Hadley and the Festivals

Hadley became involved with the "festival circuit" that engaged many composers and conductors in the twentieth century, a tradition that has roots in various nineteenth century traditions. These include not only smaller fairs but World's Fair - Expositions, giant music festivals such as Boston's 1869 National Peace Jubilee and 1872 World Peace Jubilee with their casts of thousands - one can imagine his father and grandfather participated or at the very least had stories of attending - , ethnic singing festivals, historic centennial (bicentennial, etc.) celebrations, Chatacquas, and others beyond enumeration. Then, as now, special pieces were sometimes commissioned, with the festival often having the honor of hosting the premiere of an important work, conducted by the composer.

The ever-entreprenurial Hadley likely became a sought-after headliner partly through generating his own noteworthiness. However, it would seem that he obtained commissions through recommendations from supportive mentors such as George Chadwick and Victor Herbert. The experience acquired in these these engagements, points towards Hadley's initiation of the 1934 Berkshire Music Festival, which quickly grew into one of the greatest of all annual music festivals in the world, the Tanglewood Music Festival.

A partial list of Hadley's festival involvement includes:

1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Hadley wrote the fair's offical waltz, Along the Plaza, which included a photograph and biographical information, photos and bio of the three Music and performance executives of the fair, and a photograph of a piece of allegorical sculpture at the fair.

1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle. A smaller but full fledged, 6 month World's Fair, Hadley vocal compositions were featured in performance several times, before he was invited during the fair to take over as conductor of the Seattle Symphony. (details) . It is entirely possible that he attended a performance of his A Legend of Granada on American Composer's Day, although there is no record of his leading it.

1911 Litchfield Festival, Norfolk, Conn. Hadley conducted a new commission for the festival, his fourth symphony, North, East, South, West. (available on current Naxos recording).

Hadley's first summer festival in London took place during this period before World War One.

1911 Golden Potlatch Festival - a one-week, city-wide festival celebrating Seattle's sudden emergence onto the world scene via the Alaska Gold Rush. Hadley's Golden Potlatch March was premiered by the Seattle Symphony, to acclaim, as part of the leadup to the festival, and is still occasionally heard today. The festival persisted in various forms over the years and is now represented by Seattle's monthlong Seafair.

1912, 1923, 1933 Bohemian Grove festivals - Hadley and conducted created three lavish classical music-dramas, outdoor spectacles at this exclusive men's encampment, set to specially written librettos: The Atonement of Pan, Semper Virens, and The Legend of Hani. Although these were to be performed one time only, and never again, some of their music lives on in suites, as theater and silent film cue music, and in the film score When A Man Loves. At some point Hadley also composed a Bohemian Club March, which has a modern recording by the nation's oldest civilian concert band, the Allentown Band.

1916-7 Hadley composed, rehearsed, and conducted a massive four-hour historical pageant, given for four nights, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Newark, New Jersey.

1917 composed and conducted An Ode To Music for the sixtieth anniversary of the Worchester, Mass. festival. This was repeated the following year.

1919 Indianapolis May Festival - Hadley served as guest conductor of the Russian Symphony Orchestra.

1919 - first performance of The Wayfarer, described as a modern passion play. Hadley arranged the music, which included familiar oratorio excerpts as well as original material. The first performance took place in the Madison Square Garden over a month-long period, utilizing 1,000 actors, a chorus of 2,500, and an orchestra of 200 (Canfield p.175). Subsequent performances, with large casts, took place in various locations around the country, over a period of several years.

1921, 1922, 1926 - Lewissohn Stadium Concerts, New York - conducting the New York Philharmonic as associate conductor.

1922 - Lawrence, Mass. "Music Week".

1922 - Fairmont Park outdoor concerts, Philadelphia.

1923 - Cincinnati May Festival - premiere of the oratorio Resurgam.

1923 - North Shore Festival, Chicago, conducted his own compositions including The Ocean.

1923 - National Federation of Music Clubs biennial festival (Asheville).

1924 - upon Victor Herbert's sudden death, Hadley takes over conducting duties for the Willow Grove Park, Philadelphia summer concert season.

1924 Hadley acts for year as director of the Worchester Music Festival (Worchester Mass.) whose storied history dates to 1858.

1925 San Mateo Festival, San Mateo CA.

1925 Fairmount Park summer concerts.

1926 North Shore Festival, Chicago.

1926 Philadelphia Sequicentennial Exposition - Hadley conducted, and won an award for Mirtil in Arcadia, at this six-month World's Fair.

1928 Mozart Chorus Festival Harrisburg, PA. premiere of Mirtil in Arcadia.

1933 Chicago World's Fair - Hadley conducted orchestral concerts at the General Motors pavillion.

1934 Hadley founds the Berkshire Festival. After conducting members of the New York Philharmonic for two years, and in rapidly declining health, he is succeeded as conductor by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston, and the festival grows into the world-famous Tanglewood Festival, encompassing a variey of musical styles.

1935 - Hadley's fifth and last symphony, Connecticut, commissioned for the Connecticut Tercentennary and premiered on June 2, 1935.