Howard Hanson directed the Eastman School of Music for 40 years. Handpicked by founder George Eastman to assume the leadership in 1924, a mere three years after the School opened, the composer shaped the institution as a reflection of his educational philosophy and musical vision.
The history of the Eastman School under Hanson and his successor Walter Hendl is described in a new book, Serving a Great and Noble Art. Written by Vincent Lenti, a faculty member and historian of the Eastman School, the book recounts the school’s development and growth from George Eastman’s death in 1932 through Hendl’s resignation in 1972.
“In almost 50 years in teaching and administration at Eastman, Vince Lenti has been an invaluable resource, but nowhere more so than in writing his history of the School,” said Douglas Lowry, dean of the Eastman School. “I am pleased to welcome the second volume of his remarkable combination of research and memories.”
Hanson was already a prize-winning composer, conductor, and educator when he came to the attention of George Eastman. Hanson’s commitment to providing student musicians with a rounded and comprehensive education developed the Eastman School’s reputation as an institution welcoming the performer and scholar. A gifted speaker – the title of the book is taken from Hanson’s 1945 convocation address – and a champion of American classical music, Hanson built up a music school that was thoroughly American in its outlook, method, and goals.
His forceful personality drove the school, leading to an environment of stability and consistency that at the same time inhibited change. Though Hanson’s tenure saw some faculty-driven initiatives such as the formation of the groundbreaking Eastman Wind Ensemble by Frederick Fennell, most projects were spearheaded by Hanson and he personally decided most faculty appointments.
“Howard Hanson came to the Eastman School with a vision, and what the school came to be was consistent with the vision,” said Lenti.
Hendl’s eight years as director, on the other hand, were marred by controversy. Faculty and students saw Hendl, a professional musician and conductor with no academic experience, as lacking in leadership ability. Lenti, who twice visited Hendl in preparation for the book, provides a detailed and even-handed account of the increasing dissatisfaction which led to calls for Hendl to be relieved of his position. Lenti also notes many accomplishments during Hendl’s tenure, including the establishment of the department of conducting and ensembles, the equipping of an electronic music studio, and the creation of a new department of jazz and contemporary media.
Hendl resigned in May 1972, and “the Hendl years were not so much the beginning of a new era as a conclusion of the Hanson years,” said Lenti.
Serving a Great and Noble Art is rich with photographs and stories. A chapter on the Philharmonia, for example, traces the orchestra’s three-month, 34-city tour with Hanson through Europe, the Middle East, and behind the Iron Curtain at the end of 1961. Drawing on student diaries, Lenti provides first-person accounts of student experiences and impressions, even including lyrics students made up to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to vent their growing fatigue and frustration.
Lenti witnessed part of the four decades he describes: he has been a member of the Eastman School community since 1956, first as a student, then as a faculty member – one of the last appointed by Hanson. Nevertheless, he was surprised at some of his discoveries as he researched the school’s history, such as the level of involvement by the central University of Rochester administration during the Hendl crisis. In addition, plans in the 1960s to move the Eastman School to the University’s River Campus, though finally rejected, were much farther along than faculty and students suspected.
“There were many behind-the-scenes activities that most of the Eastman community wasn’t aware of at the time,” Lenti noted.
In addition to giving a narrative history of the school, Lenti has provided extensive appendixes which include such information as faculty names, guest artists, conductors who appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and recordings.
Serving a Great and Noble Art is the second volume of the history of the Eastman School of Music. Lenti’s first volume, For the Enrichment of Community Life, was published in 2004 and chronicled the events that led to the establishment of the school in 1921 through Eastman’s death in 1932.
“Vince Lenti has made an invaluable contribution by providing this well researched and well written record of the Eastman School from its beginnings,” said Paul Burgett, University of Rochester Vice President and former dean of students at the University’s Eastman School of Music. Burgett earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Eastman. “As an alumnus, I feel a sense of enormous gratitude that this history of my alma mater exists for the benefit of fellow alumni and friends and for posterity,” he said.
Serving a Great and Noble Art is published by Meliora Press, an imprint of the University of Rochester Press. The book is available in both hard and soft cover editions, priced at $30 and $20, respectively. The book is available for purchase at the Eastman School of Music Bookstore, 25 Gibbs St., http://eastman.bkstore.com, 585-274-1399; at Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com; on Amazon http://www.amazon.com; and at University of Rochester Press http://www.urpress.com.
Lenti will be doing a series of book-signings in the Rochester area throughout the coming months, including one at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, in Room 120 of the Eastman School of Music, which is free and open to the public.
Lenti earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Eastman, where he was a student of the noted Italian pianist and pedagogue Orazio Frugoni. He has been a member of the piano faculty since 1963 and directed Eastman’s Community Education Division, now known as the Eastman Community Music School, for 26 years. In 2002 he was the recipient of Eastman’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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Calendar Listing:
Friday, Oct. 9
7 p.m.
Book signing for Serving a Great and Noble Art, the second volume in the history of the Eastman School of Music by Vincent Lenti.
Room 120, Eastman School of Music
26 Gibbs St.
Sunday, October 25
2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m
Book Signing: Serving a Great and Noble Art. Vincent Lenti will talk about his second volume on the history of the Eastman School of Music and sign books.
Parkleigh, 215 Park Ave.
Friday, November 20
7 p.m.
Book Signing: Serving a Great and Noble Art. Vincent Lenti will talk about his second volume on the history of the Eastman School of Music and sign books.
Barnes & Noble, 3349 Monroe Ave.