The Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra was an orchestra that played primarily at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, both the old and

new New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

locations. In addition to providing dinner music at the famous hotel, the orchestra made over 300 recordings and many radio broadcasts. It was established in the 1890s, and was directed by

Carlo Curti Carlo Curti (6 May 1859 – 8 May 1922), also known as Carlos Curti, was an Italian musician, composer and bandleader. He moved to the United States whose most lasting contribution to American society was popularizing the mandolin in American mu ...

in early 1900s, Joseph Knecht at least from 1908 to 1925, later by

Jack Denny Jack Denny (September 25, 1895 – September 15, 1950) was an American dance band leader during the pre-World War II years. He was born in the United States and started his musical career in Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebe ...

and others, and then

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; ; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was an American musician and bandleader who was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. Originally from Girona, Spain, he spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba, before arriving i ...

from approximately 1933 to 1949. Denny and the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra appeared in the movie '' Moonlight and Pretzels'' in 1933. Both Denny and Cugat had their own orchestras when they began playing at the Waldorf-Astoria, so the term "Waldorf-Astoria orchestras" might be an appropriate description.

History

The

Waldorf-Astoria hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, Art Deco landmark des ...

was originally built as two separate adjacent hotels, the Waldorf in 1893 and the Astoria in 1897. Both were on the land that is now occupied by the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

, and the two hotels were connected after construction of the second one. The hotel had its current site on Park Avenue built in 1931. In addition to the normal function of a hotel to house its guests and provide them with amenities, the Waldorf-Astoria had an extensive program of social activities, to include concerts by top artists and an orchestra to provide music for its dinner guests. An 1898 New York Times article mentions that the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra played at the Astoria,"Well Known Artists Contribute to Life's Fresh Air Fund", ''New York Times'', June 21, 1898, p. 7 and a 1901 New York Times Article mentions "Prof. Clappe, leader of the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, and the other fifteen performers."''New York Times'', December 4, 1901, p. 1. In his autobiography,

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents w ...

, a member of the orchestra in its early days, provides information about the Orchestra and anecdotal stories about several of its members.Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005, pp. 26–32. Shilkret, Nathaniel, Barbara Shilkret, and Niel Shell, ''Feast or Famine: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', archival edition of Shilkret autobiography, 2001, pp. 36–45 and 364–365 (copies deposited in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, The City College of New York Archival Library, The New York Philharmonic Archives, The Victor Archives (SONY)). Shilkret says he was a member of the Orchestra while attending the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. A search of the college's files shows Shilkret attended classes in the Fall 1904 semester and is listed as an alumnus, Class of ex'1910. This information establishes Knecht as director prior to 1910. Shilkret described the hotel as "almost a conservatory, rather than a hotel engagement. ... There were thirty-five men engaged steadily for the dining rooms. In the Rose Room, Caruso records were played, with our group following the music of the record." Shilkret said that there were nightly concerts from 9 pm to 10 pm, with the Orchestra enlarged to fifty on Sundays, and chamber music from 11 pm to 1 am, with Joseph Knecht as director. Music historian Howard Pollack says, "This hotel orchestra, comprising a highly trained group of mostly Italian and Jewish musicians, regularly gave serious concerts, including one that eorge Gershwin attended on April 13, 1913, at which harlesHambitzer performed the first movement of

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

's ''Piano Concerto in D Minor.''"Pollack, Howard, ''George Gershwin: His Life and Work'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 2006, p. 26. (Pollack quotes Shilkret as saying that Hambitzer was "one of the greatest pianists I ever heard. I would say he was a genius.") Pollack says Hambitzer came to New York no later than 1908 and began playing in the string section (Hambitzer played many instruments) of the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. In 1916, Nicholas Laucella collaborated as the principal flautist with Joseph Knecht in a performance of his work ''Introduction and Temple Dance'' for an appreciative audience in the Grand Ballroom. Later in the early 1930s, the orchestral accordionist

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice ...

