The Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Grace, Grit, and Glory

318 Pages·2016·41.788 MB·English

by  Laurie Lanzen Harris, Paul Ganson

THE
DETROIT
SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA
Grace, Grit, and Glory
LAURIE L. HARRIS
with Paul Ganson
the
Detroit
Symphony
orcheStra
the
Detroit
Symphony
orcheStra
Grace, Grit, and Glor y
Laurie Lanzen Harris
with Paul Ganson
a Painted Turtle book
Detroit, Michigan
the
Detroit
Symphony
orcheStra
Grace, Grit, and Glor y
Laurie Lanzen Harris
with Paul Ganson
a Painted Turtle book
Detroit, Michigan
© 2016 by Wayne state university Press,
Detroit, Michigan 48201.
all rights reserved. no part of this book may
be reproduced without formal permission.
Manufactured in the united states
of america.
20 19 18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1
isBn 978-0-8143-3136-1 (jacketed cloth)
isBn 978-0-8143-4062-2 (e-book)
Library of Congress Control number:
2016932279
Designed and typeset by Bryce Schimanski
Composed in Adobe Garamond Pro
Painted Turtle is an imprint of
Wayne state university Press
Wayne state university Press
Leonard n. simons Building
4809 Woodward avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309
Visit us online at wsupress.wayne.edu
We gratefully acknowledge Gwen and richard Bowlby,
longtime patrons and tireless supporters of the Detroit
symphony Orchestra and Wayne state university Press,
whose generous gift has made possible both the publica-
tion of this volume and a partial matching gift from the
Community Foundation of southeast Michigan.

Contents
Preface ix
1. an emerging City and its Music, 1701–1887 1
2. The Founding and the Founders, 1887–1910: rudolph speil,
Fritz and Hugo Kalsow, and the First DsO 17
3. a Glorious rebirth, 1914–36: Weston Gales, Ossip Gabrilowitsch,
Orchestra Hall, and the First “Golden age” 36
4. a City and an Orchestra struggle, 1936–42: Victor Kolar,
vii
Franco Ghione, Depression, and War 71
5. The reichhold era, 1943–49: a One-Man Band 90
6. another rebirth, 1952–63: The “Detroit Plan,” Paul Paray,
and a new Golden age 106
7. Changing Times, 1963–76: sixten ehrling and the Changing
Fortunes of a City and its Orchestra 138
8. an Orchestra and a City in Flux, 1977–90: antal Dorati,
Günther Herbig, and a City in Decline 161
9. The Orchestra and the City rebound, 1990–2005: neeme Järvi
and another Golden age 191
10. Musical artistry in an era of uncertainty, 2005–Present:
Leonard slatkin and the Future of the Modern
symphony Orchestra 226
notes 255
appendix: Detroit symphony Orchestra Personnel, 1906–2015 275
index 293

Preface
the detroit symphony orchestra began in 1887 as a rather
ix
small ensemble of around thirty-five players in a city that was just emerging as an
industrial power. From that time to the present, the two entities—the city and its
orchestra—have grown and prospered, making their mark on a national scale, in
musical artistry for the symphony, and in economic might for the city. But they
have each faced crises as well—financial, social, and cultural—that have forced
the DsO out of existence three times, and the city to the brink of dissolution.
Yet in the face of adversity, they have revived, and thrived. How did it hap-
pen, and what does it mean for the future of the orchestra and the city?
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Grace, Grit, and Glory offers a perspec-
tive on this shared story. it describes and documents the history of the DsO
through the prism of the history of the city it has called home for nearly 130
years. it details the orchestra’s cycle of growth, glory, collapse, and renewal in
light of the city’s own dynamic economic, demographic, and cultural changes.
This book also provides a perspective on the DsO in the context of the his-
tory of the american symphony orchestra, from the nineteenth century to the
present, from the “Make america Musical” movement and Theodore Thomas
in the 1870s to the current economic and cultural crises that have threatened
the viability of many modern symphony orchestras today, including the DsO.
it is a story that builds on the work of others, most importantly the history
of the symphony that was written in 1964 by edith rhetts Tilton. The former