Hale Ascher VanderCook (3 September 1864 – 16 October 1949) was a composer, conductor, and

cornetist The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopra ...

best known for his marches and brass solos. He was born in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

and began composing at the age of sixteen. He was performing in bands by the age of 14, and became conductor of the J.H. LaPearl Circus Band in 1891. He conducted circus and theater bands for much of the 1890s. VanderCook composed over 70 marches as well as numerous series for solo brass instruments. Among his most famous marches are American Stride, Olevine, Pacific Fleet, Pageant of Columbia and S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. He published his Course in Band and Orchestra Directing in 1916. VanderCook studied cornet with Frank Holton and A.F. Weldon. He founded VanderCook College of Music (originally called VanderCook Cornet School) in 1909. VanderCook composed scores of student-level solo works for the cornet and other brass instruments, often grouped into topical sets such as the Trumpet Stars (Arcturus, Orion, Vega, etc.), birds (The Warbler, The Starling, The Meadowlark, etc.) and flowers (Columbine, Peony, Chrysanthemum, etc.). Many of the solos were included in the curriculum of his mail order cornet course, and he wrote detailed pedagogical narratives that accompany each work. Many of his cornet solos are still in print, and extensive archival material by VanderCook can be found at the Ruppel Library at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. VanderCook also published his ''Method for Cornet in 20 Lessons'' in 1922. VanderCook died in

Allegan, Michigan Allegan ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 5,222 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Allegan County. It lies within Allegan Township but is administratively autonomous. History The men after whom Allegan's ...

on October 16, 1949. Three volumes of the

Heritage of the March ''Heritage of the March'' is a series of 185 vinyl records of marches and galops released from 1973 to 1988. It remains the largest single march music record series in history, featuring close to 3,000 different marches. The records were distribut ...

series are dedicated to his work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:VanderCook, Hale Ascher 1864 births 1949 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians American cornetists American male composers American male conductors (music) March musicians Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan