The Monday Morning Reading Class, Part III

During the year 1905, the Monday Morning Reading Class, which had been meeting for more than a decade, planned a very special gift to be presented to Frances Glessner on her 58^th birthday, January 1, 1906.  A large leather-bound calendar, contained pages prepared by class members, friends, and family members, to be read daily throughout the year.  The book itself measured 12-1/2” x 17” and was four inches thick.  With its case, it was designed to fit exactly, when opened, on the library table in the second-floor hall.  The individual pages, one for each day of the year, were mounted two to a page, and measured 5” by 8”.  The calendar remains one of the most extraordinary items in the house collection.

Frances Glessner recalled the receipt of the calendar in her journal:

“January 1^st I had several pretty gifts from embers of the family, flowers from friends, when a box came in beautifully done up, everything in the choicest and most attractive manner – box of green leather with gold letters monogram etc. a standard of the same, in all a very remarkable calendar prepared for me by members of the Reading class.  It is in four sections – each one has an original title page, one done by Mr. Gookin, one by Fred Bartlett, one by Herman von Holst, one by Mr. Scott – all exceedingly beautiful.”

Frances Glessner was deeply involved in the civic and social life of the city, so it is not surprising that many of the pages were contributed by names still recognized today – Daniel Burnham, Hermann V. von Holst, Frederic Clay Bartlett, Frederick Stock, Charles Hutchinson, Bryan and Helen Lathrop, Harold and Edith McCormick, Frank Lowden, and William Rainey Harper.  Friends from outside Chicago contributed as well, including Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Julia Shepley (the daughter of H. H. Richardson).  The result is an assemblage of beautifully designed and executed pages that convey the profound respect in which Frances Glessner was held by all who knew her.

When the Reading Class met the following week, Frances Glessner asked her daughter-in-law, Alice, to read a thank you letter to the class which read in part:

“How could you think of it?  How could you accomplish it?  How did you know there were so many choice people in the world with big hearts, willing wits and loving thoughts?  How could anything so exquisite in every detail, so perfect in workmanship, so dainty so refined be put together?

“Fairies and elves could conceive nothing which would give me greater pleasure, more lasting delight than that tribute of your affection . . . The first thought each morning is what does the calendar bring today?  What old friend speaks, what dear face looks out, what poem, what song, what picture, what sacred association?

“Not all of the lovely women in the world are in this class, but there is not one here who is not lovely . . . my heart swells with pride to see a splendid room filled with charming matrons in becoming garb, no introductions needed, all friends, all clever, all intellectual, with high ideals.  This circle is something to be proud of, and I am proud of it and of every individual in it.

“I have one small confession to make.  I have peeped ahead a little in the calendar – only a little – members of my family interfered in the most officious manner and told me I was dishonorable.  Now I have come to a conclusion of my own.  What if I should die before I see it all?  So after today I fling honor to the breeze and establish a code of my own, I am going to peep.”

Reproductions of 104 pages were put on exhibit at Glessner House in early 2007.  Rick Kogan featured the calendar in an article entitled “Ghostly Writers: City Giants of Long Ago Send Messages Through Time at Glessner House” in his weekly Sidewalks column in the Chicago Tribune Magazine on February 18, 2007.  Below we present a few select pages from the calendar, it was most hard to choose, indeed!

January 12, 1906: William Rainey Harper

The first president of the University of Chicago, whose suggestion led to the formation of the Reading Class in 1894, was fluent in several ancient languages, and wrote his message in both English and cuneiform.

January 18: Helen Macbeth

The sister of Frances Glessner, Helen was a talented painter and created an artwork showing the Macbeth family home in Springfield, Ohio, where John and Frances Glessner were married on December 7, 1870.

February 23: Frederick Stock

Second conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Among the Glessners closest friends, a few years later he would dedicate his first symphony to them, much of it having been composed at their New Hampshire summer estate, The Rocks.

March 7: Charles L. Hutchinson

Hutchinson was the long-time president of the Art Institute of Chicago, and he and his wife Frances were frequent guests to the Glessner House.  For his page, he selected a print by the well-known English etcher and printmaker, Sir Francis Seymour Haden.

March 31: William G. Hibbard

Part of the large Hibbard clan which occupied several house on Prairie and Calumet Avenues, he provided a detailed landscape plan for his summer home in Winnetka, then under development.

April 25: Susan Follansbee Hibbard

Hibbard’s wife, a member of the Reading Class, had the architect of their summer home, A. Lincoln Fechheimer, based in Cincinnati, draw out the floor plan for Frances Glessner to study and enjoy.

