{"id":15241,"date":"2022-10-11T16:19:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T20:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=15241"},"modified":"2026-01-23T11:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:25:47","slug":"oct10-oct16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2022\/10\/oct10-oct16\/","title":{"rendered":"Oct 10th – 16th: \u201cPainting with Sound\u201d makes its debut on Rochester TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1727464452434{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]Published on Oct 11, 2022\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n

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Sixty-six years ago this week, on the evening of Saturday, October 13th, 1956, a television series featuring Eastman School musicians made its debut on station WROC-TV (channel 5) in Rochester.\u00a0 Sponsored by Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation (RG&E) in co-operation with the University of Rochester, the series Painting with Sound<\/em> was a public service, essentially a music education course for the general viewing public.\u00a0 Altogether, the series was comprised of eleven half-hour programs that were broadcast on alternate Saturday evenings in the 7 PM\/7:30 PM time slot, alternating week by week with another public service program, Court of Public Opinion<\/em> moderated by local attorney and businessman Sol M. Linowitz.[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0 Like so much televised content in the 1950s, Painting with Sound <\/em>\u00a0was broadcast live\u2014or, if you prefer, in real time.[2]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Just as in the theater or concert hall, the viewer saw and heard everything as it occurred and in the moment; there was no opportunity to edit or remove any misstatements, missed cues, or wrong notes.<\/p>\n

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\u25ba Ad for the series \u201cPainting with Sound\u201d (WROC-TV), printed in the Rochester Civic Music News,<\/em> a weekly publication.\u00a0 Eastman School of Music Archives.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1665592758991{padding-left: 30px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15245,15246,15247″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1665603909058{margin-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=””]\u25ba RG&E\u2019s extensive publicity campaign for Painting with Sound included distribution of printed materials such as this leaflet. The campaign also included mailings each week when a program would be broadcast to profile that week\u2019s upcoming program. In addition, there were weekly ads in the area\u2019s newspapers, including Rochester\u2019s two dailies, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and the Rochester Times-Union. Howard Hanson Collection. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″ css=”.vc_custom_1651867019372{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The series\u2019 central figure was Howard Hanson, and here he was truly at his best, speaking in his various capacities as educator and composer and conductor while expounding on music of the orchestra, the medium of performance that he championed most ardently.\u00a0 In each Painting with Sound <\/em>program Hanson concentrated on a particular piece of music, pointing out how the composer had put it all together, using the analogy of painting to illustrate how a piece of symphonic music was comprised of brush-strokes and other painterly gestures in sound.\u00a0 Together with him on the set were the musicians, who assisted Hanson by playing their assigned parts when cued; after Hanson had concluded his verbal explication, he conducted the orchestra in a complete rendition of the piece. In the pilot broadcast, the Eastman School Chamber Symphony was the ensemble of choice, a 32-piece orchestra that had been chosen expressly because the studio set would accommodate it (whereas the set would not accommodate a full-size symphony orchestra).<\/p>\n

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As the series continued, other Eastman School musicians were featured, such as the Eastman String Quartet;[3]<\/a> <\/sup>on those evenings when any other complete ensemble happened to be on the set, that ensemble would oblige with a rendition of the featured work in its entirety following Hanson\u2019s spoken presentation.<\/p>\n

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In the pilot episode, the Eastman School Chamber Symphony performed Anatoly Liadov\u2019s tone poem The Enchanted Lake,<\/em> a work that Hanson had conducted numerous times, and which he would conduct during the Eastman Philharmonia\u2019s extensive 1961-62 tour.\u00a0 The draft script of the pilot program is presented here; among Hanson\u2019s own papers, this the only extant script from the series. \u00a0Note that the program opened with a bona fide conversation between Hanson and Don Lyon, the University of Rochester\u2019s Director of Television and Radio, who would remain a regular presence in the series.\u00a0 The opening conversation introduces the characters and the plot, so to speak, and allows Hanson the moment to tell his rationale behind the series.\u00a0 The draft script then takes us point by point through Hanson\u2019s explication of the composer\u2019s work of composing and orchestrating the featured composition.\u00a0 Admittedly, some of the dialogue might seem dated or unusual to us now, such as the two speakers\u2019 habit of repeatedly addressing one another by name (\u201cWell, Don \u2026\u201d and \u201cWell, Dr. Hanson\u2026\u201d), but perhaps some of that can be attributed to the reality that in 1956, the medium of television was still so new.<\/p>\n

