Gustave Jakob Stoeckel (November 9, 1819 – May 14, 1907) was a longtime

music instructor Music Instructor was a German electro-dance music project. The producers and songwriters of Music Instructor were Mike Michaels, Mark "MM" Dollar, and Mark Tabak, also known as Triple-M Crew. Triple-M has also produced other artists and bands ...

and college

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

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Biography

Born in

Maikammer Maikammer ( pfl, Maikomma) is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the German Wine Route, approx. 5 km south of Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Maikammer is the seat of the ''V ...

Bavarian Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

, Stoeckel graduated from the seminary in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

in 1838, and then pursued a post-graduate course in musical composition under Joseph Krebs. He was a teacher and organist until 1847, when he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He joined Yale University in 1849 when he became a music teacher there, and was appointed organist of Yale College Chapel. Yale gave him the degree of Mus.D. in 1864. He pioneered Yale's program in music and was one of its first faculty. In 1868, he became the first faculty director of the Yale Glee Club, Yale's oldest singing group, now a professionally led 80-voice choir of international fame. He held the position of organist at Yale's chapel for over 30 years, beginning in 1860 until his resignation in May 1894.''New York Times''
"Yale Commencement Work". June 18, 1894 He made his last appearance as a professor of music performing preludes and postludes for the graduating class at the commencement exercises held in

Battell Chapel Battell Chapel is the largest chapel of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1874–76, it was funded primarily with gifts from Joseph Battell and others of his family. Succeeding two previous chapel buildings on Yale's Old Campus, ...

on Sunday, June 24, 1894.

Writings

Stoeckel compiled a hymnal with the title ''Sacred Music'', first published in New York in 1868. He published ''College Hymn-Book'' for male voices in 1886. Besides compositions for the piano, songs, and overtures and symphonies for orchestra, he was also the author of several unpublished operas: "Lichtenstein," "Mahomet," "Miles Standish," and "Miskodeeda."

Legacy

Yale University named a former student club building in honor of Gustave Stoeckel in 1954 when the

School of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

moved in. Renovated in 2009, it is now the home of the Department of Music of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. The building, at the corner of College and Wall Streets, was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury in the Venetian Gothic style,.http://www.facilities.yale.edu/Campus/Building1.asp?lstBldg=1900

is named for Joseph Battell (1774–1841), and was built with funds donated by his son Joseph Battell (1806–1874) and others of his family, whose 1854 gift enabled the university to begin offering

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

External links

*Gustave J. Stoeckel, ''Sacred Music'', paperback reprint by Kessinger (Kila, Montana: 2003), 168 pp. *David Stanley Smith, ''Gustave Stoeckel, Yale pioneer in music'', Connecticut State Library Biographical Sketches, Vol. 73, No. 20, 1939 *Review of D.S. Smith's book on Stoeckel in ''The New England Quarterly, ''Vol. 13, No. 1 (Mar., 1940), p. 148 *Luther Noss, '"Music Comes to Yale" in ''American Music,'' Vol. 3, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 337–346
Oral History of American Music
(OHAM) *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoeckel, Gustave American music educators American organists American male organists 1819 births 1907 deaths German emigrants to the United States Yale University staff 19th-century male musicians 19th-century organists