 1854, the Light Guard Band, and
in 1856, the Great Western Band, were organized under
Messrs. Vaas and Burkhart. All that was needed was
the leader to organize this material, and drill and discipline
it. The leader soon appeared. The Germania Orches-
tra disbanded shortly after its season in Chicago, and its
members were widely scattered. Among those who came
to Chicago was Henry Ahner, the cornet player. He at
once availed himself of the material which was offered
him in the organizations of the Light Guard and Great
Western Bands, and carefully developed it into an orches-
tra of about thirty pieces. On the 2gth of November,
1856, he commenced a series of Saturday afternoon con-
certs at Metropolitan Hall, five in number, assisted by
Henry Perabeau, the pianist, and Louis Dochez (De
Passio), the barytone, but the season was a financial
failure. Nothing daunted, he at once made his arrange-
ments for a second series of five concerts, which com-
menced January 24, 1857. The programmes were im-
proved in character, and for the first time concert goers
heard one of the overtures to "Fidelio," the "Midsummer
Night's Dream" music of Mendelssohn, a movement
from Mozart's D major symphony, and arias from the
"Magic Flute" and "Der Freischiitz." The second
series, however, proved to be a financial failure, like the
first. He inaugurated a third series, March 6, with a
musical festival, in which his orchestra was increased to
316 THEODORE THOMAS
sixty pieces, for the performance of Beethoven's First
Symphony. Like the performance of the Second Sym-
phony, however, three years before, it was not appreciated.
This series ended like the other two, in failure. He
commenced his fourth series April 4, but it was the same
old story. On the yth of November, 1857, he began a
fifth series of afternoon concerts, which closed December
5 with the same melancholy result. He gave five concerts
of the sixth series, the last one January 6, 1858, and they
left him penniless and almost friendless.
Mr. Ahner's plan of Saturday afternoon concerts was
not allowed to drop. It was resumed on the i8th of
February of the same year by Julius linger, who also
had been a member of the Germania Orchestra a man
of coarser, harder type, whom no amount of failure could
ever crush. His first series of concerts was five in num-
ber, closing March 26. The first blow which he received
came from an orchestra brought here by Ullmann in
October, 1856, to accompany the dtbut of Carl Formes,
which included Theodore Thomas and Mosenthal (first
violins), Carl Bergmann ('cello), Herzog (contra-bass),
Meyer (oboe), Schmitz (French horn), Lacroix (trumpet),
and Letsch (trombone), with Carl Anschiitz for leader.
Shortly afterwards came the first Italian opera troupe,
with Parodi, Colson, Wilhorst, Amalia Patti, Brignoli,
Amodio (the elder), and Junca; in the splendors of that
season Unger went out of sight and disappeared, no one
knew where, leaving behind him nothing but some un-
happy creditors.
But all this time events were shaping themselves for a
revival of the Philharmonic interest. On the i8th, igih,
and 20th of June, 1857, the Northwestern Sangerbund
held its annual festival, and Hans Balatka, of Milwaukee,
APPENDIX 317
came to lead its concerts. Three years later he came
to Chicago to reside. On the Qth of October, 1860,
Messrs. E. I. Tinkham, Edward Stickney, U. H. Crosby,
Samuel Johnston, J. V. LeMoyne, and a few others, met
and organized the new Philharmonic Society. They
called Mr. Balatka to the conductorship, and he accepted.
The first concert was given at Bryan's Hall, November 19,
1860, with the following programme:
i. Symphony, No. 2, D major, op. 36 . . . Beethoven
2. Quintet and chorus from "Martha" . . Flotow
3. Overture to "Merry Wives of Windsor" . . Nicolai
4. Sextet from "Lucia" ..... Donizetti
5. Solo for violin (fantaisie dedicated to Paganini) . De Be"riot
Mr. Emil Weinberg.
6. Chorus from "Tannhauser" .... Wagner
The existence of a Wagner cult in Chicago, even at
that early day, is shown by the following note on the
programme :
"N. B. In order that those who desire to listen to the last
piece on the programme may not be disturbed by those who
prefer to leave at that time, an intermission of a few minutes
will be made previous to the last chorus, after which those pres-
ent are politely requested to remain in their seats until the end
of the performance."
