Talk:Adolph Herseth

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Citation needed[edit]

I yield to no person in my admiration for Herseth but this, without a citation, is a bit strong: "His style of orchestra playing set the standard for trumpet players all over the world". I see that someone found the Tunnell (not Tunell) article to cite in support of another assertion about Bud and I feel that a statement like this also needs support, or removal. It seems to assume that no-one else was actually playing the orchestral trumpet for all those years that he was in Chicago or that, if they were, they needed him to set the standard - they couldn't have done it alone. I don't think either of these are true. He is a fantastic player and was a very fine principal trumpet indeed, but the article should not become a hagiography. Or if it does, it should cite its sources! :) 138.37.199.206 12:57, 6 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No reaction to the above so I am removing the sentence in question. I would be delighted to see it, or something NPOV but on similar lines, reinstated with a suitable citation. 138.37.199.206 08:56, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Large body of text removed[edit]

I just removed the following large body of text; its tone was not neutral and is not appropriate for Wikipedia, and it was entirely unsourced. Perhaps a copy-paste job from somewhere?

"His father was the band director at this little school in Letcher, South Dakota where he got his first trumpet:

"I remember very distinctly my very first time playing in the band. It was a summer band concert on the main street of that little town. I was sitting on the bandstand, way down on the 3rd or 4th part, and playing some little march. I was only 8 at the time, but I can remember it to this day. I thought, Man alive! What a kick this is! And I'll never forget my Dad looking over at me and smiling a couple of times. He could see that I really dug it."

As the leader of the world-famous Chicago Symphony brass section, he transformed the art of symphonic music performance in America, by forging and shaping the legendary Chicago Symphony brass sound, acclaimed around the world for its brilliance, power, and precision.

Herseth, now age 89, is universally regarded as one of the finest orchestral trumpet players of all time, and his consistently superb playing in the CSO spanned five decades. He played under virtually every great conductor of this century, including Bruno Walter, George Szell, Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, and James Levine. His tenure in the orchestra spanned the time of 6 different CSO music directors - Arturo Rodzinki (1947–48), Rafael Kubelik (1950–53), Fritz Reiner (1953–1962), Jean Martinon (1963–1968), Sir Georg Solti (1969–1991), and Daniel Barenboim (1991–2006). As explained by the Telegraph in London on Sept. 18, 2009, “The orchestra’s rise to fame began with the great Fritz Reiner in the Fifties, but it was during the 22-year reign of the fierce Hungarian George Solti that the orchestra became the brawny yet subtle precision instrument that it is today, famed especially for its noble and stupendously powerful brass sound.”

The intensely powerful sound of the Chicago Symphony is the sound of Bud Herseth, who inspired generations of brass players in the United States and beyond. As described in the Chicago Sun-Times, July 22, 2001, “For decades Herseth's rich, golden tone and powerful yet expressive playing were a cornerstone of the fabled ‘Chicago Sound.’” That brass sound drew worldwide attention to the CSO, and propelled the great American orchestra’s reputation around the globe. According to an entry on the Chicago History Museum's online history of the city, the CSO’s "unmistakable sound and high standard of performance helped define the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a world class institution. It also made Chicago an international center for the study of brass instrument performance."

Over five decades, Herseth played on hundreds of recordings with the Chicago Symphony, including over 40 Grammy-winning albums in the classical music categories. He played thousands of concert performances over his career with the CSO, including dozens of performances as a soloist with the orchestra.

Bud Herseth retired in 2001, but his musical legacy lives on in the magnificent sound of today’s Chicago Symphony. The position Bud occupied is now named after him - The Adolph Herseth Principal Trumpet Chair. Chris Martin, the brilliant young player now occupying that seat, described what it was like to take on the role of principal trumpet in the CSO: “It was intimidating at first. The chair makes you a celebrity whether you want to be one or not - I mean, that chair is literally named for him. That has been the most challenging thing. Bud Herseth was widely recognized as one of the finest orchestral trumpet players of all time, so I'm replacing the irreplaceable.” The newest member of the CSO’s trumpet section, Tage Larsen, who joined the CSO after serving in the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band, described today’s orchestra as an extension of Herseth’s longtime leadership. “Bud Herseth -- the greatest classical trumpet player of all time – led this orchestra for 50 years. There’s such great history here. It’s just a matter of trying to continue that.”

By all accounts, today’s CSO musicians are continuing the Herseth tradition. The venerable publication Gramaphone recently ranked the Chicago Symphony as the nation’s best orchestra, and one of the world’s best orchestras. Gramaphone editor James Inverne used one word to describe Chicago's unique, identifiable sound: brass. "Chicago famously has this incredible brass sound," Inverne says. "And it just pins you to the back of your seat. And the way that that brass sound shoots out, exemplifies a lot about the orchestra, which is a sense of adventure in music-making." The Chicago Symphony brass sound reflects the character of the Windy City: bold, clear, courageous, powerful, assertive, energetic, full of primal force but balanced with warm humanity and sincere, unaffected expression. The Chicago Symphony sound is a uniquely American sound, which won the world over during Bud Herseth’s reign.

