Howard Barlow

Howard Barlow (May 1, 1892 – February 1, 1972) was an American musician whose work as a conductor included leading the orchestra on The Voice of Firestone on radio and television. Time magazine described him as "a quiet, businesslike musician with a vast repertoire at his command and a deft way of getting instantaneous results from his musicians."

Early years

Family and education Born on May 1, 1892, in Plain City, Ohio, Barlow was a boy soprano. In 1909 the family moved to Denver after the factory burned a second time. He attended the University of Colorado (UC) in 1911–1912. They encouraged him to continue his pursuit of music. He went to France to serve in World War I, was on General Pershing's staff, "and his ability as music director was in constant demand".

Music Barlow's involvement with music began in Mount Carmel, as he taught himself to play the trumpet and played in the town's band. He had a few piano lessons but mainly learned that instrument on his own. He also played a cello. He organized and conducted the Methodist Sunday School orchestra in Mount Carmel. In 1965 he reflected on that enterprise: "It was a pretty sorry affair as we had no regular music and faked it all from the Sunday School song books." During his time at Reed College he directed the school's chorus. When The Oregon Sunday Journal reviewed a 1913 Christmas program presented by that group, it said, "The work of the chorus was very effective. The singers showed excellent training, being at all times under the control of Conductor Howard Barlow."

Career By January 1916 Barlow had become the director of the Modern Musical Society in New York City, in addition to which he directed the women's chorus of that city's West Side YWCA and the Riverdale Choral Society. In the summer of 1916 he conducted music for a music festival in Bay View, Michigan. One of his early professional activities after the war was conducting music for a 1919 festival for the widow of composer Edward MacDowell. In 1921 he taught as a member of the summer faculty at Ellison-White Conservatory of Music in Portland. In 1923 he organized a musical group that hired only native-born or naturalized Americans. Called the American National Orchestra, it lasted one year. He pioneered the broadcasting of full-time symphonic concerts on that network and had the first sponsored series of symphonic broadcasts. In 1928, Barlow commented on the unique nature of his Sunday broadcasts: "We present a new program every Sunday afternoon, and we have never repeated a single work." He compared each broadcast to a Carnegie Hall program, saying that with "neither applause nor waits" the orchestra tried to present as much music in a one-hour broadcast as might be heard in a concert at Carnegie Hall. A tally of Barlow's work on radio from January 5. 1932, to January 1, 1933, showed, "in his symphony broadcasts he conducted 236 different selections over the Columbia network. Of these, 43 were full symphonies, 26 piano concerti. 20 violin concerti. 13 orchestral suites, 34 overtures and 67 tone poems, rhapsodies and miscellaneous forms." Programs for which he conducted orchestras included America's Hour, Columbia Workshop, Saturday Night Serenade, The March of Time, and Everybody’s Music.

Making changes Barlow implemented changes in the kinds of music played on radio. After producers insisted that people would not listen to entire symphonies on the air, he played Haydn's "Military" symphony on a program. The response was so good that "he was allotted a nightly spot on which he performed one movement from a symphony in each broadcast until a long line of great symphonic works was completed". He was guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra for a concert in 1936. He was named guest conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for its 1940 season of 11 concerts. In May 1939 he had been that group's guest conductor for the opening of the National Federation of Music Clubs' music festival, after which a newspaper report said, "The members of the orchestra and many veteran musicians who attended the concert were loud in their praise of Mr. Barlow." In 1942 he was signed to direct the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in eight concerts.

Philosophy regarding music Barlow believed that the content of a composition was less important than how it was presented. Regarding The Voice of Firestone 's mix of music, he said "I ... knew that actually it didn't matter so much what one plays as how one plays it. I can take almost any popular piece and give it an arrangement of such dignity that no one would be ashamed to play it." He married actress Jeannette Thomas, whose stage name was Ann Winston, on December 12, 1926, in New York City. They were still married when he died at his home in Bethel, Connecticut, on February 1, 1972. The review cited his knowledge of the music that was performed and his lack of self-consciousness, and it commended his selection of works. Although the review pointed out some flaws in the evening's performance, it concluded, "For the concert as a whole one has to thank Mr. Barlow for the novelty of his program, his musicianly treatment of it, his evident talent and understanding in the treatment of his scores. He was well received."