| learn | Christopher H. Rodenkirchen |
| The First Chicago Symphony Orchestra Trumpet Section-1891-1902. |
 Christian
H. Rodenkirchen was the first principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. Theodore Thomas founded the
Chicago Orchestra in 1891, it
was renamed the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1905 and the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra in 1913. Christian Rodenkirchen was engaged in 1891 by Thomas as first
cornet. He played first cornet and/or trumpet until 1902, when apparently in a
dispute over the use of Thomas' name
for booking a summer concert series in Lincoln Park, Rodenkirchen was not
offered a new contract.
Actually, Christian had already been in the USA since 1883 and in Chicago since 1887 at the time of the Tribune article. He was born in Hannef, near Köln, Germany on February 19,1859. His early life is as yet undiscovered but he later "played Cornet in one of the seven regimental bands in Köln" He is seen to have appeared as cornet soloist with the Kölner-Männer -Gesang -Vereins {Men's Singing Society of Cologne}on the 28th of August, 1882, in Cleve. He is also listed in the "Honorarium", {payroll list} of February 20, 1883 as having played third trumpet for a concert of the "Konzert Gesselschaft Köln", {"Concert Society of Cologne"} Friedel Keim, in "Das Grosses Buch der Trompete", says, " through musicians like Christian Rodenkirchen the modern American trumpet style, a mixture of the French and German, came into being ". Though not coming close to Adolph Herseth's performing longevity or worldwide influence on trumpet playing and styles, Christian Rodenkirchen, in his career in America, from 1891 to 1915 played an important part in the early American orchestral trumpet tradition. He was principal trumpet/cornet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from its foundation in 1891 until 1902. He then played with the New York Symphony 1903-04, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra 1904-05, the New York Philharmonic 1905-07, and then 1909-11 under Gustav Mahler, and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra 1907-09 and 1911-15. He is noted in the passenger list of the ship Waesland, from Antwerp, Belgium as "Christian Rodenkerchen {sic}, Chr., age 26 CPTR, from Germany , villageunknown, destination Dakota , {probably Dakota County, near St.Paull,MN}. ShipWaesland, from Antwerp to New York. Arrived October 18, 1883"5 After arriving in New York in 1883, he next appeared in documents as declaring his intention to become a citizen, in St.Paul in 1883. He became a citizen in Chicago in 1894.He first appears in Chicago in the City directory of 1887, living at 1365 Sedgwick, Bds. [boardinghouse]. Frederick Deitz Jr. was the 2nd. player in the section, from 1891 as second cornet and from 1888-1902 as second trumpet. He was born in New York in 1861 and was 30 years old when he started playing with the new Chicago orchestra. No death date has been found. He had been a member of the Theodore Thomas orchestra in New York from 1877-to 1891, listed in orchestra rosters as both trumpet and violin. He was a member of the New York Philharmonic society from 1880 to 1891, listed in programs as 2nd, 3rd. or 4th. trumpet or 2nd. violin. Dietz' father, also Frederick Dietz, was a trumpeter for the Philharmonic Society of New York from 1859 to 1900. The father was principal trumpet of the Philharmonic Society from 1865 to 1898. From 1880 to 1891, both Frederick Dietz Sr. and Jr. were members of the New York Philharmonic orchestra. The first concert of the new Chicago Orchestra, Theodore Thomas conducting was on October 16, 1891. at the Auditorium Theater. The program consisted of: A Faust Overture,-Richard Wagner- Concerto #1 for piano and orchestra - Peter Ilyich Tschaikovsky, Rafael Joseffy piano soloist. Overture "Husitska" - Antonin Dvorak. Symphony #5 in C major - Ludwig van Beethoven -
  Of interest is part of a "Drama and Music" column, from the Chicago Tribune, shown below , lauding Thomas' performances of the the music of J.S. Bach, particularly the B Minor Mass. It is hard to imagine those six trumpets, backed up by six clarinets, all honking away at poor Bach's three trumpet parts, but musical tastes do change.
 The trumpet section during Christian Rodenkirchen's time was very stabile. His replacement in 1902, Paul Steffens, however, lasted only one season. Early CSO trumpet sections [ from
Chicago Symphony program books.]
