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. , RUDOLHI GANZ. T:iGOfL-w VV\. ~
I AM SINGULARLY HONORED, AS A CHICAGOAN BY ADOPl'ION OF ONLY
TWELVE YEARS, TO PLAY A PART IN THE CEREMONY THIS EVENING PAYING
TRIBUTE TO A CHICAGOAN BY ADOPl'ION OF FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS, A CHICAGOAN
WR WHOM I HAVE GREAT RESPECT AND DEVOTION.
WR RUDOLPH GANZ IS TRULY A CHICAGOAN. HE REPRESENTS THE KIND
OF SPIRIT WHICH MADE AND WHICH KEEPS CHICAGO GREAT AND llfrERESTING.
I HAVE OFTEN HEARD HIM SAY THAT CHICAGO IN A TRUE SENSE REPRESENTS
THE SPIRIT OF HIS NATIVE COUNTRY, SWITZERLAND - INDEPENDENT, OUT-
SPOKEN, DELIGHTFULLY ROOGED.
WHEN ONE SEES HIM ENTER ORCHESTRA HALL, ONE MIGHT EASILY BE
TRANSWRMED TO SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE AND IMAGINE THAT HE IS
STRIDING DOWN THE GALERIE AUX GLACES OF VERSAILLES, IN BUCKLED SHOES,
KNEE PANTS AND WEARING A POWDERED WIG. I FEEL SURE THAT HAD HE LIVED
IN THAT &roCH IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GANZ INSTEAD OF LULLI WHO WROTE MUSIC ~ WR LOUIS XIV ,.. WR MOLIERE'S PLAYS VmICH COMBINE MUSIC WITH DRAMA. I AM SURE THAT HIS WIT AND GRACE WOULD HAVE MADE HIM A FAVORITE IN A
COURT THAT WAS NOTED WR BOTH.
BUT HE IS, INSTEAD, THE REPRESENTATIVE, THE LINK, IN FACT, BE-
T\'fEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT, WITH A JOYFUL AND HOPEFUL EYE TO THE
FUTURE. AT EIGHTY, HE CAN RFl}ALL FROM HIS OWN EXPERIENCES THE EUROPEAN
ARTISTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH
CENTURIES, YET HE CAN REPRESENT WR EUROPE TODAY THE BEST WHICH THIS
YOUNG, EAGER AND VITAL CITY HAS PRODUCED.
HE IS AND HAS BEEN A PART OF THE CULTURAL LIFE OF THIS CITY AT
MANY LEVELS. LAST SUNDAY HE PLAYED BFl}AUSE HE WANTED TO ~TCOUR.AGE A
YOUNG CONDUCTOR IN WHOM HE BELIEVES, AND NEXT MONTH HE MAY AGAIN UN-
SELFISHLY GIVE OF HIS TALENT AND ENERGY TO THOSE WEO NEED HIS ENCOURG:EUENT RUOOLPH GANZ, CHICAGOAN -2-
AND SUPPORT. HE IS INDEED TIRELESS IN HIS PHYSICAL ENERGY, AND LJMIT
LESS IN THE VARIETY OF HIS INTERESTS AND HIS SELFLESS DEVOTION TO THE
CAUSE OF GOOD MUSIC AIm ~ HUMAN BEINGS.
IT WAS MY PLEASURE TO SERVE FUR SEVERAL YEARS AS A MJ!l;iBER OF THE
BOARD OF THE CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE BEFORE IT JOINED ROOSEVELT UNIVER-
SITY. THOSE WERE TRYING DAYS. THERE WAS NEVER ENOUGH MONEY; THE BUILD-
ING WAS IN NEED OF REPAIR.
ON MANY OCCASIONS, THE SESSIONS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES WERE
GLOOMY AND DISPIRITED, EXCEPl' FUR ONE INHERENTLY AND INCORRIGIBLY
OPl'IMISTIC PERSON - DR. GANZ, HIMSELF. CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE WAS SO
MUCH A PART OF HIM THAT HE COULD NEVER CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF ITS
CLOSING. TO PARAPHRASE CHURCHILL, DR. GANZ DID NOT B~OME PRESIDENT OF
THE COLLIDE IN ORDER TO PRESIDE AT ITS LIQUIDATION.
HE HAD BEEN ENGAGED TO HEAD THE PIANO DEPARTMENT IN THE OOLLIDE
BY DR. ZIIDFIELD IN BERLIN IN 1900, IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS DEBUT WITH
THE ffiIIlIARMONIC ORCHESTRA. HE WAS SO YOUNG IN APPEARANCE, YET SO
CAPABLE, THAT DR. ZIIDFIELD SUGGESTED TO HIM THAT HE CLAIM TO BE 28
INSTEAD OF 23, WHICH HE WAS AT THAT TIME.
TODAY, AS IN 1900, PROFESSOR GANZ TEACHES FROM THIRTY TO FURTY
HOURS A WEEK, A SCHEDULE WHICH WOULD HORRIFY MOST UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
AND, INCIDENTALLY PROBABLY KILL THEM. IN ADDITION TO HIS DUTIES AS
HEAD OF THE PIANO DEPARTMENT, DR. GANZ WAS COMPOSING, PLAYING CONCERTS
AND CONTRIBUTING TO MUSICAL ,. EVENTS ON ALL SIDES. AT THE SAME TIME HE
WAS B~OMING, WITH HIS CHARMING WIFE, A SOLID MEMBER OF THE SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL LIFE OF CHICAGO. RUDOLPH GANZ, CHICAGOAN -3-
IN 1901 HE PLAYED HIS FIRST AMERICAN GROUP AT THE ILLINOIS
TEACHERS' CONVENTION - MASON, SHERWOOD AND MACDOWELL. HIS CLOSE
ASSOCIATION WITH THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY BIDAN IN 1903 UNDER THIDDORE
THOMAS AT THE OLD AUDITORIUM THEATRE. SINCE THAT TIME HE HAS APPEARED
WITH THE SYMPHONY A DOZEN TIMES AS PIANIST; HE HAS CONDUCTED IT OFTEN,
AND HE HAS PERFORMED SEVERAL OF HIS OWN LA.RGER COMPOSITIONS WITH THE
SYMPHONY. KOBELIK PLAYED HIS LATEST SYMPHONIC WORK THREE TIMES,
SYMPHONIC OVERTURE FOR AN UNWRITTEN COMEDY - "LAUGHTER •• YE1' LOVE..u AND
FRITZ REINER WILL PLAY IT ON FEBRUARY 21-22.
IN 1905 RUDOLPH GANZ LEFT CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE FOR SEVERAL
YEARS OF TOURING IN CONCERT THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, WHERE HE HAD
BmOME ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN PIANISTS OF OUR DAY. BEFORE HIS RETURN
TO CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE IN 1928, HE ADDED ANOTHER BRILLIANT ACCOMP
LISHMENT TO HIS CAREER, AS CONDUCTOR OF THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY.
IN 1933, DR. GANZ TOOK THE HELM OF THE CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE AS
PRESIDENT. HIS COURSE LAY CLEAR BEroRE HIM - THAT OF MAKING CHICAGO
MUSICAL COLLIDE A FIRST CLASS MUSICAL COLLIDE, BOTH ACADEMICALLY AND
ARTISTICALLY. IN 1936 THE COLLIDE BIDAME A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION,
.AND IN APRIL 1936 DR. GANEf AMBITION roR THE COLLIDE ACAD:FHICALLY WAS
REALIZED WREN IT WAS GIVEN FULL ACCREDITATION BY THE NORTH CENTRAL
ASSOCIATION OF COLLIDES AND SEXJONDARY SCHOOLS, THE MID-WEST ACCREDITING
AGENCY roR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING.
ONE IS ENDOWED BY GOD WITH THE KIND OF MUSICAL TALENT WHICH
RUDOLPH GANZ ENJOYS. IT MUST BE NURTURED AND roLISHED AND KEPr AT ITS
HIGHEST PEAK AIJNAYS, BEJAUSE TALENT WITHOUT HARD WORK BEXJOMES SEXJOND
CLASS.
ONE'S CHARACTER, HIS INNER RESOURCES, HIS FORCEFULNESS ARE THE " . 1
RUDOLPH GANZ, CHICAGOAN -4-
RESULT~ OF HIS OWN ABILITY, HIS SELF-DISCIPLINE, AND HIS MATURITY.
DIFFICULTY AND ADVERSITY ARE THE TESTS OF ONE'S CHARACTER. AT SUCH
TIMES THE ENLIGHTENED MAN MAY TURN INWARD TO THAT RESERVOIR OF STRENGTH
WHICH MATURITY HAS BROUGHT HIM.
IT IS OF RUDOLPH GANZ t S STRENGTH OF CHARACTER WHICH I WISH TO
SPEAK ESPEnIALLY AT THIS TIME. I SAW HIM KEEP HIS HEAD EREX)T ,AS THE
SYMBOL OF HIS STRENGTH, WREN IT SEFlIlED TO SOME OF US OF LESSER FAITH
THAT THERE COULD BE NO FUTURE FOR THE CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE. HE NEVER
WAVERED. LIKE A GREAT STRATIDIST WHO CHANGES HIS PACE, WHO EXPLORES NEW
FIELDS, WHO TRIES NEW ROLES, RUDOLPH GANZ FACED EACH NEW CRISIS WITH
BOLD COURAGE.
AND AT LAST HE SUCCEEDED BRILLIANTLY, AS HE AD'lAYS DOES. CHICAGO
MUSICAL COLLIDE BPlJAME AN INTIDRAL PART OF THAT YOUNG} VIGOROUS INSTI
TUTION, ROOSEVELT COLLIDE AND ULTIMATELY OF ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY. HIS
CAREER AS COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, COLLIDE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT HEAD,
PRESIDENT NOW GAVE WAY TO THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND PRESIDENT
EMERITUS. SO FAR AS I KNOW, NO OTHER MAN EVER BPlJAME A UNIVERSITY
PROFESSOR AT HIS AGE IN LIFE. THE CITY OF CHICAGO OWES A DEBT OF GRATI
TUDE TO PRESIDENT EDWARD SPARLING, ~EANZA AND THEIR COLLEAGUES FOR THEIR ROLES IN CONTINUING CHICAGO MUSICAL COLLIDE.
I CAN IMAGINE A CEREMONY IN RUDOLPH GANZ RPlJITAL HALL TWENTY YEARS
FROM NOW WHEN RUDOLPH REACHES ONE HUNDRED. MOST OF US HERE THIS EVENING
WILL PROBABLY HOBBLE IN TO ATTEND THE CONCERT AFTER EATING OUR DINNER
OF GRUEL AND MILK. I CAN ENVISION RUDOLPH'S PERFORMING BRILLIANTLY,
AND LATER IN THE EVENING, WHILE ACCEPTING ACCLAIM OF HIS THOUSANDS OF
FRIENDS, ASKING FOR A MANHATTAN WITH TWO CF",ERRIES.