Though Herseth was “the alpha and omega of trumpet” (Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 16, 2007), his virtuosity carried beyond the brass section; he was the musical leader of the orchestra itself. Former CSO music director Daniel Barenboim described Herseth as the “conscience of the orchestra,” and its “moral musical center.” Former CSO Executive Director John Edwards, who managed the orchestra through the reign of music director Sir Georg Solti, called Herseth “more than a star; he is a supernova.”

Herseth achieved his superstar status by working hard to rise from humble roots. A member of the greatest generation, Herseth grew up in Bertha, Minnesota, population 500. He attended Luther College in Iowa and majored in math, planning to become an actuary. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, where he played in a Navy band detail in the Pacific. He then attended the New England Conservatory of Music on the G.I. Bill, and won the job as first trumpet in the Chicago Symphony at the age of 26. It was his one and only job; he stayed loyal and devoted to the orchestra and committed to his role as an ensemble player throughout his life. He was a fearless musical leader, but a consummate team player who loved the collaboration of ensemble playing with the other great instrumentalists of the Chicago Symphony. With his characteristic engaging humility, Herseth liked to joke that he was a failure professionally, because he never got a promotion. But as Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Henry Fogel observed, Bud Herseth was always “about the music, not about himself.”

Herseth never pursued a teaching career, because he felt it important to devote himself to the art of orchestral playing. He practiced diligently throughout his life, bringing a Midwestern work ethic to his job. Once asked how he stayed in top form for so long, he said simply, “You work your butt off.” He led a life as consistent as his music making. He met his wife Avis in the trumpet section of their fourth grade band. She is the only girl he ever dated, and they have been married for 67 years, living in the same modest Oak Park, Illinois house throughout their lives together. The basement of that house was Bud’s practice studio, which was filled with dozens of horns and hundreds of mouthpieces.

Despite his performance and practice schedule, Herseth found time to coach brass players in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and he gave private lessons, master classes, and mentoring advice to scores of young trumpet players who emulated their idol. Herseth inspired and influenced several generations of brass players, who now perform in the leading orchestras of this country. Along the way, he became a hero to great trumpet soloists like Wynton Marsalis, and earned the admiration of trumpet legends outside of the classical arena, like Doc Severinsen and Arturo Sandoval. At his 50th Anniversary concert, entitled “Gabriel’s Children, A Tribute to Bud Herseth,” Bud shared the stage with Severinsen and Sandoval, and brass players flocked to Chicago from around the world to hear and pay tribute to Bud.

People in Chicago long revered Herseth as the leading voice of their beloved symphony brass section, but Bud’s brilliant playing rang out beyond the seats at Orchestra Hall and Ravinia. On the orchestra’s many tours around the world, in syndicated radio broadcasts, and on hundreds of CSO recordings, Herseth’s stunning sound was heard by millions. Music reviews from around the world over decades testify to his remarkable artistry:

Boston Globe, Aug. 23, 1990: “His playing was bright and brilliant without blare and glare, agile and musically delightful . . . .”

The Australian, March, 1988: "Someone once equated heaven with eating pate de fois gras to the sound of trumpets. In the event, there was no pate to be had at Perth Concert Hall, but the trumpets of the Chicago Symphony, and that of principal player Adolph Herseth in particular, were of celestial quality, and the same could fairly be said of the orchestra as a whole."

Chicago Sun-Times, March 8, 2000, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall: “Monday night, the in the third and last performance of the CSO’s Carnegie residency, all eyes and ears were on Herseth in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a signature work for this trumpet god in his 52 seasons with the CSO. . . . Herseth showed that when the chips are down, his chops can’t be touched. From the symphony’s opening solo trumpet calls to his leadership of the various chorales and fugues to his daring rides above the tempest-tossed passages of strum und drang, the CSO’s unofficial captain was in full command. The Carnegie audience demanded not one but two solo bows.”

A Smithsonian profile of Herseth, published Sept. 1, 1994, summed it up as follows: “The Chicago has long been recognized as one of the world’s great orchestras, and Adolph Sylvester Herseth has had a major role in the evolution of its distinctive sound.” For 53 years, this humble, hardworking Midwesterner brought brilliance, power and lyrical beauty to Chicago Symphony performances, and helped establish an American orchestra as a world-class musical treasure."

71.227.233.194 (talk) 10:44, 1 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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