Charles William Clark (15 October 1865 – 4 August 1925) was an American

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

singer and vocalist teacher. He is generally regarded as the first American baritone singer to be famous in Europe, and as one of the greatest baritone singers of all time. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and America, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian, French and German repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic.

Early life and music studies

Clark was born in

Van Wert, Ohio Van Wert is a city in and the county seat of Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio approximately 77 mi (123 km) SW of Toledo and 34 mi (54 km) SE of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The po ...

on 15 October 1865. He was the fourth of eight children and the second of six to survive infancy. His father, William Asbury Clark, was a miller and a prominent citizen of Van Wert. Her mother was Virginia Adelia (Mahan) Clark.Thaddeus Stephens Gilliland. ''History of Van Wert County, Ohio and Representative Citizens'', Richmond & Arnold, 1906, p. 361. Attended

Van Wert High School Van Wert High School is a public high school in Van Wert, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Van Wert City School District. The school's athletic teams are named the Cougars and are represented by the mascot, Claw'd. The schoo ...

and later the Methodist College in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

(today

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop William ...

).John William Leonard, ''The book of Chicagoans: A biographical dictionary of leading living men and women of the city of Chicago'', A.N. Marquis, 1917, p. 134. While studying at school, Clark worked in his father's mill in Van Wert as one of the boys who turned the grain into meal and into flour. He practiced singing as pleasure in his free time and during services at the First Methodist Church of Van Wert. An 1884 accident led Clark to seriously consider a singing career. One day while working at the mill, a chip of stone flew off of one of the wheels and lodged in his eye. From the irritation that ensued, it was thought for a time that he would lose his sight. This made it impossible for Clark to continue working at the mill for a while."Clark, The Miller, Great Baritone"
''The Spartanburg Herald'', South Carolina, 5 April 1914, p. 2. In 1885 began his vocalist studies at the age of 20 with Frederic W. Root in Chicago. This relationship lasted for ten years.''Song Recital''

The Daily Princetonian, New Jersey, 14 March 1906, p. 1. He gave his first public singing performances while studying with Root. He was immediately successful. Clark later described one of his early performances, saying:

I was to sing at a concert given in one of the suburbs of Chicago at a mission, of which a young minister was the head. He was trying to do something to advance things a bit, and we arranged on a sharing basis: he to pay the expenses of the concert. I loaned him my cut for the advertising matter, and after the concert I lost track of him, but I knew where the printing had been done, and when I went there to get the cut I found they were holding it to pay for the printing bill which the minister had failed to settle; so I told them that if the cut was of any use to then they might have It, and they saw that it had nothing whatever to do with me and turned the cut over to me. My share of the receipts of this concert was $1.50, 12 admissions at 25 cents having been sold.

On November 7, 1888 Clark married Jessie Amanda Baker. Together they had five children: Helen, Charles R., Ronald B., Virginia and Louise; only the last three survived infancy.Elwood Thomas Baker, ''A genealogy of Eber and Lydia Smith Baker of Marion, Ohio, and their descendants'', Lydia A. Copeland, 1909, p. 33. In 1894, he was engaged to sing in a performance of Joseph Haydn, Haydn's ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

'', where he was acclaimed by the public. This convinced him to continue his studies in Europe. The following were among the reviews of the performance:

Mr. Clark, the young baritone, sang his way into the hearts of his hearers at the very first number of the oratorio, and increased the liking by each number sang by him. ... Mr. Clark, the baritone, has such a glorious voice and such a manly presence and his enunciation is so clear and distinct, that one always felt a sense of longing unsatisfied when he was not singing.

In 1895, after having sung in various American cities, he moved to London to study in the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

under the direction of

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

and

George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. His first wife Lillian was also a singer. He was the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...

. In the course of the following year the latter engaged him as soloist with the London Henschel Orchestra.American Students' Census, Paris, 1903, ''Achievements of prominent Americans abroad; biographies of the greatest professors of singing in Paris'', McProud, Laura (pseud. of Louella B. Mendenhall); Souvenir of the Louisiana Purchase, 1903, p. 127. In 1896 while a student in London, he was also busy singing at functions. At the beginning of 1897 he returned for the first time to America. After his arrival, he received a letter asking him to go back to England a month earlier to sing the final scene from ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

'' at a Wagner concert given on

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's birthday. In concert the previous fall he had sung the last scene from the opera; this was the opportunity to win artistic England. Clark made the success of his life. He was acclaimed the greatest artist who had ever sung the "Passion" music in England, notwithstanding the fact that many of the world's famous artists had given it before. Later on, in 1899 Clark went to Munich to study German

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

with

Eugen Gura Eugen Gura (8 November 184226 August 1906) was a German operatic baritone. Life Gura was born in Nové Sedlo, Louny District, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic). He was at first educated for the career of a painter at Vienna and Munich; ...

.Clark, Charles W. Biography
Musical Biographies, Grande Musica website.

Singing career

He made his first public appearance in London with the London Philharmonic Society in 1897. He sang "Wotan's Farewell", which he later sang at his first public appearance in Chicago in the same year with the

Theodore Thomas Orchestra Theodore Thomas (October 11, 1835January 4, 1905) was a German-American violinist, conductor, and orchestrator of German birth. He is considered the first renowned American orchestral conductor and was the founder and first music director of t ...

. On his return to America in 1897 he filled concert engagements in oratorio in most of the eastern cities, and under the direction of

, who was then touring the eastern states with his London Orchestra. Clark sang Henschel's ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

'' in Boston at the last concert at which Mrs. Henschel sang in America. At the same time he was also the bass soloist of the

Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...

of that city. In 1898 he was first heard in New York in a performance of ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' by the people's Choral Union at the Metropolitan Opera House. Later that same year, Clark sang at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, accompanying the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in several performances. He also made his debut with the Thomas Orchestra that same year at the

Auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

in Chicago with immense success. At the close of his engagement in Chicago, Theodore Thomas advised Clark to return to Europe and locate for a time in Paris. In 1902 he took up his residence in Paris for the next twelve years and was represented in Europe by concert agent L. G. Sharpe, who also represented Polish pianist

Ignacy Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

. In 1903, Clark gave four concerts at the Paris National Conservatoire of Music, an honor that had not been given to an American in seventy years of those concerts. He sang at the Conservatory concerts each succeeding season in Paris appearing also with the

Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a membe ...

and the Cologne Orchestra. Tours of Europe and America brought him great acclaim. He made six tours in America, toured Germany twice, and toured England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Portugal. He sang at

Birmingham Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over three days in September 1768 ...

Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

concerts, with

Halle Orchestra Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and at Broadwood concerts. He performed at

Boosey Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 thro ...

´s London Ballad Concerts and the most important philharmonics and orchestras of his time. He gave more than 50 recitals only in London. In 1911 Clark interpreted for the first time the work ', composed by

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

in 1910, under the direction of the same composer at Concerts Séchiari. The same year, Clark presented this work for the first time in United States in New York, with the

New York Symphony The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, ...

. Clark usually sang accompanied by the most famous and virtuous musicians of his time, like Claude Debussy,

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

and Georg Schumann among others."Great Britain to Hear American Baritone", ''

The Musical Leader ''The Musical Leader'' was an American periodical founded in Chicago in 1895 by Florence French and her husband, Charles F. French. In 1910 the magazine cooperated with New York City magazine, ''The Concert Goer'', and opened an office there. There ...

'', Volume 27, No. 23, Chicago–New York, 4 June 1914, p. 859.

