Remarkable that Samuel would change the spelling of his given name in the middle of his career, all the more because Germans constituted Minnesota’s largest European ethnic group since the later nineteenth century, despite the state’s reputation as a Scandinavian citadel. Maybe it’s a testament to the persistence of anti-German WWI sentiment in the state.

Jon Butler



On Sep 29, 2015, at 11:00 PM, ARSCLIST automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 12:09:18 -0400
From: Dennis Rooney <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: a piece of Minneapolis Symphony and Mercury Records history

Gerry Samuel was GERARD in MSO. "GERHARD" was considered too Teutonic for
tender post-war sensibilities.

DDR

On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 10:28 AM, Butler, Jon <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

In response to David Lewis=E2=80=99s note, I think that the Gerard Samuel=
who was
Assistant Conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1952 when th=
e
photograph Tom Hine has discussed and the Gerhard Samuel described by Lew=
is
are different individuals. In Music and Maestros: The Story of the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota
Press, 1952), John K. Sherman wrote, in describing the orchestra=E2=80=99=
s youthful
transformations under Antal Dorati, =E2=80=9CYoung too was the new assist=
ant
conductor, Gerard Samuel, a violinist who showed authority and style on t=
he
few occasions when he took the orchestra=E2=80=99s reins.=E2=80=9D Accor=
ding to 1959-1960
orchestra program booklets, Gerard Samuel still was conducting the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, often in young people=E2=80=99s concerts =
or
outstate appearances, such as in Rochester, MN, where the orchestra playe=
d
the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with its fabulous in-house pianist,
Eva Knardahl. Regrettably, I don=E2=80=99t know about Gerard Samuel=E2=
=80=99s later career.

Jon Butler