The Interlochen Theme is a cherished part of Interlochen Arts Camp, heard dozens of times every summer across the campus.
The Theme has been a part of camp for nearly 100 years. Its first use was in the summer of 1931, which was the fourth season of what was then called the National Music Camp.
The July 19, 1931 program book from Interlochen's National Music Camp announced the premiere of the theme as follows:
Image text transcript: The exquisite melody which the orchestra played as the first strain of the opening 1931 broadcast over NBC Saturday evening, July 11, was the slow theme from the first movement of the Romantic Symphony No. 2 and has been given to Dr. Maddy by its composer, Doctor [Howard] Hanson, for the exclusive use of the Camp as its permanent broadcasting signature. As the work was begun by Dr. Hanson here at Interlochen during his 1928 visit, it seems a lovely bit of sentiment that this perfect excerpt should go forth as a herald to the world each week from the source of its inception.
Howard Hanson began the composition of his Symphony no. 2 during the summer of 1928, when he was on the faculty during the inaugural season of Interlochen's National Music Camp.
Nearly 50 years later, Hanson told his biographers of the symphony, "I wanted to write something that was warm and young, vigorous and youthful."
Hanson's complete Symphony no. 2 premiered in the fall of 1930 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky. In fact, Koussevitzky had commissioned the piece from Hanson in celebration of the BSO's fiftieth anniversary.
The second-ever orchestral performance of Hanson's Symphony no. 2 took place at Interlochen's National Music Camp the following summer, at which time Hanson also gave the Interlochen Theme to Joe Maddy and the Camp.
Radio broadcasts of student performances from Interlochen first took place in 1930 on the CBS network, but in 1931, the concerts were broadcast on NBC and Interlochen added new radio facilities to its campus.
Image text transcript: Last year's broadcasting experience convinced us that it is not practicable to house the control mechanism in the same building with the performing organizations when these organizations are as large as the National High School Orchestra and Band. Vibrations carried through the timbers set the microphones jumping and interfere with the "pickup," so we decided to build a new building especially for broadcasting purposes. The new control room is located just back of the center of the stage, with about four feet of space between the walls of the two buildings.
Double glass windows afford the operators a full view of the stage and of the small studio on the opposite side without danger of sound interference. The new building is of special construction with asphalt floor laid on concrete and sound-proof insulation throughout. When broadcasting several panels are removed from the back wall of the stage, revealing the windows through which the engineers and the conductors converse by sign language throughout every broadcast.
Needless to say no visitors are permitted back stage during broadcasting though there is no objection to visitors watching the broadcast performance from the audience benches providing they remain quiet. Programs are broadcast every Saturday evening from 7:00 to 7:30 Central Standard Time, beginning July 11th, over the NBC network.
Between the new facilities and the use of Hanson's Interlochen Theme as the "permanent broadcasting signature," radio broadcasts from the National Music Camp in 1931 were significantly more polished than what had been attempted the previous summer.
During the 1930s, Hanson's Interlochen Theme was used at both the beginning and the end of the radio broadcasts from Camp. It was performed on the stage by the ensemble that was giving the concert.
A 1934 letter from Miss Jane Monroe, a radio listener from Dutchfield Farms in Thompsonville, Conn., praised the use of the theme on both ends of the radio broadcast, as well as the high school orchestra's complete performance of Hanson's Symphony no. 2 during that broadcast.
Image text transcript (excerpt): For the last weeks I have listened to your precious concerts via radio with extreme joy and pleasure, but most especially have I thrilled with the Howard Hanson opening and closing theme.
I safely say that this particular selection and its rendition is the most beautiful of all passages. I have camped in northern Michigan woods myself and have heard the sough of the pine, the thunder of the storm and the beauty-call of the sunset over a placid lake. This passage expresses the peace and charm of all this.
How I anticipate each Monday evening at 10:00, chiefly for your opening strains but also for the excellent programs which always follow.
The Interlochen Theme's use as a "broadcasting signature" at the beginning and end of the NBC radio broadcasts meant that the announcers read the credits and introductions over the theme while it was being played on stage.
A July 19, 1936 script, reproduced in the National Music Camp's program book, indicates that the announcer read the concert introduction and credits over the music.
The earliest surviving audio evidence of a radio announcer reading credits over the Interlochen Theme during a broadcast comes from an August 15, 1937 concert.
NBC announcer Bill Kephart read the following script at the broadcast's conclusion:
Image text transcript: (THROUGH MUSIC) As the music of another of these sunset symphonies from the National Music Camp at Interlochen, fades into the stillness of night, we wish that the melody of stars and sky, lakes and forest might linger on the hearts of our great unseen audience. In a very few minutes these young musicians who have been playing for you, will have returned to their quarters and the peace and calm of a northern night will descend once more on the Camp.
We invite you to be with us next Sunday for the closing concert of the summer series from the National Music Camp. Until then we bid you goodnight. This broadcast has come to you through the National Broadcasting Company.
Live radio broadcasts from Interlochen Arts Camp continue well into the 21st century. Each summer, Interlochen Public Radio broadcasts the World Youth Symphony Orchestra concerts live, continuing a nearly century-long tradition.
Interlochen now has its own radio station, instead of relying on NBC or other regional services. The Interlochen Theme is now performed only at the conclusion of the radio broadcasts, not at the beginning and end.
Hanson's theme has endured, imprinting itself on a new group of campers every summer. It is living up to its initial designation as Interlochen's "permanent broadcasting signature."