Voice and temperament

Critics credited Clark with one of the finest baritone voices possessed by an American singer. He was praised for his fine, manly voice, his phrasing and his clear enunciation. A note in the ''Spartanburg Herald'' appeared on April 5, 1914 which said:

Clark has been called "an embodied temperament". But the "storm and stress" period of youth is, in him, now refined and mellowed by study, constant singing in the world's great centres of art, and the experiences of life intensely and usefully lived. In his interpretations of the great masterpieces of music one finds, instead of a portrayal, a living picture. The composers' deeper meanings are penetrated and brought forth; every shade of every mood is intensified and presented vividly to the listener. The scholar and thinker are behind all that is sung; and a big voice, glorious in quality and of apparently limitless volume and beauty, is the vehicle of expression for all this fruit of genius and profound labor.

A note in the Magazine ''

'' published on June 4, 1914 expressed the following:

Clark's position among the world's leading vocalist is due to a combination of the qualities that command success in special styles of singing, united to versatility. His recitals are framed with an eclectic taste and include examples from the Old Italian masters of the eighteenth century to modern French, German, Russian and English composers. He has been hailed in Paris as the great interpreter of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
,
Faure Faure is an Occitan family name meaning blacksmith, from Latin ''faber''. It is pronounced differently from the accented surname Fauré, as in Gabriel Fauré, French composer and organist. People Politicians * Dominique Faure (born 1959), Fre ...
and living French song writers, and in German as an artist of commanding power in the classical and modern German 'lieder.' He is also recognized as an oratorio singer of genius, and among his most striking and vivid impersonations may be mentioned Judas, in Elgar's ''Apostles'', and the Prophet, in ''Elijah''.

Clark excelled as a Wagnerian singer. His temperament, his dramatic fervor, and his sincerity fitted him for it. His voice had the power and range for the typical Wagnerian singer, but it had none of the hardness which was too often associated with the performance of Wagner by singers of those years and nowadays. In 1903, after having heard Clark sing in German and French, the King of England

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

turned to Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester and demanded, "Is Mr. Clark a Frenchman or German?" The duchess replied, with much pride, "He is an American, the same as I am." "Well," exclaimed his majesty, "I never had such a lump in my throat as when he sang 'Ich grolle nicht'". Clark had an almost stubborn devotion toward his ideal as an "interpreter of song". He repeatedly refused all offers from the realm of grand opera in spite of the insistence of his friends and fans.

Other facts

Clark was head of the vocal department of the

Bush Conservatory The Bush Temple Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art was an American conservatory of music based in Chicago with branches in Dallas and Memphis. History The Conservatory was founded in 1901 by William Lincoln Bush (1861–1941), of the Chicago ...

in Chicago, where he influenced and guided a number of students. His performances and presentations were under the artistic direction of the Redpath Bureau, the oldest established concert bureau in USA. The bureau also directed the concerts in America of famous artists like Ignacy Paderewski, Madame

Schumann-Heink Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 186117 November 1936) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American operatic dramatic contralto of German Bohemian descent. She was noted for the flexibility and wide range of her voice. Early life She was born Ernes ...

and Pascuale Amato. Clark's brother, physician and surgeon John Frederick Clark, was his personal representative in Chicago and was also a baritone and vocalist teacher. Together they formed the Clark Studios in Chicago (located at the 83

Auditorium Building The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive. The building was de ...

), where they gave singing lessons and character recitals. His oldest sister Princess Clark was a soprano soloist. She was featured frequently at Disciples of Christ state conventions and served as a soloist at the Pittsburgh Centennial Convention of 1909. He was one of the first settlers at the artist colony in Grossmont on El Granito San Diego, with other famous artists like poet John Vance Cheney, music critic Havrah Hubbard and opera singer Schumann-Heink. Madame Schumann-Heink had a picture of Clark hung in her home. She felt he had contributed an enormous amount to American music. His picture hung next to one of

John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926), the son of German-American industrialist Claus Spreckels, founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The entrepr ...

, the sugar magnate, one of her favorite people. During his life Clark was awarded with seven gold medals from the French government (

Médaille de la Reconnaissance française The Medal of French Gratitude (french: "Médaille de la Reconnaissance française") was a French honour medal created on 13 July 1917 and solely awarded to civilians. The medal was created to express gratitude by the French government to all t ...

