Frank La Forge
Encyclopedia
Frank La Forge was an American pianist
and composer
and arranger of art songs.
with his older sister, and went to Vienna
in 1900 to study with Theodor Leschetizky. In the following years he toured Europe
, Russia
, and the United States
as an accompanist to Marcella Sembrich
. He moved to New York City
in 1920, where he became a music teacher, coach, and accompanist. He died at the piano, performing at a Musician's Club dinner.
La Forge accompanied many important opera
singers, including Marcella Sembrich
, Ernestine Schumann-Heink
, Lily Pons
, Johanna Gadski
and Lucrezia Bori
. He taught a number of important American singers, including Marian Anderson
, Lawrence Tibbett
, Marie Powers
, and Richard Crooks
. In performance he usually accompanied entirely from memory, considered an unusual feat for an accompanist. His biography in Pathways of Song claimed that he had 'a repertoire of over five thousand memorized accompaniments embracing all schools'. The Victor
record catalog is full of examples of his playing, many with Marcella Sembrich and Lucrezia Bori. He recorded a few piano solos, as well as two works accompanying at the organ
in 1912, 'Berceuse' and 'Le Cygne' (most likely the famous work
by Saint-Saëns) with 'cellist Gutia Casini.
, while a few have been reissued in various song anthologies and collections of American art song
s from the same publisher. Many of his early songs were composed to German texts and modeled on the German Lied. Later songs were composed in the more accessible 'concert ballad' style, which was quite popular at the time. Many were written for specific singers to show off their individual talents.
The songs are known for their craftsmanship, full piano accompaniments, and tasteful musical style. His 1919 piece Song of the Open was highlighted by Upton as representative of American song from the era 1900-1930.
He was also a highly successful arranger of folksongs; Villamil mentions 'an excellent set of Mexican folk songs'. Perhaps more significant was his work as an important compiler of songs for students, in the collection of several volumes he created with Will Earhart, the Pathways of Song.
unless noted
unless noted
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and arranger of art songs.
Life and musical career
La Forge was a boy soprano, famous in his hometown of Rockford, Illinois. He first studied pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with his older sister, and went to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1900 to study with Theodor Leschetizky. In the following years he toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as an accompanist to Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska...
. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1920, where he became a music teacher, coach, and accompanist. He died at the piano, performing at a Musician's Club dinner.
La Forge accompanied many important opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singers, including Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich
Marcella Sembrich was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska...
, Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink
Ernestine Schumann-Heink was a celebrated Austrian, later American, operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.- Early life:...
, Lily Pons
Lily Pons
Lily Pons was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Léo Delibes' Lakmé and Gaetano...
, Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski was a German soprano blessed with a secure, powerful, ringing voice, fine musicianship and an excellent technique. These attributes enabled her to enjoy a top-flight career in New York City and London, performing heavy dramatic roles in the German and Italian repertoires.-Life &...
and Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano.-Biography:Lucrezia Bori was born in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho and her family were reputed to be descended from the Borgias.Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any...
. He taught a number of important American singers, including Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
, Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
, Marie Powers
Marie Powers
Marie Powers was an American contralto who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium, a role that she played on stage, screen and television....
, and Richard Crooks
Richard Crooks
Richard Alexander Crooks was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.-Biography:He was born on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey...
. In performance he usually accompanied entirely from memory, considered an unusual feat for an accompanist. His biography in Pathways of Song claimed that he had 'a repertoire of over five thousand memorized accompaniments embracing all schools'. The Victor
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
record catalog is full of examples of his playing, many with Marcella Sembrich and Lucrezia Bori. He recorded a few piano solos, as well as two works accompanying at the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
in 1912, 'Berceuse' and 'Le Cygne' (most likely the famous work
Le Cygne
Le Cygne is a scholarly journal, published once a year, in April, by the International Marie de France Society.It is included in the Modern Language Association International Bibliography database....
by Saint-Saëns) with 'cellist Gutia Casini.
Musical works
La Forge composed around 40 songs for voice and piano in the years between 1906 and 1940, as well as a few piano solos, choral works, and at least one solo for violin and piano. Some of the songs are sacred, and most were published individually by G. SchirmerG. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
, while a few have been reissued in various song anthologies and collections of American art song
American art song
The composition of art song in America began slowly in the Colonial and Federal periods, expanded greatly in the 19th century, and has become a distinguished and highly regarded addition to the classical music repertoire in the 20th and 21st centuries....
s from the same publisher. Many of his early songs were composed to German texts and modeled on the German Lied. Later songs were composed in the more accessible 'concert ballad' style, which was quite popular at the time. Many were written for specific singers to show off their individual talents.
The songs are known for their craftsmanship, full piano accompaniments, and tasteful musical style. His 1919 piece Song of the Open was highlighted by Upton as representative of American song from the era 1900-1930.
He was also a highly successful arranger of folksongs; Villamil mentions 'an excellent set of Mexican folk songs'. Perhaps more significant was his work as an important compiler of songs for students, in the collection of several volumes he created with Will Earhart, the Pathways of Song.
Published secular songs
published by G. SchirmerG. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
unless noted
- The Butterfly (Der Schmetterling)
- By the Lake
- Camp Meetin' Song (text by La Forge), Carl Fischer, 1952
- Come Unto These Yellow Sands (ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
), 1907 - Contemplation
- The Coyote
- Expectancy (Erwartung)
- Far Away
- Hidden Wounds (Verborgene Wunden)
- Hills (Arthur GuitermanArthur GuitermanArthur Guiterman was an American writer best known for his humorous poems.-Life and career:Guiterman was born of American parents in Vienna, graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891, and was married in 1909 to Vida Lindo. He was an editor of the Woman's Home Companion and the...
), G. Ricordi, 1925 - How Much I Love You (Wie lieb ich dich hab')
- I Came with a Song (Elizabeth Ruggles), 1914
- I Love But Thee!
- In Evening Stillness (In der Abendstille)
- In Pride of May
- Like the Rosebud (Avec une ruse), 1906
- The Lovely Rose
- May's Coming (Frühlingseinzug)
- My Love and I
- Pastorale (John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
), Galaxy Music, 1932 - Reawakening (Widererwachen)
- Retreat (Schlupfwinkel) (Princess Gabriele Wrede; English translation), 1906
- Serenade
- Song of the Open (Jessica H. Lowell), Ditson, 1919
- Spooks (Spuk)
- Take, O Take Those Lips Away (Shakespeare)
- To a Messenger (An einem Boten) (Princess Gabriele Wrede; English translation), 1909
- To a Violet
- To One Afar
- Vale Carissima
- Voodoo Spirits (Della Hayward), Carl Fischer, 1946
- When Your Dear Hands
- Wherefore? (Wozu?)
Published sacred songs
published by G. SchirmerG. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
unless noted
- And there were shepherds abiding in the fields, Carl Fischer, 1938
- Before the Crucifix (Dinanzi al crocifisso) (Princess Gabriele Wrede; English version by Robert Huntington; Italian version by Paolo Rusca), 1912
- Bless the Lord (Psalm 103), Carl Fischer, 1933
- But the Hour Cometh
- Hast Thou Not Known
- Make a Joyful Noise, Carl Fischer, 1938
- O Sing Unto the Lord
- The Shephard
- Supplication (Minnie K. Breid), Flammer, 1918
- Teach Me, O Lord, Carl Fischer, 1938
- Trust in the Lord
Published piano solos
- Etude for sostenuto pedal, for piano, Carl Fischer publisher, 1943
- Gavotte
- Gavotte and Musette
- Improvisation
- Romance, 1911
- Souvenir de Vienne
- Valse de Concert, 1912
Arrangements and editing
- Echo Song by Henry Bishop, transcribed for voice, flute and piano by La Forge, Schirmer, 1940
- Fledermaus Fantasy, excerpts from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, transcribed for voice, flute and piano by La Forge, Schirmer, 1943 - Little swallow (O légère hirondelle), waltz song from Mireille by Charles GounodCharles GounodCharles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
, transcribed for voice, flute and piano by La Forge, Schirmer, 1942 - Love-Tide of Spring (La primavera d'or) by Alexander GlazunovAlexander GlazunovAlexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
, transcription for voice and piano, Schirmer, 1913 - Menuet Varié (Minuet with variations), anonymous 18th c. French work, transcribed for voice, flute and piano by La Forge, Schirmer, 1940
- Mexican Songs for voice and piano, arranged and translated by La Forge, G. Ricordi publisher:
- 1. Pregúntales á las Estrellas (O ask of the stars, beloved), Mexican folk-song, 1922
- 2. Crepuscúlo (Twilight), Mexican folk-song, 1922
- 3. El Céfiro (The Zephyr), Mexican folk-song, 1922
- 4. La Paloma (The Dove) by Sebastián Yradier, 1922
- 5. La Golondrina (The Swallow), Mexican folk-song, 1922
- 6. En Cuba (Cuban Song) by Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes, 1923
- 7. Estrellita (Little Star) by Manuel Ponce, 1923
- 8. Yo paso la Vida (In Sorrow and Sighing) by Jose Islas, 1926
- On the beautiful blue Danube by Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, transcribed for voice and piano by La Forge, G. Ricordi, 1928 - Pathways of Song, compiled, arranged, translated and edited by Frank LaForge and Will Earhart, M. Witmark publisher, 1938
- Tales from the Vienna Forest by Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, piano solo transcribed for voice and piano by La Forge, Schirmer, 1912
- On the beautiful blue Danube by Johann Strauss II
External links
- http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/l/laforge.html Texts of some songs by Frank La Forge
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9T1DUOwV-g Lily Pons performs a Frank La Forge Song
- Sheet music for "Valse de Concert", G. Schirmer, Inc., 1912.