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Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Principal Musicians
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Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Principal Musicians
A Chronological Listing of the Musicians of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in Powell Hall Organization of the Saint Louis Symphony The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra began its life in 1880, primarily as a choral and orchestral group. It was founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the "Saint Louis Choral Society" 1. In the 1881–1882 season, the Saint Louis Choral Society was comprised of 31 orchestra musicians and 80 chorus members1. By 1913, the Saint Louis Symphony had 75 permanent musicians (including one woman !) 2. Note: any corrections or updates to this www.stokowski.org site are welcome by contacting me, at the link below.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Music Directors
1880-1894 Joseph Otten
Joseph Otten was born in the Netherlands.
Alfred Ernst was born in Magdeburg, Germany on June 3, 1866.
He emigrated to the US, in the summer of 1893, first to New York
City and then in 1894 to Saint Louis.
1907-1921 Max Wilhelm Zach
Max Zach was born August 31, 1864 in a city then called by the
Austrians 'Lemberg' during the first partition of Poland (called
Lvov by the Poles). Today, following the movement of the
Polish boarders by Russia, the city is called Lviv, and is part
of the Ukraine. Zach came to the U.S. in 1886 to join Wilhelm
Gericke at the Boston Symphony. Zach was Principal viola of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1886-1907. During his time in
Boston, Max Zach also conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra 1896-1902 and
1906-1907. During these Boston years, Zach played in with
The Adamowski Quartet, with Timothée Adamowski (1858-1943), violin, A
Moldauer, second violin, Max Zach, viola, and Joseph Adamowski (1862-1930),
cello. Timothée Adamowski also conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra
before Zach in 1891-1894 and between Zach's first and second conducting
period with the Pops, 1903-07. Max Zach left the Boston Symphony in
1907 to conduct the newly renamed Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
During 1907-1921, Max Zach was the third conductor of the Saint Louis
Symphony. Zach is said to have not only expanded the Saint Louis
Symphony season, but gradually increased the quality of musicians and the
content of programs. Max Zach died in Saint Louis February 3, 1921,
age only 56 from an infection subsequent to a tooth extraction, at a time
when antibiotics did not yet exiSaint
Rudolph Ganz was born in Zurich, Switzerland on February 24, 1877. He studied first at the
Zurich Conservatory in both piano and cello. Ganz then went to Lausanne to further
study piano with uncle, Carl Eschmann-Dumur. Ganz went on to the Strasbourg Conservatory,
at that time still within Germany, studying with of Fritz Blumer. Rudolph Ganz then
went to Berlin studying in 1899 piano and composition with Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) and
composition with Heinrich Urban (1837-1901).
In July 1900, Rudolph Ganz married an American concert singer, Mary Forrest.
Ganz was by then a recognized piano virtuoso, and he was recruited to become head of the
piano department of the Chicago Musical College (which is now the Chicago College of
Performing Arts, part of Roosevelt University). Some 1920 acoustic piano records
of works of Chopin made for Pathé Frères survive and show Ganz's piano
virtuosity. After Chicago, Rudolph Ganz became conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony
for six seasons 1921-1927. After Saint Louis, although Rudolph Ganz turned primarily
to teaching and coaching, he continued to guest conduct, particularly of children's concerts
in Chicago and New York into the 1940s.
Rudolph Ganz was throughout his career an advocate of new
music. Maurice Ravel sufficiently admired his
interpretation of Ravel's music that he dedicated Scarbo, the third section of
Gaspard de la Nuit (1908), and a particularly difficult piano piece to Ganz.
After Saint Louis, he returned to Chicago where he taught at the Chicago Musical College,
beginning in 1928. He became President of the Chicago Musical College serving as its head
1934-1958. Rudolph Ganz died in Chicago on August 2, 1972 at aged 95 after a long
and varied career.
Vladimir Golschmann was born in Paris on December 16, 1893.
Early in his career, Golschmann was helped by the composer Erik Satie
(1866-1925) and Satie's wealthy student Albert Verley (1867-1959).
