Hale, Philip

1854-

Born in Norwich, Vt. He was remarkable as a child for his musical talent, as a boy playing the organ of the Unitarian Church, Northampton, Mass. He studied law at Yale, graduating in 1876, and was admitted to the Albany bar in 1880. He also studied music with Dudley Buck, later going to Europe, where he studied organ under Haupt, Faizst, Rheinberger and Gtülmant; composition under Rheinberger, Guilmant, Urban and Bargiel; piano with Raif and Scholz. He was married in 1884, at Berlin, to Irene Baumgras, of Washington, the celebrated pianist and composer. Returning to America, he held the following appointments: 1879 to 1882, organist of St. Peter's. Albany, 1887 to 1889, at St. John's, Troy, 1889, of First Religious Society of Roxbury, Mass; and 1887 to 1889, conductor of the Schubert Male Chorus Club. He was musical critic for the Boston Home Journal, Boston Post, Boston Journal, has been, since 1897, editor of the Boston Musical Record; and from 1892 to 1898, Boston correspondent of the Musical Courier, New York. He has given lectures on musical subjects at Columbia University, New York, and in other cities. Hale is known as one of the most forceful and brilliant writers for the American musical press; his articles in the Looker-on, Musical Review, Music Herald, etc., are valuable contributions to musical literature, as well as being interesting for the humor they contain.