Preface

THIS IS A HISTORY of what has been termed the “monumental orchestra” in America. It is, of course, not a complete history of music in America; it is not even an exhaustive history of the American symphony orchestra. To do justice to the intermediate orchestras, as well as the numerous small civic orchestras which make music primarily for their own enjoyment and only secondarily as a professional activity, to render a report on radio performances, the circulation of recordings, and to evaluate the importance of orchestral music in American universities during the last several decades, a truly encyclopedic treatment would be required. The present account traces the growth of the symphony orchestra to its roots in European traditions, recounts the crises which it has overcome, the musical repertoires with which it has regaled its audiences during the past century, the social setting in which it has had its being, and finally offers a discussion of the elusive problems of aesthetic taste in terms of which the historical trends can be understood and evaluated.

This volume was about fifteen years in the making. It could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of many persons in strategic positions. The managers of the orchestras have assisted in various significant ways in supplying repertoires and programs, and patiently replying to interview questions of sundry types. The New York Public Library, the Newberry Library of Chicago, Indiana University Music Library, the public libraries of San Francisco, Boston, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and other cities have cooperated in making available their files and facilities. Members of the orchestras, critics, and other musicians, have given valuable assistance in reconstructing the histories of their orchestras, and retired members have supplied the reminiscences and cues which are responsible for any lively interest which this history may possess.

Students who have been members of the author’s classes have contributed more to the evolution of the aesthetic thought portrayed in this volume than they will ever realize. Furthermore, it is not as a mere conventional gesture, but as a genuine recognition of indebtedness that I add this inadequate expression of appreciation of the aid of my wife, Kate Hevner Mueller, who is a student and author in the field of psychological aesthetics in her own right. The intelligent preparation of statistical materials, the meaningful interpretation of cold figures, and the critical reading of the text, make her a real participant in this work.

The collation of the individual histories of the orchestras has entailed a scrutiny of numberless facts and critical judgments in which it would be impossible to avoid critical errors and disputed emphases. The author would, of course, be grateful for corrections of any significant errors discovered by specialized readers. Since the preparations of this history of orchestral repertoires of the major orchestras required a complete card catalogue of every piece played in the subscription series from their opening concerts to the season 1949-50, the author would be glad to continue to answer inquiries on the performance history of specific compositions of those orchestras that have not published their own cumulated repertoire.

The Graduate School of Indiana University has liberally subsidized this project with funds for travel, clerical assistance, and for the purchase of the necessary books and materials.

Although a skeleton monograph on the History of Musical Taste, published in 1942, constituted the point of departure of the present work, this work is entirely new in its scope and general function.

Finally, in the production of the book, the editor of the Indiana University Press, Edith Greenburg, must be credited with many of the qualities of the text which derive from meticulous reading of the manuscript and a patient discussion of the problems of publication.

JOHN H. MUELLER

Indiana University

July, 1951