While Howard Hanson had made several television appearances before this series, they had been isolated occasions, whereas Painting with Sound<\/em> was his first\u2014and also the Eastman School\u2019s first\u2014dedicated television series.\u00a0 Coming at a time when network television was still so new, Painting with Sound <\/em>was an appealing series that showcased the Eastman School\u2019s talent and simultaneously provided quality viewing for the Rochester audience. \u00a0Moreover, Howard Hanson\u2019s archived correspondence confirms that there was an immediate and sustained response by the community, an outpouring of gratitude and appreciation manifest in letters and notes of appreciation sent by viewers. The letters came from private citizens, educators (teachers and administrators alike), and owners or other representatives of local businesses; they were variously addressed to Dr. Hanson or to RG&E (typically to the attention of Mr. Schuyler Baldwin, the company\u2019s Director of Public Relations).\u00a0 The letters confirm some definite conclusions.\u00a0 Local viewers appreciated being served up classical music without being condescended to; they perceived that the series was on a higher level than what they had been accustomed to seeing on television, namely soap operas and the like, and they welcomed this; and they also saw in Hanson a man who represented a cultural asset in their community. \u00a0One letter among Dr. Hanson\u2019s papers was dated October 13th, written on the same evening as the pilot broadcast. In sharing her family\u2019s enthusiasm for the program, the writer opined enthusiastically, \u201cWe should have more and larger doses of Dr. Hanson, then the Civic Music Association[4]<\/a><\/sup> wouldn\u2019t have to worry about the future, because of the new generation of listeners he will have trained!\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1665668208736{margin-top: 40px !important;margin-bottom: 40px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15350,15266,15267,15268,15269,15270,15271,15272″ img_size=”300×400″ css=”.vc_custom_1665606481177{margin-left: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1727464641901{padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”]\u25ba Annotated draft script of the first program in the series Painting with Sound<\/em> (WROC-TV).\u00a0 Note that the opening consisted of a dialogue eventually giving way to Hanson\u2019s musical illustration, and finally an orchestral rendition of the featured composition in its entirety.\u00a0 Howard Hanson Collection. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″ css=”.vc_custom_1665603051656{margin-top: -20px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1727465093663{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]More than one letter reflected enthusiasm over the series\u2019 \u201cnon-stuffy\u201d nature, such that Painting with Sound<\/em> reflected an instance of \u201ceducational television\u201d that did not require one to be a \u201clong-hair\u201d to understand and appreciate it.[5]<\/a> <\/sup>One writer shared, \u201cIn my book this is \u2018Educational Television\u2019 of the non-stuffy variety, and renews my faith in the possibilities of the medium.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, an experience of educational television that could actually be enjoyed (!).\u00a0 Perhaps one could actually overlook the word \u201ceducational,\u201d as suggested by this viewer:<\/p>\n

It would seem to us that this program should do a great deal that needs doing for music in Rochester.\u00a0 Dr. Hanson\u2019s selections, presentation and especially his T.V. charm, make for a program that you need not be a so-called \u2018long-hair\u2019 to thoroughly enjoy.\u00a0 To us, it equals the similar work done by Leonard Bernstein on a national network presentation.<\/p>\n

To be equally fair, we should also add that all of the programs we have seen, sponsored by your company have been enjoyable and informative.\u00a0 I\u2019d prefer to skirt the word \u2018educational\u2019.<\/p>\n

