This accessible volume is both a Canadian biography and a history of music for a period which has not to date been well documented. It adds significant information to the history of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra which currently dates its origins to 1923. The book demonstrates convincingly that the story of the TSO actually began in 1906.
Set lightly amidst Toronto's social and political history, there is considerable documentation about musical activity in Toronto from 1870 until the 1920s. Primary sources are used in abundance as the author has dug deeply into the music journalism of the day.
This period in Toronto's musical development has not been addressed in such detail, and Frank Welsman's story is central to it. Above all, the author seeks to explain how and why the Toronto Symphony Orchestra succeeded as Toronto's first permanent orchestra.
In addition to primary sources, the author has drawn extensively on oral history garnered from various members of Welsman's family.
The book is illustrated with several historic photographs of people and places relevant to the story.
As a major figure in Canada's music history, Frank Welsman has been overlooked. Certainly, the Orchestra that he founded owes him a great deal. He has not had the recognition he so fully deserves.