Damrosch, Walter (Johannes)
Damrosch, Walter (Johannes)
Damrosch, Walter (Johannes) , distinguished German- American conductor, music educator, and composer, son of Leopold Damrosch and brother of Frank (Heino) Damrosch; b. Breslau, Jan. 30, 1862; d.N.Y, Dec. 22, 1950. He received lessons in piano and composition before going to N.Y. with his family in 1871, where he continued his music studies. During the 1884–85 season of the Metropolitan Opera, he served as his father’s assistant. When his father fell ill, he received some deathbed coaching from him and made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Tannhäuser on Feb. 11, 1885, just 4 days before his father succumbed. He remained on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera until 1891, and also served as his father’s successor as conductor of the Oratorio Soc. of N.Y (1885–98) and the Sym. Soc. of N.Y. (from 1885). In 1887 he pursued training in conducting with Biilow in Frankfurt am Main. In 1894 he founded the Damrosch Opera Co. inN.Y, which he conducted in performances of German operas until 1899, both there and in other major U.S. cities. From 1900 to 1902 he was again on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. He was conductor of the N.Y. Phil, in 1902–03. After the reorganization of the Sym. Soc. of N.Y. in 1903, he was its conductor until it merged with the N.Y Phil, in 1928. In 1920 he conducted the Sym. Soc. of N.Y on a major tour of Europe. In 1912 he took over the sym. concerts for young people originally organized by his brother, and he also conducted young people’s concerts with the Sym. Soc. of N.Y. His interest in music education prompted him to use the medium of radio to further the cause of music appreciation; on Oct. 19, 1923, he conducted the Sym. Soc. of N.Y in its first radio broadcast from Carnegie Hall. In 1926 he inaugurated a regular series of radio broadcasts, which were later aired as the “NBC Music Appreciation Hour” throughout the U.S. and Canada from 1928 to 1942. He also served as musical counsel to NBC from 1927 to 1947. Damrosch conducted the U.S. premieres of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth and Sixth syms. as well as scores by Wagner, Mahler, and Elgar. He also conducted premieres of works by American composers, including Gershwin’s An American in Paris. He received honorary doctorates from Columbia Univ. (1914), Princeton Univ. (1929), N.Y.U. (1935) etc. In 1929 he was awarded the David Bispham medal. In 1932 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 1938 he received the gold medal. His autobiography was publ. as My Musical Life (N.Y, 1923; 2nd ed., 1930).
Works
DRAMATIC Opera : The Scarlet Letter (Boston, Feb. 10, 1896); The Dove of Peace, comic opera (Philadelphia, Oct. 15, 1912); Cyrano de Bergerac (N.Y, Feb. 27, 1913; rev. 1939); The Man without a Country (May 12,1937); The Opera Cloak (N.Y, Nov. 3, 1942). Incidental Music To: Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis (Berkeley, 1915) and Medea (Berkeley, 1915); Sophocles’ Electra (N.Y., 1917). OTHER: Manila Te Deum (N.Y, 1898); An Abraham Lincoln Song for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1935); Dunkirk for Baritone, Men’s Chorus, and Chamber Orch. (NBC, May 2, 1943); chamber music; songs.
Bibliography
G. Damrosch Finletter, From the Top of the Stairs(Boston, 1946); F. Himmelein, W. D.: A Cultural Biography diss., Univ. of Va., 1972); M. Goodell, W. D. and his Contributions to Music Education (diss., Catholic Univ. of America, 1973); G. Martin, The D. Dynasty: America’s First Family of Music (N.Y., 1983).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire