BSO Music Directors
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music
Directors
From the orchestra's founding in 1881 until 1918, all six of the BSO's music directors were central Europeans recruited by Henry Lee Higginson. Higginson built the BSO upon German musical traditions he learned to love as a student in Vienna.
Music Director Years Served
Sir George Henschel 1881-84
Wilhelm Gericke 1884-89; 1898-1906
Arthur Nikisch 1889-93
Emil Paur 1893-98
Karl Muck 1906-08; 1912-18
Max Fiedler 1908-12
Henri Rabaud 1918-19
Pierre Monteux 1919-24
Serge Koussevitzky 1924-49
Charles Munch 1949-62
Erich Leinsdorf 1962-69
William Steinberg 1969-72
Seiji Ozawa 1973-2002; Music Director Laureate, 2002-
James Levine 2004-2011
A Transition in Leadership
The Early Years
From the orchestra's founding in 1881 until 1918, all six of the BSO's music directors were central Europeans recruited by Henry Lee Higginson. Higginson built the BSO upon German musical traditions he learned to love as a student in Vienna. Karl Muck's arrest as an enemy alien in March 1918 signaled the end of German dominance within the orchestra. In May 1918 an exhausted and disillusioned 83-year-old Higginson turned over control of a depleted BSO to a newly formed Board of Trustees whose first task was to find a new conductor. The appointment of Henri Rabaud in 1918 signaled a fresh start and the ushering in of the orchestra's "French" era.
Arthur Nikisch
BSO conductor 1889-1893
A new breed of conductor was introduced to Boston audiences in 1889 with the arrival of 33-year-old Hungarian conductor Arthur Nikisch-a rising star from the Leipzig Opera who had been heavily influenced by Wagner and Seidl. Nikisch possessed remarkable personal magnetism that once prompted Tchaikovsky to remark that Nikisch really doesn't conduct, but, rather, "resigns himself to a magical enchantment."
Emil Paur
BSO conductor 1893-1898
Like his predecessor Nikisch, the Austrian conductor Emil Paur had studied violin and composition at the Vienna Conservatory. Puar was very interested in performing the music of Brahms, which at that time was considered "new" music and proved to be very difficult for audiences at that time to accept.
Karl Muck
BSO conductor 1906-1908; 1912-1918
From a list of 25 candidates including Gustav Mahler, Willem Mengelberg, and Hans Richter, Higginson settled on Karl Muck to succeed Gericke as BSO conductor. At Higginson's request, the German emperor released Muck from his duties as director of the Royal Opera House in Berlin. Among the landmarks of Muck's second Boston tenure were the BSO's first transcontinental tour (1915) and its first commercial recordings (1917). Higginson once referred to Dr. Muck as "the most industrious, painstaking and ablest conductor whom we have ever had." (July 9, 1917 letter to Harvard President Charles Eliot)
Max Fiedler
BSO conductor 1908-1912
The German conductor Max Fiedler led the BSO between Karl Muck's two terms. (He was no relation to Arthur Fiedler.)
Henri Rabaud
BSO conductor 1918-1919
It was not until September of 1918-just a few weeks prior to the season's opening-that Henri Rabaud, a Parisian composer and conductor, was announced as the BSO's seventh conductor. The Trustees had spent several months sending cablegrams to England, Italy, and France in an effort to secure the services of a prominent conductor to take the place of Karl Muck.
Pierre Monteux
BSO conductor 1919-1924
Referred to as "the valiant Frenchman," Pierre Monteux led the BSO through a time of transition and rebuilding. In 1918, when Rabaud was unable to get to Boston in time for the opening of the season, Monteux, then conductor of French operas at the Metropolitan Opera agreed to lead the opening concerts. He so impressed the Trustees and Boston audiences that he was offered the conductor position in 1919. When the orchestra lost more than 30 of its members as a result of the March 1920 strike, a cool-headed Monteux rose to the occasion, keeping the season going with minimal disruption.
