A Closer Look: Kleinhans Music Hall
By Derek Gee/Buffalo News
Kleinhans Music Hall, designed by the father and son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, was built between 1938 and 1940 to be the permanent home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Its construction was funded in part by a $1 million gift from department store magnate Edward Kleinhans and in part with money from the Works Progress Administration. It ranks as a signature architectural achievement, complementing the curves of Frederick Law Omsted’s streetscape, suggesting the shape and form of a musical instrument and capturing Goethe’s notion of architecture as “frozen music.”
The view looking up from the stage. Kleinhans is named after Edward and Mary Seaton Kleinhans, owners of a famous clothing store who died within months of each other in 1934. The hall was completed using money from the Depression-era Public Works Administration. By Derek Gee/Buffalo News