Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1905 — THEODORE THOMAS DEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THEODORE THOMAS DEAD.

Noted Conductor of the Chicago Or*, chcstru Passes Away. . Theodore Thomas, the noted orchestra leader, died of 'pneumonia at his residence in Chicago early Wednesday. He was 70 years old. Death came to the world-famous director almost at the hour of achieving, his ambition of years, the establishment of the Chicago orchestra in a magnificent permanent home. Mr. Thomas lived to lead his orchestra in but four concerts in the great new hall built by popular subscription. Theodore Thomas, who was the son of an expert violiuist, was born at Estus, Hanover. Germany, Oct. 11, 1835. In 1845 his parents brought him to the United States, settling in New York City. Even at this early age the boy had created an impression as a violinist. A concert trip through the Southern cities in 1871 proved such a success that when, Mr. Thomas returned to New York

he became one of the first violins in concert and operatic performances during the engagements in America of Jenny Lind, Soniag. Grisi and other great opera singers./ The real beginning in Mr. Thomas’ musical career was through a series of chamber concerts at New York during the years intervening between 1873 and 1872. Since 1801. when he founded his first orchestra in New York. Theodore Thomas lias been a commanding figure in the musical world. ~TiT New York, 15 Cincinnati and in Chicago he has conducted great orchestras and cultivated public taste. Ho has carried good music to every large city in the country. lie brought the.- Wagnerian soloists to America in 1884 and inspired Americans with ail understanding of “the music of the future.” His death, just as the great music hall for which he had striven in Chicago was completed, shows the uncertainty of human life. His name will occupy a high niche in the temple of American art.

THEODORE THOMAS.