That last letter was one of several from viewers who compared Hanson\u2019s TV persona with that of Leonard Bernstein, music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and an emerging cultural superstar.\u00a0 Up to this time Maestro Bernstein had made numerous well-publicized television appearances, including on the series Omnibus.<\/em>[6]<\/a> <\/sup>A member of Hanson\u2019s faculty at the Eastman School of Music echoed the Bernstein comparison in a note that he penned to Hanson immediately after the pilot program:<\/p>\n

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After viewing your telecast on Sat. Eve., all I can is \u201cWho is this Second Bernstein?\u201d and if N.B.C. or C.B.S. do not sign you and our wonderful youngsters they are crazy.\u00a0 You were really great.<\/p>\n

And from another viewer:<\/p>\n

Dr. Hanson, as always, is extremely interesting and has the faculty of making a program of this kind fascinating.\u00a0 The ability of the orchestra members, plus the capability and personality of Dr. Hanson combine to make this program really delightful.<\/p>\n

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One viewer wrote to Hanson describing his children\u2019s response to Hanson\u2019s on-screen performance:<\/p>\n

Though my children are of the \u2018Rock & Roll\u2019 stage, they were all eyes and ears with an interest in every word you spoke and the movements you went through in conducting your musicians.\u00a0 Of course, the music possessed the quality that can be enjoyed by everyone who appreciates music by artists. We need more programs like yours to elevate the people\u2019s musical appreciation.<\/p>\n

There seemed to be a consensus, then, that Hanson had a talent for communicating.\u00a0 Such a talent could not help but further the cause of music (as well as that of television), as suggested in another letter to RG&E:<\/p>\n

Dr. Hanson is wonderful at making things clear in his talks.\u00a0 It makes music much more meaningful, and I hope you will continue these programs.\u00a0 This is important in the job of making a larger audience for music.\u00a0 It must always be interesting and not childish or clich\u00e9d or dull, as so many TV things are.<\/p>\n

Hanson had always relished his published speaking opportunities, but if the public\u2019s response to Painting with Sound <\/em>were any indication, the medium of television effectively put his presentation across.\u00a0 Moreover, the medium of network television was still so new as to offer viewers what seemed an intimate experience in their very own spaces.\u00a0 Whereas listening to the radio had engaged only the auditory senses, television offered the picture to accompany the sound, and now a viewer could experience the on-screen speaker being up close and in person:<\/p>\n

I wish I could tell you how very much this house, of five adults, enjoyed Dr. Hanson\u2019s presentation of Painting with Sound<\/em>.\u00a0 To have such a famous musician come into our very own living-room in such an informal friendly way was delightful.\u00a0 But most of all, we appreciated the very beautiful music he and his young musicians brought to us.\u00a0 Thank you — to Dr. Hanson and to R.G.& E. for making his visit possible.<\/p>\n

Not only was Howard Hanson an effective communicator, but the content itself was deemed worth watching.\u00a0 That viewpoint was reflected in letters from numerous viewers who perceived Painting with Sound<\/em> to be on a higher level than other television fare.\u00a0 Those viewers conveyed their appreciation directly to RG&E, who was not only the series\u2019 sponsor, but whose importance in their lives as the provider of their essential gas and electric services was keenly felt.\u00a0 One viewer\u2014identifying herself as an employee of Strong Memorial Hospital\u2014wrote the following:<\/p>\n

I am so happy to see a musical program restoring the meaning and beauty of real music as opposed to that in the popular vein.\u00a0 May I urge you to continue to provide this type of program, and wish you much success throughout this present series, which we appreciate so much.<\/p>\n

Echoing the same sentiment, one hopeful viewer took it a step further with a wish for more:<\/p>\n

In these days of T.V.\u2019s soap operas etc., programs of the type presented by your company are far too few.\u00a0 Perhaps some day we will be fortunate enough to have either the Philharmonic or Civic Orchestra presented on T.V.<\/p>\n

And a vote of confidence from a decidedly satisfied customer:<\/p>\n

During the last 30 years of being one of your \u2018users\u2019 and customers I have always held a great admiration for the magnificent service of your company, and have been most vocal on the subject.\u00a0 Now this fine and dignified method of your public relations (aside from the program itself) should join the admiration and thanks of every intelligent person in the city.<\/p>\n

Still another letter on the same score is worth quoting at length:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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Even though you had not asked for viewer reaction to the RG&E-sponsored program Painting with Sound,<\/em> I would be compelled to send this letter.\u00a0 The program is so completely worthwhile and gratifying that it generates spontaneous reactions of appreciation and approval.\u00a0 (So you see, you generate something besides electricity.)<\/p>\n

This program offers a musical experience that is so delightful and educational, the whole family can watch and listen with fascination and enjoyment.\u00a0 My wife and three children have joined me in seeing these programs and we are looking forward with pleasurable anticipation to future presentations.<\/p>\n

The excellent musicianship of the performers, coupled with the authoritative — though informal and down-to-earth — comments of Dr. Howard Hanson, make these television appearances uniquely rewarding.\u00a0 In this respect, Dr. Hanson, with notable assistance from Don Lyon, provides a happy combination of \u2018long-hair\u2019 and \u2018crew-cut\u2019 that makes good music attractive and understandable to the layman.<\/p>\n

And for yet another grateful RG&E customer, Howard Hanson was indisputably the star of the show:<\/p>\n

For the second time I am constrained to convey to you my appreciation and approval of an R.G.&E. TV program.\u00a0 The Hanson series is simply a national TV-grade attraction. It would be a star number on a nation-wide hookup in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Howard Hanson is really a very great man.\u00a0 He has everything.\u00a0 This down-to-earth approach to music could not have a more skilled and understanding exemplar. \u00a0His development of the theme is not only good music (theory), but is fascinating to see and hear as pure entertainment.<\/p>\n

Taking all of these letters into consideration, an overall impression emerges: viewers perceived in Painting with Sound <\/em>an enjoyable and informing musical visit with Dr. Hanson, comfortably friendly and informal; Hanson the communicator, Hanson the avuncular visitor, Hanson the patient educator who didn\u2019t make it feel educational at all.\u00a0 Rochester television viewers had not previously not seen anything of the kind, and they wanted more.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, one viewer who wrote to Hanson just before Election Day (in a letter dated November 2nd, 1956) expressed her appreciation not only for Painting with Sound<\/em>, but also for Hanson\u2019s own partisan political activity on behalf of President Eisenhower\u2019s re-election that season:<\/p>\n

We were also most happy to have you speak out as you did for Our President, and the wisdom of keeping him in office.\u00a0 Your voice carries much weight because of your position, experience, and character, and I am most grateful that you have used it in President Eisenhower\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 P.S. I refer to your letter published in The Rochester Times Union.<\/em>[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

He had become a public man in many respects, speaking out not only on behalf of music and the other creative and performing arts, but also in the political arena.<\/p>\n

Finally, of the many viewers who reached out directly to Hanson, one letter stands out as perhaps the most touching of all, a particularly warm missive from a viewer who responded to the announcement of the series\u2019 conclusion by addressing Hanson in these personal terms:<\/p>\n

But you must realize also, our extreme gratitude to you; not only for this fine series of programs, but for the luster you have brought to our city; the talent you have molded and crystallized; and the fresh and rewarding understanding of music you have brought to all of us.<\/p>\n

So many of (us) have watched your career from the beginning; from the first \u2018American Composers\u2019 concerts. Yet they did not half portend the magnificent future of the school and yourself. But now that the fame of both is secure, we are happy to boast, \u2018I told you so!\u2019 More than anything else, however, we are grateful for your presence among us. I know I speak for the entire city when I say we are so much richer for it.<\/p>\n

