Arthur Fiedler

Arthur Fiedler was a giant of classical music in America for more than 50 years known especially as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. His crowd-pleasing approach sometimes annoyed critics but audiences loved the way he made classical music more accessible and he and the Pops sold millions of albums over the decades. He was the first to record George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' in its entirety and his catalogue extended to Dmitri Tiomkin's score for the 1946 film 'Duel in the Sun', an album of songs by The Beatles and several seasonal recordings.

Born in Boston, his Austrian father, a violinist, moved the family back to Vienna in 1910 and then to Berlin where Fiedler studied with Willy Hess at the Royal Academy of Music. With the outbreak of World War I, the family returned to America and he played violin with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He formed his own chamber music orchestra, the Boston Sinfonietta, in 1924 and began his warm relationship with local audiences through outdoor concerts that were free of charge. In 1930 he became conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra and remained in that position until his death aged 84.