USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume II > Part 59
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"At the close of the last evening concert, a request was read, signed by a large number of prominent citizens, for another festival. The managers de- termined to act on the suggestion and a second festival was announced for May,
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1875. Owing to the inexperience of the managers the expenses were very large, but so generous was the patronage that the deficit amounted only to $350, which the executive committee paid from their privy purses."
"The second festival was given in May, 1875, the Biennial Musical Festival Association having meanwhile been incorporated for the purpose. As before, Mr. Thomas was director, and Mr. Singer his assistant. The soloists were Mrs. H. H. Smith, Miss Abbie Whinnery, Miss Cary, Miss Cranch, Mr. William J. Winch, Mrs. H. Alexander Bischoff, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Franz Remmertz; Mr. Dudley Buck, organist. The chorus numbered six hundred and fifty, and the orchestra one hundred and seven. The principal works performed were the Triumphal hymn, by Johannes Brahms, Beethoven's A Major Symphony, Scenes from Wagner's Lohengrin, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach's Magnificat, the Choral Symphony, Schubert's Symphony in C, and Liszt's Prometheus. The festival was a complete financial success, and though its expenses exceeded forty thou- sand dollars, there was a balance of one thousand, five hundred dollars in the treasury when the accounts were closed.
"The future of the festivals now seemed assured, and the movement inaug- urated by Mr. Reuben Springer, which gave to the city the Music Hall and the great organ, created an enthusiasm here which, supplemented by the curiosity abroad to see the new structure and hear the new instrument, made the third festival, given in 1878, an unprecedented success. It was given on the four- teenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth of May, and on the first evening the dedicatory ceremonies of the new hall took place. The soloists were Mme. Eugene Pappenheim, Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, Miss Cary, Miss Cranch, Mr. Charles Adams, Mr. Christian Fritsch, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Remmertz, Signor Tagliapietra, and Mr. George E. Whiting, organist. The chorus numbered seven hundred. and embraced, besides the local societies, the Dayton Philharmonic Society, the Hamilton Choral Society, and the Urbana Choral Society. The prin- cipal numbers in the scheme were scenes from Alceste, by Gluck, the Festival Ode, composed by Otto Singer. Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Handel's Mes- siah, selections (finale of Act III) from Wagner's Goetterdaemmerung, the Choral Symphony, Liszt's Missa Solennis, and Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet Symphony. The orchestra numbered one hundred and six men, all from New York city. The financial success was enormous, the receipts running up to eighty thousand dollars, and thirty-two thousand dollars being left in the treas- ury after settlement."
Theodore Thomas holds the rightful honor of having made possible the per- manent success of these festivals.
During the third week in May, 1880, the fourth festival was held. The receipts were fifty-five thousand and eighty-five dollars. The balance in the treasury was nine thousand and seventy-three dollars. At this festival a prize of one thousand dollars was offered by the board of directors for the best musical composition by a native American which was to be performed at this festival. Twenty-five works were entered at the competition. Theodore Thomas was chairman of the judges. The prize was awarded Mr. Dudley Buck, of Boston, for a composition entitled "Scenes from Longfellow's Golden Legend."
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The program books of these festivals show that every great choral orchestral work has been heard one or more times at these concerts, while many have had their first performance in America in this city.
The influence of these festivals upon the culture of the city has been exten- sive and profound. For more than thirty years Theodore Thomas, who died in 1905, was the masterful leader.
Colonel George Ward Nicholas was president of the board of directors of the Musical Festival Association from its organization until March, 1880. His energy and foresight had much to do with the premanency of the festivals.
Edmund H. Pendleton, William N. Hobart and Robert B. Bowler and Lawrence Maxwell have been successively efficient presidents of the association. The board of directors from the beginning has contained the names of many of the distinguished citizens. of Cincinnati.
A second time a prize was offered by the festival directors. This was in 1882, and it was awarded W. W. Gilchrist, of Philadelphia, for "A Setting of the Forty-Sixth Psalm." After that date the directors offered no further prizes.
