Meanwhile Dr. Leopold Damrosch in 1878 founded the Symphony Society of New York with the avowed purpose of breaking away from the established conservatism of the Philharmonic and exploring newer fields of musical composition. Dr. Damrosch conducted the orchestra until his death in 1885, when he was succeeded by his son Walter. At first the society gave only twelve concerts yearly but its activities gradually increased until it was giving about one hundred--its average for the last ten years. These include extended tours throughout the United States and Canada. The career of the Symphony Society has not been without vicissitudes. For many years after the death of Dr. Damrosch it had to fight a discouraging struggle against lack of interest and of financial backing. In 1899 Walter Damrosch retired from the fight and devoted himself to composition; but in the following year he went to the Metropolitan as conductor of German opera, and apparently the experience revived his ambitions as a conductor. After he retired from the Metropolitan he succeeded in obtaining a subsidy for the Symphony Society from a number of prominent New York citizens. Since then the fortunes of the organization have been in the ascendant and they were definitely assured in the spring of 1914 when its president, Mr. H. H. Flagler, announced 'that in order to further its artistic aims, he was prepared for the future to defray any deficit of the society up to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars annually.' Though the prime purpose of the New York Symphony is to produce important novelties, it has always rested its program on the foundation of the classics. Dr. Damrosch was a devoted lover of Beethoven, and it was entirely in accordance with his ideals that the society, in 1907, gave the first Beethoven festival in America. Many of the symphonic works of Brahms, Tschaikowsky, Sibelius, and Elgar were given their first performances in America by the Symphony Society and the first Brahms festival in this country was given by it in 1912. As if to complete the society's identification with the trio of immortal 'B's,' Mr. Damrosch has shown lately a large devotion to the works of Bach. Since 1907 the society has given much attention to the modern French school and has introduced New York to many compositions of Debussy, Dukas, Enesco, Chausson, and Ravel.