Background

George Putnam Upton was born at Roxbury, Massachussets, the eldest of three children of Daniel Putnam and Lydia (Noyes) Upton. His father, a first cousin of George Bruce Upton, was a descendant of John Upton who purchased land in Salem in 1658.

Education

George was educated at the Roxbury Latin School and at Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1854 with the A. M. degree.

Career

During the following winter Upton taught school at Plymouth, Massachussets. In October 1855, he went to Chicago, where he immediately secured a position on the staff of the Native Citizen. Six months later he became city editor of the Chicago Evening Journal. The meager musical life of the young growing city soon drew his attention, and he started the first musical column to appear in a Chicago newspaper, reviewing all the earliest important musical events in the history of the city.

In 1862 he joined the staff of the Chicago Daily Tribune and continued to serve this paper for fifty-seven years in various capacities--first as city editor and warcorrespondent at the front (1862 - 63), then as music critic (1863 - 81), associate editor (1872 - 1905), and editorial writer from 1870 until his death. After 1909 he compiled the Tribune's annual review. He was one of the founders of the Chicago Apollo Musical Club in September 1872 and served as its first president. The first concert of the Club, on January 21, 1873, aroused much enthusiasm and lent new impetus to the musical life of Chicago after the great fire. Starting as a male chorus, it expanded into a mixed chorus, and later developed into one of the leading choral organizations in the West.

In the earlier years of his journalistic experience he was frequently called upon to combine the duties of literary, art, dramatic, and music critic. His work as such coincided with the formative period of Chicago's civic and art life. As he was for sometime the only local critic able to speak with authority, his influence was very great. His position as a music critic was unusual. He had no real background of musical education, played no instrument well, and did not sing, but his natural fondness for music, his literary training, his clear judgment and keen analytical and critical abilities well fitted him for his task. His attitude towards performing artists was a singularly kindly one; he took pains to understand what he was called upon to write about and was unusually free from harshness when he could not praise.

His autobiographic Musical Memories (1908) is a valuable and entertaining record of musical events and personalities, principally in Chicago, extending over a period of a half-century. From the beginning he was a warm friend and enthusiastic supporter of Theodore Thomas, and after the great conductor's death he edited "Theodore Thomas. A Musical Autobiography" (2 volumes, 1905).

Upton's first published work as an author was Letters of Peregrine Pickle (1869). His other workes include Woman in Music (1880, revised editions, 1886, 1909), Standard Operas (1886, and five later revised editions), Standard Oratorios (1887), Standard Cantatas (1888), Standard Symphonies (1889), Standard Light Operas (1902), Musical Pastels (1902), Standard Concert Guide (1908, three later revisions), Standard Concert Repertory (1909), Standard Musical Biographies (1910), In Music Land (1913), and The Song, Its Birth, Evolution, and Functions (1915).

In collaboration with Mrs. G. K. Hack, he published Edouard Remenyi (1906). He also found time to translate for American music lovers Max Muller's Deutsche Liebe with the English title Memories, Theodor Storm's Immensee, and Ludwig Nohl's biographies of Haydn, Liszt, and Wagner. In Life Stories for Young People (1904 - 12), a series of thirty-six small volumes, he published translations of German studies of great historical characters.

He died in Chicago. His remains were cremated and his ashes buried at Danvers, Massachussets.

Achievements

• Upton's local reputation was established by his writings as a music critic, usually under the nom de plume "Peregrine Pickle. " He was also prominent for his notable series of works in the field of musicology, all marked by accuracy of statement and a genial style of expression.

Works

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  • Woman in Music (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Woman in Music Its illustration has been ma...)

  • In Music Land: A Handbook for Young People (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from In Music Land: A Handbook for Young People ...)

  • The Standard Oratorios - Their Stories, Their Music, And Their Composers

    (The Standard Oratorios - Their Stories, Their Music, And ...)

  • Deutsche Liebe. English

    (This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)

  • Theodore Thomas, A Musical Autobiography, Volume I

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Memories: A Story of German Love

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Life of Wagner

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • The Standard Operas

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Musical Memories: My Recollections of Celebrities of the Half Century, 1850-1900 1908

    (Originally published in 1908. This volume from the Cornel...)

Personality

In his personal contacts he was affable, modest, and possessed of a quiet humor.

Connections

Upton was twice married. His first wife, Sarah E. Bliss, of Worcester, Massachussets, to whom he was married on November 15, 1862, died on May 2, 1876. Of their two children one died at birth, the other in 1917. His second wife, Georgiana S. Wood, of Adrian, Michigan, to whom he was married on September 22, 1880, died on October 1, 1927.

Father:

Daniel Putnam Upton

Mother:

Lydia (Noyes) Upton

Spouse:

Sarah E. Bliss

Spouse:

Georgiana S. Wood

Friend:

Theodore Thomas