Music Meets Drama

  Over the years of working on my Gena Project, the number of surprise moments has never ceased to amaze me.   People contact me whether former members of the Branscombe Choral, relatives of Branscombe Choral members, a researcher who years ago interviewed her in person, relatives of Miss Branscombe and more.   Always these moments take me by surprise since they open new doors of understanding the past and enhance my connection to Gena Branscombe….always. Two weeks ago I received an e-mail from Dr. Derek Strykowski, Associate Teaching Professor, Historical Musicology at the University of Buffalo.   Dr. Strykowski is writing a book about Arthur P. Schmidt, his personal life and career in the music publishing business.   My blog postings extolling the publisher’s passion for promoting American women composers in a day when women were thought to be second class musicians caught Derek’s interest.   Margaret Ruthven Lang, Clara Kathleen Rogers, Gena Branscom...

  Christmas Eve – the year 1906 - classical music was first broadcast on the radio from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.   Over the air-waves people heard a phonograph recording of Handel’s “Largo.” Reginald Fessenden and F.W. Alexanderson were the inventors’ team who created the broadcast with Fessenden closing the program with, “Merry Christmas.”   A few short years later in 1910 Enrico Caruso was heard live from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.   Radio became a major venue for classical music and by 1920 and into the 1930s programs such as “Bell Telephone Hour,” “Voice of Firestone,” and “Cities Service Concerts” filled the air with classical music.    Arturo Toscanini led the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera were heard.  These performances drew large audiences.    Families gathered around their radios to listen to great performances by the top classical musicians of the day. Those 20 years of...

  It only took me three years to complete this particular Gena project.  Three years, yet, I kept at it even though I did take extended breaks at times to work on other Gena projects that needed attention.  Three years……   Yes, for three years I transcribed Gena Branscombe’s letters to her publisher, The Arthur P. Schmidt Co. of Boston.   Held at the Library of Congress, the Schmidt business books, letters to/from all composers they published, photos and more are in the stacks available for research.   Five years ago I photographed every letter Gena Branscombe wrote to Mr. Schmidt, Miss Emery, Miss Allen, Mr. Austin and others at the company.     From December 1910 to December 1951 Gena wrote hundreds of letters to these people.   Forty-one years of handwritten letters almost impossible to decipher at times because of her terrible penmanship and she always wrote in haste….even she admitted that.     In two different lette...

  Binghamton musicians added to the value of events musical in this city yesterday when the Harmony Club presented a program of Gena Branscombe compositions at a musicale in the Monday Afternoon club. With this popular composer as conductor and honor guest, with an audience that taxed the capacity of the clubroom auditorium, and with a well balanced and artistically presented musical menu, the event proved one of those pleasant, artistic hours of music such as gladden the hearts and find instant response in the minds of music lovers. Proof that American music has made marked strides during the last few years is evidenced by the artistry of the Branscombe compositions, full of color and of charm. Vocal and instrumental numbers were interpretated in an interesting manner.   The Binghamton Press, Tuesday evening, February 28, 1928   Among Gena Branscombe’s 1928 letters to her publisher, Mr. Austin, at Arthur P. Schmidt Publishing, is the original newspaper article fro...