James Francis Cooke (November 14, 1875,

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...

– March 3, 1960,

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...

) spent his life involved with music.''New York Times'' obituary, March 5, 1960, ''Dr. James Cook, 84, Ex-Editor of Etude'' He was a pianist, composer, playwright, journalist, author (including novels and of books on musical history and theory), a president of

Theodore Presser The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publ ...

music publishers from 1925 to 1936, and editor of

The Etude ''The Etude'' was an American print magazine dedicated to music founded by Theodore Presser (1848–1925) at Lynchburg, Virginia, and first published in October 1883. Presser, who had also founded the Music Teachers National Association, moved h ...

music magazine from 1907 to 1950,Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1920.
/ref> or 1913 to 1956. He taught piano for more than twenty years in New York, led choral clubs and taught voice. He also gave music-topic lectures. His work was in the field of music education, and he was the president of the Philadelphia Music Teacher's Association for seven years. He was president of the Presser Foundation for 38 years. He was also a member of the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, the

Union League The Union Leagues were quasi-secretive men’s clubs established separately, starting in 1862, and continuing throughout the Civil War (1861–1865). The oldest Union League of America council member, an organization originally called "The Leag ...

and the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

Family

He married Betsey Ella Beckwith (born Toledo, Ohio, 1896) in 1899. She was a concert singer. They had two sons, Carol Lincoln Cooke (born 1900, died in childhood) and Francis Sherman Cooke (born 1905). The family was recorded in the U.S. Censuses, passport application and ship's travel logs (look at ''see also'' section for links).

Education

Cooke was educated in the New York public schools at Brooklyn, including

Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

.''The Pharos'': volume 46, number 08 – 05-01-1952, ''Dr. J. F. Cooke to Visit Here''
/ref>''Michigan Library Bulletin'', Lansing, Michigan, volume 17, number 2, March–April 1926, page 64. He studied music with R. Huntington Woodman, Walter Henry Hall, Charles Dunham,

Dudley Buck Dudley Buck (March 10, 1839October 6, 1909) was an American composer, organist, and writer on music. He published several books, most notably the ''Dictionary of Musical Terms'' and ''Influence of the Organ in History'', which was published i ...

, Ernst Eberhard and William Medorn in New York. He also studied at the Brooklyn Institute. He attended the Royal Conservatory in Wurzburg, Germany in 1900. There he studied under Dr. K. Kliebert,pianist The Musical Guide, entry for K. Kliebert
/ref>

Max Meyer-Olbersleben Max Meyer-Olbersleben (5 April 1850 in Olbersleben – 31 December 1927 in Würzburg) was a German people, German composer and Piano, pianist. Biography Meyer-Olbersleben studied with Carl Müllerhartung and Franz Liszt at the Hochschule für Mu ...

and music historian and composer

Hermann Ritter Hermann Ritter (16 September 1849 in Wismar – 25 January 1926 in Würzburg) was a German viola player, composer and music historian. Biography Hermann Ritter studied violin at the Neue Akademie für Musik in Berlin from 1865 to 1870. His outs ...

. He received his doctorate in music from the University of the State of New York in 1906. In 1919, he received a doctorate in music from the

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private United Methodist Church–affiliated university in Ada, Ohio. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It offers over 60 programs to ...

John Philip Sousa

In the course of his interviewing and talking with the musicians of his day, Cooke became a "close friend and associate" with

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

. As president of the Theodore Presser Company, Cooke published some of the Sousa's works. In 1924 he helped to increase the sales of one of Sousa's pieces by changing its name from ''March of the Mitten Men'' to ''Power and Glory - Fraternal March''. He also wrote words to go with Sousa's ''A Serenade In Seville'' in 1924. Sousa visited him shortly before his death, and talked to him about the lack of religion in modern music as a failing. The two attended a play "If Booth Had Missed." Two days later, Sousa died of a heart attack.

Composer

Three of his works were recorded and released by

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

.Victory Recordings discography
/ref> ''Ol' Car'lina'' (1921) featured soprano

Amelita Galli-Curci Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian coloratura soprano. She was one of the most popular operatic singers of the 20th century, with her recordings selling in large numbers. Early life She was born as A ...

doing a vocal solo, backed by orchestra. ''The Angelus'' (1926) featured a vocal solo by

Elsie Baker Elsie Baker (July 13, 1883 – August 16, 1971) was an American actress. Her career spanned the gamut from vaudeville through silent movies to radio to Hollywood and television. She has sometimes been confused with the American contralto El ...

, also backed by orchestra. ''Sea gardens'' (1929) had

Rosario Bourdon Joseph Charles Rosario Bourdon (March 6, 1885 – April 24, 1961) was a French Canadian cellist, violinist, conductor, arranger and composer. He was a child prodigy skilled with many musical instruments. Bourdon worked much of his life for ...

playing with the Victor Symphonic Band. Cooke composed for piano. Piano solos include: ''White Orchids'' (1941), ''Mountain Shower'' (1943), ''Roses at Dawn'' (1945), and ''Ballet Mignon'' (1948). He wrote the music and poem published together as ''Sea Gardens'' (1925). Wrote words to ''In a Garden Filled With Roses'' (1939) to a melody by Charles Wakefield Cadman.

Author

Great Singers on the Art of Singing rear dustcover

He wrote the following books: * ''Standard History of Music: A First History for Students of All Ages'', 1910 * ''Great Pianists on Piano Playing'', 1913Online ebook, original: Philadelphia: Theodore Presser Co., 1917.
/ref> (first edition contained 21 chapters; second edition in 1917 contained 9 new chapters) * ''Mastering the Scales and Arpeggios'', 1913Online ebook, original: Philadelphia: Theodore Presser, 1913.
/ref> * ''Musical Playlets'', 1917 * ''Music-Masters Old and New''. * ''Great Singers on the Art of Singing'' * Young Folks' Picture History of Music, 1925 * ''Master Study in Music'' * ''A Fight in Defense of Music''Online ebook, original: The Etude Magazine, March 1918. Philadelphia: Theodore Presser Co.
/ref> * ''Musical travelogues; little visits to European musical shrines for the casual traveler, the music lover, the student and the teacher'', 1934 * ''Musical plays for young folks: Scenes from the lives of the great composers'', 1934Library of Congress, Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 1, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1933, page 971
/ref> * ''How to Memorize Music'' 1948Google Books summary
/ref>

References

External links

Scanned articles from ''The Etude'' magazine
* *
Online books, University of Pennsylvania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, James Francis 1875 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American classical musicians American writers about music Classical music critics American music educators American magazine editors Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni Recipients of the Legion of Honour Novelists from Michigan Musicians from Michigan People from Bay City, Michigan Musicians from Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn American expatriates in Germany 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American pianists State University of New York alumni 20th-century American composers American male dramatists and playwrights Ohio Northern University alumni 20th-century American male writers