''The Standard Hour'', also known as ''The Standard Symphony Hour'', was a weekly radio broadcast by the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Franci ...
and the
San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
first heard in 1926. The series was carried on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
Pacific radio network on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Pacific time.
History
Also called ''The Standard Symphony Hour'', ''The Standard Hour'' was sponsored by
Standard Oil of California
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, energy corporation predominantly specializing in Petroleum industry, oil and gas. The second-largest Successors of Standard Oil, direct descenda ...
. The series began in 1926 in San Francisco, when the
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...
faced bankruptcy. Standard Oil of California paid the orchestra's debts and in return was given broadcast rights to that year's concert series. A tradition of more than 30 years began with the first broadcast on the NBC Pacific Network, on October 24, 1926.
"Though it was heard only on a partial network," wrote radio historian John Dunning, "''The Standard Hour'' was a major musical series that spanned the entire length of network broadcasting."
A 1943 brochure shows that the programs were carried on KPO in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Fresno
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
,
KGW
KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city's ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
. The Sunday-evening series was ultimately heard in Hawaii and Alaska.
The theme music for ''The Standard Hour'', as well as a complementary radio series for children called '' The Standard School Broadcast,'' was "This Hour Is Yours". The theme was composed by Julius Haug, a violinist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
"It was simple theme music, 45 seconds long," wrote John Dunning, "and listeners who loved it and requested 'the entire piece' were surprised when told there was no more."
From 1935 to 1952, the broadcasts often featured the San Francisco Symphony's music director,
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...
. Other conductors on the broadcasts included Alfred Hertz,
Sir Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
and
Werner Janssen
Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen;
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American Conductor (music), conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Pops orchestras. With a combi ...
, who led the San Francisco Symphony's "pops" concerts from 1949 to 1979, conducted several of the broadcast concerts in 1950 and 1951.
A number of these broadcasts were preserved on transcription discs or magnetic tape. Some have been released on CD, including many of Monteux's concerts in the
War Memorial Opera House
The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, United States, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall.
It is part of the San Francisco W ...
.
For more than two decades from the 1930s through the 1950s, NBC Radio broadcast programs of live classical concerts from California. The autumn months were dedicated to the San Francisco Opera, with its stars singing under the baton of its founder and general director, Gaetano Merola. Many of his singers were from the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
, but a number came directly from Europe.
Accolades
In 1952, NBC Radio received a
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
for the contributions of The Standard Symphony:
First, outstanding once-a-week symphonic broadcasts over 11 western states, since October 24, 1926, through which Standard Oil of California achieved a priceless public service; secondly, a radio series of highly effective educational features for school children; and, latterly, a schedule of brilliant television presentations over Pacific Coast and inter-mountain facilities, known as ''The Standard Hour'', which also maintained the highest levels of production excellence.