Damrosch, Walter

Damrosch, Walter

▪ American musician
in full  Walter Johannes Damrosch 
born Jan. 30, 1862, Breslau, Prussia [now Wrocław, Pol.]
died Dec. 22, 1950, New York, N.Y., U.S.
 Prussian-born American orchestral conductor and composer whose activities spanned more than half a century of American musical life.

      Damrosch studied with his father, Leopold Damrosch (1832–85), German violinist and conductor, who settled in New York City in 1871. Upon his father's death in 1885, Walter Damrosch assumed the conductorship of the New York Symphony Society and the Oratorio Society of New York, founded by his father, and also conducted at the Metropolitan Opera Company (from 1885 to 1891). In 1898 his brother Frank Damrosch (1853–1937) took over as conductor of the Oratorio Society of New York. Later, Walter Damrosch organized the Damrosch Opera Company (1894–1900), specializing in German operas. In 1903 he reorganized the New York Symphony Society and conducted it until 1927, when it was combined with the Philharmonic Society.

      Like his father, Damrosch was an avowed propagandist of the Romantic composer Richard Wagner (Wagner, Richard); as early as March 3, 1886, he gave a concert performance of the opera Parsifal (first performed 1862) in New York. He also presented first American performances of symphonies by Johannes Brahms (Brahms, Johannes) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich). Although not in sympathy with new music, he introduced several works by contemporary European and American composers. He was a pioneer of symphonic broadcasting and also established a weekly series of radio lectures on music appreciation for schools, which aired from 1928 to 1942.

      A competent composer, Damrosch wrote several operas that were performed in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, including The Scarlet Letter (1896), Cyrano de Bergerac (1913), The Man Without a Country (1937), and The Opera Cloak (1942). He also composed incidental music to plays and published an autobiography, My Musical Life (1923; 2nd ed., 1930).

      Walter Damrosch's brother Frank was a founder and dean of the Juilliard School of Music.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Damrosch, Walter Johannes — (1862 1950)    American conductor of Polish origin. Born in Breslau, he studied harmony, piano and conducting with his father Leopold Damrosch. In 1871 he moved to New York with his family, and in 1881 became conductor of the Newark, New Jersey… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Walter Damrosch — Walte …   Wikipedia

  • Walter Damrosch — Walter Damrosh Nom de naissance Walter Johannes Damrosch Naissance 30 janvier&# …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Walter Johannes Damrosch — (* 30. Januar 1862 in Breslau; † 22. Dezember 1950 in New York) war ein US amerikanischer Dirigent und Komponist deutscher Herkunft. Walter Damrosch war Sohn des Komponisten und Dirigenten Leopold Damrosch (1832–1885) und wurde von diesem… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Walter Damrosch — Walter Johannes Damrosch (* 30. Januar 1862 in Breslau; † 22. Dezember 1950 in New York) war ein US amerikanischer Dirigent und Komponist deutscher Herkunft. Walter Damrosch war Sohn des Komponisten und Dirigenten Leopold Damrosch (18 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Walter Johannes Damrosch — Walter Damrosch. Walter Johannes Damrosch (Breslau, Prusia, 30 de enero de 1862 Nueva York, 22 de diciembre de 1950), fue un director de orquesta y compositor estadounidense, de origen alemán. Biografía Walter Damr …   Wikipedia Español

  • Damrosch — is a surname, and may refer to: Clara Mannes (born Damrosch, 1869–1948), a musician, sister of Walter Frank Damrosch (1859–1937), Silesian American conductor, music educator Leo Damrosch, American scholar and author, professor of literature at… …   Wikipedia

  • DAMROSCH — DAMROSCH, family of musicians. LEOPOLD DAMROSCH (1832–1885), born in Posen (Poznan), was a conductor and composer. He took a medical degree but devoted himself to music and the violin. As orchestral leader in Magdeburg and Weimar, and conductor… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Damrosch — ist der Nachname mehrerer Musiker: Frank Damrosch (1859–1937), deutsch amerikanischer Dirigent und Musikerzieher Leopold Damrosch (1832 1885), Komponist, Dirigent und Violinist Walter Damrosch (1862 1950), Komponist und Dirigent, Sohn von Leopold …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Damrosch — Damrosch, Leopold, Musiker, geb. 22. Okt. 1832 in Posen, gest. 15. Febr. 1885 in New York, studierte in Berlin Medizin und promovierte 1854, bildete sich aber gleichzeitig unter Ries (Violine) und Dehn (Komposition) zum Musiker aus und wirkte als …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”