Rudolph Aronson (April 8, 1856February 4, 1919) was an American

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

who was most notable for founding the Casino Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Early life and education

Aronson was born on April 8, 1856, in

to German immigrants. At age six, Aronson started playing piano while attending Grammar School No. 35. Aronson later attended the

Packard Business College Packard's Business College or Packard Business College was a post-secondary business college in New York City which provided a concentrated one-year education in practical business subjects, such as arithmetic, bookkeeping, penmanship, and busines ...

, looking to have a business career, but his music teacher Leopold von Meyer saw his potential in a music career, persuading his parents to start his education on

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

. On July 8, 1870, Aronson attended his first concert along with his brother Joseph at the Academy of Music which was under the direction of

Patrick Gilmore Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish-born American composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. While serving in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, Gilmore ...

. One of the composers included in the concert, was

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

, who would largely influence Aronson to pursue composing. At age sixteen, Aronson composed his first

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

called "''Arcadian''", which was first performed at the Arcadian Club. The waltz was published on September 7, 1873, and was first publicly played by Theodore Thomas's

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

at Central Park Garden.Aronson (1913), p. 8.

European study trip

After the success of his waltz, Aronson felt encouraged to go to a study trip throughout Europe. Accompanied by his three sisters, Aronson left for his trip shortly after his mothers death. After arriving in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1874, Aronson became a pupil of

Émile Durand Émile Durand (; 16 February 18307 May 1903) was a French musical theorist, teacher and composer. He was better known for his theoretical writings than for his compositions. Biography Émile Durand was born in 1830, at Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d' ...

at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

where he studied

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

and

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

for three years. While in Paris, he completed numerous compositions which most notably included the "''Marche Triomphale''", which was performed at the Johann Strauss Monster Concert in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

on June 17, 1876. In August 1876, he then travelled to

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

where he experienced the first

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, and later reported his experiences to the American Register of Paris. In May 1887, upon his return from his study trip, he performed numerous of his waltzes, which were originally composed for the

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

, at a concert in Gilmore's Garden which was organized by

Founding of the Casino Theatre

On a trip crossing the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

back to New York, he met Charles D. Lanier to which he suggested the idea of a concert hall called the "''European Concert Garden''", to which Lanier proposed the name "''The Metropolitan Concert Hall''". They then enlisted the help of

Joseph Seligman Joseph Seligman (November 22, 1819 – April 25, 1880) was an American banker and businessman who founded J. & W. Seligman & Co. He was the patriarch of what became known as the Seligman family in USA and was subsequently related to the wealthy ...

to establish the "''Metropolitan Concert Company''". The Metropolitan Concert Hall was constructed in 1880 by architect George B. Post and was modelled after other concert halls in

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After his successful waltz "''Sweet Sixteen''", which reached several hundred thousand copies, he started evolving a plan of building the Casino Theatre, which he wanted to have the world's first roof garden on. He then went on another trip to Europe, where he visited many gardens including the Kroll's Garten in Berlin and the Volksgarten in Vienna, to gain inspiration for his roof garden. Aronson returned to New York in April 1881, and began raising capital by suggesting the idea to establish a European Casino to multiple wealthy businessmen. He then established the "''New York Casino Company''", gaining its name from the

Newport Casino The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 180-200 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island in the Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District. Built in 1879–1881 by ''New York Herald'' publisher James Gordon ...

. The building was then planned and designed by

Francis H. Kimball Francis Hatch Kimball (September 24, 1845 – December 20, 1919) was an American architect practicing in New York City, best known for his work on skyscrapers in lower Manhattan and terra-cotta ornamentation. He was an associate with the firm ...

and Thomas Wisedell, who were originally skeptical about the idea of a roof garden, arguing that the weight of the people would be too much for the roof to hold, yet Aronson persisted. After eventually convincing the architects, they found a way to construct the building and construction was started in December 1881. In January 1882, Aronson made another trip to Europe to further gain attraction for his theatre. He at first visited

and then

Émile Waldteufel Charles Émile Waldteufel (9 December 1837 – 12 February 1915) was a French pianist, conductor and composer known for his numerous popular Salon music, salon pieces. Life Émile Waldteufel (German for ''forest devil'') was born at 84 Grand ...

, who both declined upon the request to perform at his theatre. Returning from Europe in April 1882, Aronson wanted the building to be completed as fast as possible, hurrying the architects. The building was completed on September 11, 1882, and was visited multiple times by poet

Edwin Arnold Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The term "Moorish" com ...

he had encountered". On October 22, 1882, the first concert was held by

Maurice Grau Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau was a US theatre management and production firm, active from 1880 until 1896. The partners were Henry E. Abbey, John B. Schoeffel and Maurice Grau. Abbey and Schoeffel had been in partnership since 1876, and joined force ...

's opera companies and an orchestra consisting of sixty musicians under Aronson's conductorship.Aronson (1913), p. 51.

Later life

Aronson built and managed hotels throughout New York and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

until his death on February 4, 1919.

References and sources

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Rudolph 1856 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American composers 20th-century American composers American male composers Composers from New York City Impresarios Musicians from New York City