Philharmonic Society of New York Board of Directors Meeting

Event Information

Venue(s):
Residence of George Templeton Strong

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
15 October 2025

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

18 Jun 1873, Afternoon

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  Philharmonic Society of New York Board of Directors

Citations

1)
: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 16 June 1873.

“Visit from Schaad. My Philharmonic friends are evidently perturbed by the triumphs of Theodore Thomas. He has cut out Bergmann as conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, & his garden concerts are growing in brilliancy & in public favor. Schaad has at last perceived that we think a great deal too much about the amount of the annual dividend to members of our orchestra. I saw this long ago, but did not think it was for me to say it. Thomas’ people rehearse daily. If our society would consent to do likewise, it could beat them out of sight, being numerically so much stronger than they; and if we would treat the candid & sagacious “critics“ of the daily press a little more liberally in the matter of complimentary tickets & reserved seats, they would be more civil to us—though that is no great matter. As it is, whenever we play Beethoven or Mozart, they denounce us for producing “hackneyed” compositions, and when we bring out some ‘novelty’ of Raff’s or Rubinstein’s, they deplore our neglect of the great old classical models.”

2)
: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 18 June 1873.

“Philharmonic directors here this p.m.—Hill, Matzka, Reiff, Schaad, & no quorum. Various important matters informally discussed.”