Tanglewood
Encyclopedia
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue
in Lenox
and Stockbridge, Massachusetts
. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival
and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival
, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra
's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.
. Hawthorne, on the advice of his publisher William Ticknor
, rented a small cottage in the area in March 1850 from William Aspinwall Tappan. While at the cottage Hawthorne wrote Tanglewood Tales
(1853), a re-writing of a number of Greek myths
for boys and girls. In memory of the book, the owner renamed the cottage "Tanglewood", and the name was soon copied by a nearby summer estate owned by the Tappan family.
Tanglewood concerts can be traced back to 1936, when the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) gave its first concerts in the Berkshires
. This first three-concert series was held under a tent for a total crowd of 15,000. That same year, Mary Aspinwall Tappan (descendant of Chinese merchant William F. Sturgis
and abolitionist
Lewis Tappan
), gave the family's summer estate—Tanglewood—to the orchestra.
In 1937, the BSO returned for an all-Beethoven
program, presented at Tanglewood (210 acres), donated by the Tappan family. In 1938 a fan-shaped Shed was constructed, with some 5,100 seats, giving the BSO a permanent open-air structure in which to perform. Two years later conductor Serge Koussevitzky
initiated a summer school for approximately 300 young musicians, now known as the Tanglewood Music Center
(formerly the Berkshire Music Center).
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed in the Koussevitzky Music Shed every summer since, except for the interval 1942–45 when the Trustees canceled the concerts and summer school due to World War II
. The Shed was renovated in 1959 with acoustic designs by BBN Technologies
. In 1986 the BSO acquired the adjacent Highwood estate, increasing the property area by about 40%. Seiji Ozawa
Hall (1994) was built on this newly expanded property.
Leonard Bernstein
conducted the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in August 1990 in what proved to be his very last concert. Deutsche Grammophon
released a live recording of the concert on CD.
, jazz
, and popular music
, it also provides musical training in the form of the Tanglewood Music Center for pre-professional musicians. Also nearby is the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
(BUTI) for high school students. Other youth-symphony organizations have also performed at either the Music Shed or Ozawa Hall, including the Norwalk Youth Symphony, from Norwalk
, Connecticut
, the Empire State Youth Orchestra
, from Albany
, New York
, and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony.
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...
in Lenox
Lenox, Massachusetts
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,077 at the 2000 census. Where the town has a border with Stockbridge is the site of Tanglewood, summer...
and Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Tanglewood Jazz Festival
The Tanglewood Jazz Festival, is a summer music festival, featuring contemporary jazz artists. It is held every year on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Labor Day weekend, in Lenox, Massachusetts...
, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.
History
Tanglewood was named for American author Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
. Hawthorne, on the advice of his publisher William Ticknor
William Ticknor
William Davis Ticknor I was an American publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and a founder of the publishing house Ticknor and Fields.-Life and work:...
, rented a small cottage in the area in March 1850 from William Aspinwall Tappan. While at the cottage Hawthorne wrote Tanglewood Tales
Tanglewood Tales
Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls is a book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a sequel to A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys...
(1853), a re-writing of a number of Greek myths
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
for boys and girls. In memory of the book, the owner renamed the cottage "Tanglewood", and the name was soon copied by a nearby summer estate owned by the Tappan family.
Tanglewood concerts can be traced back to 1936, when the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) gave its first concerts in the Berkshires
The Berkshires
The Berkshires , is a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.Also referred to as the Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and Berkshire Plateau, the region enjoys a vibrant tourism industry based on music, arts, and recreation.-Definition:The term...
. This first three-concert series was held under a tent for a total crowd of 15,000. That same year, Mary Aspinwall Tappan (descendant of Chinese merchant William F. Sturgis
William F. Sturgis
William F. Sturgis was a Boston merchant in the China trade and the Maritime Fur Trade.-Biography:...
and abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
Lewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve the freedom of the illegally enslaved Africans of the Amistad. Contacted by Connecticut abolitionists soon after the Amistad arrived in port, Tappan focused extensively on the captive Africans...
), gave the family's summer estate—Tanglewood—to the orchestra.
In 1937, the BSO returned for an all-Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
program, presented at Tanglewood (210 acres), donated by the Tappan family. In 1938 a fan-shaped Shed was constructed, with some 5,100 seats, giving the BSO a permanent open-air structure in which to perform. Two years later conductor Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
initiated a summer school for approximately 300 young musicians, now known as the Tanglewood Music Center
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
(formerly the Berkshire Music Center).
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed in the Koussevitzky Music Shed every summer since, except for the interval 1942–45 when the Trustees canceled the concerts and summer school due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Shed was renovated in 1959 with acoustic designs by BBN Technologies
BBN Technologies
BBN Technologies is a high-technology company which provides research and development services. BBN is based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA...
. In 1986 the BSO acquired the adjacent Highwood estate, increasing the property area by about 40%. Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
Hall (1994) was built on this newly expanded property.
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
conducted the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in August 1990 in what proved to be his very last concert. Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
released a live recording of the concert on CD.
Young musicians
In addition to hosting world-renowned programs of classicalClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, it also provides musical training in the form of the Tanglewood Music Center for pre-professional musicians. Also nearby is the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
Boston University Tanglewood Institute
The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is recognized internationally as the premiere summer training program for aspiring high school-age musicians and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras...
(BUTI) for high school students. Other youth-symphony organizations have also performed at either the Music Shed or Ozawa Hall, including the Norwalk Youth Symphony, from Norwalk
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, the Empire State Youth Orchestra
Empire State Youth Orchestra
Empire State Youth Orchestras was founded as a single orchestra in 1979 by a group of dedicated parents and music educators. Today's ESYO consists of nine performing ensembles: two full orchestras, a wind orchestra, a string ensemble, two jazz ensembles, and three percussion ensembles...
, from Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony.