Theodore THOMAS (1835-1905)

1 Theodore Ebenezer THOMAS^1,2,3,4 (1835-1905) [9964]. Born 11 Oct 1835, Esens, Hanover, Germany or Esens, East Friesland, Germany.^4,5 Marr Rose Emily FAY 7 May 1890, Chicago, IL.^1,2 Died 4 Jan 1905, Chicago, IL.^5,6 Buried 4 Mar 1905, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Boston, MA.⁷

Biography of Theodore Thomas from the Inventory of Theodore Thomas Papers in the Newbury Library, Chicago.

"German-American conductor - Theodore Thomas was born in Esens, East Friesland, Germany, in 1835. A self-taught violinist, when the family emigrated to New York City in 1845 Thomas played with his father in small theatre orchestras. At fourteen, he toured as a soloist in the southern United States and at nineteen he joined the New York Philharmonic Society. It was here that he learned conducting by observation. Thomas's debut as a conductor was of an opera about 1859. He then hired and rehearsed his own orchestra - which was named the Theodore Thomas Orchestra - and he conducted his first concert in May, 1862. This orchestra developed into the most precise musical ensemble known up to that time.

For twenty years, Thomas toured all over the United States, bringing the symphonic orchestra to people who had never heard one, attempting to educate the listeners by mixing both light and more serious pieces. This touring orchestra was disbanded in 1888.

Thomas was the organizer and conductor of the Cincinnati May Music Festival in 1873, director of music for the Philadelphia International Centennial Exhibition in 1876 and director of the Cincinnati College of Music in 1878-1880. He was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1879 until 1891, as well as touring in 1886-1887 with the American (later National) Opera Company. In 1890, fifty wealthy Chicagoans pledged to establish a symphony orchestra, which debuted in 1891 as the Chicago Orchestra. The rest of his life he gave to conducting and developing the Chicago Orchestra, which was renamed the Theodore Thomas Orchestra after Thomas's death in 1905, to be changed one more time in 1912 to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In 1864 Thomas had married Minna L. Rhodes and they had 5 children. When Minna died in 1889 Thomas married Rose Fay, sister both of Amy Fay, a prominent violinist, and businessman Charles Fay, who was Thomas's chief booster and supporter in organizing a major Chicago orchestra. Together they raised funds to build Orchestra Hall, which was completed in 1904. Not only was he the first conductor of the Chicago Symphony, but Thomas was important for his lifelong efforts to create a nation-wide audience for classical music in the United States. He died in 1905."

From the Detroit Public TV Show, American Experience.

"Theodore Thomas, born in Germany in 1835, came to the New World when he was ten. By 1854 he was playing his violin with the New York Philharmonic Society, and by 1862 was conducting the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He formed his own group to tour the country and share the beauty of classical music. The tours were so popular that circus impresario P.T. Barnum offered to manage the act. Thomas conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in 1877, but by the late 80's, he was tired of the road and frustrated by the sporadic schedule.

"I would go to hell if they gave me a permanent orchestra," he said, and family friend and proud Chicago businessman C. Norman Fay was there to hear him. In 1891, Thomas was appointed conductor of the Chicago Orchestra (later Chicago Symphony Orchestra) as well as manager of the Orchestra Association. The Association even raised a fund to allow for annual deficits of up to $50,000 per annum. "All my life, I have been told that my standard was too high, and urged to make it more popular," he wrote to his wife. "But now, I am not only to be given every facility to create the highest standard, but am even told that I will be held responsible for keeping it so! I have to shake myself to realize it.

The Chicago Orchestra played in Dankmar Adler and Lous Sullivan's famous auditorium building, but Thomas complained that the space was too large -- his musicians could not hear themselves play , and crowds did not throng to fill the seats. Although Thomas did offer some popular concerts, he always tried to keep to a high standard, programming works that his audiences were not all prepared to appreciate. Norman Fay remembered, "We had to take our symphonies whether we liked them or not... [t]he 'old man'...was a sort of stern Diety, who had to be appeased with sacrifice and burnt offerings. "A few supported Thomas in his high-mindedness: "If you do not like it now, a high brow magazine wrote of Thomas's musical selection, "pray that you may learn to like it, for the defect is yours."

Thomas was the musical director for the World's Columbian Exposition, but he quit halfway through the fair, despairing of an audience that failed to appreciate classical music yet flocked to the pleasures of the Midway.

In 1904, a new hall for the orchestra was built and Thomas conducted the first performance there. Just a month later, he died of pneumonia. His wife wrote of him: "He not only disciplined his musicians, but he disciplined the public, educating it sometimes perhaps against its will."

From the Washington Post.

March 7, 1905 - "THEODORE THOMAS IS DEAD. Famous Chicago Orchestra Leader Succumbs to Pneumonia. LIved to Conduct Four Concerts in Orchestra Hall, a Monument to His Untiring Efforts. - Chicago, Jan.4 - Theodore Thomas, the noted orchestra leader, died of pneumonia at his residence here early to-day. He was seventy years of age.
Theodore Thomas, who was the son of an expert violinist, was born at Esent, Hanover, Germany, October 11, 1835. In 1845 his parents brought him to the United States, settling in New York City. Even at this early age the boy had created an impression as a violinist. A concert trip through the Southern cities in 1851 proved such a success that when Mr. Thomas returned to New York he became one of the first violins in concert and operatic performances during the engagement in America of Jenny Lind, Sontag, Grisi, and other great opera singers.
The real beginning in Mr. Thomas' musical career was through a series of chamber concerts at New York during the years intervening between 1855 and 1872. In 1864 Me. Thomas' first symphony concerts were given at New York, and these were continued until he left that city in 1878 to take charge of the College of Music at Cincinnati. He remained in Ohio two years, then returning directly to New York. He was elected conductor of the New York Philharmonic Society in 1870, and this position he held until he left New York in 1891. In 1883 Mr. Thomas and his orchestra made a tour from New York to San Francisco, appearing in all the principal cities en route.
On his return to New York Mr. Thomas conceived the idea of a permanent orchestra in that city, but after seven years of endeavor he came to the conclusion that Chicago would be a better place for his future work. He came here in 1891 and formed the Chicago Orchestra Association. On December 15 of last year Orchestra Hall, the permanent home of Chicago Orchestra, built by popular subscription at a cost of more than $800,000, was formerly dedicated. It is a monument that bears witness to the untiring efforts of the dead musician. Mr. Thomas lived to lead his orchestra in but four concerts in the new hall. His last appearance was the day before Christmas.
Burial services will probably be held next Friday in St. James Episcopal Church. No definite arrangements for the funeral have yet been made. The body will be placed in a vault either here or in New York City."

From the American Symphony Orchestra League.

"Thomas's death shocked Chicago and the nation. Chicago's telephone operators were instructed to tell callers, "Theodore Thomas is dead," before asking, "Number please." Chicago's newspapers called him "dean of the world of music," the greatest conductor of his time." In New York, Thomas was recalled from a distance. The Times described him as an exemplar for "the older generation of music lovers," versus "the Omodern conductor that has evolved from Wagner's influence." Six years later, the Musical Courier called him "a human metronome, a drill master who never yielded for a moment to a flexible or emotional indiscretion, as he would have called it."

In the wake of Thomas's death, the trustees of the Chicago Orchestra renamed it the Theodore Thomas Orchestra. Though major Europeans were considered, Frederic Stock, Thomas's 32 year-old assistant, was appointed music director. Stock's tenure lasted 37 years. Like his mentor, he was German-born, predisposed to German music and a burnished Germanic sound. He eschewed the flamboyance and glamour of his post-war colleagues in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The Thomas-Stock orientation was absorbed by the orchestra as an enduring artistic identity.
Perennially homeless, Thomas was welcomed by Chicago as a Moses. Mo other American orchestra began with a music director of such nature, one whose imprint proved as resilient and firm. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra - so renamed in 1913 - was Theodore Thomas's final legacy."

From the Boston Daily Globe.

March 7, 1905 - "BURIED AT MT AUBURN. Body of Theodore Thomas Brought on from Chicago. Mrs. Theodore Thomas arrived in this city Saturday from Chicago with the body of her husband, the famous orchestra leader. The interment took place in the afternoon in Mt. Auburn cemetery in the lot Mr. Thomas purchased some time ago. The burial was strictly private, the only persons attending being Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. John L. Gardner, the clergyman whose services Mrs. Garnder had secured, and tow or three immediate friends. Mrs. Thomas in guest of Mr. Gardner in this city.
The body of Mr. Thomas had been in a vault at Graceland since the funeral.".

Sources

1	"One Branch of the Fay Family Tree by George Henry Johnson, 1913".

2	"Wedding announcement of Rose Emioly Fay and Theodore Thomas in the New York Times, May 8, 1890".

3	"Fay Genealogy: John Fay of Marlborough and his Descendants by Orlin P. Fay, 1898".

4	"The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans".

5	"Biography of Theodore Thomas from the Inventory of Theodore Thomas Papers in the Newbury Library, Chicago".

6	"Obituary of Theodore Thomas in the Washington Post, January 5, 1905".

7	"Burial story of Theodore Thomas in the Boston Daiy Globe, March 7, 1905".