Classical Popularizer.

Arthur Fiedler was responsible to an extraordinary degree for the popu-larity of classical music by the 1970s. Born in Boston on 17 December 1894, he studied music with his father and at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin. He was a pianist, second violinist, and violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1915 to 1930. In 1924 he formed the Boston Sinfonietta, a chamber orchestra drawn from the Boston Symphony Orchestra staff. In 1929 he demonstrated his genius for broadening the classical-music audience by founding the Esplanade Concerts, a free summer concert series on the banks of the Charles River.

New Audiences.

By 1930 Fiedler was the conductor of the renamed Boston Pops Orchestra, staffed by Boston Symphony musicians, which attracted thousands of new listeners. Lovers of classical music resisted this popularization at first, but the charming (and sometimes crusty) Fiedler won over his critics. He had proved...