) in recognition of his contribution to the French music and also to the French people during the First World War. It is said that war impressed him most through the destitute children of French musicians-soldiers, so he decided to "adopt" one hundred of them.

Death

On August 4, 1925 while sitting in the Parkway Theatre in Chicago, Clark died of heart disease at the age of 59. His wife died later that day. Both are buried at Woodland Union Cemetery in Van Wert, Ohio.

Recordings

There are five recordings by Clark that are registered in the Columbia A1400–A5999 (1913–1917) numerical listing.Tim Brooks, Brian Rust. ''The Columbia Master Book Discography, Volume II: Principal U.S. Matrix Series, 1910–1924'', Greenwood, 1999, , p. 87, p. 122, p. 158. The first recording was produced on September 15, 1913 under the label A-5519. On one side of the recording is the tune
It is Enough
from

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

's ''Elijah''. On the other side is the tune
O Devine Redeemer
composed by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

. His second recording was produced under the label A-1470 on October 10, 1913. On one side is an "Irish Folk Song" composed by

Arthur Foote Arthur William Foote (March 5, 1853 in Salem, Massachusetts – April 8, 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American classical composer, and a member of the "Boston Six." The other five were George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Edward Mac ...

. On the other side is the tune "Thy Beaming Eyes" of

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites ''Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''Ne ...

. In his third recording produced under the label A-5610, the tune
O Star of Eve
from

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''Tannhäuser'' (recorded on September 9, 1913) appears on one side. On the other side appears the tune
Fleeting Vision
composed by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

and recorded on August 15, 1914. The fourth recording was produced under the label A-1818 on March 15, 1915. On one side is the tune "I'm A Pilgrim (in A Strange Land)" composed by George Marston. On the other side is the tune "That Sweet Story of Old" composed by John A. West. The last recording that appears on the Columbia Records Discography is unlabeled and was recorded on January 6, 1916. On one side appears the tune "Dream Faces" composed by William Marshall Hutchinson. On the other side appears the tune "Uncle Rome" composed by

Sidney Homer Sidney Homer, Sr. (9 December 1864 – 10 July 1953) was a classical composer, primarily of songs. Biography Homer was the youngest child born to deaf parents in Boston, Massachusetts on December 9, 1864 (some sources use 1865). He attended ...

and Howard Weedon.

Repertoire

Clark's operatic repertoire consisted primarily of French, German and Italian works along with a few tunes in English. Below are the list of tunes that Clark usually sang in his programs, in alphabetical order by author. * Die Ablösung (Alexis Hollaender) * Letztes Gebet (Arthur Hartmann) * A Fragment (Arthur Hartmann) * A Slumber Song (Arthur Hartmann) * The Lowest Trees Have Tops (Beal) * Der Sandträger (Bungert) * Ich hab ein kleines Lied erdacht (Bungert) * The Eagle (Busch) * Trois Ballades de Villon (Claude Debussy) * Les Cloches (Claude Debussy) * Le Temps a laissé son manteau (Claude Debussy) * Mandoline (Claude Debussy) * Monotone (Cornelius) * Judas (Elgar) * O Queen of Beauty (Fairchild) * If One Should Ask (Fairchild) * So Much I Love (Fairchild) * Love Dirge (Farrari) * Joy (Farrari) * Irish Folk Song (Foote) * O Divine Redeemer (Gounod) * Cavatine de Cephale et Procris (Gretry) * De ma Barque legere (Gretry) * Ballad of the Bonny Fiddler (Hammond) * Recompense (Hammond) * Where'er you Walk (Händel) * Morning Hymn (Henschel) * Uncle Rome (Hommer and Weedon) * Stuttering Lovers (Hughes) * Cato's Advice (Huhn) * Thy Beaming Eyes (MacDowell) * Dream Faces (Marshall) * I'm a Pilgrim (Marston) * Vision Fugitive (Massenet) * Fleeting Vision (Massenet) * Prophet (Mendelsohnn) * It's Enough (Mendelsohnn) * Sylvia, now your scorn give over (Purcell) * I'll sail upon the dog star (Purcell) * Ectasy (Rummel) * Recit et air d'Odipe a Colone (Sacchini) * Aufenthalt (Schubert) * Das Fischermädchen (Schubert) * Der Doppelgänger (Schubert) * Erlkönig (Shubert) * Die beiden Grenadiere (Schumann) * Ich grolle nicht (Schumann) * Fuge (Sinding) * Wotan's Farewell (Wagner) * O Star of Eve (Wagner) * That Sweet Story of Old (West)