Mr. Edwin W. Glover has contributed much to the success of the festivals for some years. He became the leader of the chorus in the autumn of 1896 and prepared the chorus for each festival for a number of seasons. Under his train- ing the chorus became unrivalled in this country.
THE CINCINNATI MUSIC FESTIVALS.
In his musical memories published in 1908, George P. Upton, the veteran critic and editor, says of the Cincinnati festivals :
"They have been a continuous success, and have steadily grown in import- ance as expositions of the higher music and indices of its growth. I have at- tended all of these but two, and have seen the steady advance from their modest beginning to the highest standard of musical perfection in this country. They have always seemed to me the crowning achievement in Mr. Thomas's career. The people of Cincinnati do not even yet know how greatly he prized these festivals or how great was the pang when he laid down the baton at the close of the festival of 1904, knowing that it was his last one. Cincinnati has every reason to be proud of its May Festivals and the great influence they have had upon musical progress in the middle west."
Speaking of the festival of 1904, he says:
"Never were more exacting programs laid out for players and singers than these. It is doubtful whether they could have found elsewhere in this country the appreciation which was given them in Cincinnati. It was Mr. Thomas's ambition to give biennial festivals in New York and Chicago as well as in Cin- cinnati, utilizing the same material for each. The scheme was dropped in New York after the first festival, and in Chicago after the second. Cincinnati alone was able to continue them, even after their founder and master spirit had passed away. The atmosphere of Cincinnati is musical. It has always had musical pride and ambition, and now it has musical traditions and prestige which it evi- dently is determined not to sacrifice."
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In the course of an extended article on the Cincinnati festivals, Grove's Dic- tionary of Music and Musicians, the standard English authority, says :
"The most notable of the regular recurring musical meetings in the United States are those held biennially in Cincinnati, Ohio. They had their origin in 1873, have been from the beginning under the artistic direction of Theodore Thomas, and have beyond question exerted a more powerful influence for mus- ical culture than any institution of their kind."
The first festival was held in May, 1873, in the old exposition building, a frame structure on the present site of music hall, which was erected for the Saengerfest of 1867 and used afterwards for industrial expositions. The festi- val was generously attended and enthusiastically received, and at the close of the last concert, Honorable Stanley Matthews, afterwards United States senator and a justice of the supreme court of the United States, presented a request for another festival signed by a large number of prominent citizens. The result was the festival of 1875, which was held in the same building as the first festival. Its success led to the building of music hall, which was opened and dedicated at the third festival in May, 1878.
Thus in five years the experiment of 1873 had resulted in providing Cincin- nati with the largest music hall and organ in the United States, and the festivals were looked upon as permanently established. Their history since then is largely from their artistic side, which is disclosed in the schedules giving the programs of every festival and the soloists who took part. The association has been moved from the beginning by a spirit of conscientious endeavor and high artistic pur- pose. Its effort has been to present the master works, classical and modern, with the best forces obtainable, and in doing so it has enlisted the services of the most eminent singers of their time, including Lilli Lehmann, Materna, Nordica, Nils- son,. Sembrich, Gadski, Annie Louise Cary, Ritter-Goetze, Marie Brema, Schu- mann-Heink, Muriel Foster, Campanini, Candidus, Winkelmann, Edward Lloyd, Ben Davies, Henschel, Scaria, Fischer, Bispham and Whitney.
The first festival was given under the direction of a committee of citizens consisting of George Ward Nichols, president ; Carl A. G. Adae, vice president ; John Shillito, treasurer; Bellamy Storer, Jr., secretary ; John Church, Jr., George W. Jones and Daniel B. Pierson. The second festival in 1875, and all of the festivals since then, have been given by the Cincinnati Musical Festival Associa- tion, which was incorporated under the laws of Ohio, in January, 1874, for that purpose. It is composed of one hundred members, who pay twenty dollars each for a share of stock on becoming members, and annual dues of ten dollars. The money derived from this source is used principally in maintaining chorus classes, where young men and women with good ears and voices, but without musical education, are taught to sing with a view to becoming members of the festival chorus.
