LOUIS ELSBERG

Background

Louis Elsberg was born at Iserlohn, Prussia, the son of Nathan and Adelaide Elsberg.

Education

Brought to Philadelphia by his parents in 1849, he graduated with honor at the high school in 1852; and after two years’ experience as teacher in an academy at Winchester, Virginia, began the study of medicine at Jefferson Medical College, from which he received his degree in 1857.

Upon his return to the United States he settled in New York and joined the faculty of the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, holding the first course of lectures on diseases of the throat in 1861 and conducting the first public clinic for the same in the year follow.

Career

Moving to New York City, he held for a time the position of resident physician at the Mt. Sinai Hospital, in 1859 was one of the editors of the North American Medical Reporter, and then went to Europe for postgraduate study. He was fortunate in being a member of the first instruction class of Professor Czermak of Vienna in the then new art of laryngoscopy upon which is based the practise of laryngology. His fellow members, Storck, Tiirck, Lewin, and Semeleder, all, like himself, became eminent as pioneers. His many lectures on music helped to make him known throughout the United States and Canada. These were principally devoted to the various national schools of music and folk-songs, and partly to analyses of works given at symphonic and other concerts. His Boston municipal lectures deserve more than passing mention for their value in educating the musical taste of the public. These were given at public halls and school-houses in connection with concerts by a small but excellent orchestra and occasional soloists. No admission was charged, so large audiences attended, and showed marked attention and desire to learn. The programs, arranged in part by the lecturer, began with the simpler and more melodious classics of Mozart, Schubert, and others which were duly analyzed before the performance, and progressed through the music of Beethoven, the romanticists, the operatic composers, the Liszt-Wagner period, to some modernists. As a teacher Elson joined the New England Conservatory of Music in 1880. There he soon took charge of the Theory Department, which he developed from meager dimensions to a full and thorough course, equal to that given by the best European conservatories. It included a careful study of musical form and analysis which opened up to the students a wider view in the wonderland of musical appreciation and understanding, supplemented by two sets of lectures, one treating the orchestral instruments and their use and the other dealing with musical history and the lives of great composers. This course, given for forty years, made Elson known and appreciated by thousands of students in all parts of the country, who have carried on his educational work in this field and aimed for his high standard. In addition to his educational works he wrote some music and libretti for operettas and a number of poems of no mean order. His many books are a notable testimony to his scholarly erudition. A memorial tablet was placed in the New England Conservatory of Music, where he served so long and faithfully, teaching up to the very day of his death.

Achievements

• In 1865 his essay, Laryngoscopal Surgery Illiistrated in the Treatment of Morbid Growths within the Larynx, published the following year, was awarded a gold medal by the American Medical Association as an epoch-making contribution to a new subject. His many lectures on music helped to make him known throughout the United States and Canada.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Throat and It's Functions

    (The Throat and it's Functions is an unchanged, high-quali...)

  • The Throat And Its Functions In Swallowing, Breathing And The Production Of The Voice. ... Illus

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Archives of Laryngology, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Archives of Laryngology, Vol. 2 Examining t...)

  • Archives of Laryngology, Vol. 4 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Archives of Laryngology, Vol. 4 G P putnam'...)

Personality

His popularity as a lecturer was due to his genial personality, commanding presence, ingratiating voice and style of delivery, added to his thorough mastery of the subject in hand. He was able to hold the close attention of his audience, occasionally relieving the serious side of his lecture by a touch of humor or light, appropriate comment or anecdote. As an after-dinner speaker he was noted for his wit and felicity of expression.

Connections

In 1873 he married Bertha Lissner, who survived him with their son, Arthur Elson.

Father:

Nathan Elsberg

Mother:

Adelaide Elsberg

Wife:

Bertha Lissner

Son:

Arthur Elson