Ureli Corelli Hill: Founder of the New York Philharmonic

In this installment of ‘Profiles in History,’ we meet a brilliant violinist whose European trip resulted in founding America’s greatest symphony orchestra.

Ureli Coreli Hill, The New York Philharmonic Archives. Public Domain

Ureli Corelli Hill (1802–1875) grew up in a musical household. His father, Uri, taught music in Boston and in New York City and had authored a work entitled “Solfeggio Americano, A System of Singing.” In fact, Hill’s middle name is in reference to his father’s favorite musician, the Italian composer, Arcangelo Corelli. It appears that the works of the 17th-century Italian composer did well in America. Additionally, Hill not only shared the name of Corelli, but shared the same instrument of choice, the violin.

An engraving of a bust of Corelli from the title page of his "Twelve Concerti Grossi," Op. 6, from 1714. Public Domain

Hill’s music career began rather early, performing in 1825 with the renowned Manuel García opera company. He soon joined the New York Sacred Music Society, and, in 1831, he conducted the first American performance of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” (interestingly, Uri named his other son, George Handel Hill).

During the 1830s, Hill’s talent separated him from most, if not all, other American musicians. This separation began with the physical separation from the American homeland to Europe.

Studying in Europe

In 1835, Hill and his wife, Lucinda, began their “long contemplated and greatly wished for voyage across the Atlantic to Europe.” He first arrived in England before making his way into Germany. In Kassel, Germany, Hill began studying under one of the nation’s leading composers and violinists Louis Spohr. Studying under Spohr was Hill’s primary objective for the trip. He did so for nine months, taking 46 lessons “at one dollar per lesson.” During this time, Hill also took 52 lessons from composer, musical theorist, and former Spohr pupil Moritz Hauptmann.

When Hill informed Spohr that he had traveled from America to learn from him, Hill recalled in his diary that “Spohr look‘d upon it as a very novel thing that a person should come from America such a distance, to him. He seem’d rather flattered and pleased by the idea. He might indeed consider it novel, as [Hill was] the first American artist in musick that ever undertook it.”

While in Kassel and proving himself as a violinist, Spohr had him become a member of his orchestra.

During his time in Germany, Hill met the great composer Felix Mendelssohn, one of Spohr’s close friends. Mendelssohn invited Hill to participate in “two grand performances,” one of which was Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Altogether, Hill spent two years in Europe, traveling from London to Rotterdam to Kassel to Dusseldorf, back to London and then a final stop in Paris before returning to America. As The New York Evening Star wrote, Hill was “the first American Musician who has gone to Europe solely with the view of improvement in his profession.” He returned to New York City in the spring of 1837.

Founding the Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic Club, a chamber ensemble of Philharmonic musicians, clowning around for their public-relations photograph in the 1880s. New York Philharmonic Archives. Public Domain

Over the next five years, Hill continued to perform but also advocated for creating a music scene in New York City comparable to what he witnessed in Europe. In 1842, Hill organized a group of local musicians who all voted to establish the Philharmonic Society of New York, with Hill as the music society’s first president. That same year, the group performed its first concert with Hill as its conductor, a position he held until 1847.

For the concert, Hill chose Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (he'd conducted the symphony’s American premiere in 1841). When the concert was finished, The New York Tribune reported that “[t]he musicians almost went wild with delight. … They threw themselves into each other’s arms laughing, weeping and applauding in a breath. The effect on the public … was similar. The enthusiasm was indescribable. The success of the Society was assured at the start.”

Indeed, the success of the Society was assured, as it is now the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. In fact, the New York Philharmonic has performed more concerts than any other symphony orchestra in the world.

A Lasting Legacy

Hill began planning for a “Grand Musical Festival” to be performed in New York City in 1846. The first two composers he sought to conduct the concert were Spohr and Mendelssohn. Spohr declined because it would not be feasible to obtain such a long “furlough” and that he “dare not ask.” Mendelssohn declined due to health reasons, though he noted in his letter that had he been asked a few years prior, he might have been able, but that his “health has seriously suffered during the last year.” Indeed, Mendelssohn’s poor health resulted in his premature death in 1847 at the age of 38. When the musical festival took place, it was conducted by English composer George Loder.

Although Hill was not able to land Spohr or Mendelssohn for the event, the New York Philharmonic engaged or hired the greatest composers and conductors of the last 180-plus years, including Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Arturo Toscanini, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Bruno Walter, George Szell, and Erich Leinsdorf.

The New York Philharmonic, playing a Dvorak concerto. Carey Domb/CC BY-SA 4.0

Unfortunately, the New York Philharmonic did not offer much in the way of financial opportunity. When the California gold rush began, Hill pursued the chance to strike it rich. He did not succeed. He returned to New York City where he continued to play violin for the Philharmonic. He also created a new piano that would never go out of tune. Unfortunately, his creation came around the same time that Steinway & Sons that was founded.

Hill’s efforts in real estate also failed, and, in 1875, led the brilliant musician and musical visionary to his death; he swallowed morphine, leaving a note to be found by his body: “I go, the sooner the better!”

Although Hill may have failed financially, what he established for the country is a lasting legacy to his musical brilliance.

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