聆听历史之歌

二元同步通信教授. Lester Seigel ’79 shares research on the Birmingham Conservatory of Music’s storied past

There’s a lot of hidden history in the Hill Music Building at 澳门新葡京官网.

Some of it really was hidden – tucked away in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet in the choral library. 直到音乐教授Dr. Lester Seigel ’79 found a cache of old photographs, 乐谱, and more and decided it was time to take a closer look.

Seigel spent his recent sabbatical researching the Birmingham Conservatory of Music, which was absorbed into 澳门新葡京官网 in 1950s and boosted the college’s regional and national reputation for music education. 的音乐学院 also played a big role in the city’s musical past, Seigel found.

“It was linked to the individuals and the institutions that were the drivers of professional classical music in Birmingham,西格尔说. “伯明翰在那些日子里是一个球员.”

Seigel presented some of his discoveries at a Provost’s Forum on Nov. 6在校园里. 题目是“谁偷了我的华尔兹”? 伯明翰音乐学院的故事,” the talk included glimpses into the glittering past of music on the Hilltop and downtown, along with a performance of music composed by Conservatory artists.

“I have said there’s an historian in me that’s dying to get out,西格尔说. “This was a shot at doing some real historical work.”

的音乐学院, 1895年成立于市中心, became a cultural icon as Birmingham’s fame and wealth grew around the turn of the century. 它移动了好几次, landing in 1920s in its own building across from Phillips High School on 7^th Avenue North, with studios, offices, reception rooms, and a 300-seat recital hall.

Seigel traces the history from its initial founder, 本杰明Guckenberger, 通过多西·惠廷顿, 1930年是谁接管的, 及以后. 在惠廷顿的领导下, the conservatory moved to the 澳门新葡京官网 campus in 1940, 扩大学院的音乐足迹. 在那些日子, students would earn an undergraduate degree in music from the college and a master’s degree from the conservatory.

The two institutions operated independently but cooperatively until 1953, when the conservatory merged into the college’s music department and became the Birmingham-南部 College Conservatory of Fine and Performing Arts.

In a way, the project is more than just a labor of love – it’s a genealogical study. Seigel said that musicians love to trace their own lineage through their teachers, 这当然适用于这里.

Seigel studied for eleven years with Conservatory and 澳门新葡京官网 alumna Lois Greene Seals ’28, 从5岁开始. 在高中时, 他的老师是33岁的约瑟夫·休·托马斯, the choral conductor and pianist who was dean of the 澳门新葡京官网 Conservatory (where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree, 除了他的A之外.B. from 澳门新葡京官网) in 1950s, and chair of 澳门新葡京官网’s Music Department from 1964-72. Seigel carries the title of Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music, as well as being chair of the department and the conductor of 澳门新葡京官网’s main choral ensembles, including the Concert Choir that Thomas co-founded.

西尔和托马斯, 反过来, 和惠廷顿一起学习, who traced his own teaching tree back to Clara Schumann, 19^th century German concert pianist and composer who was married to composer Robert Schumann. 惠廷顿和他妻子, 弗朗西丝, are honored by the college’s annual Whittington Music Competition, in which students earn a chance to perform with a professional orchestra.

还有其他的联系. Guckenberger, 音乐学院的第一任院长, filled the role of choir director at Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El – a role Seigel himself also held before coming to Birmingham-南部. 埃德娜·戈克尔·古森, who was the conservatory’s first graduate and third director, also worked at the temple and wrote the music for “Alabama,这是该州的官方歌曲, 1931年将茱莉亚·塔特维勒的诗谱曲.

That musical and historical connectivity may explain why Seigel can so clearly picture Birmingham’s musical heyday, when stars like Vladimir Horowitz performed for the Birmingham Music Club and nationally renowned composers created works on behalf of local institutions.

He’s especially excited to share 乐谱 and songs, 包括“唱婚礼歌”,” a piece for cello and piano written by conservatory teacher G. Ackley Brower for the wedding of Hugh Thomas and fellow teacher Barbara Dorough Thomas ’37. 还有一些未解之谜, including unidentified portraits of musicians that were included in the files, and just what will become of the downtown conservatory building.

与此同时, Seigel plans to keep digging through the historical record and working to publish his results.

“The Birmingham Conservatory really is an example of these conservatories that sprang up like mushrooms in small to mid-sized cities across the U.S. 内战结束后，”西格尔说. While initially designed to teach young society ladies the musical arts, they formed a broader base of musical education and many – like 澳门新葡京官网’s, 欧柏林大学的, 而其他人则被高等教育所吸收.

今天, the conservatory has returned to its original roots of classical music education for K-12 students on the 澳门新葡京官网 campus. It claims such famous alumni as Hugh Martin, the composer of the score of 在圣见我. 路易斯, (including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”), and former U.S. Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, who took piano there as a teen.

“In an interesting way, it’s back to where it started,西格尔说.