I remember that scarcely a person left the hall.
Before many of these concerts had been given they
became the rage. So immense were the crowds, that
people often gathered in the entrance of the hall an hour
before the doors opened, in order to secure seats. Not even
the opera attracted such brilliant and fashionable audiences
and Balatka soon found himself famous, and the musical
lion of the city. The concerts, as I have said, commenced
318 THEODORE THOMAS
November 19, 1860, and closed April 3, 1868, at which
time the society died insolvent, having given during the
eight years fifty concerts. It accomplished an important
work in the education of the people and in preparing them
for the new leader soon to come, who was to make Chicago
a musical center. Mr. Balatka gave a few concerts in
1869, and then abandoned the field, the Thomas Orches-
tra having arrived in the same year. In 1888, after the
disbandment of the Thomas Orchestra, the Chicago
Symphony Society was organized, with Louis Wahl as
President and Mr. Balatka, conductor. An orchestra
of sixty members was secured, and an excellent series of
programmes was prepared, but the scheme failed of
success, and soon was abandoned. To these three men,
however, Ahner, Unger, and Balatka, is due the credit
of preparing the way for the greater skill and higher
interpretative ability of Mr. Thomas and the greater
perfection of his instrumental force. They at least
introduced the higher music to Chicago, and one of them,
Balatka, acquainted his audiences with every one of the
Beethoven symphonies, as well as with many of Mozart's,
Haydn's, Mendelssohn's, and others.
There was still another organization which did a great
work for good music, even before the Philharmonic
Society began its successful career. It was a quartette
Paul Becker, pianist; Henry de Clerque, violinist; A.
Buderbach, second violinist, and A. Melms, violoncellist,
which gave two series of chamber concerts in the Briggs
House in 1 860-61. Here is one of the earliest pro-
grammes:
APPENDIX 319
i. Quintet, op. 44, in E flat major . . Schumann
Becker, DeClerque, Mullet, Grote and Melms.
2. "Wanderer's Night Song" . . Mendelssohn
Gentlemen of the Mendelssohn Society. 1
3. "Fantaisie Caprice" Vieuxtemps
Mr. De Clerque.
4. "Oh! Mighty Magic," from "The Pardon of
Ploermel" Meyerbeer
Mr. De Passio.
5. Quartet, op. 18, No. 4, C minor . . Beethoven
De Clerque, Muller, Grote, and Melms.
Such programmes as these, be it remembered, were
played in Chicago only five years after the famous Mason-
Thomas concerts had been started in New York. They
included such numbers as Beethoven's quartet, op. 16,
sonata for piano and 'cello, op. 7, quartet, op. 18, No. 5,
A major, sonata for piano and 'cello, op. 17, trio, op. 97,
quartet, No. 4, C minor, trio, op. 70, No. i, D minor;
scherzo from Brahms's trio, op< 8; Mendelssohn's trio,
op. 49, D minor; Schumann's quintet, op. 44, E flat major,
and Mayseder's "Variations Concertantes," for piano, vio-
lin, alto, and 'cello. The audiences were not large, but
there were those among them who were destined to be of
great service to Mr. Thomas ten years later. The players
are now mostly forgotten, but they were earnest, honest
musicians with high standards, and were making the same
fight at the same time for good music in the West that the
Mason-Thomas combination was making in the East.
A year after this time (1860), Mr. Thomas severed
his connection with the opera and began the establishment
of his own orchestra, and a year or two later he announced
1 The Mendelssohn Society, a mixed chorus, was led by Mr.
A. W. Dohn.
320 THEODORE THOMAS
his first series of Symphony Soirees at Irving Hall. Nine
years later he came to Chicago under circumstances and
with results already described. From 1869 until 1891,
when Chicago secured the services of Mr. Thomas and
induced him to leave New York, the city was literally
without an orchestra of its own that could be designated
as the Chicago Orchestra.
To complete the story of musical effort and progress in
Chicago with which Mr. Thomas was largely concerned,
for his influence reached out hi all directions, some reference
should be made to vocal music and musical societies. Of the
latter, those which exerted the widest influence during the
ante-fire period were the Musical Union, the Oratorio Society,
the Mendelssohn Society, and the Germania Mannerchor.
