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We have just learned of the passing of Richard Oldberg, a longtime member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s horn section, who died in Estes Park, Colorado on December 27, 2021. He was eighty-three.
Born on June 21, 1938, in Evanston, Illinois, Oldberg began his horn studies in the public school system and received instruction from Charles Zweigler and later Max Pottag (CSO horn, 1907–1946). He attended the summer music programs at Interlochen Arts Camp, and he later attended Harvard and Northwestern universities, where he studied with two CSO principal horns, Philip Farkas and Christopher Leuba. A lip injury temporarily forced him to give up the horn, and he briefly turned to premedical studies. However, in January 1962, with encouragement from Leuba, Oldberg was invited to perform as an extra horn with the CSO. He continued to work as a regular substitute and was invited by new music director Jean Martinon to join the Orchestra as assistant principal horn beginning with the 1963–64 season. Following the departure of Wayne Barrington the following season, Oldberg moved to third horn, remaining in that position for the next twenty-nine years until his retirement in 1993.
Oldberg was a frequent soloist with the Orchestra and appeared in Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto with Irwin Hoffman conducting, as well as Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns on numerous occasions under Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Michael Morgan, and Sir Georg Solti. In March 1977, Oldberg—along with his colleagues Dale Clevenger, Norman Schweikert, and Thomas Howell—was soloist in a recording of Schumann’s Konzertstück under Barenboim’s baton for Deutsche Grammophon.
His grandfather, Arne Oldberg, was a prominent composer, pianist, and educator, serving on the faculty at Northwestern University from 1897 until 1941. Between 1909 and 1954, the CSO gave the world premieres of sixteen of his works, including his Third, Fourth, and Fifth symphonies and a violin concerto. One of Arne’s sons (and Richard’s uncle), Eric Oldberg, was a prominent neurosurgeon in Chicago, and he served as president of the Orchestral Association from 1952 until 1963 and later as a life trustee. Eric presided over the appointment of both Fritz Reiner as sixth music director in 1953 and Margaret Hillis as founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus in 1957.
A dedicated educator, Richard Oldberg served on the faculty at Northwestern University for many years. After leaving Chicago, he was principal horn and guest conductor with the Boulder Philharmonic in Colorado, regularly leading their annual performances of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with the Boulder Ballet. In his retirement, he enjoyed his longtime hobbies of book collecting (mostly Sherlock Holmes and mountaineering), model railroads, and hand-copying the scores of Richard Wagner’s operas. He and his wife Mary were longtime members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association.
In a July 1989 interview for the CSO’s Oral History Project, Oldberg reflected on his time in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “I’ve had a grand time. I’m the luckiest person on the face of the earth. Like Lou Gehrig said, I’m doing what I want to do. This isn’t work, this is fun, and I’m having a wonderful time doing it, playing the music that we play, and so, I’m a very happy fellow as a result.”
Richard Oldberg’s wife Mary preceded him in death in 2019. He is survived by his son David from a previous marriage.
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On July 25, 2021, we celebrate the centennial of Adolph “Bud” Herseth, who served the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for fifty-six years as principal trumpet (1948–2001) and principal trumpet emeritus (2001–2004).
Born on July 25, 1921, in Lake Park, Minnesota, Herseth attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He originally planned to become a teacher but gravitated to performance as a career while in the armed forces. During World War II, Herseth served as a bandsman at the pre-flight school in Iowa and at the U.S. Navy School of Music. He ended his military service with the Commander of the Philippine Sea Frontier in the South Pacific.
In early 1948 while studying for his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Herseth was appointed by Music Director Artur Rodzinski to the post of principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He never performed with Rodzinski (whose music directorship ended in April 1948) but would go on to serve under five CSO music directors: Rafael Kubelík, Fritz Reiner, Jean Martinon, Sir Georg Solti, and Daniel Barenboim. Herseth made countless solo appearances and recorded extensively with the Orchestra, including seven recordings of Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (under Kubelík, Reiner, Seiji Ozawa, Carlo Maria Giulini, Solti (twice), and Neeme Järvi).
Constantly devoted to the development of the next generation of symphony orchestra musicians, Herseth regularly gave seminars, coaching sessions and master classes in Chicago and throughout Europe and worked with the European Community Youth Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Workshop for Young Musicians and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Herseth held honorary doctor of music degrees from DePaul University, Luther College, the New England Conservatory of Music, Rosary College, and Valparaiso University. He received the Living Art of Music Symphonic Musician Award in 1994, was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America in 1995 and was an honorary member of the Royal Danish Guild of Trumpeters. In June 2001, Herseth received the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Gold Baton Award, marking the first time in the League’s history that the award was bestowed on an orchestral player, and he also was awarded an honorary membership from London’s Royal Academy of Music at its commencement exercises. He was accorded a singular honor in 1988, when the principal trumpet chair of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which he continued to occupy until 2001, was named after him.
On June 7, 1998, Herseth’s friends—including Doc Severinsen, Daniel Barenboim, Arnold Jacobs, Frank Crisafulli, Arturo Sandoval, and numerous brass players from around the world—appeared in a tribute performance at Orchestra Hall to celebrate his fiftieth anniversary with the CSO. On January 27, 2000, the CSOA’s Women’s Association recognized Herseth for his “one season plus five decades” as the CSO’s principal trumpet.