The expense of each festival, including the case of training the chorus, aver- ages about $45,000. In 1906 it was $46,247.60, and in 1908, $42,115.68. The income is generally slightly in excess of the expense. In 1908 the income from the festival itself, not including stockholders' dues, was $43,272, being $1,156.79 in excess of the expenses. The cash on hand at the close of the festival after
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paying all expenses was $5,243.84. The total attendance was 18,870, or an average of 3,145 at each of the six concerts.
The association has a modest endowment fund, which was started years ago at the suggestion of Julius Dexter, one of the most devoted friends of the as- sociation. It has grown by degrees until it amounts now to $12,500, having been increased since the last festival by two legacies of $3,000, each bequeathed by Mary P. Ropes and Eliza O. Ropes, of Salem, Mass., former residents of Cincinnati. It is hoped that the example of these two ladies may lead other friends of the cause to remember the endowment fund, and the opportunity which it affords of strengthening the position and usefulness of the association. The fund is safely invested in the hands of the Union Savings Bank and Trust Company as trustee, and the interest is allowed to remain to augment the principal.
Prior to the festival of 1880 the chorus was formed for the occasion by com- bining the forces of separate singing societies, but as the programs grew in dignity and difficulty, that method was found to be inadequate, and the festival chorus was established in 1880 as a permanent body. It is a high school of music where the young men and women of Cincinnati make the loftiest works of art their own, by studying them with serious purpose and patient devotion, and then they share their treasure with the public, by delivering it over at the fes- tivals to be intellectual property of the whole city.
Cincinnati's estimate of Theodore Thomas is reflected in the following resolu- tion adopted by the board of directors of the festival association at their first meeting after his death, which occurred January 4, 1905 :
Mr. Thomas has been musical director of the festivals 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 Beethoven's Missa Solennis and the Ninth Symphony, with which he brought the sixteenth festival to a glorious close on Saturday night, May 14, 1904. What he accomplished 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 can not be; it is part of the history of Cincinnati and of the lives of her citizens, which he enriched and made better and purer and happier by inspiring them with an appreciation of the highest and best forms of music, and by revealing to them the ineffable 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 times 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 associates, and have laid the foundations 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 ourselves to continue the work which he began, and to maintain the Cincinnati festivals on the plane of excellence where he placed
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THE OLD MELODIAN HALL, 1897 Northwest corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets. Now the site of Union Trust Building
UNION SAVINGS BANK BUILDING First Sky Scraper built in the city, 1900
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them, and in the spirit of conscientious endeavor and high artistic purpose with which he endowed them.
The memorial statute of Theodore Thomas which will be unveiled on the opening night of the festival is intended to express in permanent form the appre- ciation by the people of Cincinnati of his devotion to the advancement of our knowledge and appreciation of music. The movement toward the erection of a statue originated in the offer of Mr. A. Howard Hinkle to give five thousand dollars for that purpose on condition that a like amount be raised by popular subscription. The Municipal Art Society of Cincinnati undertook to comply with Mr. Hinkle's condition and soon received the necessary subscriptions, in amounts large and small, from citizens.
The Municipal Art Society gave the commission for the statue to Mr. Clement J. Barnhorn, a sculptor born in Cincinnati and practicing his profession here, having full confidence in his ability to express in appropriate form the idea for which the statue stands. It is a source of satisfaction that the statue has been modeled by a local artist and is to that extent also the tribute of a Cincinnatian.
With the dedication of the statue at the festival it passes from the trustee- ship of the Municipal Art Society through the Festival Association to the Music Hall Association.
FRANK VAN DER STUCKEN.
Mr. Van der Stucken was born at Fredericksburg, Gillespie county, Texas, October 15, 1858. He lived in Europe from 1866 to 1884. He studied at the Conservatory of Music at Antwerp under Peter Benoit from 1875 to 1879, and at Leipsic from 1879 to 1881. He was kapellmeister of the Stadt Theater, Breslau, Germany, in 1882, and conducted a concert of his own compositions under the protection of Liszt at Weimar in November, 1883. In 1884 he came to the United States having been elected leader of the Arion Singing Society of New York, and in 1892 took that society on a most successful concert tour in Europe. He conducted novelty concerts in Steinway Hall, New York, in 1885 and 1886, symphony concerts in Chickering Hall, New York, in 1887 and 1888, and the first concert of American compositions at the Paris Exposition in 1889. He was conductor of the festivals of the North American Sanger- bund at Newark, New Jersey, in 1891, with 4,000 singers, and in New York in 1894 with 5,000 singers. He conducted festivals in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1896 and in 1897. He was dean of the College of Music of Cincinnati from 1897 to 1901, honorary dean thereafter, and conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1895 to 1907.
Mr. Van der Stucken succeeded Theodore Thomas as musical director of the Cincinnati festivals in 1905 and conducted with great success the festivals of 1906 and 1908. He reorganized the chorus in the fall of 1905 and has per- sonally trained it for each festival since then.
SPRINGER MUSIC HALL.
Springer Hall owes its inception to the beneficence of Mr. Reuben R. Springer, who in May, 1875, offered to give one-half of the cost of a music hall, provided
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the citizens of Cincinnati would subscribe an equal amount. The city of Cin- cinnati donated the property, 401 feet on Elm street, by 354 feet on Fourteenth street, with the contract agreement with the stockholders that the cost for the use of the hall should never be greater than a sufficient amount to maintain the property, and without profit to the stockholders.
The hall was completed at a cost of $346,612.37, and used the first time on May 14, 1878. There are two large buildings, or annexes, that may be used in conjunction with it, and connected by covered passageways, the cost of these additional buildings being $150,331.51.
The care of Springer Music Hall buildings is in the hands of The Cincinnati Music Hall Association, composed of fifty stockholders, who elect a board of trustees of nine, to look after the details of the care of the property.
In 1895, it was thought advisable to remodel Music Hall, adapting and im- proving it for the uses intended by its founders, and after an expenditure of $120,000, the hall was reopened to the public use in May, 1896.
It is believed that Springer Hall is one of the finest audience halls in the world. In its large and convenient seating capacity, accessible entrances and exits, ample committee rooms, toilet rooms, stage unequaled in size, with full accommodations for artists and company, there is nothing further to be asked for by either audience or company, that could add to their comfort and pleasure.
The hall is especially adapted for concert use. The front stage from the curtain line to the footlights being fourteen feet wide, is of sufficient width and depth for all ordinary concert and lecture uses. The chairs, twenty-one inches in width, are upholstered in plush, with ample aisles and cross-aisles, and with plenty of room between the seats, ease and convenience is provided for the audience.
There are conveniently situated dressing rooms, chorus rooms, and toilet rooms, on first and second floors back of the stage, that are unusual in dimensions and ample for every requirement. In the rear of the stage, in a room especially provided, is placed the organ. In size, number of stops, and pipes, it is second to no organ in the world. An additional charge of $10.00 is made when the organ is used. There are provided two places for the orchestra. A sunken orchestra for operatic representations, between footlights and curtain, of fourteen by fifty feet, and also in front of the stage, protected by a brass rail.
The hall is probably the best lighted music hall in the world, both electricity and gas being used. The audience room has over 1,236 lights; the stage 1,380 lights ; the corridors 771 lights, all sixteen candle electric lamps, and an excellent switch-board to regulate the entire lighting of stage, audience room, and cor- ridors. The cost of lighting varies from $20.00 to $50.00 a night, as the quantity of light is required.
