Samuel Siegel (born 1875, Des Moines, Iowa — died January 14, 1948, Los Angeles, California) was an American

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

and composer who played

on 29 records for Victor Records, including 9 pieces of his own composition and two that he arranged. Siegel was the first mandolinist to record on Emile Berliner's

phonograph A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

disk-records. He was labeled "America's Greatest Mandoline Virtuoso" and "The King of the Mandolin" in the May 1900 ''Banjo World''. Siegel performed both in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, as well as in concert halls. He had no formal training in music, but saw that the mandolin needed original music, rather than relying on the transcribed violin music. His compositions and arrangements were well known in his day. He was the author of ''Siegel's Special Mandolin Studies'', published by Joseph W. Stern & Co., 1901, in which he covered left-hand Pizzicato and harmonic duo style.

Recording partners

Siegel recorded with

Roy Butin Roy Hunter Butin (October 30, 1876, Logan, Ohio – August 16, 1943, Long Beach, California) was an American recording artist in the early 20th century, known for his playing of the harp guitar. He recorded more than a dozen early cylinder and 7 ...

in 1908 on four Victor records, the tunes: ''Southern Fantasy'', ''Estellita Waltz'', ''American Valor March'', and ''In Fairyland''. He recorded Edison Diamond Disk record ''Ragtime Echoes'' in 1918 with Marie Caveny, with her on ukulele, and also ''Dance'', ''Mouse Dance'', and ''Medley''.Victor Records, Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings, ''Miss M. Caveny (instrumentalist: ukulele)''
/ref>
/ref> Marie and her husband James Frank Caveny lived with Siegel as lodgers in Chicago during the 1910 United States Census.United States Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Chicago Ward 25, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_268; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 1057; FHL microfilm: 1374281 They were performers or lecturers in the

Lyceum movement The lyceum movement in the United States refers to a loose collection of adult education programs named for the classical Lyceum which flourished in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Some of these organizations ...

.The Lyceumite Art and Talent, ''Their Art Appeals to Eye and Ear, Why J. Franklin Caveny Has Been Thirteen Years on the Platform and How Mrs. Caveny Completes the Pictures. A Glimpse of Two Artists in the Art of "Making Good"''
/ref> James Franklin was a cartoonist and Marie sang soprano in their performance.

Victor recordings

Recorded for Victor records between October 20, 1900 and December 28, 1918. * ''The foxhunters two-step'' * ''Espagnole waltz'' * ''Hawthorne club'' * ''Remembrance of thee'' * ''Medley of coon songs'' * ''Ma lady Lou'' * ''Volunteer patrol'' * ''American valor march'' * ''La bonita waltz'' * ''Romance'' * ''In olden times'' * ''Nearer my God to thee'' * ''Manzanillo'' * ''An autumn evening'' * ''A-sa-ma'' * ''Maritana mazurka'' * ''Navajo medley'' * ''La cinquantaine'' * ''Träumerei'' * ''Intermezzo'' * ''The whirlwind march'' * ''Boston Ideal march'' * ''Estellita waltz'' * ''American valor march'' * ''In Fairyland'' * ''Medley'', (December 28, 1918) with Marie Caveny (ukulele) * ''Dance'', (December 28, 1918) with Marie Caveny (ukulele) * ''Ragtime echoes'', (December 28, 1918) with Marie Caveny (ukulele) * ''Mouse dance'', (December 28, 1918) with Marie Caveny (ukulele)

Columbia Records

He made records for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. * ''La bonita waltz'' (1901), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''Zenda waltz'' (1901), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''Hawthorne Club'' (c 1904-1909), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''Ivanhoe Intermezzo'' with Geo. Stehl & Hans Von Wegern * ''Mazurka Brillante''

Edison recordings

He recorded for Edison Records on their Blue Amberol, Gold Moulded, and Diamond Disk albums.Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Department of Special Collections, Donald C. Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
/ref>

Gold Molded

* ''Home, sweet home'' (1902), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''Manzanilo'' (c. 1902), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''The story teller waltz'' (1903), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''My Old Kentucky Home'' (1903), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) * ''Just One Girl'' (1904), Samuel Siegel (mandolin)YouTube video of ''Just One Girl'' by Samuel Siegel, showing the recording case and label''
/ref>(Music written by Lynn Udall, 1898) * ''An autumn evening'' (1905), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and M. Loyd Wolf (guitar) * ''Evening on the plaza'' (1905), Samuel Siegel (mandolin)

Blue Amberol

* ''Castilian Echoes'' (1908), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and William Smith (guitar) * ''Waltz'' (1909), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Roy H. Butin (guitar) * ''Gavotte'' (1909), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Roy H. Butin (guitar) * ''Waltz'' (1913), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Roy H. Butin (guitar) * ''Kuu ipo i ka hee pue one medley'' (1919), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Marie Caveny (ukulele)

Diamond

* ''Ragtime Echoes'' (1918), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Marie Caveny (ukulele)

Indestructible Records

He made records marketed by the Indestructible Record Company. * ''Estellita waltz'' (1908), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Roy Butin (guitar) * ''Southern fantasie'' (1908), Samuel Siegel (mandolin) and Roy Butin (guitar)

References

External links

* *
Samuel Siegel recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

.
Library of Congress record listing digitized recordings in their collection by Siegel

Library of Congress record and online stream of Navajo Medley, arranged and played by Siegel

Library of Congress record for a recording Siegel made of his arrangement of ''Nearer My God to Thee''

Mandolin Cafe thread with pictures of a program of music in which Siegel played

Cylinder preservation and Digitization Project, University of California, has digitized Siegel public-domain recordings and made available to download.

Advertisement for Siegel's mandolin method

* ttps://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA9344 A recital program cover for Samuel Siegel
Website for a mandolin teacher which contains one page of Siegel's method book

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304034201/http://www.nemandolins.com/graphics/CrescendoImages/Siegel.jpg Advertisement for Siegel's music school the Siegel–Myers School of Music (then also named University Extension Conservatory) {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Samuel American classical mandolinists American male composers American music arrangers American performance artists Classical musicians from California Columbia Records artists Edison Records artists Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa Musicians from Los Angeles Pioneer recording artists Victor Records artists 1875 births 1948 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians