October 2009 XXXI:1 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

Early Twentieth Century

Orchestra Education Outreach
in Minneapolis: Young People’s
Symphony Concert Association and
the Repertoire Programmed and Conducted
by Emil Oberhoffer 1911–1922
Marcia L. Thoen
Wayzata, MN Public Schools

Young people’s concerts in America began in the second half of the

nineteenth century.1 The Germania Society Orchestra of Boston held an
afternoon concert for children in April 1849.2 Theodore Thomas and Walter
Damrosch both produced concerts for children in the 1880s and the 1890s.3
In Minneapolis, young people’s concerts began in 1911, eight years after the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra was formed.4 This article will relate the early
history of that series, which was created by the Young People’s Symphony
Concert Association (known as YPSCA). YPSCA, the Minneapolis community
and its schools, orchestral leaders, and conductor Emil Oberhoffer established
the traditions which still exist today.
The primary source of Oberhoffer’s contributions to the series is his
handwritten notes, which reveal his enthusiasm. His written plans conveyed
useful and meaningful ways to teach children to appreciate symphonic
music. The repertoire he chose was varied and contemporary for his time.
Emil Oberhoffer’s insightful and inspiring presentations, along with the
women’s association support, secured the future of symphonic music in
Minnesota. Developing a future audience became their mission. From 1911
until the present, hundreds of thousands of children have benefited from
their efforts.

1. Michael L. Mark and Charles L. Gary, An History of American Music Education (New York:
Schirmer Books, 1992), 190.
2. Ibid.
3. Sondra Wieland Howe, “The NBC Music Appreciation Hour: Radio Broadcasts
of Walter Damrosch, 1928–1942,” Journal of Research in Music Education 51,1 (Spring
2003): 66.
4. Marcia L. Thoen, “A History of the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra Young
People’s Symphony Concert Association: A Chronological Record of Traditions and Repertoire
from 1911 until 2005,” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 2006), 1.
48
Marcia L. Thoen 49

Early Young People’s Concerts: A National View

In 1911, Walter Damrosch and his work presenting children’s programming
in New York City served as inspiration for young people’s concerts in Minneapolis.
Although Minneapolis was one of the earliest and perhaps one of the few cities
to establish and maintain a consistent program each school year, it was not the
only city to offer such a series. Between 1923 through 1930, orchestras in the
following cities also presented children’s concerts: Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit,
Michigan; Rochester, New York;5 Cincinnati, Ohio;6 San Diego, California;7 Topeka,
Kansas;8 Cleveland, Ohio;9 and, Bloomington, Illinois.10 Margaret Lowry, a
specialist in music appreciation from Kansas City, Missouri, wrote in 1928:

Children’s concerts as we know them are primarily an American idea. They

were born of the large vision and boundless enthusiasm which makes all
things possible because it recognizes no obstacles and does not hesitate to
try a thing merely because it has not been tried before.11

Teaching children to appreciate classical music was the main objective of

those organizing these concerts. Mabelle Glenn, Music Supervisor of the
Kansas City, Missouri, Schools, wrote: “The great majority of people will
become listeners rather than performers of music. Therefore music listening,
under skillful guidance, should constitute a large part of a child’s musical
training.”12 Preparing students to attend young people’s concerts became an
inherent part of that training. Two of the primary tools for studying compositions
were the phonograph and the player piano. In the San Diego elementary
schools, under the music supervision of Annie Marie Clarke:

5. George Oscar Bowen, “The Symphony Orchestra in the Schools,” Music Supervisor’s Journal
10, 2 (December 1923): 2.
6. Ralph L. Baldwin, “The Evolution of Public School Music in the United States from the
Civil War to 1900,” Music Supervisor’s Journal 10, 2 (December 1923): 54.
7. George Oscar Bowen, Editor, “The Symphony Orchestra and Music Appreciation,”
Music Supervisor’s Journal 10, 3 (February 1924): 44.
8. Grace V. Wilson, “Symphony Orchestra in the Schools,” Music Supervisor’s Journal 11, 2
(December 1924): 22.
9. Agnes M. Gleason, “Music Appreciation in Cleveland, Ohio Schools,” Music Supervisor’s
Journal 12, 1 (October 1925): 26.
10. Frances Kessler, “Music Appreciation in Bloomington,” Music Supervisor’s Journal 16, 2
(December 1929): 43.
11. Margaret Lowry, “Children’s Concerts in Kansas City,” Music Supervisor’s Journal 15, 2
(December 1928): 63.
12. Mabelle Glenn, “The Symphony Orchestra in the Public School,” Music Supervisor’s Journal
10, 3 (February 1924): 43.
50 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

The pieces are presented to the children in the schools by means of

phonograph records. In presenting the work ‘the drawing out’ rather than
the ‘pouring in’ process is used, that is by adroit questioning the children
are made to think about the musical content of the piece and develop an
active rather than a passive listening attitude. At all times the music is studied
rather than the hundred and one things that might be taught ‘about’ the
music.13

Edward B. Birge wrote in a 1924 Music Supervisors Journal, “One of the

inevitable results of the use of the phonograph and player-piano in the school
is the desire on the part of the children to not only hear but see the artists who
are performing the music.”14
A third way of preparing students for a live concert was to have a guest speaker
visit classes prior to an upcoming concert. In Cleveland, Ohio, “Mr. Arthur
W. Quinby of the Museum of Art visits the schools that ask for his services and
gives an illuminating talk and illustration on the piano concerning the stories
of the program numbers. He knows the life stories of all the composers and
tells them in such a fascinating way that his work is a delight.”15 The methods
of preparing students using phonograph records, player pianos, and guest
speakers were all used in Minneapolis at various times.16
Concerts for children were organized and presented across the nation in
different ways. Many of the concerts were offered during the school day or on
Saturdays. For instance, “The New York Symphony Orchestra under Dr.
Walter Damrosch is inviting 800 children from the elementary schools to
attend the Saturday morning concerts for children in Carnegie Hall.”17
Communities able to establish and support a symphony orchestra often secured
local funds to offer young people’s concerts. Those communities without a
symphony orchestra sought out traveling orchestras.

The beginning of children’s concerts in Kansas City was coincident with

Miss Glenn’s first year as director of music in the public schools. Some of
the leading citizens of the city had formed the Kansas City Symphony
Orchestra Association with a view to bringing the best available orchestras
for a series of symphony concerts, and Miss Glenn assumed the responsibility
of all plans for the afternoon series for the children.

13. Bowen, “The Symphony Orchestra and Music Appreciation,” 44.

14. Edward B. Birge, “Music Appreciation—The Education of the Listener,” Music Supervisors
Journal 10, 4 (March 1924): 16.
15. Gleason, 28.
16. Thoen, 14, 20.
17. Bowen, “The Symphony Orchestra in the Schools,” 2.
Marcia L. Thoen 51

During the first years of concerts in Kansas City the children heard large
symphony orchestras such as the Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit, St. Louis
and Cincinnati.18

A written curriculum of repertoire for young people’s concerts did not exist
in the early years of the twentieth century. The repertoire was determined locally
by orchestra conductors, school music supervisors, and orchestra managers.
Without access to every orchestra’s young people’s concert repertoire, it is
impossible to determine the extent of the repertoire offered in the first thirty
years of the twentieth century. However, through articles in the Music Supervisors
Journals and with access to the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra
database, three consistently used methods do appear.
The first was a method of presenting music based on rhythmic patterns,
demonstrated by Rhythm in Music and Rhythm in Music Continued, two of the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts created and
conducted by Emil Oberhoffer and discussed later in this article. Mabelle
Glenn described a similar theme presented by Kansas City: “One of the
programs for the children included various kinds of dance music, and a special
study of such was made in the appreciation classes. The children can now instantly
recognize a minuet, a Spanish dance or a folk-dance.”19
The second was an approach that introduced the instruments of the
orchestra. Emil Oberhoffer planned more than one concert around the specific
instruments and family of instruments of the orchestra (see Table 3 of this article).
In San Diego, a children’s concert alternated orchestral repertoire with individual
instrument presentations:

After the first piece was played there followed a demonstration of the string
section, the violin, viola, cello and double bass. In each case the player held
his instrument up where the spotlight could play full upon it while the
director named and described it; also the musician played a few phrases
to demonstrate the musical possibilities of the instrument. After the
second number was given, the woodwinds were demonstrated, and so on
until each of the orchestral choirs had been presented, as well as the
numbers on the music memory list.20

A third approach presented works organized by form, used at both

Minneapolis’ young people’s concerts and children’s concerts in Detroit,
Michigan. Edith M. Rhetts, Educational Director of the Detroit Symphony

18. Lowry, 59, 61.

19. Glenn, 42.
20. Bowen, “The Symphony Orchestra and Music Appreciation,” 46.
52 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

Orchestra, described the programs for one school year: “Our programmes this
year have all been dealing with music forms—First, the Symphony; Second,
Suite and Rhapsody; Third, overture and Symphonic Poem; Fourth, Dance forms,
March, menuet, war dance and waltz; Fifth, compositions in free form.”21 In
Minneapolis, Emil Oberhoffer also planned concerts featuring symphonic
forms and program music (see Table 3).
A difference noted between Minneapolis and Detroit was the age group of
students who attended these concerts. In 1911, Minneapolis promoted their
young people’s concerts in the elementary schools, which consisted of fourth,
fifth, and sixth grade students. In 1924, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
offered ‘Junior Concerts’ to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in Wayne County.
Later, they decided to add Saturday concerts. By accident and not intention,
they appealed to another age child. The discovery is described by Educational
Director Edith M. Rhetts:

These concerts were therefore planned to top the Junior concerts and we
supposed would be patronized by high school students, club women etc.
Contrary to our expectations, children younger than those admitted to
the Junior concerts are in abundance, accompanied probably by their
grandmothers, and as the season has proceeded I have tried to adhere to
the topics as planned but presented them in a very childlike manner.”22

Minneapolis did not formally begin to differentiate concerts by grade levels until
1946 when the orchestra purposefully coordinated its efforts with the public
school curriculum.23 The initial programs were planned for elementary students,
but as years passed, it became apparent that both younger and older students’
needs were not being met and alternative programs were eventually organized
for pre-school, junior high, and high school age groups.24
Early in the twentieth century, a variety of young people’s concerts existed
and flourished around the country. The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, with
the help of YPSCA in 1911, was one of the first.
YPSCA’s Early Years and the First Young People’s Concert
Anne Wells, who had experienced for herself a young people’s concert
conducted by Walter Damrosch in New York City, advanced the idea to
produce a Minneapolis series of concerts for children. A committee of women
21. Edith M. Rhetts, “Symphony Orchestra in the Schools,” Music Supervisor’s Journal 10,
4 (March 1924): 42.
22. Ibid.
23. Thoen, 30–31.
24. Ibid., 52, 160.
Marcia L. Thoen 53

met with orchestral leaders, drafted a charter to form the organization called
Young People’s Symphony Concert Association, or YPSCA, and collected
fifteen dollar donations from more than one hundred charter members. This
organization declared “the object of the Young People’s Symphony Concert
Association shall be to foster the love of music in Minneapolis by means of
education concerts.”25
The initial meeting was held on July 18, 1911, at the Woman’s Club Room
of the Handicraft Guild. Elbert Carpenter, President of the Orchestral Association,
Cavour Langdon, a representative of the School Board, and forty-two women
attended. They elected a Board of Directors and officers: President Carolyn
McKnight Christian, Vice-President Frances Janney, Treasurer Mary Harris Weber,
and Secretary Anne Wells. Only two days after that meeting, a newspaper
article announced “Minneapolis Concert Planned for Youth.”26 Anne Wells,
Carolyn McKnight Christian, Mrs. Benjamin Woodworth, and Mrs. Elbert L.
Carpenter sent postcards inviting individuals to make a donation and become
part of this new venture. An article dated September 29, 1911, and titled
“Music For Young People Assured”27 publicly advertised the intent of the
organization and the names of all the charter members who sponsored the project.
To prepare for the very first Young People’s Symphony Concert in November,
one hundred twenty-five charter members processed ticket orders from seventy-
two schools. The concert sold out the 2,400 seat capacity of the Lyceum
Theatre on 11th Street (the present location of Orchestra Hall). Only the first
thirteen schools were accommodated. The concert was repeated three days later
for those schools unable to obtain tickets for the first concert.
Emil Oberhoffer, founding conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony,
embraced the challenge. He conducted the very first Young People’s Symphony
Concert on November 24, 1911, at 3:30 p.m. One eighteenth/early-nineteenth
century selection, Variations on the Austrian National Hymn by Franz Joseph
Haydn, opened the concert. The remainder of the program represented mid-
nineteenth-century excerpts from ballet, opera, and symphonies. These
compositions were: Pizzicatti (Delibes), Fète Foraine (Lalo), “Dance of the Toy
Pipers” from The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky), “Evening Under the Trees” from
Alsatian Scenes (Massenet), “Will o’ the Wisp Minuet” from Damnation of Faust
(Berlioz), “Allegretto” from Symphony in C Major (Schubert), “Largo” from New
World Symphony (Dvofiák), Serenade (Weiner), and “Introductory Prayer” from
Der Freischütz Overture (von Weber).

25. Minnesota Orchestra Archives, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota

Libraries, Minneapolis, Series PA 51, Box 2 Folder 1.
26. Ibid., Box 8 Folder 2.
27. Ibid.
54 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

YPSCA enjoyed the support of the Minneapolis Public Schools from the
very beginning. School bulletins encouraged unified efforts in supporting the
Young People’s Concerts. Lists of the planned repertoire and resources for
listening to and learning about compositions before the day of the concert were
advertised in the bulletins. Resources included music stores, private homes, and
public schools with player pianos, and lecturer-pianists who were available to
explain the repertoire.
Let us use all these forces of education so kindly placed at our disposal, and
make this series of concerts as profitable as possible, remembering this, that
when a person hears an orchestral concert understandingly, he is an orchestra
enthusiast forever after, and a wonderful means of enjoyment is his for life.28

Thaddeus P. Giddings, music supervisor for the Minneapolis Public Schools

and later, a founder of the National High School Orchestra and Band Camp
at Interlochen, Michigan, writes in an undated letter to YPSCA board member
Mrs. Carlo Fischer:
I wish you would convey to the ladies who are backing this movement my
thanks and intense appreciation of their efforts to help the music work in
the public schools. They have kindly placed at my disposal the greatest
instrument possible for use in the musical training of children.29

Led by Carolyn McKnight Christian until 1927, the committee board

members worked diligently and regularly to provide Young People’s Concert
seasons for the students of Minneapolis and St. Paul. “Eight of the original ten
Directors served consecutively for seventeen years,”30 she reported. YPSCA
membership lists from the early years include names of orchestra patrons,
school music supervisors, school art supervisors, orchestra management
personnel, and spouses of orchestra musicians and conductors.
Two Thematic Concerts Programmed and Conducted
by Emil Oberhoffer
Fifty years before Leonard Bernstein televised his New York Philharmonic’s
theme-based Young People’s Concerts, Emil Oberhoffer presented concerts
organized around themes to the children of Minneapolis. Two of his early theme
concerts were titled Rhythm in Music, which featured national dances, and Rhythm
in Music Continued. Both concerts were given during the 1912–1913 school

28. Ibid. Box 8 Folder 2.

29. John Coy, “A Rare Privilege and Joy” Minnesota Orchestra at One Hundred: A Collection
of Essays and Images (Minneapolis: Minnesota Orchestral Association, 2002), 78.
30. Carolyn McKnight Christian. Minnesota Orchestra Archives, Box 2 Folder 2.
Marcia L. Thoen 55

year as a series intended for the same audience. Emil Oberhoffer’s handwritten
notes, presently held by the Minneapolis Public Library, reveal his intent in
presenting the theme of rhythm in music:

In any attempt to appreciate music, these National Dances are the ‘A.B.C.’
of ‘How to listen to music,’ because in them the rhythm is so regular that
the ear catches and enjoys it immediately. And so in our illustrations I shall
merely point out the rhythm peculiar to each dance before playing the
selection.31

