USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 77
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As an entertainer he is able to hold all classes. A well-known critic says Professor Blakeslee is not a mere mechanical automaton, but is in touch and sympathy with all music. To him song is indeed the sincerest and most natural expression of the soul's emotions.
Charles E. Clemens,
Was born in Plymouth, England, in 1858. At the age of eleven years he held the position of organist at Christ Church in Davenport. From that time on he has been in the constant service of the church, either in England, Germany or America. Although the piano has always been so faithfully studied by him that his ability as a pianist is recognized to be as great as his ability as an organist, he was inclined from the first to fathom the mysteries of the organ, and used to spend all his holidays and leisure hours, when a boy, making the acquaintance of the organists in the cathedral towns of England, studying the instruments and drinking in the inspiration of the environment. Although in England he was known almost equally well as pianist, choral director and organist, circumstances as he has matured seem to have pushed him ever on toward a special career as an organist.
Mr. Clemens studied in England under Dr. Samuel Weeks, Dr. Bridge, Dr. Martin, Ernst Pauer, and was a pupil of the Royal College of Music. His busy career in the west of England as organist, pianist and choral direc- tor suddenly came to an end when his health gave out under the strain. After a long and severe illness, Mr. Clemens went to Berlin, under doctor's counsel, for a change and rest. He intended to return to England when he had recuperated, but the enthusiastic music lovers of Berlin, who heard the stranger play, willed otherwise. While on his vacation he CHARLES E. CLEMENS played at the Royal Chapel, the place of wor- ship attended by the late Empress Friedrich and her family, and this led to his permanent engagement there. To the last the Empress was a warm admirer of the successful English organist, and it was by her special permission that Mr. Clemens soon inaugurated the series of organ recitals at St. George's Chapel, which made him famous throughout Berlin. Not only did the Empress always attend them and stay to congratulate her favorite organist, but all serious students of the organ in the Ger- man capital were accustomed to be present as regularly as they took place.
At the same time Mr. Clemens accepted a position in the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatorium, where he taught during his stay in Berlin. He was the only Englishman ever invited to teach in this exclusive German school. While teaching there, he wrote his great work on pedal technique, a standard in Europe and becoming more and more widely used in this country.
It was through his position as teacher in the Conservatorium that the influences began working which finally brought Mr. Clemens to this country. All the American organists
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who went to the noted Conservatorium for higher study became his pupils, and they so per- sistently urged him to take up his abode in the United States that he finally arranged to do so. The Empress Friedrich was greatly disappointed at his decision, as it was her fond- est hope that Mr. Clemens would found a school in Germany for the teaching of the organ after his own methods. After six years of the most flattering success in Berlin, Mr. Clemens set sail for the United States. Engagements in a number of cities were available, but he finally decided to begin his American career in Cleveland. Entirely without the usual modern methods of bombastic advertising, which is repugnant to the nature of the man, Mr. Clemens rapidly arose to practical leadership in the musical life of his new home city, and, indeed, of all Northern Ohio.
Of his career in Cleveland, the Plain Dealer of February 18th, 1900, said: "Mr. Clemens is in some respects a unique figure in the city's musical life. He is not indigenous to the soil, but has slipped so quietly and naturally into his place that the music-loving public has come to accept him as a matter of course, and to forget that he has been in this country but a comparatively short time. So quietly and modestly, indeed, has he taken his high place here, that it is a safe hazard that but few know that Mr. Clemens has a reputation in Europe scarcely second to any. Professor Klindworth, head of the famous Klindworth- Scharwenka Conservatorium in Berlin, in accepting the dedication of a work by Clemens on pedal technique, writes : 'It is a work of great merit, and worthy of such a perfect player and master of the organ as you are.' High praise certainly, but what wonder when the young Englishman had a professional engagement as organist when only eleven years old."
Scarcely any phase of Cleveland's musical life is there which Mr. Clemens' influence has not touched directly or indirectly. He first became known as an organist and choir director at St. Paul's, the leading Episcopal church in the city. He found a quartette choir there, but soon had a vested mixed choir of thirty-five trained voices, which have won an enviable and more than local renown. It was not long until the educators of the city recognized in Mr. Clemens a scholar, as well as a master musician, and he is now con- nected with the Western Reserve University as a lecturer on musical history, and professor of theory and composition. His work at the University has given Dr. Clemens a name which well rounds out his reputation as a many-sided and deep musician and scholar.