After the Ravinia Festival season in the summer of 2001, Herseth relinquished the principal trumpet chair and became principal trumpet emeritus. On February 21, 2004, he retired from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra after fifty-six years and received the Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service. Following retirement, Herseth was a longtime member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association.
Herseth was interviewed by John von Rhein in the Chicago Tribune in April 2001, shortly after the announcement that he would cede the principal trumpet chair. He said, “for years I’ve been telling people I am lucky to get here, fortunate to still be here and to have had all these marvelous experiences.” And when asked how he would like posterity to remember him, Herseth replied, “as a fairly decent guy who gave it his best every time he had the chance.”
Adolph Herseth died at home in Oak Park, Illinois, on April 13, 2013, at the age of ninety-one. He was surrounded by his family, including Avis, his beloved wife of nearly seventy years.
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Clarendon Van Norman, former principal horn, who died on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at home in Monroe Township, New Jersey. He was ninety.
Born in Galesburg, Illinois, on August 23, 1930, Van Norman attended Galesburg High School, and after graduating in 1948, he began studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. After serving as a sergeant in the Airmen of Note in the United States Air Force during the Korean War from 1950 to 1954, he graduated from Juilliard in 1957. Van Norman also earned a doctorate in education from Columbia University, graduating in 1965.
Van Norman served as principal horn in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for two seasons before seventh music director Jean Martinon invited him to the same position in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, beginning in the fall of 1963. After serving for two seasons, he joined the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, performing as co-principal horn and third horn until his retirement in 1990.
In his retirement, Van Norman was a member of the Long Island Antiquarian Book Dealers Association, Rotary International, and the First Presbyterian Church in Levittown, New York, where he helped with various church committees. He also was an antiquarian book dealer, taught in his private horn studio, and was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association.
Clarendon Van Norman is survived by his wife of forty-three years, Linda Van Norman, along with his two sons, Mark (Shenan) and Thomas (Kali), daughter May (Terrence) Van Norman, and sister Marilyn Van Norman, as well as six grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter Diane and son Steven Emery. Services will be private.
William and Shirlejean Babcock (Vincent Cichowicz collection)
The Chicago Symphony notes with the sorrow the passing of William Babcock—a former member of the Orchestra’s trumpet section from 1951 until 1958—on June 10, 2019, in Townshend, Vermont. He was 94.
Born in New London, Connecticut on May 7, 1925, Babcock began playing the piano at the age of four and trumpet at seven. He won many high school competitions as a trumpet player, was first solo cornet in the All New England High School Band for three years, and graduated from Bulkeley School for Boys in 1943.
After graduation, Babcock enlisted in the US Air Force and was called into duty on June 14, 1943, serving for nearly three years, active in combat flying in the European theatre.
Benefiting from the G.I. Bill, he enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music in January 1946. While in line for admittance, Babcock met not only his future colleague Adolph “Bud” Herseth but also his future wife Shirlejean Wallace (whom he would marry on March 29, 1947). During his three years at the conservatory, he studied with Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpets Roger Voisin and Marcel LaFosse. Babcock performed at Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center (under the guidance of BSO principal trumpet Georges Mager), with the New England Opera Theater and at Boston’s Shubert Theatre, and also as a substitute with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky, Charles Munch, Leonard Bernstein, and Pierre Monteux.
William Babcock (Vincent Cichowicz collection)
Rafael Kubelík, during his first season as music director, hired Babcock into the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s trumpet section, beginning with the 1951 Ravinia Festival season. He was a member of the section until 1958, when he became principal trumpet of Chicago’s NBC Orchestra, where he remained until 1965. Babcock continued to work as a freelance musician and private trumpet teacher into his retirement, and he and his wife were longtime members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Alumni Association.
William Babcock’s beloved wife Shirlejean—after sixty-seven years of marriage—preceded him in death in 2014. He is survived by his children Douglas, Richard, Barbara LaMontagne (Henry), Laura Casoli (Darrel), and granddaughter Melissa. Memorial gifts may be made to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and services have been held.
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Daniel Barenboim addresses the audience on September 21, 1991 (Jim Steere photo)
On September 21, 1991, Daniel Barenboim officially began his tenure as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s ninth music director with a free concert at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. Dedicated to the people of Chicago—more than 13,000 in attendance—the concert included a wide variety of music celebrating the city’s ethnic diversity and unique neighborhoods. Also in attendance were ninety-three former members of the Orchestra—veterans who had played under music directors back to Frederick Stock through Sir Georg Solti—representing the newly formed CSO Alumni Association.
Daniel Barenboim, September 21, 1991 (Jim Steere photo)
The program began with Frederick Stock’s arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner followed by Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino; Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance in G minor, op. 46, no. 8; Brahms’s Hungarian Dance no. 1 in G minor; Moniuszko’s Mazurka from Halka; Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry; the final movement from Ginastera’s Estancia; Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre; and Hailstork’s Celebration! The last programmed work was the fourth movement from Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 featuring soloists Tina Kiberg, Waltraud Meier, Jon Frederic West, and Robert Holl, along with the Chicago Symphony Chorus prepared by Margaret Hillis.
Following the Beethoven, Barenboim returned to the podium for two encores: Morton Gould’s arrangement of Fred Fisher’s “Chicago,” featuring CSO principal clarinet Larry Combs, and John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.
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