In the spring of 1945, Richard F. French '37, assistant professor of Music, was Technical Sergeant Richard F. French, cryptographic technician 805, stationed in Paris. For ten weeks, French got up early Sunday mornings and stood in line for a ticket to the 5:30 p.m. concerts of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, then conducted by Charles Munch, Finally, he wrote a letter to A. Tillman Merritt, professor of Music and now chairman of the Music Department asking, "have you ever heard of a conductor named Charles Munch? He seems to me to be the logical choice to succeed Koussevitzky in Boston."

A year later, in the spring of 1946, the now defunct New York newspaper PM published a music column written by "Nostradamus," which attempted to predict the quality of coming musical events. In his final column of the year, discussing the 1946-47 season of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Nostradamus warned his readers to watch out for a conductor named Charles Munch. His success will be immediate and enormous, he predicted.

Both of these statements about Munch have now been fulfilled, but to the average American concertgoer, the new conductor of the Boston Symphony is still the unknown that he was in the early '40s.

When Munch arrives here next fail, Bostonians will meet a distinguished-looking man of great personal charm and sociability. His success with the all-important ladies around an orchestra seems assured. Although his spoken English is at the moment extremely tentative, his French manner more than makes up for it. (In France, affectionate females dubbed him "le beau Charles," and from all signs, the Boston press is not going to let him forget it.)

First Years Hard

During the first years, however, Munch's critical treatment probably won't be too gentle. Most Boston critics are just as provincial as Boston society. For 25 years they have been accustomed to one way of doing things, and the shift will be a tough one. Already, snide little references have appeared in Boston papers. Rudolph Elie of the Herald, for instance, fears that absolute disaster will result if Munch should dare to reseat the Orchestra.

In more informed circles, most people are optimistic. A few members of Harvard's Music Department are looking for-ward to Munch's arrival with frank relief. And while this attitude may not be characteristic of most members of the Department, it is certain that almost all those who have heard Munch conduct predict a great deal of fresh, interesting music for Boston audiences next year.

Munch's training for a musical career started almost from his birth. This event took place at Strasbourg in 1891 at a time when the Alsace was part of Germany. But, as Munch explains it, "true Alsatians have always remained French, as the country itself has remained a French province ..." His father, Ernest Munch, was organist at Strasbourg, professor at its Conservatory, and founder of the celebrated choir of St. Guillaume. The organist of that church at one time was Albert Schweitzer, author of the great work on Bach. He is a relative and close friend of Munch, and participated in the eight-day Bach Festival at Strasbourg which Munch conducted in June, 1947.

Munch received an extensive musical education from his parents, but this was directed towards his becoming a violinist, not a conductor. It was not untill relatively late in life that he began to conduct. In 1919, Munch was appointed professor at the Conservatory and concertmaster of the Municipal Orchestra in his native city--Strasbourg. This orchestra is now conducted by his brother Fritz.

Then followed several years of training in orchestra leading from such men as Bruno Walter, Fritz Busch, and, chiefly, Furtwangler. He was eventually offered a high-salaried position at the Gewandhaus at Leipzig, but only under the condition that he become a German citizen. Since Much was disturbed by the political makeup of Germany at the time, he decided to return to France, explaining to friends he "just wanted to come back home."

In 1932, he made his official debut as conductor, and soon received invitations from all over Europe. Then in 1935, he was appointed head of the Paris Philharmonic, and three years later became the conductor of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, France's oldest and one of the world's best.

World War Problems

During the Second World War, Munch faced the same problems which confronted all musicians in occupied countries, and came up with what many people consider the most intelligent solution. To protect the members of his orchestra, he was obliged to continue conducting and thus keep a foreign conductor out. He defended his musicians from possible capture by the Germans on political grounds, and did not allow investigations of religious or racial backgrounds. At first he refused to conduct before Nazi audiences at all, but when obliged to go so, he accepted his fees and turned them over to the Resistance. He was asked to conduct at the Opera by its director, Jacques Rouche, but refused because of the many known collaborators associated with the organization. Munch has been made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for his services to French music.

The end of the occupation gave Munch his chance to get the world-wide reputation he did not have time to acquire before 1939. He was the first conductor invited across the Channel, and soon after he was touring Europe, South America, Palestine, and Egypt.

Munch was invited to the United States first by the New York Philharmonic, but because of booking confusions, he made his American debut in Boston. (This is probably the principal reason why today he is conductor of the Boston Symphony and not the New York Philharmonic.