The Chicago Musical Union was organized January
31, 1857, with Mr. C. M. Cady as conductor, and for
many years it held a very important position among the
musical institutions of the city. Its first concert was
given on the yth of the following April. As a matter of
curosity I append the programme:
i. Overture to "Semiramis," by .... Orchestra
2. "The Lord is Great," by .... Society
3. "Oh ! Steal not the Ray" (tenor solo), by . A. B. Tobey
4. "Prayer," from "Moses in Egypt," by Mrs. C. Blakely
Fanny S. Collins, A. Leonard, and J. Q. Thompson.
5. Cornet solo, by Henry Ahner
6. Solo and Chorus, "Marseillaise," by J. Q. Thompson
and Society.
7. Chorus, "Crowned with the Tempest," by . . Society
8. "The Skylark," by ... Mrs. C. Blakely
9. Duo from "Norma," for piano, by Franz and Louis Staab
10. Glee, "O, Give Me Music," by the Misses Kate and
Mary Jones and Messrs. Leonard and Lumbard.
ii. Chorus from "Mozart's Twelfth Mass," by the Society
APPENDIX 321
The Society disbanded in 1865 ; during the eight years
of its existence it did a great work for music, especially
in the introduction of oratorios.
In December, 1858, one ot the best societies ever
established in Chicago was organized under the leader-
ship of Mr. A. W. Dohn, with Mr. Harry Johnson, Presi-
dent. It was started originally as a male chorus, but
eventually ladies were admitted to membership. For a
time it gave no public concerts, but devoted itself to hard
and faithful study of music under its excellent leader.
Its first public appearance was made at the third concert
given by the Laborde-Formes troupe, March 26, 1859.
It at once made a reputation, especially among musicians
and musical connoisseurs, which it diligently preserved
many years, by never appearing in public until it had
something to sing, and until it was ready to do that some-
thing well. Its subsequent public performances were
as follows: March 23, 1860, Mendelssohn's "The Wan-
derer's Night Song," at one of the memorable Briggs
House classical concerts; April 30, 1860, dedicated
Kingsbury Hall (afterwards Wood's Museum), with the
performance of Sir Sterndale Bennett's "May Queen"
and Titl's " Consecration of Solomon's Temple " ; Mendel-
ssohn's "Walpurgis Night," at the Sherman House in the
spring of 1862. The Society also sang at the funeral
of -one of its members, Mr. Holt; and the last time it
appeared in public was at the funeral of President
Lincoln, when it sang some chorals from Mendelssohn's
"St. Paul"
The Chicago Oratorio Society was organized early in
1869. Mr. George L. Dunlap was the first President;
E. I. Tinkham, Vice-president; Wm. Sprague, Treasurer,
and Hans Balatka, conductor. It gave its first perform-
322 THEODORE THOMAS
ance May 28, 1869, upon which occasion the "Creation"
was given with the following cast:
Gabriel and Eve . . . Mme. Parepa-Rosa
Uriel Mr. Nordblom
Raphael and Adam .... Mr. Rudolphsen
In the great fire it lost all its property. The Handel
and Haydn Society, of Boston, donated it six hundred
volumes of music, and these were again lost by fire, and
the Society not long afterwards gave up its work. Ora-
torio was never greatly valued in Chicago.
The history of the German musical societies of Chi-
cago is an interesting one. The first in Chicago was the
Mannergesang-Verein, which was organized in 1852, with
Mr. Charles Sonne, as President, and Mr. Emil Rein,
conductor. In 1855 a split occurred in the Society, and
a number of the members seceded, and organized the
Freie Sangerbund, under the leadership of Henry Ahner.
Mr. Unger succeeded Mr. Rein as the conductor of the
Mannergesang-Verein, but the secession was fatal to it,
and it expired in 1859.
The Germania Mannerchor was organized in 1865
by Mr. Otto Lob, who called together a male chorus for
the purpose of musical participation in the funeral ob-
sequies of President Lincoln. Out of this temporary
organization was born, April 28, 1865, the Germania
Mannerchor. Mr. Henry Claussennius, the Prussian
Consul, was elected President, and Mr. Lob, conductor.
