On July 2, 1947 Boston Pops Maestro Arthur Fiedler Marks the 75th Anniversary of World Peace Jubilee on the Esplanade

Arthur Fiedler, Courtesy of Digital Commonwealth

On July 2, 1947, Boston Pops Conductor Arthur Fiedler and his orchestra held a giant concert on the Charles River Esplanade in celebration of Independence Day. More than 35,000 people attended the free concert.

The concert was celebrated the 75th anniversary of the World Peace Jubilee and International Music Festival held in 1872, led by famed Irish-born impresario Patrick S. Gilmore.

Admission ticket to the World Peace Jubilee, 1872

According to reporter Cyrus Durgin, writing in The Boston Globe, “Mr. Fiedler has asked for people to volunteer as participants in the “Anvil Chorus” from “Il Trovatore” by Verde and in the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s oratorio, "Messiah." Both these pieces had been on that festival program of 1872.”

Fiedler was apparently swamped with hundreds of letters, postcards and phone calls. He selected 38 of the best singers to lead the chorus, along with the rest of the audience..

Coliseum for the World Peace Jubilee in 1872

The orchestra played a number of other songs from the 1872 Jubilee, including “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” Beethoven’s “Leonore” overture No 3, a couple of waltzes by Strauss, who had attended the 1872 Jubilee, and “The Star Spangled Banner.”

P.S. Gilmore

In tribute to Irishman Gilmore and the large population of Irish living in Boston, Fiedler also included “The Last Rose of Summer,” “The Irish Washerwoman,” “The Rakes of Mallow,” and Gilmore’s own composition, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”

And finally, folk dancing troupes representing various ethnic groups that had settled in Boston were included, such as The Thompson Troup of Highland Dancers, The Swedish Folk Dance Club of Boston, The Arzrouni Armenian Folk Group, the Starlets of the Emerald Isle, the Lithuanian Folk Dance Troupe of Boston, the Greek Folk Dance Group and the Boston Krakowianki Club.

Fiedler was Boston Pops conductor from 1930-1979, and the first American-born musician to lead the orchestra. During his 49 years at the helm, Fiedler established the Boston Pops as a national icon.

Fielder conducted the first July 4th Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade on July 4, 1929 and it has remained a tradition ever since.

Read about Keith Lockhart, current Maestro of the Boston Pops.

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