Sigma Alpha Iota

8 Winter 2025 • sai-national.org Cposers On December 6, 1929, my grandfather Arthur oms, baritone soloist, sang the role of King Ahasuerus in a production of William Bradbury's Esther, the Beautiful Queen, under the direction of Dr. Martin Lochner. It was one of three performances noted in Lochner's private pocket ledger: 12/6/29, Proviso High School (fundraiser for Grace Lutheran Church); 10/19/30, Cort eater; and 11/23/30, Apollo eater, Chicago. e Grace Lutheran performance also included a number of family members, significantly his son and my father William, then thirteen years old, who was a page in the production. My grandfather was a noted baritone soloist from 1920–1955, singing in the Chicago Symphony Chorus and area choirs and octets. My father was also a baritone soloist, from 1945– 1980, singing in many performances of Bach's Cantatas and Passions, Mendelssohn's works, and Handel's Messiah. My father kept a scrapbook of both their musical performances, and so the December 6 Esther and two newspaper articles on the performance have been preserved. I was curious to learn more about Bradbury and Esther, the Beautiful Queen, and why a Lutheran church in 1929 selected it for three elaborate fundraiser concerts. I have done significant research into Bradbury's Esther, and purchased a first edition of the work from 1856. I searched the internet, consulted the William B. Bradbury Collection at the Library of Congress [ML31.B7], and read the scholarly research of Dr. Juanita Karpf. Of particular note are Karpf 's A-R Edition of William Bradbury's "Esther, the Beautiful Queen," and From Biblical Book to Musical Megahit: William B. Bradbury's Esther, the Beautiful Queen (University Press of Mississippi, 2023). Esther became, as Bradbury scholar Dr. Karpf characterized it, a "musical megahit" in the 19 th century. William Batchelder Bradbury was committed to universal music literacy and community music-making. He was a total music man: educator, composer, conductor, writer, singer, organist, businessman, promoter, and publisher. He devoted his career to composing and disseminating accessible music to the general public. He was also an astute businessman who took advantage of the groundswell of interest in music education by promoting the sales of his instructional pieces. He published hundreds of secular and sacred works, including over 900 hymns. Many of these hymns are still known today: "Just As I Am," "He Leadeth Me," "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," and "Jesus Loves Me." He also contributed numerous articles on church music, composition technique, and music education to periodicals. He was an active singer, organist, and conductor, organizing large choral concerts and institutes for aspiring music teachers. Alongside his brother, he owned a piano manufacturing company. By 1840, Bradbury had established himself in New York City, where he offered singing classes for children and served as a church organist and choir director. He traveled to Europe in July 1847 for further music instruction, becoming one of the first American musicians to study abroad. Esther, the Beautiful Queen For the most part, Esther can be sung and performed by amateurs. It is eclectic, popular, and accessible. It has a mixture of Stephen Foster simple tunefulness, some imitative Handelian dramatic musical moments, and a popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta style. As I looked over the king's part, I could see and hear my grandfather singing some of the recitatives and arias. One in particular he would have relished: a duet with Haman where he laughs and sings, celebrating More Composer Discoveries William Bradbury's Esther, the Beautiful Queen and a Thoms Family Affair By Hollis Thoms Arthur Thoms, baritone soloist Arthur Thoms, baritone soloist

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