Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was a
long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that
specializes in popular and light classical music.
Fiedler was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Emanuel and
Johanna Fiedler. His father was a Polish-born violinist who played in the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, and his mother was a pianist and musician. He grew
up in Boston, and attended Boston Latin School until his father retired (in the
early 1900s), and they moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1910. The family soon moved
again, to Berlin, where from 1911 to 1915 young Fiedler studied violin at the
Royal Academy of Music (Hochschule für Musik Berlin) under Willy Hess. Fiedler
returned to Boston at the beginning of World War I. In 1915 he joined the
Boston Symphony Orchestra under Karl Muck as a violinist. He also worked as a
pianist, organist, and percussionist.
In 1924, Fiedler formed the Boston Sinfonietta, a chamber
music orchestra composed of Boston Symphony members, and started a series of
free outdoor concerts. Fiedler was appointed the eighteenth conductor of the
Boston Pops Orchestra in 1930. While the position of conductor of the Boston
Pops both prior to and after Fiedler tended to be a phase of a conductor's
career, Fiedler made it his life's work, having the position for a
half-century.
With Fiedler's direction, the Boston Pops reportedly made
more recordings than any other orchestra in the world, most of them for RCA
Victor, with total sales of albums, singles, tapes, and cassettes exceeding $50
million. His recordings began in July 1935 at Boston's Symphony Hall with RCA,
including a world premiere recording of Jacob Gade's Jalousie, which eventually
sold more than a million copies, and the first complete recording of Rhapsody
in Blue by George Gershwin (with Jesús Maria Sanromá as soloist). In 1946, he
conducted the Boston Pops in one of the first American recordings devoted to
excerpts from a film score, Dmitri Tiomkin's music for the David O. Selznick
Technicolor epic Duel in the Sun; RCA Victor released an album of ten-inch
78-rpm discs complete with photographs from the film.
Fiedler had many different hobbies. He was fascinated by
the work of fire-fighters and would travel in his own vehicle to large fires in
and around Boston at any time of the day or night to watch the fire-fighters at
work. He was even made an "Honorary Captain" in the Boston Fire
Department. A number of other fire departments gave him honorary fire helmets
and/or badges. The official biography of Fiedler reports that the conductor
once helped in the rescue efforts at the tragic Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston in
1942. An avid sailor, he volunteered during the early days of World War II for
the Temporary Reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard and was later a member of the
Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Fiedler's June 20, 1947, recording of Gaîté Parisienne by
Jacques Offenbach was eventually released by RCA as their very first
long-playing classical album (RCA Victor LM-1001), in 1950. He recorded the
same music in 1954 in stereo and began making regular stereo recordings in
1956.
Fiedler was also associated with the San Francisco Pops
Orchestra for 26 summers (beginning during 1949), and conducted many other
orchestras throughout the world.
In honour of Fiedler's influence on American music, on
October 23, 1976 he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee
Club Award of Merit. On January 10, 1977, Fiedler was presented with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford.
Fiedler died in Brookline, Massachusetts, following surgery at the age of 84 on July 10, 1979. He had been in failing health for some time and had suffered a heart seizure after a performance on May 5, 1979. At the time of his death, he was in his 50th year as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. After his death, Boston honored him with a stylized sculpture, an oversized bust of Fiedler, near the Charles River Esplanade, and named a footbridge over Storrow Drive after him. This area is home of the free concert series that continues through the present day.
Classical music
and movie composer John Williams succeeded Fiedler as the orchestra's
nineteenth director. His widow, Ellen Bottomley Fiedler, died October 25, 1984,
in Framingham, Massachusetts. She was 70. (Info edited from Wikipedia)
1 comment:
For “A Christmas Festival with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops” go here:
http://www106.zippyshare.com/v/M88xlS2Z/file.html
01. A Christmas Festival.
02. White Christmas.
03. Sleigh Ride.
04. Winter Wonderland.
05. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers.
06. The Little Drummer Boy.
07. What Child Is This (Fantasia On Greensleeves).
08. The Toy Trumpet.
09. Carol Of The Bells.
10. March Of The Toys.
11. Hansel And Gretel Dream Pantomime.
12. Sleigh Ride (Mozart).
13. The Nutcracker Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy.
14. Christmas Medley.
15. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
16. Silent Night.
17. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.
Post a Comment