There are two ticket offices, one at the north, and one at the south, in front of the building, each having two entrances, as well as two rear entrances for the performers and handling of scenery. For safety and rapid handling of audiences, with wide corridors and exits, Springer Hall is unequaled, and as nearly fireproof as such buildings can be made. The hall is centrally located on Elm and Four- teenth streets, on direct lines of street cars to all parts of the city and surround- ing suburbs.
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With Music Hall there are two additional buildings connecting and adjacent, available for rental.
DEXTER HALL.
This hall is on the third story front of Music Hall. Size, 112 by 46 feet. Has no regular stage, but has a platform at one end. It is provided with toilet rooms, and four large parlors, or committee rooms; well lighted with electricity, and has a separate entrance and ticket office on Elm street. It may be rented sep- arate or in connection with Music Hall.
The Cincinnati Music Hall Association is the organization in charge of the music hall and its interests. It has now existed successfully for more than thirty years, and has made the hall one of the greatest centers of the city's life. Its officers and members are among the leading people of the city.
CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC.
The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music is one of the city's leading institutions. It was established in 1867.
The high state of perfection which music has attained in Europe may chiefly be attributed to its schools.
The various opportunities offered in conservatories to elevate musical cul- ture, the united efforts of competent teachers to advance the cause of musical education, and the association in classes, are calculated to inspire the pupil with a spirit of emulation, and at the same time to impart confidence and self-reliance
The Cincinnati Conservatory adheres, in all its departments, to the methods of the foremost European authorities.
The well-known artistic success of the Cincinnati Conservatory, acknowl- edged in expression of highest praise by Anton Rubinstein, Therese Tietjens, Marie Roze, and others, is very high proof of the superior advantages offered in every department of the institution.
The Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette, in speaking of the history of musical progress in Cincinnati, says : "Cincinnati is proverbial for its musical culture and advantages. Music has become so great a specialty in the process of education and so 'common a branch of study that nobody stops to inquire how it rose to such eminence, or what are its sources of popularity. Miss Clara Baur. the directress of the Concinnati Conservatory of Music, organized the first school of music in the winter of 1867. The Cincinnati Conservatory professes to be a true model in teaching, uniting all its teachers in one scientific plan for the development of the best musical results. There is an inspiration in associa- tion with others engaged in the same work. There is an esprit du corps in con- nection with the school duties which occasion mutual emulation. In fact, con- cert and chorus powers are wholly indebted to school forms for success. In a great measure, Miss Baur paved the way for the various schools since established."
"From the very first organization of the conservatory it was Miss Baur's aim to select the very best professional talent for her faculty. It was largely owing to her conscientiousness and good fortune in this regard that her school was
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blessed with such uniform prosperity and success. Far and near, all over the country, its reputation became more and more firmly established long before any other musical institution had been founded. The conservatory, under her discreet management, was always blessed with a distinct, consistent method in all departments, a large and varied faculty of musicians, endowed with natural gifts, and prepared by high culture to represent their specialties, two requisites most necessary for the perfect efficiency of a music school. Herself trained in the famous Stuttgart Conservatory, with the view of becoming thoroughly im- bued with all the elements of knowledge required for the direction of a music school, Miss Baur was from the start eminently fitted for the responsibilities which she assumed and carried out subsequently with such indomitable energy and persevering success.
"The conservatory is a musical institution, complete in all its departments- voice, piano, organ, violin, harp, violoncello, all other orchestral instruments, theory and composition, chorus classes, ensemble classes, and all others that make up the curriculum of study in the most comprehensive plan of teaching.
"A complete course is also arranged for all orchestral instruments under the most competent instructors. Much attention is paid to the subject of elocution and the languages. It has always been one of the principles of the conservatory to associate music with the best literary acquirements and the refinement of etiquette and good deportment. Without this association the art of music loses much of its innate force and beauty. * The most competent instructors have also been provided for the study of the languages-German, French, and Italian-with a view to translation, conversation, and their application to song.
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