For a time matters went on smoothly and prosperously,
but at last the Meerstille was ruffled by a very stirring
breeze. In February, 1866, the name of Hans Balatka
was proposed for membership, and by a unanimous vote
of the Society he was made an honorary member. At a
APPENDIX 323
subsequent meeting. Mr. Lob insisted that the resolution
by which Mr. Balatka had been made an honorary mem-
ber should be cancelled, and threatened to resign. Furious
discussions ensued at subsequent meetings, until April of
the same year, when a majority of the members, eighteen
in number, withdrew and organized the Concordia
Mannerchor, Mr. F. A. Hoffman, President, and Mr.
Lob, conductor. The Germania Mannerchor was then
reorganized, with Mr. Claussennius for President, and
Mr. Balatka for conductor.
The rivalry between these societies was musically prof-
itable to the public. The Germania Mannerchor gave
a remarkable performance of "Der Freischtitz," in which
Mrs. Clara Huck and Messrs. Koch and Schultze took
the leading parts. Its success stimulated the Concordia
Mannerchor to give the "Magic Flute," Mrs. Huck,
Clara Lang, Mrs. Goldsticker, and Messrs. Foltz, Bischoff,
and Hofmann being cast in the leading parts. The Ger-
mania, not to be outdone, performed "Stradella," with
an ensemble, especially in the carnival scene, surpassing
anything ever presented by the professional troupes.
Internal troubles, however, soon arose in the Germania,
eventually leading to Mr. Balatka's resignation. In
July, 1871, the Chicago Liederkranz was organized with
Mr. Edmund Jussen as President; Arno Voss, Vice-
president, and Mr. Balatka, conductor, but its existence
was brief. One of the results of the great fire of that
year, was the union of the Germania and Concordia
Mannerchors in a large and flourishing society.
In 1872 the Apollo Musical Club was organized as a
Mannerchor, with the following officers: President,
George P. Upton; Vice-president, William Sprague;
Secretary, C. C. Curtiss; Treasurer, Frank Bowen;
324 THEODORE THOMAS
Librarian, W. C. Coffin; conductor, A. W. Dohn. Its
first season was a great popular success. In 1873 tne
Club gave a series of concerts in connection with the
Thomas orchestra, and in 1874 it had the honor of pro-
ducing Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri" for the first
time in this country, with the accompaniment of the
orchestra. At the close of 1874 Mr. Dohn resigned, and
Carl Bergstein became conductor. He held the position
for a short time only, and was succeeded by Mr. William
L. Tomlins, who organized a mixed chorus, and led the
Club with success for many years. It is still prospering
under the direction of Mr. Harrison Wild, and is the
inseparable associate of the Chicago Orchestra. It has
done splendid service for choral music in Chicago, and is
now virtually master of the field. Its only competitor,
the Beethoven Society, retired some years ago, after
eleven years of excellent work under the leadership of
Mr. Carl Wolfsohn, almost the only one now left of Mr.
Thomas's early associates in music. Mr. Wolfsohn,
through his labors with this Society and his memorable
recitals and chamber concerts, has exerted a power in
music that can hardly be overestimated. He was a
loyal friend to Mr. Thomas from the days when, as young
men, they were associated in chamber concerts in Phila-
delphia, and he was one of the first to come forward with
assistance in assuring the finances of the orchestra in
1891. In all of the choral work in Chicago since 1869, Mr.
Thomas's influence has been felt, both in the style of
performance and the standard of music.
EDITOR.
INDEX
AMERICAN Opera Company, 95,
96, 176, 185, 186, 187, 188,
189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 261.
Anschutz, C. 45, 47, 124, 316.
Arditi, L, 31, 32.
BACH, J. S., 40, 55> 64, 7 1 . 72, 9 1 .
J 34 139. I47> l6l > J 64> 166,
173, 181, 203, 205, 210, 211,
212, 229, 234, 235, 275, 282,
295, 296, 304, 307, 308.
Badiali, A., 31, 32.
Balatka, H., 35, 36, 316, 317, 318,
319, 322, 323, 324.
Barnum, P. T., 58.
