We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Welcome home say I with all my heart!
(Mark Anthony DeWolfe Howe)
HARVARD BECKONS THOMPSON HOME
Harvard's invitation for Thompson to join its faculty was made with due consideration of the Music Department's needs and a careful look at a candidate pool winnowed over months to three finalists. Having met regularly during fall 1947 to discuss issues regarding an appointment, senior members of the Department authorized A. Tillman Merritt to forward their recommendation to Provost Paul H. Buck on January 15, 1948.
After many meetings in the fall months, at which the problem[s] of the future development of the Department of Music were discussed and carefully weighed, a final meeting was held on Monday, January 12, 1948 by the senior members of the Department for the purpose of selecting for recommendation to the Administration of Harvard College a candidate for the permanent post of Professor of Music. The meeting was attended by Professors Davison, Piston, Woodworth and Merritt.
At this meeting it was voted unanimously and enthusiastically to rec¬ommend Professor Randall Thompson of Princeton University for the new post.
In view of the fact that the Music Department at Harvard have en¬deavored increasingly to stress the vital importance of the combination of knowing and doing, of scholarship and practical musicianship, it has been surprisingly difficult, even after prolonged investigation and inquiry, to find more than a very few men who measure up to the standards that we have set ourselves in connection with this recommendation. We have found it easy to name excellent scholars; but most of them are lacking in practical musicianship. There are great numbers of practical musicians; but they are mostly lacking in musical knowledge, not to mention their lack of apprecia¬ tion and understanding of the place among the humanities and arts which music occupies in a liberal arts college such as Harvard.
The Music Department consider that the candidate for this permanent post should have the following qualifications: wide cultural background, practical musicianship, scholarly knowledge, the regular production of cre¬ative work, extended experience in successful teaching and intellectual in¬dependence and curiosity. We believe that Randall Thompson has all these qualifications in a combination singularly suited to the needs of this Depart¬ment.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