The rapid strides made by the Singers' Club, the largest and most ambitious male chorus in Cleveland, since Mr. Clemens became its conductor, attests his ability in that direction and his popularity in that role bids fair to rival that won for him previously by his organ recitals at St. Paul's, which have become a feature of Cleveland's musical life.
Mr. Clemens has composed extensively, but, with the exception of church music, most of that which has been published is of the utilitarian kind-that which as been prompted by the requirements of his work as a teacher, such as schools for the organ, piano etudes and works on harmony. Of these the most important and most widely known is his work on Pedal Technique, already mentioned, which was published by Breitkopf & Hartel while the author was resident in Berlin. This is a standard in Europe, and is already well known in this country. Another and very important work, entitled "Modern School for the Organ," has just been issued by Schirmer & Co., and has already received the warm endorsement of the leading organists of England and America. It promises to do much towards extending Mr. Clemens' already wide reputation in the organ world.
Of Mr. Clemens' organ recitals the critics, both in Cleveland and elsewhere in the United States have been enthusiastic in their expressions of appreciation. He has always consistently refused to cater in the least to popular taste where that meant to lower his standards of legitimate work, but the results have been a vindication of his belief that the
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masses do not necessarily demand sensationalism. He has proved time and time again that legitimacy and conscientiously high standards do not mean an uninterested audience, pro- vided justice is done the programme in its performance.
Mr. Clemens' engagement in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition was one of the most successful of the series. The Musical Courier of July 17th gives a sketch of Mr. Clemens, and adds the following concerning his recitals at Buffalo: "His programmes showed thoughtful care. Each number, a gem from some noted composer, afforded as wide a range as possible, and Mr. Clemens' technique and registration leave nothing to be desired. He is a magnetic musician, carrying his audience with him, and the applause he received was his just due."
The Buffalo Express said: "Mr. Clemens gave three recitals, which were greatly enjoyed. His clean, smooth technique, his exquisite coloring, his dexterity in handling the huge organ, and his legitimate organ programmes, all won for him the respect and admira- tion of the critics, as well as the approval of the general audience. Mr. Clemens played two highly interesting pedal etudes from his practice work on the organ, 'Modern Pedal Technique."
An interesting and unusual incident which happened in the course of the Buffalo recitals is thus told by the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "A Cleveland man was the hero of one of the most interesting incidents of the season at the Pan-American Exposition, and there were doubtless many Cleveland people who enjoyed it. The setting was so unusual that those who were present will not soon forget it. Mr. Charles E. Clemens, organist at St. Paul's Church, was engaged to give several recitals upon the immense organ in the Temple of Music. On the Sunday afternoon he gave one of the series and in the evening returned to practice in the deserted Temple. A storm came up, and the doors of the Temple were thrown open to give the crowds shelter. Mr. Clemens kept on playing, practicing this or that as he chose, without regard to the presence of the unexpected audience. Then sud- denly the storm put the electric lights out, and the player and listeners were in total dark- ness. In order to still the alarm of the more nervous, the Cleveland man kept on playing, apparently undisturbed by the fact that neither keys, pedals nor stops could be seen. When he stopped, the great mass of refugees who had completely filled the huge Temple broke forth in applause, and would not allow their invisible entertainer to close his impromptu programme. Playing thus from memory, or improvising, Mr. Clemens kept on in the dark- ness for over two hours, until finally the lights were turned on. Inspired by the sudden illumination, the organist struck up "America " Instantly the spirit of the vast audience was stirred, and they sang the grand National hymn as it has seldom been sung. Over two thousand voices rose in splendid volume, and almost drowned the great organ which led them. An enthusiastic musician from far away in Texas said afterwards: 'Why, it was the best thing of the Exposition. I would have taken the long trip from Texas for that one thrilling experience.' Mr. Clemens thoroughly enjoyed it, too. His engagement at the Exposition was very successful."
J. S. Van Cleve, Ph. D.,
Of Cincinnati, and Troy, Ohio, a musician and critic of National fame, was born at Maysville, Kentucky, in 1851. His father, a well-known clergyman of the M. E. Church and a Mason of eminence, being a prelate of the Grand Bodies of the Masonic fraternity for a third of a century, gave his son all the advantages of a thorough education. His mother was a typical Kentucky woman, loved and revered by all who knew her. As the name indi- cates, the original stem of the family was Holland Dutch, and was transplanted to this
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country from the old and famous university town of Utrecht, the ancestors of Mr. Van Cleve coming to the New World early in the seventeenth century. When but nine years of age, a terrible calamity befell young Van Cleve; he became sick with scarlet fever, and when the disease had run its course he arose from the bed, blind forever. At the age of ten he was sent to the State School for the Education of the Blind, at Columbus, Ohio, and remained there for five years, developing a wonderful aptitude for studies of all kinds, especially languages, music and abstract philosophy. In his fourteenth year he underwent a powerful and sudden awakening of the imaginative life, and an intense appreciation of the beauties of music and poetry, the former being aroused by hearing Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, and the latter from memorizing Milton's "Paradise Lost." He began the study of the piano at ten, developed a precocious talent, and became a boy celebrity as a singer. Two years later he began the study of musical theory. After leaving the School for the Blind he spent five years in the schools for the seeing. At Woodward High School in Cincin- nati, notwithstanding his sightless eyes, he was valedictorian of the class of 1870, and received the highest school honor, namely a prize for general scholarship, equivalent to the title of L.H.D. At the Ohio Wesleyan University he again distinguished himself, and received the degrees of A.B. and A.M., and was admitted to be the most versatile student in the school, "the best read man in the class." During these ten years of general study he devoted much of his time to music. Circum- stances rendered it obligatory on his part to earn a livelihood, and a teaching position being offered at the Ohio State School for the Blind, he began his musical career at the age of J. S. VAN CLEVE, PH. D. twenty-one, in 1872. He taught at that insti- tution for three years and then accepted a similar position at the Jamesville (Wisconsin) School in 1875. The establishment of the College of Music in Cincinnati, in 1878, attracted him to the Queen City. Murat Halstead, editor of the Commercial Gazette, engaged him as a critic in 1879. From that time to 1897, during eighteen active years, Mr. Van Cleve was prominent in all the musical and literary enterprises of the city. He taught a large class of students, both piano and voice, wrote critical reviews of concerts, and didactic articles, literally by the thousand. He gave lectures in musical history and esthetics upon the entire field of English and American literature in series of ten and twelve each season, for a large number of years. He traveled frequently to deliver lectures on the Lyceum platform, and also gave piano lecture recitals. In 1897 he removed to Chicago, but is now re-established in Cincinnati. Mr. Van Cleve has been connected with the National Association of Musicians since 1878, and his name is frequently seen on its programs. He has filled every possible function with the Ohio Music Teachers' Association-pianist, composer, lecturer, debater, etc .- and is now at the head of the execu- tive department as President. As a composer, Mr. Van Cleve has a prominent place in the
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musical world of this country. Among his compositions is a cantata, especially prepared for the unveiling of the Woodward Monument in Cincinnati; a piano sonata in G sharp minor, played on various occasions by the composer ; a piano and violin sonata in E major, which has received several public performances, and a popular Gavotte Humoresque, "Robin Good Fellow." Mr. Van Cleve has long cultivated the art of poetry, and a set of sonnets recently published in the New York Times has excited wide comment. Some of the papers and magazines for which he has written are the following: Cincinnati Commercial, the Enquirer, Times-Star, Post, Columbus Citizen, Columbus Dispatch, Dayton Herald, Chicago Times, The Musician, Music, The Etude and The Musical Courier. As a musical critic, Mr. Van Cleve is universally admitted to have ample information, keen and analytical powers, courage of his convictions, and a highly imaginative and easy style of expression.
Stephen Commery,
Director and Manager of the West Side Musical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, in which institution he also teaches piano, harmony and history of music, is a native of Cleveland, being born in 1862. His parents, Stephen and Eliza Commery, were natives of the former French province of Alsace, and Bavaria, respectively. His literary education was obtained in the schools of Cleveland, and his musical training under the best teachers. He began the study of music at the age of twelve, his first instruc- tions being received from Miss Helen Wachs- muth, a graduate of the Leipsic Conservatory, and Mr. B. Hahn, who had been educated in the same institution. Miss E. Clifford, a graduate from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, was his next teacher. Subsequently Mr. Commery entered the College of Music at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he came under the tutorship of Mr. Charles Graninger. George STEPHEN COMMERY E. Whiting and Charles Baetens were his pre- ceptors in harmony and history of music. Since his return to Cleveland, Mr. Commery has taken a keen interest in the musical development of his native city, and for more than twenty years has been a teacher in his profession, gaining the highest standing in his community. His ability is ably represented by many of his pupils, who have become suc- cessful performers and teachers. He combines a thorough knowledge of music with rare executive ability, and the management of the institution which he has founded and now directs, is an evidence of his successful career. The West Side Musical College is well equipped to give its pupils a most careful and complete training, and the Faculty is com- posed of some of the best musicians in the northeastern part of the State. The college is located in the Merrell Building, on Pearl Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
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Thomas Pearl Culbertson,
Conductor of the Band of the National Military Home at Dayton, Ohio, is a musician of unquestioned ability. He was born on the 17th of November, 1874, in Darke County, Ohio, the son of Thomas W. Culbertson, a farmer, and Elizabeth Harper Culbertson, both of whom are natives of the State. For many generations the ancestors of Mr. Culbertson lived in this country, and his immediate pro- genitors were early settlers of Darke County. Mr. Culbertson in early life displayed a pre- cocious talent for music, which, upon its recognition by his parents, was carefully devel- oped. At the age of fifteen years he started his musical education and studied the cornet under able instructors, such as Hermann Bellstedt, of Cincinnati. He also was a mem- ber of the Greenville Band. His early youth was spent on a farm, where he worked during the summer months, attending school in winter and continuously studying music. When twenty-one years old, Mr. Culbertson decided to permanently engage in the profession of music, and for the following seven years was cornetist and cornet soloist in the Dayton Military Home Band. On the Ist of July, 1903; he was made Bandmaster of that body. Under his directorship the band has attained an enviable reputation. During the summer months it gives daily concerts, which are THOMAS PEARL CULBERTSON appreciated and listened to by multitudes. These concerts are enhanced by the excellent work of Mr. Culbertson as cornet soloist. was married on the 29th of June, 1904, to Miss Elsie Sheehan, an accomplished young lady of Dayton. His office is located at the National Military Home at Dayton, Ohio.
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William Henry Dana,
Author and lecturer. Born on the 10th of June, 1846, at Warren, Ohio. Member of the New England family, members of which became famous in art, science, journalism and law. Mr. Dana received his education at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, and in England and Germany. His National reputation has been gained largely through his lectures on social, travel and other topics. Was the founder of and is the President of Dana's Musical Institute. Is the author of many text-books, for which he received a medal and diploma at the International Exposition at Bologna, Italy, in 1888. Was one of the three who founded the Music Teachers' National Association.
William Dowler,
A well-known bandmaster and musician of Marion, Ohio, proprietor of the sheet music and general musical merchandise business located at No. 216 West Center Street, Marion. was born on the 7th of April, 1870, at South Bloomfield, Pickaway County, Ohio. Both his
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parents, John and Sarepta Corder Dowler, were natives of the Buckeye State, and of English- German descent. He obtained his education in the public schools and studied music in Marion, to which city he came in 1883. He entered his profession as a teacher of piano, violin and brass instruments, and came to the front in his profession, gaining a splendid rep- utation for efficiency. He is now the leader of Dowler's Orchestra, formerly known as People's Orchestra. For many years he has conducted his establishment and has been a publisher of music, known in wide circles. Some of his own compositions, mostly marches dances and songs, have been favorably received and obtained a wide circulation. Mr. Dowler is a prominent member of the K. of P. On the 25th of December, 1890, he was married to Nannie Lee Tadlock. By this union he is the father of four children, three boys and one girl. His residence is to be found at No. 215 North Grant Avenue, Marion, Ohio.
Carl Dueringer,
Teacher of Music at Cleveland, Ohio, needs no introduction to the musical people in the northeastern part of Ohio, where he enjoys the enviable reputation of being an artist of rare ability. Mr. Dueringer, who is connected with the Johannes Wolfram School of Music, Cleve- land, Ohio, received the very best musical education, attending the celebrated Royal Con- servatory of Music at Leipsic, Germany, where, under the leadership of such masters of the violin as Bermann Becker and Brodsky, he acquired a most thorough knowledge of the art of violin playing. On his arrival at Cleve- land, Ohio, from abroad, he was at once tendered a position with the Philharmonic Quartette, an organization which stands very high in the estimation of music lovers through- out the country, and with which he is stili connected. As a teacher, Mr. Dueringer has been pre-eminently successful. Even his very CARL DUERINGER young pupils play with excellent precision and style, showing superior training to such an extent that the enthusiasm and appreciation of both pupils and parents are most excellent endorsements of the quality of his work. Mr. Dueringer's success as a teacher of children has been remarkable, his juvenile classes including pupils as young as seven years, having been heard in splendid renditions, while his advanced pupils occupy prominent places in the musical life of Cleveland. Mr. Duer- inger has often appeared in public as violin soloist, as well as in ensemble work, meeting everywhere with brilliant success. Mr. Dueringer is married, and lives with his family in Cleveland. His studios are located in the Arcade Building.