July-September title page: Frederic Clay Bartlett

Bartlett designed the title page for the third section of the calendar.  Using his typical pre-Raphaelite style at the time, he depicted the Reading Class, its monthly lunches, and Frances Glessner’s interest in music and beekeeping.

October 11: Theodore Thomas memorial

The first conductor of the Chicago Symphony was among the Glessners closest friends and had died in January 1905.  The beautifully illustrated page was one of two commissioned by the orchestra for inclusion in the calendar.

November 4: Daniel H. Burnham

Architect Daniel Burnham and his wife Margaret both contributed pages.  Daniel Burnham’s page features a quote about the satisfaction of doing good work, a reflection of his interest in the Swedenborgian faith.

December 14: Inauguration of Orchestra Hall

The second of two pages contributed by the orchestra, this page commemorated the second anniversary of the opening of Orchestra Hall in December 1904.  The Glessners personally raised much of the funding to construct the hall.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra 125th Anniversary Season

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1926

Over the weekend of September 18-19, 2015, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra launched its 125^th anniversary season.  John and Frances Glessner were deeply involved with the orchestra from the time of its inception in 1891, raised considerable funds for the erection of Orchestra Hall in 1904, and were generous supporters throughout their lifetimes.  Theodore Thomas and Frederick Stock, the first two music directors who led the symphony for more than 50 years, were intimate friends.

John J. Glessner

Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a proclamation in August 2015 honoring the symphony for its 125^th anniversary.  Appropriately, the proclamation acknowledged the significant support provided by John Glessner in the first decades of the symphony’s history.  In honor of the CSO 125^th anniversary season, we reprint the proclamation in its entirety below.

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

CITY OF CHICAGO

RAHM EMANUEL

MAYOR

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs its annual free Concert for Chicago in Millennium Park this year on Friday, September 18, 2015, and the Symphony Ball gala at Symphony Center on Saturday, September 19, 2015, as it launches its 125^th Anniversary season; and

WHEREAS the first meeting for the incorporation of The Orchestral Association was held at the Chicago Club on December 17, 1890, during which a board of five trustees was elected to serve and a group of fifty-one businessmen, including Chicago pioneers Armour, Field, Glessner, McCormick, Potter, Pullman, Ryerson, Sprague and Wacker volunteered to serve as guarantors, each pledging their continued financial support; and

Theodore Thomas, Music Director, 1891-1905

WHEREAS Theodore Thomas, then the most popular conductor in America, was engaged as the Orchestra’s first music director and led the Chicago Orchestra’s first concerts at the Auditorium Theatre on October 16 and 17, 1891, conducting music of Wagner, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák; and

Fundraising brochure for the new Orchestra Hall, 1903

WHEREAS Orchestra Hall, designed by CSO trustee and Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham and completed in 1904 at a cost of $750,000, saw its dedicatory concert, led by Thomas, on December 14 of that year; and

Frederick Stock, Music Director, 1905-1942

Photo inscribed "To my best friends,
Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Glessner"

WHEREAS the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is a long-standing international cultural ambassador for Chicago and the United States of America having completed 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents, and

WHEREAS in 2011 the CSO and the Chicago Symphony Chorus’s recording of Verdi’s Requiem led by Maestro Muti won two Grammy awards, and, to date, recordings by the CSO have earned a total of 62 Grammy awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; and

WHEREAS the Chicago Symphony Orchestral Association has been an active collaborator with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events in the development and execution of a Cultural Plan for Chicago, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, Yo-Yo Ma, and the CSO’s Negaunee Music Institute continually work to share live classical music with all;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RAHM EMANUEL, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, do hereby proclaim September 18-19, 2015 to be CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 125^TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION and encourage all Chicagoans to participate.

Dated this 3^rd day of August, 2015.

Rahm Emanuel

Mayor

The Glessners and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The history and success of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is closely intertwined with the lives of John and Frances Glessner.  The founding conductor, Theodore Thomas (shown above) was an intimate friend of the couple for many years, and he consulted with them frequently on all matters relating to the orchestra.

Thomas first came to Chicago as a conductor in 1869 with his orchestra, having initially visited the city fifteen years earlier as a violinist in a small orchestra.  The November 1869 appearance marked the beginning of a long relationship that culminated in Chicago’s reputation as having one of the very finest orchestras in the country.  Thomas and his orchestra returned in 1870 for a series of seven concerts.  In 1871, his orchestra was scheduled to perform on October 9.  They arrived in Chicago that morning to find the city in ruins from the Great Fire, but in subsequent years they visited on an annual basis, earning a respect from increasingly large audiences.

