Gentlemen, More Dolce, Please!: (Second Movement) An Irreverent Memoir of Thirty-five Years in the Boston Symphony Orchestra

by Harry Ellis Dickson

Book by Dickson, Harry Ellis

Genres: Music

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful look at life as a professional musician during the mid-twentieth century. Highly recommended for musicians and music lovers!

[Alan Tolbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and illuminating memoir of orchestra life in the 20th century. A perfect template for such a book, with tons of saucy stories and quotes. Not without many dated references to orchestra culture of the day.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is certainly a dated version of tales from the Symphony, it was very special to read. My grandfather was a member of the BSO for 43 years and retired in the mid-1970s. This book brought to life the daily experiences the Symphony members had and created images of the people that he worked with for years. There were multiple instances where I laughed out loud when Dickson relayed stories of "absent-minded members" and the travails of undertaking a large concert tour. It was a great read and I feel like I know much more now than I did before. Incidentally, I read my grandfather's copy of the book, now beginning to mildew, with an inscription from Dickson himself.

[Alison Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you feel the need for a trip back in time to the early 1960's this is the book for you. Harry Ellis Dickson rambles about the "men" of the orchestra even with a small aside that once they started doing blind auditions four women became members. Hilarious imitation(I'm guessing) of Serge Koussevitsky. Lots of stereotypes of orchestra members. But, somewhere in all this are some interesting thoughts on ensemble music playing

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, but not as good as I'd hoped. Interesting stories, but written about the sexist era of the orchestra, before women were allowed.