Theodore Thomas (October 11, 1835January 4, 1905) was a German-American
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
ist,
conductor, and
orchestrator
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
. He is considered the first renowned American orchestral conductor and was the founder and first music director of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...
(1891–1905).
Biography
Early life
Theodore Christian Friedrich Thomas was born in
Esens, Germany, on October 11, 1835, the son of Johann August Thomas.
His mother, Sophia, was the daughter of a physician from
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
.
He received his musical education principally from his father, who was a violinist of ability, and at the age of six years he played the violin in public concerts. His father was the town ''Stadtpfeifer'' (bandleader) who also arranged music for state occasions.
Career
Thomas showed interest in the violin at an early age, and by age ten, he was practically the breadwinner of the family, performing at weddings, balls, and even in taverns. By 1845, Johann Thomas and his family, convinced there was a better life for a respected musician in America, packed their belongings and made the six-week journey to New York City.
In 1848, Thomas and his father joined the Navy Band, but in 1849 his father ceased to support him, and he set out on his own. Thomas soon became a regular member of several pit orchestras, including the Park, the Bowery, and the Niblo. He then toured the United States performing violin recitals. During this time Thomas served as his own manager, ticket sales, and press agent. He reached as far south as Mississippi.
Thomas returned to New York in 1850, with the intent of returning to Germany for advanced musical education; instead, he began his studies conducting in New York with
Karl Eckert
Karl Anton Florian Eckert (17 December 1820 – 14 October 1879) was a German conductor and composer.
Life
Eckert was born in Berlin. By the age of five, had already proved himself as a musical child prodigy. After coming to the attention of Si ...
and
Louis Antoine Jullien. He became
first violin in the orchestra that accompanied
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind (Madame Goldschmidt) (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in ...
in that year,
Henrietta Sontag in 1852, and
Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi (22 May 1811 – 29 November 1869) was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and was among the leading sopranos of the 19th century.
Her second husband was Giovanni Matteo Mario ...
and
Giuseppe Mario in 1854.
Also in 1854, at the age of nineteen, he was invited to play with the
Philharmonic Society's orchestra.
He led the orchestras that accompanied
La Grange,
Maria Piccolomini, and
Thalberg through the country. Meanwhile, in 1855, with himself as first violin,
Joseph Mosenthal, second violin,
George Matzka, viola,
Carl Bergmann, violoncello, and
William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener
*William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect
*William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...
as pianist, he began a series of chamber music soirées which were given at Dodworth's Academy. The Mason-Thomas concerts lasted until his founding of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1864.
That orchestra would in turn have a chamber music connection of its own: Joseph Zoellner, who was at least for a time its concertmaster, later went on to form the
Zoellner Quartet, another pioneering promoter of classical music in the United States.
[Gates, W. Francis ed., ''Who's Who in Music in California'', "The Pacific Coast Musician," Los Angeles: Colby and Pryibil, 1920]
In 1864, Thomas began a series of summer concerts with his orchestra, first in New York City, and later in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
,
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, and eventually
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. The orchestra toured regularly and received consistent critical and popular acclaim, despite persistent financial setbacks.
One such setback occurred on October 9, 1871, when he and his orchestra arrived in Chicago for a new concert series, where they learned large portions of the city were destroyed by fire the night before, including the
Crosby Opera House where he was to perform.
The orchestra was ultimately dissolved in 1888.
Thomas was also music director of the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
in 1877-78 and from 1879 to 1891; of the short-lived
American Opera Company in New York in 1886; and of the
Brooklyn Philharmonic Society 1862 to 1891. He was director of the Cincinnati College of Music from 1878 to 1879, and from 1873 to 1904 the conductor of the biennial May festivals at Cincinnati. In his Wagner concerts, Thomas used the ''
Deutscher Liederkranz der Stadt New York'' choir, that he directed from 1882 to 1884 and from 1887 to 1888.
To Theodore Thomas is largely due the popularization of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's works in America, and it was he who founded the Wagner union in 1872.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thomas always received an enthusiastic welcome in Chicago. In 1889,
Charles Norman Fay, a Chicago businessman and devoted supporter of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, encountered Thomas in New York and inquired whether he would come to Chicago if he was given a permanent orchestra. Thomas's legendary reply was, "I would go to
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
if they gave me a permanent orchestra."
On December 17, 1890, the first meeting for incorporation of the Orchestral Association, organized by Fay, was held at the
Chicago Club. Less than one year later on October 16 and 17, 1891, the first concerts of the Chicago Orchestra, led by Thomas, were given at the
Auditorium Theatre
The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located in the Auditorium Building at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was d ...
. The concert included Wagner's ''Faust'' Overture,
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
's
Piano Concerto No. 1 with
Rafael Joseffy,
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's
Symphony No. 5, and
Dvořák's
Hussite Overture.
During his tenure, Thomas introduced several new works to his Chicago audiences, including the United States premieres of works of
Anton Bruckner
Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...
, Dvořák,
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
,
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...
,
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...
,
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...
,
Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...
, Tchaikovsky, and his personal friend
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
who became the orchestra's first guest conductor, appearing with his wife
Pauline de Ahna in April 1904 at Thomas's invitation.
During this time, he also conducted in other places. For example, on 19 February 1887 at the
Metropolitan Opera House,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, he conducted the U.S. premiere of
Saint-Saëns's
"Organ Symphony" (Symphony No. 3).
Thomas, who was never completely satisfied with the
Auditorium Theatre
The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located in the Auditorium Building at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was d ...
(finding it far too cavernous and nearly impossible to sell over 4,200 tickets twice weekly), fully realized his dream of a permanent home, when
Orchestra Hall, designed by the Chicago architect
Daniel H. Burnham, was completed. Thomas led the dedicatory concert on December 14, 1904. He would only lead two weeks of subscription concerts in the new hall, after contracting
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
during rehearsals for the dedicatory concert. Though he continued with his customary vigor, he conducted his beloved Chicago Orchestra for the last time on Christmas Eve 1904 and died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
on January 4, 1905.
His post was assumed by
Frederick Stock
Frederick Stock (born Friedrich August Stock; November 11, 1872 – October 20, 1942) was a German conductor and composer, most famous for his 37-year tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Early life and education
Bor ...
, who in 1905 wrote a symphonic poem ''Eines Menschenlebens Morgen, Mittag, und Abend'', dedicated to "Theodore Thomas and the Members of the Chicago Orchestra." The work was first performed on April 7 and 8, 1905.
Legacy
Music historian
Judith Tick writes: "Theodore Thomas was a legend in his own time, and in 1927 the journalist
Charles Edward Russell's biography of Theodore Thomas won the only
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
ever awarded for the biography of a musician." Thomas also makes a brief appearance as a character in Chapter VI of
Willa Cather
Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', ''The Song of the Lark (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...
's ''
The Song of the Lark'' (1915) in which he recounts some of the struggles of his early years and describes how listening to the singing of sopranos
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind (Madame Goldschmidt) (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in ...
and
Henrietta Sontag influenced his violin playing:
Marriage and family
He married his first wife in 1864 in New York City, Minna L. Rhodes. She was a graduate and later a teacher at
Miss Porter's School
Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...
in
Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The populati ...
. They met at a series of chamber concerts in Farmington, Connecticut. Thomas and Minna had five children: Franz Thomas, Marion Thomas, Herman Thomas, Hector W. Thomas and Mrs. D.N.B. Sturgis.
He married, his second wife in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...
, at the
Church of the Ascension on May 7, 1890.
Rose Emily Fay was the daughter of Rev. Charles Fay,
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
1829, an Episcopal priest and Emily Hopkins. She was born in 1853 in
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...
, and died on April 19, 1929, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is buried next to her husband at
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark.
Dedicated in ...
, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
.

Rose was a gifted woman who contributed many of the critical notices published in the New York and Chicago Journals; Rose was well known in Chicago as a decorative artist. Her marriage was a society event. She was a sister of
Amy Fay, a prominent pianist, and
Harriet Melusina "Zina" Fay who married in 1862,
Charles Sanders Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". According to philosopher Paul Weiss (philosopher), Paul ...
, an American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist. The philosopher
Paul Weiss called Peirce "the most original and versatile of American philosophers and America's greatest logician". She was also the sister of businessman Charles Norman Fay, who was Thomas's chief booster and supporter in organizing a major Chicago orchestra.
She was the granddaughter of
John Henry Hopkins, who was the first
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the
Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and was the eighth
Presiding Bishop of the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...
. She was also the granddaughter of Samuel Prescott Phillips Fay (1778–1856). He was a Probate Judge for
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populou ...
, for 35 years and served on the Board of Overseers of Harvard College for 28 years. She was the great-great granddaughter of Dr.
Abel Prescott, a physician in Concord, Massachusetts and the father of two American patriots who sounded the alarm on April 19, 1775.
Her first cousin was Harriet Eleanor Fay, the wife of Rev.
James Smith Bush, an
attorney and
Episcopal priest and religious writer, and an ancestor of the
Bush political family.
Death
He died at
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, on January 4, 1905. His funeral service was held at
St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago and he was buried at
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark.
Dedicated in ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
.
Memorials
Thomas is honored with a
memorial monument and garden in Chicago's
Grant Park, near Orchestra Hall.
See also
*
Felsengarten
Felsengarten (German language, German for "stone garden") is a historic summer house on Lewis Hill Road in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. The two story house was built between 1896 and 1900, and was the summer residence of German-American conductor ...
, the summer house of Thomas and his second wife
Further reading
*Russell, Charles Edward. ''The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas''. New York: Doubleday, 1927
*Thomas, Rose Fay. ''Memoirs of Theodore Thomas''. New York: Moffat, Yard, 1911.
*
Notes
Sources
*
*
References
Further reading
* Schabas, Ezra. ''Theodore Thomas: America's Conductor and Builder of Orchestras, 1835-1905'' (U of Illinois Press, 1989)
* Shadle, Douglas W. ''Orchestrating the Nation: The Nineteenth-Century American Symphonic Enterprise'' (Oxford University Press, USA, 2016).
External links
*
Theodore Thomas Papersat
Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...
Theodore Thomas collectiona
University of Toronto Music Library(Canada)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Theodore
1835 births
1905 deaths
19th-century American musicians
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German musicians
American classical violinists
American conductors (music)
American male conductors (music)
Classical musicians from Illinois
German classical violinists
German conductors (music)
Emigrants from the German Confederation to the United States
German male conductors (music)
Music directors of the New York Philharmonic
Music directors of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Players of the New York Philharmonic