He used mid-nineteenth century and late-nineteenth century national dances

to explore rhythm. He asked the question: “What then is rhythm? Rhythm
(in the Universe) is the order, the plan, and the regularity of these things
happening.”32 His notes indicate that, using visualizations and demonstrations
of accent at the piano, he explained 2/4, 4/4, and 3/4 meters. “Rhythm is the
essence, the very life of music. . . Rhythm is the systematic grouping or balancing
of notes. Rhythm in music means the distance of and accent from the other.”33
Emil Oberhoffer defined musical terms within the context of his thematic
narrative. His written words flowed as if he was engaged in an intimate
conversation with a small audience. He must have been successful as Carolyn
McKnight Chase wrote of his manner in this endeavor:

He had a great gift of speech and imagination, and his love for and
understanding of children made his explanations and comments very
inspiring and delightful, and set a high standard of musical appreciation
for the young people of Minneapolis.34

Emil Oberhoffer’s written explanations seem clear and understandable to young

audiences.35 On November 15, 1912, he chose the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz
by Johann Strauss, Jr., to illustrate the 3/4 time signature of the German waltz.
The characteristic rhythm of the stately Polish Dance was featured with Frederic
Chopin’s Polonaise. Emil Oberhoffer describes in writing the national 3/4
Swedish dance Polska and the Halling, a Norwegian dance in 2/4 time.36 These
he had arranged himself for full orchestra. Xaver Scharwenka composed the Polish
mazurka, another dance in 3/4 time. Emil Oberhoffer’s notes explain how the

31. Emil Oberhoffer Papers. The Minneapolis Public Library, Minnesota Collections.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Carolyn McKnight Christian, Minnesota Orchestra Archives, Box 2 Folder 2.
35. Emil Oberhoffer Papers.
36. Ibid.
56 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

mazurka was slower than the waltz and how accents on both the first and third
beats characterize that dance.37 Ambroise Thomas composed the French dance
used to demonstrate the Gavotte, explained as always beginning on the third beat
(in common time). His manuscript clarifies that a minuet is a stately French dance
and that its name refers to the use of small steps.38 From Spain, the morris dance
and the habanera (written by French composer Georges Bizet) were featured.
The second concert dedicated to rhythm highlighted the varieties of rhythm
and how they are cultivated and formalized in symphonic music. The
compositions used in this concert on January 10, 1913, represented eighteenth
and early-nineteenth century German music, mid-nineteenth century German
and Russian music, and late-nineteenth century English music. The idealized
dance forms included a scherzo, march, minuet, jig, reel, and waltz. Compositions
and composers chosen for this theme concert were “Scherzo” from the Seventh
Symphony and the “March” from Leonore Overture (Ludwig van Beethoven),
“Minuet” from E flat Symphony, (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), “Scotch Reel”
from the Scotch Symphony (Felix Mendelssohn), “March” from the Sixth
Symphony and “Waltz” from the Fifth Symphony (Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky),
and “Irish Jig” from Irish Symphony (Charles Villiers Stanford).
Emil Oberhoffer’s notes reveal that he illustrated examples three ways: 1)
by using the full orchestra, 2) by using the sections of the orchestra, and, 3) by
demonstrating excerpts or concepts himself at the piano.39 He compared
elements of music to laws and cycles found in the natural world, such as the
rising and setting of the sun, the human pulse, and the solar system. He applied
analogies, metaphors, and visualizations to enlighten students about music.
The gardener or horticulturist calls this process of enriching and developing
a simple flower until it becomes a thing of beauty—forcing by means of
grafting or transplanting. There are some musical gardeners—composers
who uproot a simple hedge rose of a waltz and enrich it until it is big and
grand enough to hold its own even in the palace of the modern Symphony.
The musician calls this process ‘idealization’ and our program will show
us a few of the idealized Dance tunes from our last concert.40

He used words to create images in the minds of his young listeners. He used
his body too, walking in rhythm and marching like a soldier. He used his talents,
his wit, and his passion for music to convey enthusiastically his musical message.
His philosophy of presentation is described best in his own words.