Beethoven, L. von, 21, 36, 38, 40,
42, 48, 5 2 . 57. 64, 68, 79, 90,
91, 119, 132, 133, 139, 141, 143,
145. 146, 150, 153, 155, 161,
162, 164, 165, 166, 167, 170,
171, 173, 180, 181, 196, 203,
207, 2O8, 212, 213, 214, 221,
226, 229, 230, 231, 233, 234,
2 35 237, 242, 243, 244, 246,
256, 275, 279, 282, 284, 286,
292, 295, 296, 303, 307, 311,
3*4. 3 l6 > 3 J 7> 3 l8 > 3J9-
Bergmann, C., 34, 3S 3 6 > 37. 38,
39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48. 74,
125, 126, 149, 151, 203, 226,
234, 282, 314, 316.
Bergner, F., 41, 42, 43, 44, 203,
282.
Berlioz, H., 48, 52, 68, 72, 79, 91,
134, i39 MI, 152, iS4, 161,
166, 173, 206, 207, 230, 251,
295-
Boston Orchestra, 104, 105, 236,
300, 305, 311.
Brahms, J., 38, 39, 40, 42, 72, 139,
146, 152, 155, 161, 174, 180,
208, 230, 275, 303, 308, 319.
Bruckner, A., 155, 228, 229, 242.
Buck, Dudley, 68, 91.
Bulow, H. von, 44, 232, 240.
Bull, Ole, 48.
CAMPANINI, I., 91, 156, 173, 188,
189, 285.
Candidus, W., 91, 156, 173, 188,
189, 285.
Gary, A. L., 79, 86, 91, 173, 285.
Centennial, Philadelphia, 66, 193,
261.
Chicago Concerts, 57, 63, 65, 313.
Chicago Fire, 59, 166.
Chicago Festivals, 91, 92, 173.
Chicago Orchestra, 85, 100, 101,
102, 106, 107, 108, no, 119,
132, 174, 175, 176, 213, 214,
218, 229, 238, 240, 261, 278,
287, 290, 291, 301, 303, 313,
320, 324.
Chicago Summer Night Concerts,
68, 93, 164, 170, 171, 172, 216.
Chicago Auditorium, 102, 103.
Cincinnati Festivals, 77, 78, 79,
80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 91, 92,
173, 178, 222, 248, 26l, 292,
293-
Cincinnati College of Music, 80,
146, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180,
181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 261.
Columbia Exposition Bureau of
Music, 176, 193, 194, 195, 196,
197, 198, 199, 200, 261.
DVORAK, A., 147. 155, 275.
ECKERT, K., 29, 30, 33, 36.
Eisfeld, T., 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39,
51, 126, 144, 149, 260.
Ernst, H. W., 24, 48, 207.
FELSENGARTEN, 112, 213, 224, 245,
254, 256, 257, 258.
Festival, New York, 88, 261, 284.
Formes, C., 48, 124, 205, 316, 321.
3 2 5
326
INDEX
GARDEN Concerts, Belvedere Lion
Park, 52.
Garden Concerts, Central Park,
55". 57. 61, 63, 64, 66, 117, 130,
131, 134, 135, 222, 261, 272,
282.
Garden Concerts, Gilmore's, 41,
77-
Garden Concerts, Terrace, 52, 53,
54, 13, r 34, 135, 260.
Germania Society, 25, 35.
Glover, E. W., 84.
Gungl, J., 25, 131.
HANDEL, G., 64, 68, 71 j 79, 89,
91, 164, 166, 173, 196, 222,
282, 286, 295.
Handel and Haydn Society, 64, 322.
Haydn, J., 48, 72, 139, 155, 180,
181, 196, 208, 230, 282, 295,
318.
Henschel, G., 91, 156, 181.
Higginson, H. L., 105.
Hill, U. C., 21, 148.
JUCH, EMMA, 156, 188.
Jullien, L. A., 26, 27, 305.
KLAUSER, K., 43, 44.
LAGRANGE, A. DE, 31, 121.
Lehmann, L., 86, 156.
Lind, J., 24, 28, 31, 280, 281.
