Hiram Clarence Eddy (23 June 1851 - 10 January 1937 [1] ) was a United States organist and composer
Hiram Clarence Eddy (23 June 1851 - 10 January 1937 [1] ) was a United States organist and composer
He was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. He studied under Dudley Buck in Hartford, Connecticut, counterpoint under Carl August Haupt, and piano under Carl Albert Loeschhorn in Berlin. In 1874-76 he was organist of the First Congregational Church, Chicago; afterward organist and choirmaster of the First Presbyterian Church for 17 years and from 1875 to 1908 was director of the Hershey School of Musical Art. In 1877-79 he gave a series of 100 organ recitals, with entirely different programs, a memorable achievement in American musical annals. He played at several expositions in America and abroad, and gave recitals in the principal American and European cities. He composed several works for the organ, including one method book for instruction.
In the summer of 1871, Eddy went to Berlin to study for a period of more than two years. He studied organ and theory with Carl August Haupt, and piano with Carl Albert Löschorn. En route to Berlin, Eddy visited England and France, making important connections with distinguished organists such as Alexandre Guilmant, Charles-Marie Widor, Camille Saint-Saëns, César Franck, W.T. Best, and others. [2]
Reportedly practicing from six to ten hours a day, he had lessons weekly, and also participated in chamber music activities, in addition to concertizing. One 1873 review spoke highly of Eddy's performance, stating that “all the excellent qualities of the master showed themselves in the playing of the pupil. Massive technique, clearness and certainty, energy in taking the tones and a wonderfully lovely legato.” [2]
Further concerts allowed Eddy to secure the funds necessary to repay the loan which was taken out to enable his European trip. [2] Finally, in the spring of 1874, he returned to the United States after an extensive trip through Holland, Belgium, France, and London.
Returning to the United States with a letter of recommendation from Haupt, [3] Eddy presided as organist at the First Congregational Church in Chicago. He received praise for his playing of the music he had learned in Europe. In 1879, he took the position of organist at First Presbyterian Church, staying there for 17 years. In 1876, Eddy spent one week in Philadelphia playing recitals three times a day at the Centennial Exposition.
During his time in Chicago, he became involved with the Hershey School of Music as general director. It was founded in 1875 by Sara Hershey, and in 1876 the Hershey Music Hall was completed, giving the school the facilities it needed. A three-manual Johnson organ (built to Eddy's specifications) was installed for teaching and concert purposes. Inaugural concerts were performed on January 23 and 25 of 1877.
Continuing to tour and perform extensively, Eddy remained part of the Chicago music scene, including designing and dedicating the Roosevelt organ in the Auditorium Theatre. Eddy left Chicago in 1895, spending the rest of his life touring, teaching, and concertizing, dedicating over 1000 organs in his career. He later wrote organ method books, and teaching remained part of his career after leaving the Hershey school.
Between 1877 and 1879, Eddy gave over 100 recitals, all with different programs [4] on Sunday afternoons at the Hershey Music Hall. Each recital featured a piece by Bach and a variety of contemporary organ works, including transcriptions. Each recital also had two pieces of non-organ music, typically a vocalist, or chamber music. [5]
Eddy moved around between various cites, including New York and Paris. Continuing to concertize up until his death, he also recorded player organ rolls for the Aeolian Company. He died on January 10, 1937, from heart and kidney complications. [6] He is interred in his hometown of Greenfield Massachusetts.
In 1879, was married to singer Sara Hershey who established the Hershey School of Musical Art in Chicago. [2] Eddy and Hershey divorced in 1905.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Virgil Keel Fox was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heavy Organ" concerts of the music of Bach in the 1970s, staged complete with light shows. His many recordings made on the RCA Victor and Capitol labels, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, have been remastered and re-released on compact disc in recent years. They continue to be widely available in mainstream music stores.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.
William Thomas Best was an English organist and composer.
John Knowles Paine was the first American-born composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music. The senior member of a group of composers collectively known as the Boston Six, Paine was one of those responsible for the first significant body of concert music by composers from the United States. The Boston Six's other five members were Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, George Chadwick, and Horatio Parker.
Adolf Heinrich Anton Magnus Neuendorff, also known as Adolph Neuendorff, was a German American composer, violinist, pianist and conductor, stage director, and theater manager.
Frederick Lewis Swann is an American church and concert organist, choral conductor, composer, and former president of the American Guild of Organists. His extensive discography includes both solo organ works and choral ensembles he has conducted.
Whitney Eugene Thayer was an American organist and composer.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ is a pipe organ located in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with the nearby Conference Center organ, it is typically used to accompany the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and is also featured in daily noon recitals. It is one of the largest organs in the world. President and tonal director Jack Bethards describes it as an "American classic organ" and "probably one of the most perfect organs ever built."
John C. Walker, more familiarly known as John Walker, is an American concert organist, choirmaster, and CD recording artist. He is also a former president of the American Guild of Organists, elected in May 2014 to a two-year term of the 16,000-member organization. Walker has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. He is "widely recognized for his flawless technique and execution as well as his controlled and passionate playing," said Duke University in announcing a John Walker recital at Duke Chapel. Since 2006 he has served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute and George Mason University.
Dr. Henry Thomas Pringuer DMus(Oxon), BMus(Oxon), FCO was an English composer, organist, and one of the first examiners for Trinity College, London.
Carl August Haupt was a German organist, organ teacher and composer.
Diane Meredith Belcher is an American concert organist, teacher, and church musician. She has given a large number of solo recitals throughout the United States and abroad, is a teacher, and serves as Music Director at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, and Lecturer in Music Theory & Organ at Dartmouth College, both in Hanover, New Hampshire. Her concert career is managed by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.
James Hotchkiss Rogers was an American organist, composer, teacher, music critic, and publisher.
Sara Hershey-Eddy was an American musician, pianist, contralto vocalist, vocal instructor, and musical educator. She founded the Hershey School of Musical Art in Chicago.
Hershey School of Musical Art was an American school located in Chicago, Illinois.
Arthur Batelle Whiting was an American teacher, pianist, composer, and writer on music, known for his conservative compositional style, espousal of early music, and his long-running university lecture-recital series.
Herve Dwight Wilkins, was an American organist and composer.
Lynnwood Farnam was a Canadian organist who became the preeminent organist in North America in the 1920s until his death. He was influential in promoting the music of Bach, and also championed French organ music contemporary to his day. He became acquainted with the most important American and European organists of his day, and upon his early death several major works were dedicated in to his memory. He was known for his superb technical ability and knowledge of organ registration, but he avoided performances intended to "show off" the organist, preferring the attention to be drawn to the music.
Helen Searles Westbrook was an American composer and organist.
Media related to Clarence Eddy at Wikimedia Commons| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
