Walter Damrosch (born January 30, 1862, Breslau, Prussia (now Poland)–died December 22, 1950, New York, New York) was a Prussian-born American conductor, composer, and radio broadcaster, and was particularly associated with the works of Richard Wagner. Damrosch was the son of Leopold Damrosch, an eminent German conductor, and Helene von Heimberg, an opera singer. Music was central to the Damrosch home, and famous musical figures of the era such as Richard Wagner, Clara Schumann, and Franz Liszt were family friends.

In 1871, the family moved to New York City, where Leopold founded the Oratorio Society of New York in 1873. In 1885, after the death of Leopold, Walter took his father’s place as conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, a position he held for the next seven years. Walter Damrosch also conducted the New York Symphony Orchestra from 1886 to 1926, and from 1894 to 1900 he ran his own opera company, devoted mainly to the operas of Wagner. During World War I, Damrosch toured hospitals in Europe with a French orchestra that he had organized.

Damrosch was also a noted composer who wrote several operas, including: The Scarlet Letter, (1896), The Dove of Peace (1912), Cyrano de Bergerac (1913), and The Opera Cloak (1942). He also wrote several songs, of which, “Danny Deever,” with lyrics by Rudyard Kipling, was his most well-known.

From 1929 to 1942, Damrosch hosted a radio program entitled NBC Music Appreciation Hour, which included lectures and performances of the NBC National Orchestra conducted by Damrosch which were addressed toward school children. Damrosch died in 1950 of a heart attack at age 88. Walter’s brother, Frank Damrosch, founded the Institute of Musical Art in 1903, which later became The Juilliard School, and his sister, Clara Damrosch, co-founded the David Mannes Music School in 1916.

References

Course Catalogs, “Mannes College of Music,” College of Performing Arts Course Catalog Collection, 1916-2011, The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York.

Damrosch, Walter. My Musical Life. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923.

“Walter Damrosch, 1862-1950.” Library of Congress. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://loc.gov/item/ihas.200035728.

“Walter Damrosch, American Musician.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last Updated: Feb 26, 2024. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Damrosch.

“Walter Damrosch Dies at 88.” New York Times, December 23, 1950, 1, 16. https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/23/archives/walter-damrosch-dies-at-age-of-88-conductor-dies-dr-damrosch-dies.html.

Wieland Howe, Sondra. “The NBC Music Appreciation Hour: Radio Broadcasts of Walter Damrosch, 1928-1942.” Journal of Research in Music Education 51, No. 1 (Spring, 2003), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.2307/334564.