FAMOUS BANKER MUSICIAN.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3378, 6 January 1920, Page 6

FAMOUS BANKER MUSICIAN.

DEATH OF FOUNDER'OF BOSTON SYMPHONY ORGHESTR‘A';‘ ~_ . \ -I - .- ’.i?.. -‘ d : bi: (B"6hxnl‘ L vbg ab éfao The dearth of Major Henry L.‘Hig-M‘ ginson; banker and founder" 0'35" “the Boston Symphony Or‘chesti'a,"o"ét§iii"fé<l at Boston (U.S.A.) on"Novem'B'é'r"'”is last. Major Higginso«ll'died af-té'l""“a_l} operation performed‘ dui§ng“"§lf3§l'aji’£‘"E:°'z-1 g. noon. He had been'a'lt z.txé"l:6s';;l'e2;l'*"<bait'; a few hours. Had he bliv'ed until 'thé‘ following ‘Tuesday Lfiaxjo-r" iflignginozoai‘ would 'h«a-.ve been eighty'sfi\ie“4'§'fe‘a‘sr_s of} age. ‘ ~ . ~ “.'l‘.t‘-.2»-':.*«=..-3.» :¥é"7!f.i Although head of th-e"'i°:'m3‘i*’=*6‘£"%i:‘é'é;’ Higginson and co., “bariliérS‘,"?"‘lV’[£ij6i9‘ Higginson was probably most widely known- through his associaffion‘ with -the Symphony Orchestra. He ha“tl-"beeli a, member of the ba:llk‘ing"~'firm "’éin"ce 1868; T . - '"J* "~ -3‘ VMajor Higginson established. the}

Boston Symphony O_rchest'na in 1881. ‘ln the years that followed he obtained fhe.Sorviees of expert\players~ from the ‘musical capitals of Europe, and en- ‘ gagéa conductors -of the first rank, who gradually developed the organisation until it became one of the foremost orchestras of‘ the World. .only in one or two years didfthe concerts yigld 3.; net revenue; in every other year until his death Mr Higginson made up the} deficit from his own‘ pocket. One of his announced Ivmrpo-ses in founding the orchestra. was to provide’ first-class music for people of small means, and from the ‘start he‘ arranged that several hundred seats at the ‘Friday afternoon rehearsals should be sold at twenty-I five cents each. The-Se “rehearsals” in later years came to be concerts in] full form. - ' M i The Symphony Orchestra, Ml’ Hl3‘ ginson considered his hobby, rather than zat philanthropy. He once said’ that :it wasrto him what a yacht, a racing ‘stable, a library, oran -art gallery were to other men of wealth. Will some --hobbyist, -or hobbyists found a' decent hnanclin Taihape? ' .