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"Lone Ranger" on the radio while he
was sitting for it) and later dedicated a
chapel in Cutler Union to him-chose
in his eightieth year to commemorate
his name in the new Howard Hanson
Recital Hall at the School, created
from an area which, Hanson recalled
in his remarks on that occasion, was
once Classroom 406, where he had
taught freshman theory fifty years
before.
Hanson birthdays were annual
causes for celebration, and clipping
files carry frequent references, during
the years when he was director, to parties
given him by his students. In later
years neighborhood youngsters took
over in marking the day, and on at
least one October 28, the Hanson
house and garden were festooned with
balloons and pumpkins as an affectionate
Happy Birthday to "Uncle
Howard."
An eighty-fifth birthday concert had
been planned for this year. With
regret, this concert will now be
presented instead as a memorial
tribute. It is scheduled for the Eastman
Theatre on Wednesday evening, October
28.
When Howard Hanson retired, an
old friend, CliffCarpenter, at that
time editor ofthe Democrat & Chronicle,
presented a talk at a farewell dinner
that ended this way:
"It is not simply that in his own
book ofvalues Dr. Hanson places a
violin above a sports car, a symphony
above a barbecue pit, and a prayer
above the latest sex movie. What
counts is that he pronounces his values
openly and unashamedly. So he
becomes a standard bearer to whom we
can rally when and ifwe too answer the
cry in our souls for something more
than the sports car, the barbecue pit,
and the sex movie.
"As a society ages, it justifies and
equivocates and excuses the worst
under the heading ofmaturity and
sophistication. We so terribly need the
passionate voice and the almost
unreasoning stubbornness ofthe
idealist. We have been lucky to have
had Howard Hanson with us for so
many years.... He gave us a song
and a prayer; and we cannot live
without either. "
8
"It's unheard of for them to name anything for a composer instead of a general or a politician,"
Hanson said when the City of Rochester named this plaza for him in 1975. At the dedication, he
conducted Eastman School performers in the amphitheater overlooked by a hundred-foot space
frame.
Eightieth birthday celebration, October 28,1976. Members ofthe Eastman Philharmonia,
whom Hanson had led on the European tour fifteen years before, carne back to play for him at
the birthday concert.