New England Conservatory of Music - Neume Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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CLASS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN EBEN TOURJEE Founder of the New England Conservatory of Music Born 1834 Died 1891 Page Nine

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CLASS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN George W. Chadwick Director AS the twentieth anniversary of Mr. George W. Chadwick ' s directorship of the New England Conservatory approaches, evidences multiply of the affec- L tion and regard in which he is held by the management, faculty, and student body. November 13, 1914, was memorable by reason of the celebration of the director ' s sixtieth birthday, when, from the moment of his appearance at the school in the morning until he left in the evening, he encountered a continuous series of surprises: gifts and presentation speeches from the teachers and the manager ' s office, from the orchestra, the fraternities, sororities, and dormitories. Ten years previously the recognition of Mr. Chadwick ' s ripening powers of leadership and creative imagination had taken the form of a notable concert, given in Jordan Hall, at which an immensely enthusiastic audience heard for the first time his Sin- fonietta, and brilliant performances of his third symphony, Lochinvar, and other works. Perhaps the next occasion for special felicitation will come in 1917, when two decades will have elapsed since the Conservatory trustees decided to entrust the direction of the institution to Mr. Chadwick. One of the treasured recollections of the New England Conservatory Class of 1915 will always be that of Mr. Chadwick ' s influence, exerted on the school when he was at the very height of his powers as composer and educator. Many of the class took part in, others listened appreciatively to, the brilliant performance of the Prelude to Oedipus Tyrannus, in Jordan Hall, April 16, 1915. Between the dates of his conducting this work, at first in supplementary performances given in several American cities after the premiere at Sanders Theater, Cambridge, and now in this revival of thirty-four years later, has been comprehended an extent and quality of original and educational work that would appear almost incredible if it were related in detail. In 1881 Mr. Chadwick, who was born at Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1854, was a young musician, recently returned from years of study in Germany under Rei- necke, Jadassohn, and Rheinberger. He had already become known as a composer through his Rip Van Winkle Overture, first played in Boston at a concert of the Harvard Musical Association in December, 1879. His success with the choruses and orchestra of Oedipus established his reputation as a conductor. It led to his being conductor of the old Boston Orchestral Club, of the annual festivals at Springfield of the Hampden County Festival Association, and later of the festivals at Worcester. Between the year when Professor Paine ' s music was first presented and 1897 Mr. Chadwick had a remarkably varied experience in getting music from others as well as in creating music of his own. In that year he took over the directorship of the New England Conservatory and began a work whose results are now apparent in the world ' s largest and best- equipped music-schocl. How heartily Mr. Chadwick enters into the work, tedious to many, of teaching and drilling young musicians is known to every one who has Page Eleven