On April 24,
1924, a memorial was unveiled in Grant Park honoring Theodore Thomas, founding
music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Although designed as a lasting tribute to the
man who established Chicago as a center for outstanding classical music, the
monument itself has had a shaky history, and very nearly disappeared altogether. In this article, we will explore the creation
of the Theodore Thomas memorial and how it ended up at its current location
just north of Balbo Drive.
The B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund
Benjamin
Franklin Ferguson was a prominent Chicago lumber merchant. His home, a massive brick Queen Anne style
home completed in 1883, still stands in the West Jackson Boulevard landmark
district. When he died in 1905, Ferguson
left a bequest of $1,000,000 for the establishment of a fund, the income of
which was to be expended by the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago
(of which John Glessner was a member) to fund public monuments. Specifically, the income was to be used “in
the erection and maintenance of enduring statuary and monuments in the whole or
in part of stone, granite or bronze, in the parks, along the boulevards or in
other public places, within the city of Chicago, Illinois, commemorating worthy
men or women of America or important events of American history.”
The first
monument to be erected by the fund was the Fountain of the Great Lakes by Lorado
Taft, dedicated in 1913 on the south terrace of the Art Institute of
Chicago. By the early 1920s, additional
monuments included:
-Statue of
the Republic, Daniel Chester French, sculptor, 1918 (Jackson Park)
-Alexander
Hamilton, Bela Lyon Pratt, sculptor, 1918 (Grant Park)
-Illinois
Centennial Monument, Evelyn B. Longman, sculptor, 1918 (Logan Square)
-Eugene
Field Monument, Edward McCartan, sculptor, 1922 (Lincoln Park)
-Fountain
of Time, Lorado Taft, sculptor, 1922 (Washington Park, Midway)
Sculptor Albin Polasek
By the
time the massive Fountain of Time was dedicated in late 1922, discussion was
already underway for a permanent memorial to Theodore Thomas, who had died in
1905. The site selected was a location
just south of the Art Institute, facing Orchestra Hall (now Symphony Center).
Czech-American
sculptor Albin Polasek (1879-1965) was commissioned to create the work, which
was titled “The Spirit of Music.” Polasek
began his career as a wood carver in Vienna, immigrating to the United States
in his early twenties and settling in Philadelphia. In 1916, he was invited to head the
department of sculpture at the Art Institute, where he remained for over 30 years. He retired to Winter Park, Florida in 1950
and his home and studio are open to the public as the Albin Polasek Museum andSculpture Gardens.
Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1924
An article
in the Chicago Tribune, dated April
13, 1924, noted the following:
“Albin Polasek, head of the sculpture department
of the Art Institute, will soon have the satisfaction of seeing his beautiful
monument to the memory of Theodore Thomas erected in bronze . . . ‘The Spirit
of Music,’ Polasek has called his memorial.
The figure is of heroic size and stands thirteen feet high. She holds a lyre in her arm, the strings of
which she has just struck, the act being indicated by her uplifted right hand. With its granite pedestal the bronze figure
will of course stand several feet higher than its thirteen feet. The great seat just to the east is a
semi-circular affair about forty feet in length. Upon it figures of the orchestra are
carved. Polasek has done in this a truly
powerful and significant piece of sculpture.
It is effective, simple, striking, decorative, impressive, and artistic.”
As noted
in A Guide to Chicago’s Public Sculpture
by Ira J. Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray (The University of Chicago Press, 1983),
the bronze figure, actually 15 feet in height, was “to have the grandeur of a
Beethoven symphony and to be ‘feminine . . . but not too feminine.’” The guide also describes the hemispherical
base upon which the figure stands, featuring “low relief figures of Orpheus
playing his lyre, Chibiabos, from Longfellow’s ‘Song of Hiawatha’ singing, and
a group of animals listening.” Polasek
insisted that the face peering out from a small classical mask at the lower end
of the lyre was his own.
Howard Van Doren Shaw
Architect
Howard Van Doren Shaw (1869-1926) collaborated with Polasek on the memorial,
designing the massive granite exedra and bench to display Polasek’s incised
carving of the orchestra members being led by Thomas. The back side of the exedra features a
memorial panel with Thomas’ bust surrounded by the following inscription:
“Scarcely any many in any land has done so much
for the musical education of the people as did Theodore Thomas in this
country. The nobility of his ideals with
the magnitude of his achievement will assure him everlasting glory. 1835-1905.”
Dedication
The bronze
figure was completed in 1923, the date noted on its base, but was not set into
place and unveiled until April 24, 1924.
The dedication ceremony began at 4:00pm with a program and concert in
Orchestra Hall. Thomas championed German
music, so it is not surprising that the works performed that afternoon included
the Chorale and Fugue by Bach-Albert, the first movement from Beethoven’s Eroica
Symphony, and the Prelude to the Mastersingers of Nuremberg by Wagner. Charles H. Hamill gave an address on the life
and work of Theodore Thomas. Charles L.
Hutchinson, president of the Art Institute and the B. F. Ferguson Monument
Fund, presented the memorial, which was accepted by Edward J. Kelly, president
of the South Park Commissioners. (The
South Park District merged with others to form the Chicago Park District in
1934).
The
assembled audience then adjourned to the location of the monument immediately
south of the Art Institute. Thomas’s
daughter, Mrs. D. N. B. Sturgis, unveiled the memorial “while trumpets played a
theme from the ninth symphony of Beethoven and crowds stood with bared heads.”
Later History
In 1941,
the monument was moved to the north end of Grant Park, very near to the
original peristyle designed by Edward H. Bennett. That structure was demolished in 1953 when
the Grant Park underground parking garage was constructed, and The Spirit of
Music was placed in storage. When it was
re-erected five years later near Buckingham Foundation, only the bronze figure
was installed.
In the late 1980s, the original granite sections of the exedra were found along the
edge of Lake Michigan where they had been dumped. They were retrieved by the Chicago Park
District and restored, and the present setting for the memorial was created at
the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Drive. The rededication of the monument took place on October 18, 1991, concluding the year long celebration of the CSO's centennial season. Sir Georg Solti was joined by Rafael Kubelik and Daniel Barenboim for the ceremony, which was followed that evening by a concert recreating the very first performance of the orchestra in October 1891.
The adjacent Spirit of Music Garden has for many years now been home to the popular Summer Dance, continuing, in a somewhat different vein, the legacy of music in the cultural fabric of the City of Chicago.
The adjacent Spirit of Music Garden has for many years now been home to the popular Summer Dance, continuing, in a somewhat different vein, the legacy of music in the cultural fabric of the City of Chicago.
Statue Stories
In August
2015, The Spirit of Music was one of thirty statues in the city to be featured
in “Statue Stories,” funded by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and produced
by Sing London. At each of the thirty
sites, visitors can swipe their smart phone and get a call back from a
celebrity, telling the story of the monument.
The Spirit of Music story is read by soprano Renee Fleming, creative
consultant with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
For more information, visit Statue Stories Chicago.
