Richard Aldrich

“ In short, his office is of an importance to the prosperity of the orchestra only less than that of the conductor himself. It may easily be seen how valuable a man of force and tact, of accomplished musicianship and fertile resource, may be in such a place, or how futile one must be who has not these qualities. It is only needful to say that Mr. Kneisel, during the eighteen years he was concert-master, was the very ideal of what a concert-master should be; and that, without services such as his, the Boston Symphony Orchestra could scarcely have attained the perfection it has. ”

“ Many of the players teach; but few beyond the violinists and cellists have that resource open to them. The purpose is—and it is effectively realized—to make the orchestra, during the season, a united body of men with but one main object in view and free to devote themselves to it—following a single director’s counsels of perfection, with as little as possible to weary them or to distract them from it. How high an ideal that is, and how few of the great orchestras of the world make any pretense of reaching it, is perhaps not often realized. ”

“ In Boston he did much in the next three years to bring himself into prominence as one of the most original, daring, and intensely subjective of the modern school of conductors—a man who, with certain exaggerations and affectations, is illuminated by the living flame of genius. ”

“ Higginson’s achievements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra have spread their benefits far outside of Boston. He has raised the standard of orchestral playing in this country immeasurably, and has created a taste and a demand for what was unknown before he began his work. He has set Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati to an emulation of Boston; and has made many good people in New York very uneasy in their desire to do so. He has caused American music to be spoken of with respect and admiration by every European musician. ”

“ Now, the importance of the concert-master’s function depends on a number of things, largely the nature and habits of the conductor, and the personal force of the concert-master himself. It is rather the fashion nowadays to try to belittle the importance of the concert-master, as a result of the growth in the artistic position of the conductor. But where the best relations exist, the concert-master is given a responsible burden in the carrying on of the orchestra. ”

“ Higginson has found in the establishment, the upbuilding, and the maintenance of a consummate artistic institution the keen personal delight that other men take in perfecting a collection or pursuing supremacy in a sport. If horse-racing is the sport of kings, there is also something regal, even imperial, in the possession of an orchestra. ”

“ Now, Boston is doubtless not to be judged as other towns; but it is hard to believe that, even in Boston, the necessity of being fashionable after the Boston manner can continue to constrain hundreds to weekly boredom unremittingly for twenty-three years, with few signs of relief yet in sight. ”

“ There is a stronger force than the Musical Union to keep them out. Seasons are short, engagements are limited, opportunities for players of other than the stringed instruments, in case they should lose their positions, are few. Nor is it possible to pick out good men abroadvwith certainty. Not all the undertakings of the Boston Symphony conductors in this direction have been fortunate. It stands upon the records that, having heard many aspirants during a certain summer in Europe, one of Mr. Higginson’s conductors personally chose and brought over sixteen new men. ”

“ Longy, to name only a few of many accomplished players who have helped make the Boston Symphony Orchestra admired as “a band of virtuosi.” Their coming caused wailing and gnashing of teeth in certain quarters. It is not a pleasant task to dismiss veterans who have deserved well; but it sometimes must be done, and the need for it must never be lost sight of, as New York has found to its cost. The violinist’s arm gets unsteady, his fingers uncertain ”

“ Richard Strauss in New York last spring, when he was rehearsing his enormously difficult “Symphonia Domestica” for the eighth or ninth time with an orchestra supposed to have some claims to at least a season’s permanency. An unlucky horn-player made a mistake that the composer had repeatedly corrected at previous meetings, and when Dr. Strauss angrily threw down his baton and reproached the musician for inattention and neglect of his directions, the culprit replied: “But, Herr Doctor, I have n’t been here before—I ’m a substitute!’ Playing in the theater orchestras is forbidden ”

“ The king can do no wrong. If all goes well in the orchestra, it is the conductor’s achievement; if anything goes amiss, it is very likely to
Drawn by S. Ivanowski
A Soloistbe the concert-master’s fault. He must always see that all the instruments are in tune with one another before rehearsals and concerts begin. In most cases he sees that the violin parts are properly marked for bowing and phrasing, which he determines himself, in order that all shall play alike—though not always is uniformity of bowing considered indispensable. ”

“ Few conductors are thoroughly familiar with the details of the technic and the limitations of all the orchestral instruments, their possibilities in the way of phrasing and the production of special effects; for, though most conductors have begun their careers as performers upon some instrument, their playing days are past and they have other things to think of. ”

“ Kings had their court bands for their courtly pleasure a century and two centuries ago—bands which, in continental Europe, have evolved into royally endowed artistic establishments for the benefit of the people ”

“ The chief players—the first violin, or concert-master, and some of the other best violinists, the first cellist, the first performers on the other instruments—receive more, up to an annual salary of five thousand dollars, with engagements of several years. Some receive weekly salaries of various amounts guaranteed for various periods of time beyond the regular season, sometimes as long as forty-five weeks in the year. ”

“ Thomas’s Chicago orchestra is one of them. The orchestra of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is one. Are there many others? The Gewandhaus players in Leipsic, those of the Vienna Philharmonic, and those of the great Paris orchestras have their operatic and other duties; the members of the Berlin Philharmonic are subject to the wear and tear of almost daily popular concerts. ”

“ As he organized it, it numbered seventy performers. There were twelve first and eleven second violins, eight violas, nine cellos, nine double-basses, and the number of wood- and brass-wind players usual in a small orchestra.
The growth of the orchestra is shown by a comparison of these figures with those of its present constitution. There are now, when all the players are in requisition,—which, of course, they are only in the most modern compositions,—about ninety men ”