City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America

by Donald L. Miller

And in the summers he gave wonderful garden concerts in Chicago at the big, airy Exposition Building by the lake. It was “the only cool place in town,” a Chicagoan recalls the atmosphere of these light concerts, “[with] palms and… little tables, [and] dim sequestered reaches at the sides and back of the floor, where quietly glowed the cigar and foamed the beer,” while from the stage came the strains of “The Beautiful Blue Danube.” In this way, Thomas educated countless thousands of people, in delicious small portions, to the masterworks of symphonic music. He did this without cheap tricks or theatrics, his back always to the audience, in a gesture that seemed to say, “Shut your eyes and hear the great music of the world.”