With Verley's support, Vladimir Golschmann in 1919 organized
the Concerts Golschmann in Paris where, among other
genre, he championed the music of "Les Six"
(Georges Auric 1899-1983, Louis Durey 1888-1979, Arthur Honegger
1892-1955, Darius Milhaud 1892-1974, Francis Poulenc 1899-1963 and
Germaine Tailleferre 1892-1983), as well as Satie and even Verley.
In 1920, Golschmann gave the premier of Milhaud's Le boeuf sur le
toit. After conducting the Paris orchestras, Golschmann's
first US conducting engagements were of the Ballets suédois
US tour in 1923, and the New York Symphony in 1924. After four
seasons of guest conductors following the departure of Rudolph Ganz,
followed by the onset of the Great Depression, the Saint Louis Symphony
was in a fragile condition. Then, in the 1931-1932 season,
Vladimir Golschmann was named conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony.
No one, including Golschmann anticipated it at the time, but Golschmann
was to preside for 27 seasons in Saint Louis, most of that time with
one year contracts. However, during the 1930s, Golschmann was
not able to institute the many changes he wished to strengthen the
orchestra: expansion of the season, added musicians, a pension fund
for the orchestra, higher pay. In fact, in 1931, the musicians
were compelled to accept a 10% pay cut 5, and the season
was only 23 weeks. The effect of a shorter season and lower pay
meant that Golschmann had to compensate for the departure of musicians
to the better-paid orchestras throughout his tenure. However,
during this time, Golschmann's programming was varied and interesting,
and his conducting stimulating. However, by the late 1940s and
into the 1950s, critics claimed his conducting became careless and
routine. Golschmann concluded his 27 year tenure in Saint Louis
at the end of the 1956-1957 season. Golschmann remained
in the US, becoming a citizen in 1957. The next season,
Golschmann went on to Oklahoma, where he was conductor of the
Tulsa Symphony 1958-1961. In the 1960s, Vladimir Golschmann
made a series of successful recordings with the Vienna State
Opera Orchestra, particularly of the Khachaturian Gayaneh,
Kabalevsky Comedians and Enesco Rumanian Rhapsodies.
Vladimir Golschmann succeeded
Saul Caston as conductor of the
Denver Symphony 1964-1970. Vladimir Golschmann
died in New York City on March 1, 1972.
1958-1962 Édouard van Remoortel
Édouard van Remoortel was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 30, 1926.
As a cello student in Brussels he prepared with Jean Charlier for the
entrance examination for the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles.
Entering the conservatoire, van Remoortel followed rather conducting, studying
with Antonio Guarnieri (1880-1925), Alceo Galliera (1910-1996), and
Josef Krips. Following the Conservatoire, beginning
in 1951, Édouard van Remoortel was conductor of the Orchestre National de
Belgique. Van Remoortal went on in the 1950s to conduct a number of
European orchestras, including the Mozarteum of Salzbourg - Austria, as well
as other orchestras around the world. Édouard van Remoortel was appointed
Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony in the 1958-1959 season succeeding
Vladimir Golschmann. Van Remoortel was initially well-received and his
first concerts went well. However, the relationship with the orchestra
had deteriorated. Katherine Gladney Wells in her book Symphony and
Song: The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra 6 wrote:
"...Perhaps...because he was not nearly as experienced ...as the Board
had assumed, he got into serious trouble early in the season...He had originally
intended to fire forty-two of the eighty-five musicians of the orchestra. He
narrowed it down to between fifteen and seventeen. The tension increased to
the point that the Orchestra refused to play at a rehearsal..."
6.
Needless to say, although the issue of the firings was eventually compromised,
with a few leaving (Principal oboe Alfred Genovese and Assistant Principal viola
Edward Ormond went to George Szell's Cleveland Orchestra at higher pay)
and others on probation, this was not an auspicious beginning
for Édouard van Remoortel's tenure in Saint Louis. He had a
three year contract as Music Director in Saint Louis, and in the
fourth season, the Orchestra Association had not yet identified
a replacement for van Remoortel, although they were actively looking.