collaborated in the early years of his career with the orchestra under the direction of Misha Borr at various performance venues within the Waldor-Astoria hotel including: The Starlight Room, The Grand Ballroom and the Waldorf Towers, as well as later in his career in 1948 at The Wedgewood Room. A 1919 ''New York Times'' article states that, " Joseph Knecht led an 'all-American' program recently by the Waldorf Orchestra, whose twenty-five men have played together for twenty years," but does not indicate whether or not the orchestra played for the Waldorf-Astoria for its entire twenty-year existence."Concerts of the Week", ''The New York Times'', May 11, 1919, p. 51. Two New York Times articles note the beginning and ending of the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra's thirteenth season of Sunday concerts,"Various Music Events", ''New York Times'', November 24, 1924, p. X7. o author cited ''Various Music Events'', New York Times, April 12, 1925, p. X7. which would imply that the Sunday concert feature of the Orchestra began in 1912. ''New York Times'' articles from 1926 refer to "Knecht's Silvertone Dance Orchestra" and "Knecht's orchestra," without any reference to the Waldorf-Astoria, from which it seems that Knecht's association with the Waldorf-Astoria ended in 1925."Other Features Scheduled for the Radio This Week", ''New York Times'', January 3, 1926, p. XX12. A New York Times obituary says that Knecht died on May 30, 1931. o author cited The New York Times, June 1, 1931. Denny and the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra appeared in the movie '' Moonlight and Pretzels'' in 1933."Xavier Cugat: The King of the Rhumba"
/ref>

Conductors

, early 1900s * Joseph Knecht, 1908 to 1925 * Harold Leonard, 1926 to 1927 * Meyer Davis, 1929 to 1932 *

Nat Brandywine Nat or NAT may refer to: Computing * Network address translation (NAT), in computer networking Chemistry, biology, and medicine * Natural antisense transcript, an RNA transcript in a cell * N-acetyltransferase, an enzyme; also NAT1, NAT2, etc. ...

, 1932 *

Oscar Adler Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer J ...

, 1933 *

, 1933–1949 *

Emil Coleman Emil may refer to: Literature *''Emil and the Detectives'' (1929), a children's novel *"Emil", nickname of the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated text and illustration (1982–1999) *''Emil i Lönneberga'', a series of children's novels by Astr ...

, 1940s–1950s

Early members

A picture of the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, dated March 4, 1918, and marked "to Mr. Oscar Tschirky on his 25th anniversary" is signed by each member of the orchestra. Tschirky was the maître d' of the Waldorf-Astoria and was very well known. From the signatures on the picture, together with information from Shilkret's autobiography, his payroll for his radio orchestras from 1928 through 1933 and the New York Philharmonic Archives,Schweikert, Norman, ''The Personnel of the New York Philharmonic and Those Organizations Merging With That Organization, 1842–1992: 1. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, 1842–1928; 2. The New York Symphony Orchestra, 1877–1928 (includes Leopold Damrosch's 1877 orchestra); 3. New/National Symphony Orchestra, 1919–1921; 4. The New York Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra, 1928–1992, unpublished; copy deposited at the New York Philharmonic Archives. the orchestra members, and their principal instrument when known, include the following, with question marks indicating the signatures were not clear: Joseph Knecht (director), V. Adamo, F. Cardone?, N. Cassellee?, Leonard D'Amico (violin), Edward Davis, Carl W. Dodge (cello), Joseph Febbraio (horn), R. Fritock, Nicholas Garagusi (violin; Boys' Symphony Orchestra of New York soloist and concertmaster in 1902), Roy R. Haines (trombone), Charles J. Hambitzer (George Gershwin's principal piano teacher), Louison? Heidelberg, Edward Kilenyi (violin), A. Kirchner (bassoon), Peter Le Fina, Frank Longo (piano), Benjamin Posner (violin), D. Reggel, D. Saeirtel,

Max Schlossberg Max Schlossberg (5 November 1873 – 23 September 1936) was a Jewish-Baltic trumpeter, conductor, composer, and teacher. His legacy is a large number of successful trumpet students and the method book, ''Daily Drills and Technical Studies''. Life ...

(trumpet), Nathaniel Shilkret (clarinet), Harry K. Spedick, Stefano L. Stefan?, F. Tantangelo, Van Praag, George Vaughn (clarinet), O. Walther. Shilkret also cites Dan Marshall as a flute player in the orchestra under Knecht. Several ''New York Times'' articles mention the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra with various conductors, including Harold Leonard (1926–1927), Meyer Davis (1929–1932), Nat Brandywine (1932), Jack Denny (1932), and Oscar Adler (1933). Meyer Davis's Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra is sometimes described as directed by Bill Artzt, Joe Moss, and Mischa Borr, instead of Davis himself. Denny departed when