From the orchestra's founding in 1881 until 1918, all six of the BSO's music directors were central Europeans recruited by Henry Lee Higginson. Higginson built the BSO upon German musical traditions he learned to love as a student in Vienna.
Music Director Years Served
Sir George Henschel 1881-84
Wilhelm Gericke 1884-89; 1898-1906
Arthur Nikisch 1889-93
Emil Paur 1893-98
Karl Muck 1906-08; 1912-18
Max Fiedler 1908-12
Henri Rabaud 1918-19
Pierre Monteux 1919-24
Serge Koussevitzky 1924-49
Charles Munch 1949-62
Erich Leinsdorf 1962-69
William Steinberg 1969-72
Seiji Ozawa 1973-2002; Music Director Laureate, 2002-
James Levine 2004-2011
A Transition in Leadership
The Early Years
From the orchestra's founding in 1881 until 1918, all six of the BSO's music directors were central Europeans recruited by Henry Lee Higginson. Higginson built the BSO upon German musical traditions he learned to love as a student in Vienna. Karl Muck's arrest as an enemy alien in March 1918 signaled the end of German dominance within the orchestra. In May 1918 an exhausted and disillusioned 83-year-old Higginson turned over control of a depleted BSO to a newly formed Board of Trustees whose first task was to find a new conductor. The appointment of Henri Rabaud in 1918 signaled a fresh start and the ushering in of the orchestra's "French" era.
Arthur Nikisch
BSO conductor 1889-1893
A new breed of conductor was introduced to Boston audiences in 1889 with the arrival of 33-year-old Hungarian conductor Arthur Nikisch-a rising star from the Leipzig Opera who had been heavily influenced by Wagner and Seidl. Nikisch possessed remarkable personal magnetism that once prompted Tchaikovsky to remark that Nikisch really doesn't conduct, but, rather, "resigns himself to a magical enchantment."
Emil Paur
BSO conductor 1893-1898
Like his predecessor Nikisch, the Austrian conductor Emil Paur had studied violin and composition at the Vienna Conservatory. Puar was very interested in performing the music of Brahms, which at that time was considered "new" music and proved to be very difficult for audiences at that time to accept.
Karl Muck
BSO conductor 1906-1908; 1912-1918
From a list of 25 candidates including Gustav Mahler, Willem Mengelberg, and Hans Richter, Higginson settled on Karl Muck to succeed Gericke as BSO conductor. At Higginson's request, the German emperor released Muck from his duties as director of the Royal Opera House in Berlin. Among the landmarks of Muck's second Boston tenure were the BSO's first transcontinental tour (1915) and its first commercial recordings (1917). Higginson once referred to Dr. Muck as "the most industrious, painstaking and ablest conductor whom we have ever had." (July 9, 1917 letter to Harvard President Charles Eliot)
Max Fiedler
BSO conductor 1908-1912
The German conductor Max Fiedler led the BSO between Karl Muck's two terms. (He was no relation to Arthur Fiedler.)
Henri Rabaud
BSO conductor 1918-1919
It was not until September of 1918-just a few weeks prior to the season's opening-that Henri Rabaud, a Parisian composer and conductor, was announced as the BSO's seventh conductor. The Trustees had spent several months sending cablegrams to England, Italy, and France in an effort to secure the services of a prominent conductor to take the place of Karl Muck.
Pierre Monteux
BSO conductor 1919-1924
Referred to as "the valiant Frenchman," Pierre Monteux led the BSO through a time of transition and rebuilding. In 1918, when Rabaud was unable to get to Boston in time for the opening of the season, Monteux, then conductor of French operas at the Metropolitan Opera agreed to lead the opening concerts. He so impressed the Trustees and Boston audiences that he was offered the conductor position in 1919. When the orchestra lost more than 30 of its members as a result of the March 1920 strike, a cool-headed Monteux rose to the occasion, keeping the season going with minimal disruption.