F. Dietz A.Ulrich 1900-1902 1902-03 The trumpet/cornet section of the Chicago Orchestra was first divided into pairs of cornets and trumpets with the first cornet as principal of the section. Starting in 1898 the section was listed only as trumpets. Christian Rodenkirchen was the principal of the section during his time in the orchestra, whether he is listed as first cornet or first trumpet. Modern practice is that when there are two trumpet and two cornet parts, the principal trumpet decides whether the first and second trumpets will play the cornet or trumpet parts. This was probably also the practice in the 1890's. Another prominent member of the early trumpet sections was Albert Ulrich. He was listed as 1st trumpet in 1891 and starting in 1898 as third trumpet. Like Christian Rodenkirchen, he was born in Germany, Ulrich in 1857 In Magdeburg. Albert studied violin and trumpet in Berlin before coming to America in 1880. He was living in Chicago in 1881 with his parents, brother and sister when he was engaged to play with the Theodore Thomas orchestra during one of its yearly visits to Chicago. He says, in a letter written upon his retirement from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1925: "I first played with Theodore Thomas in February, 1881, when he had a two weeks' engagement here, at the old Central Music Hall, corner State and Randolph. In 1883 I was called to New York to go with his orchestra on an 'Ocean to Ocean' tour, embracing New York to San Francisco. From then on I became a regular member of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, for a duration of eight years that was succeeded by my present 34 year Chicago Symphony Orchestra membership." Albert Ulrich was an important member of the new Chicago Orchestra. He had played with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in New York and on tours and had a close relationship with Thomas.. He also had roots in Chicago. He was a familiar face in the new orchestra to the Chicago Tribune music critic.* He is listed in orchestra rosters first as trumpet, then cornet and then trumpet again. He was the orchestra contractor from 1887 to 1925 and in pre negotiated orchestra contract days wielded considerable power. He was an assistant conductor under Frederick Stock and conducted summer orchestra concerts at Ravinia Park. When free from these duties, he played in the 2nd violin section. Albert Ulrich was also active in booking outside concerts, using the Theodore Thomas Orchestra name. With the short season of the CSO it was essential for the musicians to augment their CSO orchestra wages with other musical engagements and teaching. Albert Ulrich's name frequently appears in advertisements for concerts of the Theodore Thomas orchestra, sometimes as conductor. Christian Rodenkirchen's name more frequently appears as soloist or in performances of Handel's Messiah or other choral works. But it appears that they were rivals in booking the all important outside engagements. The following excerpts from the Chicago Tribune give some idea of their activities.
Nov.5,1897
Albert Ulrich's career as contractor, conductor, and more often later as violinist rather than trumpeter, continued apace. After Rodenkirchen's departure in 1902, Albert Ulrich had a clear field for booking outside engagements. His control of the symphonic jobbing scene, however, came to a head in 1908 when he had several musicians fired from the Chicago Symphony, apparently for playing outside engagements in groups not contracted by him. He was threatened with being brought before the Chicago Federation of Musicians board of directors by orchestra members, for charging a premium scale of $7.00 per concert for Thomas musicians but only paying them $4.00. Minutes of the Chicago Federation of Musicians Board of Directors meetings, however, show no mention of such charges actually being brought.
.
 Albert Ulrich continued in his multi faceted career with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through the tumultuous years of World War I. During the witch-hunt for German sympathizers in the orchestra he was the orchestra's principal spokesman before various government boards of inquiry. He retired from the orchestra in 1925 at the age of 68,after having been at different times, 1st trumpet, 1st cornet, 2nd violin, assistant conductor, contractor and orchestra spokesman. He had been a member of the orchestra since its founding in 1891. With the help of the Chicago Tribune Archives, , Chicago City Directories, Census Reports, and most importantly, Norman Schweikert, I have tried to give a picture of the life of musicians of a different era. Although these players were active over one hundred years ago their lives seem in many respects not too different from today.
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| Looking for Chris in Chicago: footnote-endnote-whatnote.
On our first Sunday afternoon visit in search of Chris's residences we tried in vain to find 655 Eugenie Street on Chicago's near north side. There was no such address. We thought perhaps the neighborhood had been so built up in 126 years that 655 Eugenie was now an alley or an apartment complex. In re-examining the City directory for 1900 I saw that Chris actually lived at 655 N. North Park Ave. According to Map Quest, still a non-existent address and not a [Pl]ace. Then the revelation: Chicago had rationalized its street addresses in 1909-1911. The pre -1909 addresses in the City directories were in the old numbering system. This system numbered each neighborhood differently. The modernized Chicago numbering system, put into effect in 1909, numbered buildings from Madison street north and south and from State street east and west. This system covers the entire city and most suburbs. The following addresses are converted to the post 1909 system. The census address of 1900 would be, in the modern system, 1733 N. North Park Ave.. In recalibrating the old numbers and looking again at his former residences I found that most buildings had been destroyed and newer commercial properties erected in their place. No traces of most of the original residences still exist. But two do. Christian Rodenkirken is first listed In the Chicago City directories in 1887. He lived in a boarding house at 1365 Sedgwick [ Bds.] .The next year, 1888, he moved to 2060 N. Clark. He is not listed again until 1892. In 1891 he started playing with the Chicago Orchestra. In the intervening years he probably continued living at 2060 N. Clark. In 1893 he is listed at 2552 N. Halsted, but in error as C. Rodenkinchen, music teacher. Then, as now, the transposition of a single letter was not unusual. C. Rodenkinchen, music teacher, has to be our Chris.  In 1898 he was at 1726 N. Cleveland [photo below] and then from 1898 until
leaving the Theodore Thomas orchestra in 1902, at his final residence, 1773 N.
North Park Ave.Albert Ulrich, third trumpeter, orchestra contractor and apparently Christian Rodenkirchen's nemesis, lived two blocks away at 1640 Sedgwick Ave. |