37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
Marcia L. Thoen 57

Obviously it was absurd to turn the concert hall into a classroom. I believe
the best educational values are gained under a camouflage of “entertainment”
or concert, and in place of instruction I would like to put the far more
pleasant sounding word “discovery.” For that reason I shall continue
pointing out and describing the instruments “that do things”—their
idiosyncrasies, their history, etc. . . . but our aim, I take it, is to foster the
understanding by the all-important primary faculty—“How to listen to
music.”41

Emil Oberhoffer Young People’s Concerts Repertoire

Emil Oberhoffer initiated six concert programs in the school year 1911–1912
that “illustrated the instruments of the orchestra, the story of the symphony
and narrative music.”42 It is significant to note that Emil Oberhoffer conducted
all the Young People’s Concerts himself from 1911 until February 1922. In later
periods of YPSCA history, many, if not most, of the young people’s concerts
were (and still are) conducted by assistant or associate conductors.
The 358 repertoire selections programmed by Emil Oberhoffer for the
Young People’s Concerts from 1911 until 1922 are a substantial sample for
study. The information is drawn from a database created by this author to study
the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra YPSCA repertoire from
1911–2005. The sample is described in terms of music historical period,
composer nationality, composer gender, and relevance to symphonic music from
around the world. The following explanation should help to clarify. Music
historical periods are categorized in this paper as: early music before 1750
(including Renaissance and Baroque), eighteenth and early nineteenth century
music (including Beethoven), mid-nineteenth century music, late-nineteenth
century music, and twentieth and twenty-first century music.43 Composer
nationalities are grouped into seven categories from countries most represented
to those least represented. They are: German (including Austrian and
Hungarian), Other European (Scandinavian, Italian, English, Eastern European),
American (including composers who were born elsewhere but emigrated to
the United States of America), French (including Swiss/French), Russian,
Symphonic Music From Around The World, and Unknown.44
Emil Oberhoffer’s personal trends in choosing compositions for the Young

41. Emil Oberhoffer to Carolyn McKnight Christian, October 21, 1921, Minnesota
Orchestra Archives, Box 1, Folder 1.
[Link] K. Sherman, Music and Maestros: The Story of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1952), 118.
[Link], 67.
44. Thoen, 87–88.
58 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

People’s Concerts are tabulated by percents in this article according to these

attributes. Because he was raised in Munich, Germany and conducted in only
the first two decades of the century, his selections reflect an emphasis toward
the European mid-nineteenth century (forty-two percent) and late-nineteenth
century (thirty-nine percent) eras of music. The music chosen may be considered
contemporary for his time. Table 1 shows the data for each historical period
represented in the Emil Oberhoffer sample.45

Table 1.

Emil Oberhoffer Repertoire Sample

(1911–1922)
Number of Percent
Music Period Works in Sample of Sample
Early Music Before 1750 12 3%
18th/Early-19th Century 52 15%
Mid-19th Century 152 42%
Late-19th Century 139 39%
20th Century 3 1%
Total 358 100%

Table 2 shows the data for composers’ nationality represented in the Emil
Oberhoffer sample.46 John Sherman writes about Oberhoffer’s music choices
for the adult subscription concerts in his book on the history of the Minneapolis
Symphony:

His musical interests and preferences were broad, discriminating, and

wholly unprejudiced. Far from betraying a nationalist bias toward German
music and conducting methods, he bent the other way, showing a decided
and lifelong liking for the French spirit in thought, in music, in those
transparencies and balances in tone and texture wherein the French excel.47

However, Emil Oberhoffer’s choices for the Young People’s Concerts do show
that he preferred the German repertoire. The German selections make up
forty-four percent of the sample compared to only sixteen percent French

45. Ibid., 113.

46. Ibid., 113.
47. Sherman, 74.
Marcia L. Thoen 59

repertoire. He depended on his own knowledge of European and German music

to communicate an absolute approach to the study of the music elements. Two
thirds of the music he chose for young students is from Germany or within the
Other European category.