Orville David Eastman,
A prominent musician of Akron, Ohio, was born on the 24th of November, 1870, at Montford, Grant County, Wisconsin. His father was David Eastman, a farmer and stock dealer a native of Canada; the mother, Frances Isabel Nichols, a resident of the above-
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mentioned State. At the opening of the Civil War in 1861, the father enlisted in Company I, Tenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, and served all through the different battles in which his regiment was engaged, until he was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga. He was confined three months in Richmond Prison and five months in Andersonville Prison. On his return to Wisconsin, for eight years he was a member of the Grant County Board of Edu- cation, and for the same period was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the town of Wingfield. Professor Eastman received his education in the Montford High School and at Dickson Business College, Dickson, Ill. Decid- ing to enter the musical career for which he early displayed a natural tendency, he entered the Conservatory of Music at Dickson, Ill., and later the Dana Musical Institute at Warren, ORVILLE DAVID EASTMAN Ohio. He graduated from Dana's Institute in 1902 and from the Dickson School of Music in 1894. He also studied music under some of the best teachers of this country and Europe. At the early age of sixteen years he acted as instructor in music, which position he has always followed during his active life. His particular work is teaching piano, and he also appears often in public as soloist. He is the author of one work on musical history and musical terms, and has composed several marches, songs and orchestral pieces. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Eastman is a member of the Brotherhood of the First Church of Christ. On the 8th of May, 1896, Miss Live M. Boger became his bride. One child is the issue of that union, Naomi F. Eastman. Mr. Eastman is the director of the Ladies' Symphony Orchestra, at Akron, Ohio. His residence is located at 84 North Forge Street, and his studio at 72 South Main Street, Akron, Ohio.
Herman Ebeling,
Who is recognized as one of the leading musicians in the State of Ohio, and a man who has played a leading part in the advancement of music in Columbus, Ohio, the city in which he now has his studio, was born in the city of Brunswick, Germany, the son of Heinrich and Henrietta Jaeger-Ebeling. Coming to this country with his parents when but a child, he early developed a talent for music, and upon its manifestation his parents decided to give him a thorough musical training. He received
HERMAN EBELING
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his first lessons under direction of his father, who was a thorough musician. At the age of seventeen he was engaged as violinist by the Caroline Richings Opera Company, with which he remained one year. Desiring to take a thorough course of study in music, in 1876 he crossed the Atlantic and spent four years at the Conservatories of Leipzig and Stuttgart. There he studied piano and organ and theory. While in Germany, Mr. Ebeling gave a number of recitals on the piano and organ, and met with great success. Returning to America in 1880, he settled in Columbus, and began teaching music. Here he soon acquired a repu- tation as a thorough teacher. For four years he was organist and choir director in Trinity Church, and in 1887 accepted a similar position in the First Congregational Church, where he remained until he went abroad, in 1896, to finish his musical education under the greatest of all the living teachers of piano, Leschetizky. For two years he remained under his per- sonal direction, and one of Mr. Ebeling's most treasured possessions is the following letter : "Vienna, Austria, June 15th, 1898. I hereby certify that Mr. Hermann Ebeling, of Columbus. Ohio, America, has studied the piano with me two seasons. Through his earnest endeavors. Mr. Ebeling has acquired solid, practical and pedagogic knowledge of his instrument, which entitles him to carry out his work with the greatest success, not only as a concert pianist, but particularly as a teacher. Professor Leschetizky." In 1898, Mr. Ebeling returned to Columbus, where he immediately became a leading factor in musical circles. Under his directorship a number of musical events of importance in Columbus have been arranged, among others three operas, "The Armourer," "The Bohemian Girl" and "La Preciosa," and a number of chamber concerts. Mr. Ebeling was at one time director of the Columbus Maen- nerchor, the oldest singing society of that city. He takes an active part in the work of the Ohio Music Teachers' Association, and in 1904 was President of that body. His marriage to Miss Grace Jones occurred in 1891, and by that union he is the father of three children. Mr. Ebeling spent the summer of 1904 in Europe and visited Leschetizky at Ischl, his summer home, taking with him one of his advanced pupils. After hearing her play, the master was so much pleased that he gave Mr. Ebeling a second certificate, which, translated, is as follows: "Ischl, October 4th, 1904. To Mr. Ebeling, in remembrance and confirmation of his distinguished work as teacher. Theo- dore Leschetizky."
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