's Orchestra began creating a stir at the Waldorf-Astoria. Cugat never had a contract with the Waldorf-Astoria, but his band reigned supreme there for 16 years. He began with a salary of $500 per week which escalated to $7,000 per week plus a percentage of the door. In the 1940s and 1950s the conductor Emil Coleman also appeared regularly with the orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria's famed Wedgwood Room. He also recorded several rhumbas, tangos and sambas for the DeLuxe Records label with the orchestra during this time.Emil Coleman's recordings with the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra on Archive.org
/ref> Mischa Borr also appeared with the Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra at the hotel's Starlight Roof and the Empire Rooms during this period. He also recorded several songs with the orchestra on the Victor label in 1946.''Discography of American Historical Recordings'' Mischa Borr and the Waldorf Astoria Dance Orchestra on uscb.edu
/ref>

Recordings

Knecht and Cugat each directed over 150 recordings with the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. Denny also made a significant number of recordings, but only about fifteen appeared with the Waldorf-Astoria name.Rust, Brian, ''The American Dance Band Discography 1917–1942, Volume 1'', Arlington House, New York, 1975, pp. 374–378, 399–402, and 974–981. The first recording by the Orchestra was ''Maytime Waltz'', recorded on December 10, 1917 and issued as Victor 18432. WhitburnWhitburn, Joel, ''Pop Memories, 1890–1954'', Record Research, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, 1986, pp. 116 and 435. lists this recordings being charted as a number 9 hit the following year, and lists three other Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra recordings as being "charted," including ''Beautiful Ohio'', which was listed as charted number one in 1919. The Orchestra made recordings for several different record companies, with the last recording directed by Knecht being made for Edison in November 1925. On Ca. 1921 Columbia records it is credited as "The Waldorf-Astoria Singing Orchestra". Denny recorded for Victor in 1932, including an experimental LP recording. Cugat also directed over 150 recordings with the Orchestra between 1937 and 1942, the earlier recordings for Victor and the later ones for Columbia. Whitburn lists twenty-one of the Cugat recordings as "charted." Emil Coleman recorded with the Orchestra during the 1940s for the Deluxe label.National Jazz Archive Emile Coleman Bandleader on NationalJazzArchive.org
/ref> Similarly, in 1946, Mischa Borr also recorded with the Orchestra on the Victor label.

Radio broadcasts

The Orchestra was one of the earliest orchestras heard on radio. Broadcasts began on WJZ in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and continued throughout the 1920s as the network chain was established. On February 4, 1923, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reported: Sies describes details of a spring 1924 broadcast of classical music on Dinner Music from the Rose Room on WEAF (soon to be the flagship station of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

network),Sies, Luther F., ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920–1960'', McFarland, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2000, pp. 165 and 614. and the New York Times said that the Rose Room Dinner Music was a favorite program for listeners of WEAF for many years. The

Eveready Hour ''The Eveready Hour'' was the first commercially sponsored variety program in the history of broadcasting. It premiered December 4, 1923 (or, according to other sources, November 4, 1923, or February 12, 1924), on WEAF Radio in New York City. ...

article includes a picture (see Commons below) which is labeled as including the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra in a publicity picture for the November 4, 1924, Eveready Hour broadcast. Neither the musicians nor the instrumentation match the 1918 photograph of the orchestra cited above. By 1928, the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra was heard Saturdays in the New York area on WABC and WEAF, in Washington, D.C., on WRC, and it was also heard in Detroit (WWJ), Boston (WEEI) and WCAE (Hartford). The music was usually on at 6pm to provide what was labeled "dinner music," and NBC broadcast it throughout the United States in the 1930s. Minus a brass section, the 1932 orchestra that Jack Denny helmed at the Waldorf-Astoria employed three pianos, clarinets, saxophones, strings and possibly a French horn or oboe.

References

External links

"Night," Jack Denny and the Waldorf Astoria Orchestra with Frank Luther vocal''Las Palmeras'' - Agustin Lara as performed by Pedro Berrios with Xavier Cugat's Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra (1936) on Archive.org''Waldorf Storia Orchestra'' - Single recordings of the Waldorf Astoria Orchestra as archived on Archive.org''Xavier Cugat's Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra'' - 172 single recordings archived on archive.org

Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra 1890s establishments in New York (state) 1949 disestablishments in New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Disbanded American orchestras 1920s American radio programs 1930s American radio programs Waldorf Astoria New York NBC radio programs Musical groups established in the 1890s Musical groups disestablished in 1949