So Édouard van Remoortel conducted a fourth season, although
he was contracted to conduct only ten programs that season, and ended
up conducting only seven of the ten. This was the end of the
tenure of Édouard van Remoortel, and in the following season, 1962-1963,
the Music Director position in Saint Louis remained open. Meanwhile,
Édouard van Remoortel had been appointed conductor of the Orchestre
National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo where he served 1964-1970.
In his later years, van Remoortel was an occasional guest conductor
in Europe and Mexico. Édouard van Remoortel died young in Paris
on May 16, 1977, just before his fifty-first birthday)
Eleazar de Carvalho was born in the State of Ceará in the northeast of
Brazil on June 28, 1912. He studied at the Instituto Rio Branco,
usually an entrance to the diplomatic service, and at the Conservatory
of the University of Rio de Janeiro. Following World War 2, de
Carvalho also attended the Berkshire Music Center in Massachusetts
in the summer of 1946 studying conducting with Serge Koussevitzky.
By 1950, de Carvalho had graduated from the University of Brazil
with a doctorate in music, and his Performer's Certificate in
conducting and composition. As to his conducting career,
Eleazar de Carvalho was conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica
Brasileira in Rio de Janiero in 1951. He appeared with
the Saint Louis Orchestra first in the 1950-1951 season.
de Carvalho was appointed Music Director conductor of the Saint
Louis Symphony in the 1963-1964 season, and was said to be the
choice of both the Board and of the musicians 3.
de Carvalho said that he intended to introduce new music as well
as the favorite classics. Surprisingly, he is said to have
given the Saint Louis premier of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du
Printemps (!) 3. Perhaps this was the Saint
Louis premier of the 1929 revised edition of Le Sacre,
since it is hard to believe that this 1913 work had not previously
been performed in Saint Louis. In any case Eleazar de Carvalho
introduced new works by William Schuman, Peter Mennin, Villa-Lobos,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Elliott Carter, Krzysztof Penderecki, and
others, with a few complaints, but generally with praise 4.
After Saint Louis, Eleazar de Carvalho guest-conducted most
of the leading world orchestras. In Brazil, Eleazar de Carvalho
was conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo for
twenty-four seasons, 1972-1996. In teaching, Eleazar de Carvalho
was active at Hofstra University - New York and at the Juilliard
School. In 1987, de Carvalho joined the music faculty of Yale
University. de Carvalho also conducted the Symphony Orchestra of
Paraíba, Brazil with whom he made in 1988 a fine recording of
Convergencias by Marlos Nobre (1939- ), recorded on the
Delos label. Eleazar de Carvalho died in São Paulo, Brazil
on September 12, 1996.
1968-1975 Walter Susskind
Walter Susskind was
1975-1979 Jerzy Semkow
Jerzy Semkow was
1979-1996 Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin was
1996-2002 Hans Vonk
Hans Vonk was
2004-present David Robertson
David Robertson was born in Santa Monica, California.
Titles of First Chair Musicians
Note: Today, except for the concertmaster (sometimes called
the 'Leader' in Europe), the usual title for the first or
leading instrument of an orchestral section is 'Principal',
as in 'Principal Flute'.
However, in earlier years and in some orchestra sections, the first
chair musician may have been referred to as 'Solo', or 'First'.
In the profiles below, for consistency and clarity, I usually use the
title 'Principal', even if the title was not yet used at that time.
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Scipione Guidi was born in Venice, Italy on July 17, 1884.
He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Milan, where he also
taught. Relocating to London, Guidi formed the Guido Trio,
and subsequently relocated to New York City. Scipione Guidi
had a full
orchestral career as a Concertmaster. From 1919-1921, he was
Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra of New York, which was
absorbed into the New York Philharmonic in 1921. Unlike most National
Symphony musicians, who were not retained, Scipione Guidi was appointed
as New York Philharmonic Concertmaster. Guidi continued at this
post for a decade 1921-1931 under Mengelberg and Toscanini, among
others. During this period, what we now call the
"New York Philharmonic" merged with the New York
Symphony, and the orchestra was transformed from the
"Philharmonic Society of New York" to the
"Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York".
During all these changes from the National Symphony to the Philharmonic
Society to the Philharmonic-Symphony Society, Scipione Guidi continued
to lead the orchestra as Concertmaster. One of Guidi's famous
performances in New York was the December 11-13, 1928 recording of
Strauss's Ein Heldenleben with the great horn
Bruno Jaenicke,
and conducted by Willem Mengelberg. This legendary recording is
still admired
today. In 1931, Scipione Guidi resigned from the New York
Philharmonic and relocated to Saint Louis. He was appointed
Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony by Vladimir Golschmann.
Golschmann and Guidi became friends, socializing with their wives
outside the concert hall. However, this came to an end on
stage, during a rehearsal. The relationship between these two
musicians had become progressively frayed, and it seems to have
boiled over during this rehearsal, leading to Guidi's immediate
dismissal by Golschmann. Scipione Guidi then relocated to
the Los Angeles area, where he became a successful sessions
musician in the Hollywood studios. He also became conductor
and soloist with the Glendale Symphony in suburban Los Angeles.
Scipione Guidi died in Los Angeles, California on July 7, 1966.
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1912-about 1942 Hugo Max Steindel
Max Steindel was born in Gladbach in the west of Germany on
December 3, 1891. He came from a musical family, with his
grandfather Albin Steindel being Director of Music in his hometown
of Zwickau 53, near Leipzig, and his uncle
Bruno Steindel
being Principal cello of the Chicago Symphony 1891-1918.
Max Steindel became in the 1912-1913 season Principal cello of
the Saint Louis Symphony. Max Steindel served in the US
Army during World War 1. Max Steindel was Principal cellist
with the Saint Louis Symphony for more than forty seasons.
While Edouard Van Remoortel was the Saint Louis Symphony
Music Director 1958-1962: "....Van Remoortel inadvertently
shared the limelight, in a way, with Max Steindel, veteran
principal cellist and personnel manager of the Orchestra.
Steindel had then been with the Orchestra for forty-two years,
and was an exceedingly colorful and well-loved member of the
organization. He was interviewed and featured in an article
by Clarissa Start in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch in July (1958?),
an article that discussed his wit, his talents as a raconteur
and as a perennial trouble shooter, as well as his being a
capital cello player. (He was also very fond of food, particularly
soup.) In the fall, Steindel was given the 'Page One Civic Award'
and referred to as the dean of Saint Louis musicians. All
of this was subsidiary to what Van Remoortel was involved
in, but is was a happy bit of news which served the
interests of the Orchestra as well." Max Steindel was also
an important teacher for Samuel Mayes, later Principal cello
of the Boston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.nbsp;
Before Samuel Mayes went to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia,
his mother recalled: " He [Steindel] was very important in
Sammy Mayes' early development so that he came to Curtis at
12 years with an already enviable technique ".
Max Steindel died in Saint Louis in May, 1964.
Richard Sher was born in 1948.
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Thomas Dumm was born on March 15, 1940. Thomas Dumm studied at
Ohio State University, and the Curtis Institute
Class of 1959, the same class as violinists Jaime Laredo and Jerome Rosen.
Rochester Philharmonic Principal viola, Baltimore Symphony Principal viola.
During summers, Dumm was Principal viola of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
Principal viola for more than thirty years, Chautauqua String Quartet
In summers, Thomas Dumm was Principal viola of the Chautauqua Symphony
Orchestra. He was in the viola section of the Cleveland Orchestra
1961-1967.
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Harold Gomberg after Curtis joined the National Symphony Orchestra as Principal oboe at
age 17. He then became Principal in Toronto and Saint Louis. He joined the New York
Philharmonic in 1943 until his retirement in 1977.
Adolph Bertram was born in Germany in August, 1870. He came
to the U.S. in 1889. In Chicago, Adolph Bertram was second
oboe of the Chicago Symphony (at that time the "Chicago Orchestra")
, under Theodore Thomas 1893-1896. By 1900, Adolph Bertram was
Principal oboe in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he remained
at least until 1910. For the 1911-1912 initial San Francisco
Symphony season, Henry Hadley brought Adolph Bertram with him as
Principal oboe. Bertram remained Principal oboe for three
seasons 1911-1914. Adolph Bertram also was Principal oboe in
the orchestra of the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition
in San Francisco. In 1919-1922 Adolph Bertram moved
to Saint Louis, where he was Principal oboe and sometimes
English horn in the Saint Louis Symphony under Max Zach and
Rudolf Ganz 37. Adolph
Bertram seems to have died young, prior to 1930.
Alfred Genovese was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 25, 1931. His
father was also a musician. At age 16, Genovese began study with John Minsker
who had previously been English horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Admitted
to the Curtis Institute, Alfred Genovese was one of the last oboe students of Marcel
Tabuteau. Upon graduation from Curtis in the Class of 1953,
Genovese became an oboe with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three seasons
1953-1956. Alfred Genovese then went to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra where
he was Principal oboe under Vladimir Golschmann and Edouard van Remoortel 1956-1959.
In the 1959-1960 season, Genovese went to the Cleveland Orchestra as Principal
oboe briefly for one season under George Szell. This was the single season in which
Marc Lifschey was away from Cleveland during his long Cleveland tenure 1950-1959 and
1960-1965. In this 1959-1960 season, Lifschey was Principal oboe of the Metropolitan
Opera. Upon his return to Cleveland, Alfred Genovese replaced him as Principal
oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the 1960-1961 season. Alfred Genovese
remained at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 seasons 1960-1977. In the 1977-1978
season, with the departure of Jack Holmes from Boston, Alfred Genovese left the Metropolitan
Opera to take the third oboe chair (Associate Principal oboe) of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. Wayne Rapier moved up to the second chair (Assistant Principal) of
the Boston Symphony oboes. Upon the retirement of Ralph Gomberg
at the end of the 1986-1987 season, Alfred Genovese took the first chair oboe position.
In the Boston Symphony programs for the 1987-1990 seasons, Alfred Genovese was listed as
"Acting Principal oboe" He was then confirmed in the first chair position and is
now deservedly listed as Principal oboe 1987-1998. Alfred Genovese was a regular at
the Marlboro Music Festival in the summers from at least 1955 into the 1980s. He was
also a New York freelance session musician in the early 1970s at the time he was with the
Metropolitan Opera. He he has taught oboe at the New England Conservatory of Music,
and the Manhattan School of Music. Alfred Genovese retired from the Boston Symphony
at the end of the 1997-1998 season.
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Principal Clarinets of the Saint Louis Symphony
Principal Flutes of the Saint Louis Symphony1895 Leopold Broeckaert (1895 listed as soloist) 1896 Charles Molé 1897-1902 Wm. Baumgaertel
1902-1904 1906-1910 Leopold Broeckaert Leopold Broeckaert was born in Belgium in 1867 of Flemish parents. Broeckaert came to the U.S. in 1892 at age 25. By 1920, Broeckaert had left the Saint Louis Symphony and was teaching music. 1904-1906 1912-1931 John F. Kiburz John Kiburz was born in January 13, 1876 in Saint Louis, Missouri of a Swiss father and Missouri mother. As well as playing trumpet in the Saint Louis Symphony, Kiburz played in the orchestra of the Statler Hotel in Saint Louis, as musicians of that era needed to do if they were to approach full-time employment. 1932-1946 Laurent Torno 1946-1956 Albert Tipton (1946 - 1956 (to Detroit) 1958-1965 Israel Borouchoff 1969-1999 Jacob Berg Jacob Berg studied at the Curtis Institute Class of 1953. 2000-current Mark Sparks
Principal Horns of the Saint Louis Symphony1934-1936 James Stagliano (Co-Principal horn with Willem Valkenier 1947-1950)
James Stagliano was born in Italy on January 7, 1912. His family emigrated to the US in 1920, when he was 8 years old, perhaps because his uncle Albert J. Stagliano was already established in Detroit. In Italy, James Stagliano first learned piano, and studied with his father, a trumpet player. Unfortunately, Stagliano's father died when James was young. In Detroit, James Stagliano studied French horn with his uncle Albert J. Stagliano. Albert Stagliano in the early 1920s played on the staff orchestra of the pioneering Detroit radio station WWJ. Albert Stagliano was later Principal horn of the Detroit Symphony 1929-1936 127, Principal horn of the Cleveland Orchestra 1936-1937, horn with Toscanini's NBC Symphony 1937-late 1940s. Uncle Albert continued to aid James Stagliano who in 1928, at age only 16, was an extra of the Detroit Symphony. In the 1930-1931 season, James Stagliano joined the Detroit Symphony as Assistant Principal horn on the first stand, next to his uncle Albert. James Stagliano and his Wagnerian soprano wife 163 Inez Gorman then moved to Saint Louis where James was appointed Saint Louis Symphony Principal horn in about 1934-1936 under Vladimir Golschmann. In the 1936-1937 season, James Stagliano moved to California to play under Otto Klemperer in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. James Stagliano remained in Los Angeles until 1944. He was also a session musician in the the Hollywood studios, particularly at Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers including Gone With the Wind. James Stagliano moved from Los Angeles to play in the Cleveland Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf's brief tenure in 1944. In 1946, following the departure of Philip Farkas, James Stagliano was selected by Koussevitzky to become Co-Principal horn with Willem Valkenier, beginning in the 1946-1947 season. Willem Valkenier was listed first, with James Stagliano, second, so presumably Stagliano usually sat in the second chair, next to his stand partner Valkenier. This Co-Principal arrangement continued under Charles Munich until Valkenier's retirement at the end of the 1949-1950 season. James Stagliano was Principal or Co-Principal horn in Boston for twenty-seven seasons, 1946-1973. While in Boston, James Stagliano helped found Boston Records for which he and Boston Symphony colleagues recorded a number of innovative works (such as Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings). With Sarah Caldwell, Stagliano was active with the Opera Company of Boston. Stagliano is said to have used, primarily, a double horn from Gebr. Alexander (Mainz, Germany). Horn colleagues also remarked that "Jimmy" Stagliano used his Assistant horn, Charles Yancich often to reduce his orchestral load, which gave Yancich added exposure 127. James Stagliano was not particularly active as a teacher, but his relaxed style and effective playing of high registers of the horn influenced many other players. He also had an active sense of humor, and had a reputation as something of a bon vivant, which many appreciated. Milan Yancich tells the story 127 of "Jimmy" Stagliano undergoing a triple coronary bypass operation. Just before anesthesia, the surgeon informed Stagliano that, although this is a very intensive and difficult procedure, that he had done it many times, and not to worry. Stagliano replied: "...Doctor, until you have to play Oberon, you don't know what worry means...". James Stagliano died in Boynton Beach (near Boca Raton), Florida on April 11, 1987.
Principal Trumpets of the Saint Louis Symphony1879-1897 No Programs Available
1897-1903 Adolph E. Willbrandt Adolph Willbrandt was born in Germany in December, 1845. Willbrandt emigrated to the U.S. in 1870, at age 25. Willbrandt is listed as a Saint Louis musician in the 1878 city directory. Adolph Willbrandt seems to have joined the Saint Louis Symphony in about 1889. He was Principal trumpet for 5 seasons, 1897-1903. During the 1902-1903, he was apparently co-Principal trumpet with William Leeder. Adolph Willbrandt was still with the Saint Louis Symphony in 1910, and retired, still living in Saint Louis in 1920. William Leeder was born in Illinois in October, 1863 of Swiss-German parents. During the 1902-1903, William Leeder was listed as co-Principal trumpet with Adolph Willbrandt.
1903-1904 No Programs Available 1904-1905 Gustav Heim
Gustav Heim was born in Schleusingen, Thüringen, Germany, 150 km East of Frankfurt on May 8, 1879. Heim studied trumpet first under his father, and then at the local music school in Schleusingen from 1893-1897. In 1897, Heim was cornet solo of the military band based in Thüringen. Heim emigrated to the U.S. in 1904 to Saint Louis. During his career, Heim was first trumpet for an amazing number of leading U.S. orchestras. Heim started in 1904 with the orchestra of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (also known as the 1904 Saint Louis World Fair). In Saint Louis, Fritz Scheel, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra heard Gustav Heim play. As a result, in the 1905-1906 season, Heim became Principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra, while his predecessor, Herman Basse returned to the Metropolitan Opera. Gustav Heim stayed in Philadelphia for one season. Then, in the 1906-1907 season, Heim moved to the Boston Symphony Orchestra as third trumpet. In the 1914-1915 season, under Karl Muck, Heim became Principal Trumpet until 1920. In the 1920 disastrous Boston Symphony musician’s strike, Heim was, along with the Concertmaster Frederic Fradkin, one of the two Orchestra Principals who left the Boston Symphony as a result of the strike. Heim departed for the Detroit Symphony, where he was Principal trumpet 1920-1921. George Mager then took over Heim’s first chair trumpet position with the Boston Symphony. After moving to Detroit for one season, Gustav Heim then moved to New York, where he was Principal trumpet with the Philharmonic Society for two seasons 1921-1923 under Josef Stransky. Continuing his movements from orchestra to orchestra, in the 1923-1924 season, Heim moved to the Cleveland Orchestra under Nikolai Sokoloff (1886-1965). Then, Gustav Heim moved back to New York to join the New York Symphony from 1925-1928 under Walter Damrosch (who had also conducted Heim at the 1904 Saint Louis Fair). After the merger of the New York Symphony with the New York Philharmonic Society in 1928, Harry Glantz was selected to continue as Principal trumpet of the merged orchestra. Glanz had previously studied with Heim. Gustav Heim then joined the American Symphonic Ensemble in New York which was an orchestra without a conductor for the 1929-1930 season. He was also a regular at the long-lived Worcester Music Festival (Massachusetts) in the summers from 1910-1914, 1916, and 1925 to 1932. Gustav Heim also taught in New York City, and among his famous students were William Vacchiano. During most of his career, Gustav Heim played a was a Bb trumpet. Gustav Heim died relatively young on October 30, 1933 in New York City after a sudden illness, aged only 54. 1905-1907 No Programs Available
1907-1916 George Glessner 1916-1918 Leland Stanford Barton
Leland S. Barton was born in Fresno, California on the Fourth of July, 1884. He came from a musical family, and Leland's father Robert Barton was a musician who emigrated from Hannover, Germany. Leland's two brothers Robert and Clarence were also musicians. Leland's father, who died while Leland before Leland was 16 was from Hannover, Germany. Sometime before 1910, Leland married and moved to Chicago. In the 1910s, Leland Barton was a trumpet player in theaters and at the Palace Music Hall in Chicago. Leland Barton was then Principal trumpet of the Saint Louis Symphony under Max Zach for two seasons 1916-1918. Following World War 1, Leland Barton was Principal trumpet for the Cleveland Orchestra for one season, 1924-1925. The Principal trumpet chair under Nikolai Sokoloff was constantly revolving, with 8 different Principal trumpets in the first eight seasons of the Cleveland Orchestra. Leland Barton as the seventh of these eight, proceeded by Gustav Heim who was Principal in a dozen US orchestras, and followed by Frank Venezia of the New York Symphony and New York Philharmonic. Leland Barton then went to Minnesota, where in the 1927-1928 season he was Principal trumpet of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra 57. Leland Barton next joined the San Francisco Symphony under Alfred Hertz in the 1928-1929 season in the second chair trumpet position next to Principal trumpet Vladimir Drucker. Barton remained second in 1929-1930. In the 1930-1931 season, Leland Barton was advanced to Principal trumpet of the San Francisco Symphony for one season, under the split tenure of Basil Cameron and Issay Dobrowen in 1930-1931 58. Thereafter, Leland Barton moved back to the second chair trumpet position of the San Francisco Symphony for the 1931-1932 season. Leland Barton remained with the SFSO for at least 16 seasons, starting in 1930-1931 and remaining at least 1946-1947 (not counting the 1934-1935 cancelled season). Leland S. Barton died age 93 in November, 1977 in Sullivan, Illinois, after a full career of nearly fifty years.
1918-1919 Thomas Lambaise
1919-1920 David Glickstein
1920-1936 Joseph Gustat
1936-1944 Samuel G. Krauss
1944-1946 Seymour Rosenfeld
1946-1961 Robert Weatherly
1961-1966 Donald Stolz 1966-1972 Chandler Goetting
1972-1973 Roger Blackburn (Acting Co-Principal)
1972-1973 Susan Slaugher (Acting Co-Principal)
From Saint Louis Archivist Dina Young: SLSO Principal Trumpet players The earliest Saint Louis Symphony programs do not give the names of individual musicians. 1897 Adolph (sometimes listed as August) Willbrandt; and John Schopp 1902-1903 Some programs list William Leeder and N. Pearson; others for that year list A.D. Willbrandt and H. Erlinger 1903-1904 No programs found 1907-1908 George Glessner, Nils Pearson, John Schopp 1908-1909 George Glessner, John Schopp 1909-1910 George Glessner, Adolph Willbrant 1910-1911 George Glessner, William Hebs 1911-1912 George Glessner, William Hebs 1912-1913 George Glessner, William Hebs, Nils Pearson, Otto Kuettner 1913-1914 George Glessner, William Hebs, Otto Kuettner, Nils Pearson 1914-1915 George Glessner, William Hebs, Otto Kuettner, Nils Pearson 1915-1916 George Glessner, Johann Hartl, Otto Kuettner, Nils Pearson 1916-1917 Leland S. Barton, Edward K. Mellon, Otto Kuettner, Nils Pearson 1917-1918 George Glessner, Andrew Goodrich, Otto Kuettner, Nils Pearson 1918-1919 No programs found 1920-1921 Joseph Gustat, Joe Carlone, Nils Pearson, Otto Kuettner 1921-1922 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Vincent Dastich, John Hartl 1922-1923 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Vincent Dastich, John Hartl
1923-1924 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Vincent Dastich, John Hartl
1931-1932 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Carl A. Hugo, John Hartl 1932-1933 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, John Hartl 1933-1934 No programs found 1934-1935 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1935-1936 Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1936-1937 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1937-1938 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1938-1939 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1939-1940 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1940-1941 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl 1941-1942 Samuel G. Krauss, Joseph Gustat, Joseph Carlone, Frank Miller, John Hartl
Trombones and Tubas
Jonathan Reycraft (Utility Trombone 2006-present), Gerry Pagano (Bass trombone 1995-present), Timothy Myers (Principal trombone 1997-present) and Stephen Lange (Assistant Principal trombone 2000-2010) in 2009
Timpani and Percussion
If you have any comments or questions about this
Leopold Stokowski site, please e-mail me (Larry
Huffman) at e-mail address:
leopold.stokowski@gmail.com
1 Wells, Katherine Gladney Symphony and Song:
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980
. Countryman Press. Woodstock, Vermont. November, 1980.
ISBN-13: 978-0914378624.
3 page 95. Wells, Katherine Gladney Symphony and Song:
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980
. Countryman Press. Woodstock, Vermont. November, 1980.
ISBN-13: 978-0914378624.
5 page 58. Wells, Katherine Gladney Symphony and Song:
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980
. op. cit.
52 page 3. Concert Wins High Approval.
Daily Free Press. Carbondale, Illinois. December 9, 1919.
54 page 58. Brilliant Music Festival.
Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. February 7, 1920.
56 page 250. Tarr, Edward H. (Stewart Carter,
editor). East Meets West: The Russian Trumpet Tradition
Historical Brass Society Series number 4. Pendragon Press, 2004.
ISBN-13 978-1576470282
58 page 250. Tarr, Edward H. (Stewart Carter, editor). East Meets West: The Russian Trumpet Tradition Historical Brass Society Series number 4. Pendragon Press, 2004. ISBN-13 978-1576470282 |
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Max Zach in 1910
Rudolph Ganz conducting a children's concert
Édouard van Remoortel rehearsing in Saint Louis
Max Steindel in 1913