It is not known exactly how and when the Glessners and Thomas became acquainted, but by the time of formation of the orchestra in 1891, John Glessner was one of 50 guarantors who each provided $1,000 annually against losses (which were considerable in the early years). 

Thomas was appointed Music Director in the Bureau of Music at the World’s Columbian Exposition, and Music Hall (shown above) was constructed for his use.  The Fair proved a trying time for Thomas, who was inadvertently drawn into the politics of the fair, in regards to policies implemented to forbid the use of any instruments made by manufacturers who did not exhibit at the fair (including Steinway).  Thomas felt strongly that his guest artists, including Ignace Paderewski and Camille Saint-Saens, should be allowed to play the instruments of their choosing.  The Glessners were staunch supporters of Thomas throughout the ordeal, which resulted in his resignation in August 1893.  In time the whole episode was forgotten, and by May 1895, Frances Glessner headed up a group of thirty-six ladies in Chicago who presented Theodore Thomas with a beautiful silver punch bowl in thanks for his services in enriching the cultural lives of the residents of the city.

By 1898, when John Glessner was elected a trustee of the Orchestral Association, he had contributed over $7,200 to the orchestra, making him one of the four largest donors to date.  He remained a trustee until his death in 1936 and for the last twenty years of his life served on the Executive Committee.  Frances Glessner was one of the founders of the Chicago Chamber Music Society, an arm of the orchestra, and served on its executive committee for many years. 

Away from Chicago, the connection between the Glessners and the Thomases continued.  After John and Frances Glessner completed their summer home, The Rocks, in New Hampshire, the Thomases purchased land nearby and constructed their own summer home, which they named Felsengarten.   It was here that Theodore Thomas could truly relax, far removed from the heavy demands of the orchestra.

Members of the orchestra frequently entertained at the Glessner home, providing music for dinner parties and meetings of the Monday Morning Reading Class.  On more than one occasion, Thomas brought musicians by surprise to the Glessner house for a birthday or anniversary.  The Glessners reciprocated by providing wonderful receptions and dinners for the musicians, and on more than one occasion hosted the entire orchestra for a sit down dinner.  One of these times was in January 1913, when the members of the orchestra were able to view the meticulously executed miniature orchestra that Frances Glessner Lee had made herself, a birthday gift to her mother.

In 1902, when the time came to realize the long-held dream of Theodore Thomas to construct a permanent hall for the orchestra, John Glessner, along with Daniel Burnham and Bryan Lathrop, held the title for the newly purchased property on Michigan Avenue.  These three men, along with seven other trustees, carried the entire purchase price, by cash and their personal notes, until 1905, when the Association secured a loan for the completion of orchestra hall.  The Glessners were instrumental in raising a significant portion of the funds needed to construct the hall, which opened in December 1904.  They were assigned Box M in the new hall (shown above), directly behind the conductor’s podium, and it was reserved for their exclusive use until their deaths in the 1930s.

Less than one month after the opening of the new hall, Theodore Thomas died.  His wife and the Glessners were the only ones at the bedside.  After his passing, George Glessner was summoned and took post-mortem photographs, presumably given to the widow.  Soon after the funeral, Thomas’ widow Rose presented the Glessners with his baton and a preserved palm frond from his casket, mementoes of their long friendship.  (The pieces remain on view today in the museum, in the hallway outside the master bedroom).

The relationship with the orchestra remained close under Thomas’ successor, Frederick Stock.  On December 31, 1909, Stock premiered his Symphony in c minor, which was dedicated to the Glessners.  Much of the piece in fact had been written while Stock was a guest of the Glessners at The Rocks.  Their support for Stock was equally as strong as it was for Thomas, especially during the period of the first World War when Stock’s allegiance to America was (falsely) questioned. 

John Glessner died on January 20, 1936.  In the program for the concert three days later, a full page tribute to Glessner included the following statement, “To no one man has The Orchestral Association been more beholden.  He was one of the small group of men who in the Association’s first years of struggle were loyal in their support and generous in their gifts.  Since 1898 he has served as a Trustee and by his constant attendance on meetings and his sound judgment has brought much needed help to his associates.  He and his devoted wife while she lived were always in their box to delight in the music their generosity made possible, and in their hospitable home men of the Orchestra and their musical friends found frequent entertainment.”  On February 11, the CSO concert included Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Death and Transfiguration” as a fitting tribute to this ardent supporter of the orchestra.