Liszt, F., 39, 68, 72, 79, 91, 139,
143, 146, 147, 150, 152, 155,
160, 162, 164, 165, 166, 167,
171, 228, 230, 232, 276, 280,
295, 3"-
MAPLESON, J. H., 129.
Maretzek, M., 48, 124.
Mason, W., 28, 39, 40, 44, 124,
125, 126, 145, 203, 205, 207,
215, 226, 248, 279, 282, 296,
3*9-
Mateka, G., 38, 41, 42, 44, 53,
282.
Materna, A., 91, 93, 94, 173, 235,
240, 283, 285
Mees, A., 83.
Mendelssohn, F., 27, 29, 55, 64,
119, 134, 139, 153, 155, 162,
164, 170, 196, 203, 207, 210,
315, 3 2 , 321-
Meyerhofer, W., 45.
Mirati, A., 31.
Mollenhauers, The, 27.
Mosenthal, J., 38, 41, 42, 44, 46,
282, 317.
Mozart, W., 52, 68, 90, 91, 139,
147, 155, 166, 173, 181, 188,
2O7, 2O8, 212, 214, 221, 226,
229, 230, 234, 282, 284, 295,
33 3i5, 3i8.
NILSSON, C., 94, 129.
Noll, J., 31, 35.
PAINE, J. K., 68, 196.
Pappenheim, E., 79.
Patti, A., 25, 28, 29, 48, 317.
Philharmonic Society, Brooklyn,
37 Si, 53, 55, 65, 86, 87, 89,
99, 127, 140, 144, 145, 146,
147, 148, 260, 268, 297.
Philharmonic Society, Chicago, 35,
313, 314, 317, 318.
Philharmonic Society, New York,
21, 34, 3 6 42, 43, 5, 73, 74,
75, 7 6 > 77, 86 > 8 7> 88 9 2 99,
126, 138, 139, 140, 148, 149,
150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 162,
225, 260, 261, 268, 273, 282,
298, 300.
REMMERTZ, F., 79, 91, 93, 94, 156,
17, i73-
Rubinstein, A., 38, 40, 44, 63, 64,
72, 134, 139, 152, 155, 166,
174, 190, 212, 213, 230, 239,
280.
SCARIA, E., 93, 94, 156, 235.
Scharfenberg, W., 34.
Schubert, F., 38, 40, 64, 68, 72,
91, 132, 139, 145, 146, 155,
161, 162, 166, 170, 171, 181,
206, 207, 214, 230, 280, 284,
295-
Schumann, R., 37, 38, 40, 48, 72,
118, 132, 139, 150, 153, 155,
161, 162, 165, 166, 167, 173,
180, 181, 208, 214, 226, 230,
280, 319, 320, 324.
Schwillinger, R., 45.
Seidl, A., 150, 295, 206.
Sembrich, M., 86.
Sontag, H., 24, 28, 29, 31.
INDEX
327
Strauss, J., 55, 68, 118, 131, 161,
171, 219, 279, 307.
Strauss, R., 155, 212, 228, 229,
235, 240, 241, 295, 311.
Symphony Concerts, New York,
62, 63, 65, 74, 75, 76.
Symphony Soirees, New York, 51,
55. 56, 57. 61, 320.
THALBERG, S., 45, 48.
Timm, H. C., 34, 148, 149.
Tschaikowsky, P. I., 155, 156,
162, 228, 230, 303.
Ullmann, C., 45, 47, 48, 121, 124,
316.
Vieuxtemps, H., 24, 45, 72, 129,
207, 319.
WAGNER, R., 55, 62, 63, 64, 68,
72, 79, 91, 93, 94, 131, 141,
146, 155, 161, 162, 164, 166,
167, 170, 171, 188, 189, 212,
214, 226, 229, 234, 235, 236,
239, 240, 251, 261, 275, 279,
283, 284, 286, 294, 297, 307,
311, 317, 318.
Whitney, M. W., 79, 86, 91, 166,
167, 173, 188, 189.
Wieniawski, H., 63, 64, 167.
Winkelmann, A., 93, 94, 235.
YSAYE, E., 202.
ZEISLER, T. B., 13, 156.
Zerrahn, C., 64.
Ziohn, B., 228, 229, 241, 242.
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