We shall look forward to next week\u2019s program; with pleasure for the music and the understanding of music it brings to us; with regret that it is the last for awhile.\u00a0 I pray you will be with us again very soon — and thank you.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, Painting with Sound <\/em>\u00a0represented the first dedicated television series for both Howard Hanson and the Eastman School of Music.\u00a0 While the series represented a prime opportunity to bring the Eastman School\u2019s high-caliber music-making into local living rooms, and to showcase the Eastman School\u2019s many mighty talents, it\u2019s clear that the endeavor had also marked a personal triumph for Howard Hanson.\u00a0 There would be more prime time television ahead before his retirement from the University of Rochester.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u25ba Dr. Howard Hanson speaking with Mr. Don Lyon, Director of Television and Radio for the University of Rochester, on the set of Painting with Sound<\/em> (WROC-TV).\u00a0 In two shots, members of the Eastman School Chamber Symphony are at the ready with their instruments; in the third shot, Hanson is conducting. \u00a0Photos by Linn Duncan, Rochester, New York. Howard Hanson Collection.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Sol M. Linowitz (1913-2005), Rochester-area attorney and businessman. He originated the public affairs TV program \u201cCourt of Public Opinion\u201d which he also moderated; it ran for eight years (1951-59) on WROC-TV.\u00a0 Mr. Linowitz enjoyed an extensive career with Xerox Corporation and was ultimately named Chairman of the Board in 1960.\u00a0 He went on to serve as an advisor to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter; in particular, he turned in distinguished diplomatic service during the Carter administration.\u00a0 President Clinton awarded him the President Medal of Freedom in 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0 One source states that whereas 80% of network television was broadcast live in 1953, by 1960 that percentage was down to 36%.\u00a0 \u201cTelevision in the United States: The Late Golden Age\u201d online at URL:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/television-in-the-United-States\/The-late-Golden-Age, accessed on 12 October 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> The Eastman String Quartet was a faculty ensemble that would, in 1960, earn the distinction of being the Eastman School\u2019s first ensemble to make an overseas tour.\u00a0 I featured the Eastman String Quartet in a previous entry of \u201cThis Week at Eastman: The View from the Archive\u201d (week of May 9th-15th, 2021).<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> The Rochester Civic Music Association (active 1930-75) was the body that governed the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rochester Civic Orchestra, and other musical activities in the Greater Rochester area.\u00a0 It conducted annual fundraising drives to support these many endeavors.\u00a0 In 1975 it voted itself out of existence with the transition to the Rochester Philharmonic Association, Inc..<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0 The term \u201clong-hair\u201d is not so much in the lexicon today.\u00a0 According to one online dictionary, it means \u201can impractical intellectual\u201d and also \u201ca lover of fine arts\u201d\u2014which can include classical music.\u00a0 At one time, it was decidedly a term of mild derision.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Most significantly, on the Sunday evening prior to the pilot broadcast of Painting with Sound<\/em>, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) had hosted the fifth season pilot of the series Omnibus; <\/em>that pilot was a 90-minute show on the development of the American musical theater. Maestro Bernstein\u2019s seven appearances on Omnibus <\/em>have been commercially released on a DVD set by E1 Entertainment (c2010).\u00a0 Omnibus <\/em>was a public affairs TV program (1952-61) created by the Ford Foundation to be an educational vehicle. \u00a0It was hosted by English-born journalist and commentator Alistair Cooke (1908-2004) in his American television debut; many will remember the late Mr. Cooke as longtime host of the PBS series Masterpiece Theater.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0 The writer was apparently referring to Hanson\u2019s letter to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>which was printed under the caption \u201cHanson Tells Why He\u2019s for Ike\u201d on October 1st, 1956.\u00a0 In that letter Hanson voiced his confidence in Eisenhower\u2019s \u201cability to preserve the peace.\u201d\u00a0 A staunch Republican, Hanson had joined the Citizens for Eisenhower Committee as a private citizen, but his correspondence confirms that his canvassing on behalf of President Eisenhower\u2019s re-election had been conducted on his Eastman School time and using Eastman School letterhead.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On the evening of Saturday, October 13th, 1956, a television series featuring Eastman School musicians made its debut on station WROC-TV (channel 5) in Rochester<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":15248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[20],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-15241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-week-at-eastman","tag-october"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22652,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15241\/revisions\/22652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15241"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}