Scheel Memorial Tablet
A Tribute
“The man who really made The Philadelphia Orchestra from a musical standpoint is Fritz Scheel. I never knew him personally, but he must have had very high musical ideals. They are evident in everything he did. Also, he must have had a wonderful faculty for choosing the highest type of artists for the orchestra; he set a standard then which has been difficult to live up to musically. Such artists as Rich, Horner, and Schwar (to mention only a few of the many who are still remaining in The Philadelphia Orchestra from Fritz Scheel’s time) are absolutely in the first rank for their instrument, not only in America but in the whole world. It was Scheel’s vision that laid such a wonderful foundation for this orchestra; that was very difficult, but in most cases I feel that we have at last succeeded; but we never can sufficiently recognize the debt we owe to Fritz Scheel; the good work he did and the influence of his ideals seem to live on forever.
Leopold Stokowski.”