Philip Hale

Biographical Note

Philip Hale was born in Norwich, Vermont, on March 5, 1854, the son of William and Harriet Amelia (Porter) Hale. After his parents moved to Northampton, Mass., he studied organ and piano and became at age fourteen the organist of the Unitarian Church in Northampton. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Yale University (A.B., 1876), where he continued his musical studies. After an apprenticeship in the law office of his uncle in Albany, N.Y., Hale was admitted to the New York Bar in 1880 and practiced law for two years. At the same time he was organist of St. Peter's (Episcopal) Church and was music critic for the Albany Times. This was followed by five years of music study in Europe (1882-1887), largely in Berlin, Dresden and Paris.

Upon his return to the United States, he lived in Albany, N.Y., served as organist at St. John's (Episcopal) Church in Troy and served as music critic for a variety of newspapers. In 1889 he became the organist for the First Religious Society (Unitarian) of Roxbury, Mass., and held the position for seventeen years. In Boston he served as music critic for the Post (1890-1891) and the Journal (1892-1898). At the Herald (1903-1933) he served as music and drama critic and became known for his program notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1901-1934).

Philip Hale married Irene Baumgras in Berlin, Germany, July 9, 1884, the daughter of Peter Baumgras of Washington, D.C. Hale died in Boston on November 30, 1934.

Hale was also the editor of Musical Record (1897-1901) and the Musical World (1901-1902) and edited or wrote introductions to various editions of music. After his death a compilation of his program notes was published: Philip Hale's Boston Symphony Programme Notes, edited by John N. Burk (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, 1935).

[Sources: "Philip Hale," The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 14 (1917): 462-463; "Philip Hale," Groves Music Online (2006)]

https://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/mortimer/manoscmr17.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/01/archives/philip-hale-oritic-dead-in-boston-80-writer-on-music-and-drama-had.html

Member of the Tavern Club

Philip Hale (March 5, 1854 in Norwich, Vermont – November 30, 1934 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American music critic.

Hale attended Yale, where he served on the fourth editorial board of The Yale Record.[1] After graduating in 1876, he practiced law, also studying piano with John Kautz and playing the organ in a church. In 1882 Hale abandoned law altogether in favor of music, continuing his studies in Germany with Josef Rheinberger and in Paris with Alexandre Guilmant.

After returning to the United States he served as an organist and conductor in various venues for several years. Hale became a critic in 1890, beginning his career by working for the Boston Post. From 1891 until 1903 he was affiliated with the Boston Journal, and from 1903 until his death with the Boston Herald; during his tenure there he became among the most distinguished music critics of the day. However, he was among the severest critics of the music of Johannes Brahms. [2] [3]

From 1901 he wrote program notes for the Boston Symphony; John N. Burk collected the best of these in Philip Hale's Boston Symphony Programme Notes, published in 1935.

Hale died in Boston in 1934.

References

"Record Editors". The Yale Banner. New Haven: Thomas Penney and G. D. Pettee. 1877. p. 182.

http://www.brightcecilia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1299

http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/~warrier/Graphics/Fun/sarcasm.html

David Ewen, Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Hale I.S. 7/31/2018