Table 2.
Emil Oberhoffer Repertoire Sample
(1911–1922)
Number of Percent
Nationality Works in Sample of Sample
German 157 44%
Other European 79 22%
French 56 16%
Russian 37 10%
American 28 8%
Total 357 100%

Women composers represented in the YPSCA repertoire are few—there are

only seven individuals throughout its almost one-hundred-year history. Emil
Oberhoffer programmed Concertino in D Major for Flute, Op. 107, by Cecile
Chaminade, a late-nineteenth century female composer, once for Young People’s
Concerts in November 1912.48 Besides gender, promoting and using multicultural
music is another aspect of choosing repertoire today. Indigenous music is
difficult for symphony orchestras to portray authentically and this characteristic
was not addressed at all during Emil Oberhoffer’s tenure.49
Evidence shows that Emil Oberhoffer programmed and conducted fifty-
five Young People’s Concerts from 1911 until 1922. Of those fifty-five concerts,
thirty-six (or sixty-five percent) are known to have themes. The remaining
nineteen concerts may also have centered on themes, but written notes or
programs did not surface in the research process. Emil Oberhoffer was creative
in his ideas and seemed to strive for a balance in representing as much variety
in symphonic music as was available at that time. Table 3 is a list of themes he
used to program Young People’s Concerts.50

48. Ibid., 110.

49. Ibid., 113.
50. Emil Oberhoffer Papers.
60 Journal of Historical Research in Music Education

Table 3.

Emil Oberhoffer Repertoire Sample

(1911–1922)
December 21, 1911 The Story of the Symphony
January 19, 1912 The Story of the Symphony continued
February 16, 1912 Music That Tells A Story (Program Music)
November 1, 1912 Instruments of the Modern Orchestra
November 15, 1912 Rhythm in Music
December 12, 1912 The Music of Russia
January 10, 1913 Rhythm in Music continued
January 24, 1913 Melody
March 7, 1913 Music For The Young
March 20, 1913 Young People’s Wagner Centenary
November 14, 1913 Music from the “North” (Norway, Sweden)
December 12, 1913 The Music of Russia
January 9, 1914 Music of Poland, Bohemia, Romania
January 23, 1914 Music of Italy, France, and Spain
February 6, 1914 The German Composers
March 20, 1914 American Music and Composers
October 30, 1914 Music That Tells A Story
November 12, 1914 Mendelssohn Program
November 13, 1914 Maerchen (Folklore)
January 22, 1915 Sagas
March 12, 1915 “Springtime” Program
December 10, 1915 Mozart Program
February 4, 1916 Schubert Program
November 29, 1918 Instruments: The Flute, Piccolo
March 5, 1920 Instruments of the Modern Orchestra
(French horn, English horn)
March 19, 1920 Instruments of the Modern Orchestra
(Trumpet, Trombone)
October 29, 1920 Imagination and Color

Emil Oberhoffer, supported by the Young People’s Symphony Concert

Association, was the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra’s first music
educator and audience developer. He brought symphonic music to thousands
of young people in Minneapolis. He assembled a music vocabulary for his listeners
and challenged young minds with musical questions. He enlightened students
(and the adults who attended as chaperones) with metaphors and analogies, which
connected them to the music and the musicians on stage. Without his vision
Marcia L. Thoen 61

for presenting inspired and enthusiastic programs, generations of music lovers

may not have embraced symphonic music in Minnesota.
Summary
Why are Young People’s Concerts important? In 1938, YPSCA’s first
president, Carolyn McKnight Christian, broadcast her version of YPSCA’s
history over the University of Minnesota Station W.L.B. She said:

Mr. Walter Damrosch told me in the early years that if we succeeded with
our Young People’s Concerts, it would make the difference between a musical
and an unmusical public in the northwest. May we assume that the great
interest and enthusiasm of our Friday night audiences, (said to be the largest
audience subscribing for season tickets in the world) is partly due to the
twenty-seven years of early training in music appreciation offered by the
Young People’s Symphony Concert Association of Minneapolis.51

The YPSCA developed to promote its orchestra, and many positive and
beneficial results were seen. Their members committed to develop a music-loving
community through the music education of young people. Because of that
historical commitment, thousands of children have grown up appreciating
orchestral music. That same opportunity is given to young audiences today. The
history of YPSCA is in part a history of the state of the arts in Minnesota during
the twentieth century. It is an organization that has changed with the times.
As students are bombarded by the narrow preferences of popular culture,
young people’s need for opportunities to make varied and informed music choices
has never been greater. This challenge assures the future of the Young People’s
Concerts in Minnesota.

51. Carolyn McKnight Christian. Minnesota Orchestra Archives, Box 2 Folder 2.