Camille Wolfgang Zeckwer (June 26, 1875–August 7, 1924) was an American pianist and composer.

Biography

Zeckwer was born in Philadelphia, where his father

Richard Zeckwer Richard Zeckwer (April 30, 1850 – December 31, 1922) was a composer and music teacher. Biography He was born in Stendal and studied at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre, where he studied piano under Ignaz Moscheles before ...

had founded the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now known as the University of the Arts). He graduated from the same Academy in 1893. Further study followed with

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

before he traveled to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to study with Philipp Scharwenka, Ferdinand Hiller. and violin with Florián Zajíc. He then returned to Philadelphia and became an instructor at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. Camille succeeded his father as Director upon the latter's 1917 retirement, and subsequently merged the Academy with Frederick Hahn's conservatory to become the Zeckwer-Hahn Philadelphia Musical Academy. He held this position until his 1924 death of complications following throat surgery in Southampton Long Island. Like his father before him, Zeckwer was organist at Philadelphia's

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church St. John the Evangelist Church is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette and was the first Catholic Church to be built in Ishpeming, Michigan. History The church was built under the direction of Father Honoratus Bourion, the pastor of ...

. In 1909, philanthropist and musical arts patron Edwin Fleisher recruited Zeckwer to be the conductor of his newly formed amateur Symphony Club orchestra. In 1924 he was musical director of Philadelphia's Savoy Company. As a composer Zeckwer was active mainly in smaller forms, producing many songs and chamber pieces; in larger forms he composed a

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

, a

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

, an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, and numerous

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s. His compositions were performed by the major orchestras throughout the United States, including in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Selected Compositions

* Suite for violin and piano, Op. 1 * Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 2 * Serenade, Op. 3 No. 1 * Caprice, Op. 3 No. 2 * String Quartet, Op. 4 * Piano Quintet, Op. 5 * ''Swedish Fantasy'', Op. 6 for violin and orchestra * Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 7 * Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 8 (premiered by the composer in Philadelphia in 1899) * Piano Quartet, Op. 9 * ''Impatience'', Etude Op. 19 No. 1 * Piano Pieces, Op. 21 * 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 25 * ''3 Ballads of the Sea'', Op. 30, for solo piano dedicated to

Olga Samaroff Olga Samaroff (August 8, 1880May 17, 1948) was an American pianist, music critic, and teacher. Among her teachers was Charles-Valentin Alkan's son, Élie-Miriam Delaborde. Her second husband was the conductor Leopold Stokowski. Samaroff was ...

* ''The Mischianza'', Op. 34, a secular cantata with libretto by

Richard Beamish Richard Henrik Beamish (16 June 1861 – 23 February 1938) was an Irish politician, brewer and company director. Early and personal life He was born in Glounthaune, County Cork, the eldest child of Richard Pigott Beamish and his wife Hulda Eli ...

taken from Silas Weir Mitchell's novel Hugh Wynne, dedicated to Dr. Herbert J. Tily * Piano Pieces, Op. 46 * ''Jade Butterflies'', Op 50 an orchestral work after the poem by Louis Untermeyer. Unanimous winner of the 1922 competition by the Chicago North Shore Festival Association for the best orchestral work by an American. Premiered May 30, 1922 at the North Shore Festival final concert. * Piano Pieces, Op. 96 * ''Sohrab and Rustum'', symphonic poem (premiered in Philadelphia in 1915) * Piano Trio "''Serenade Melancolique''" * ''The Light of Asia'', a retelling of the life of Buddha, incidental music for

Christine Wetherill Stevenson Christine Wetherill Stevenson (April 12, 1878 – November 21, 1922) was an heiress of the Pittsburgh Paint Company and founder of the Philadelphia Art Alliance. In later years, her goal was to build her own open-air theatre and hold her own ...

's play composed with

Charles Wakefield Cadman Charles Wakefield Cadman (December 24, 1881 – December 30, 1946) was an American composer. For 40 years he worked closely with Nelle Richmond Eberhart, who wrote most of the texts to his songs, including ''Four American Indian Songs''. She also ...

. Ran for 35 performances in 1918 at the Krotona Stadium, a forerunner of the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

. * ''The Shower'', song * ''Burst forth my soul'', anthem which won Philadelphia's Manuscripts Music Society's 1916 prize for church music composition. * ''The New Day'', cantata * ''Dawn'', choral setting of Richard Watson Gilder's poem, prize-winning composition from Cleveland's Mendelssohn Club. * ''Jane and Janetta'', opera * piano paraphrase of Strauss' '' Till Eulenspiegel''

References

External links

* 1875 births 1924 deaths American male composers American composers American music educators Musicians from Philadelphia University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni University of the Arts (Philadelphia) faculty {{US-composer-19thC-stub