References

Primary sources

* Brooks, Tim; Rust, Brian. ''The Columbia Master Book Discography, Volume II: Principal U.S. Matrix Series, 1910–1924'', Greenwood, 1999, . * Crawford, Kathleen
"Great God's Garden: The Grossmont Art Colony"
''The Journal of San Diego History'', Volume 31, Number 4, San Diego, Fall 1985. * Crawford, Richard. "Entertainer Founded Grossmont", ''San Diego Union Tribune'', 3 April 2010. pEZ1. * Baker, Elwood Thomas. ''A genealogy of Eber and Lydia Smith Baker of Marion, Ohio, and their descendants'', Lydia A. Copeland, 1909. * Fiefield, Christopher. ''Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire'', Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005, . * Gilliland, Thaddeus Stephens. ''History of Van Wert County, Ohio and Representative Citizens'', Richmond & Arnold, 1906. * Ingram, William H. ''Who's who in Paris Anglo-American Colony; a biographical dictionary of the leading members of the Anglo-American colony of Paris, 1905'', Nabu Press 2012, . * Leonard, John William. ''The Book of Chicagoans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the City of Chicago'', A.N. Marquis, 1917. * "Song Recital", ''The Daily Princetonian'', New Jersey, March 14, 1906. * Saerchinger, César. ''International Who's Who in Music and Musical Gazetteer'', Nabu Press 2012, . * ''The Musical Leader''. Volume 27, No. 23, Chicago – New York, June 4, 1914. * ''The Musical Monitor and World''. Chicago, September 1913, January 1914 and April, 1914. * Thompson, Oscar. ''The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians'', Dodd, Mead; 10th ed edition (1975), . * "Concert In Aid of Charity", ''The New York Times'', New York, January 16, 1898. * "Mr. Clark's Recital", ''The New York Times'', New York, November 23, 1900. * "Baritone Clark Dies; Wife's Death Follows", ''The New York Times'', New York, August 4, 1925. * "Extraordinary Musical Attraction", ''The Pullman Herald'', Washington, January 23, 1914. * "Clark, The Miller, Great Baritone", ''The Spartanburg Herald'', South Carolina, April 5, 1914.

External links

Charles W. Clark Biography. Grande Musica
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1900/11/23/archives/music-and-musicians-first-public-concert-of-the-bendix-string.html Mr. Clark Recital at Mendelssohn Hall – ''The New York Times'' article, November 23, 1900]
Concert in Aid of Charity.; Seidl and His Orchestra to Play in a Benefit for the Workingmen's School Next Month – ''The New York Times'' article, January 16, 1898
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1911/03/18/archives/symphony-societys-varied-programme-bach-mendelssohn-and.html Symphony Society's Varied Programme; Bach, Mendelssohn, and Tschaikowsky Represented in Selections at Yesterday's Concert, ''The New York Times'' article, March 18, 1911] {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Charles W. 1865 births 1925 deaths Singers from Ohio People from Van Wert, Ohio Singers from Chicago American operatic baritones Columbia Records artists Singers from Paris Pupils of Alberto Randegger 19th-century American male opera singers 20th-century American male opera singers Classical musicians from Illinois Classical musicians from Ohio