Gilbert Raynolds Combs
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Raynolds Combs was an American
pianist
, organist
, and player of stringed instruments
; a composer
of music for orchestra
, piano
, voice
, and violin
; a teacher; and an orchestral and chorus conductor
. Gilbert Combs was founder of the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia in 1885, one of the founders and president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
national music fraternity, founder and vice president of the National Association of Schools of Music
, and a Mason
.
in 1858 and served on the committee appointed by the United Presbyterian Church
General Assembly to prepare its “Book of Praise” in 1872. He was also a distinguished pianist, organist, and composer. Gilbert Raynolds Combs showed a talent for music very early in life and received careful training. He studied music first under his father, and then under several American and European masters. He was educated at Eastburn Academy in Philadelphia. Though originally intended for the medical profession, he made such rapid progress, both at home and in Europe, that he decided to adopt music as his life-work.
From his fifteenth to his twenty-second year Combs was actively engaged in playing the organ
, piano
and ‘cello
; teaching piano
and violin
; and directing orchestras, operatic companies and choruses. For twelve years he was organist at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, later musical director at the South Broad Street Baptist Church and for six years organist at the Tenth Presbyterian Church.
in America was largely due to the American conservatories, “which have forced good music on their pupils and excluded such music as many private teachers are obliged to use in order to retain their pupils.” In addition to class instruction, he advocated private lessons from artist teachers of international reputation to develop the higher qualities of musicianship. Most music schools in America today follow this model, which was intentionally developed by conservatory directors like Combs and George Chadwick of the New England Conservatory, who modeled their schools after the European conservatories so that Americans could obtain an equivalent to the European education in their own country.
Gilbert Combs’ success and popularity as a teacher, and his desire to provide pupils with these advantages, led him to found the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia. Combs founded the Conservatory in 1885 and remained its head for many years. The Conservatory was considered successful from the outset. Its teaching-force numbered about 80, and the number of pupils over 2,300. The Conservatory occupied five buildings on South Broad Street. It was highly organized for efficiency and offered a wide range of opportunity for instruction from elementary to advanced grades. Its students had certain privileges at the University of Pennsylvania
. Two orchestras were maintained, one of 85 members, the other of 60.
, the ‘Romance,’ op. 17, ‘Norwegian Dance,’ ‘Autumn’ and ‘Wind of Memory’ were all well known. His ‘Reverie,’ op. 7, for violin and piano, was dedicated to and often played by Henry Schradieck
, the famed violin teacher. His Scotch and Irish songs, and many instructive pieces for piano and violin were much used. His Science of Piano-Playing and Introductory Steps to the Science of Piano-Playing were published in loose-leaf ledger form. His ‘Dramatis Symphony’ was first performed in 1908. The orchestral setting for ‘Sheherazade
,’ an oriental drama, was given at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, in May, 1918.
. The Sinfonia became national when he accepted a chapter at the Broad Street Conservatory on October 6, 1900. Combs was Supreme Treasurer from 1901–1902 and 1903–1904; and Supreme President from 1902–1903 and 1914–1915. He was part of the movement among conservatory directors to model their society after the social, intellectual, and artistic clubs devoted to Enlightenment
Idealism
. In this way, the students at their conservatories could have every benefit of their own experiences in the European conservatories. Combs wrote that the musical societies and fraternities that made up conservatory life helped the Conservatories rise “to the completely first-class.”
As Supreme President of the Sinfonia Gilbert Combs declared his optimism in the Fraternity’s future growth and suggested the idea of international expansion. He believed that the Sinfonia expanded because it responded to a unique sensitiveness and sensibility of musicians, and that its present and future growth would disprove the critics’ impressions “that musicians spend much of their time in mutual quarrellings and recriminations.”
Combs was “a member of all Masonic organizations.” The Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, having record of his attendance but not record of his initiation, believes that he may have been made a Mason while he was studying in Europe. His Ritualistic Music for the 32nd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
, for men's voices and organ, was written for the Philadelphia Consistory and first presented in 1917.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pianist
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:...
, organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, and player of stringed instruments
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
; a 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...
of music for orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, piano
Piano
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...
, voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
, and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
; a teacher; and an orchestral and chorus conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. Gilbert Combs was founder of the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia in 1885, one of the founders and president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
national music fraternity, founder and vice president of the National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music...
, and a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
.
Early life and career
Gilbert Raynolds Combs was born to a musical family in Philadelphia. His father, Gilbert Combs, was one of the Vice Presidents of the Handel and Haydn SocietyHandel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815, it remains one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.-Early history:...
in 1858 and served on the committee appointed by the United Presbyterian Church
United Presbyterian Church
United Presbyterian Church was the name of multiple Christian denominations in the world, among which are the following:*The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland , a union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church which joined the Free Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church...
General Assembly to prepare its “Book of Praise” in 1872. He was also a distinguished pianist, organist, and composer. Gilbert Raynolds Combs showed a talent for music very early in life and received careful training. He studied music first under his father, and then under several American and European masters. He was educated at Eastburn Academy in Philadelphia. Though originally intended for the medical profession, he made such rapid progress, both at home and in Europe, that he decided to adopt music as his life-work.
From his fifteenth to his twenty-second year Combs was actively engaged in playing 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...
, piano
Piano
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...
and ‘cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
; teaching piano
Piano
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...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
; and directing orchestras, operatic companies and choruses. For twelve years he was organist at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, later musical director at the South Broad Street Baptist Church and for six years organist at the Tenth Presbyterian Church.
The Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music
Gilbert Combs wrote that the appreciation of classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
in America was largely due to the American conservatories, “which have forced good music on their pupils and excluded such music as many private teachers are obliged to use in order to retain their pupils.” In addition to class instruction, he advocated private lessons from artist teachers of international reputation to develop the higher qualities of musicianship. Most music schools in America today follow this model, which was intentionally developed by conservatory directors like Combs and George Chadwick of the New England Conservatory, who modeled their schools after the European conservatories so that Americans could obtain an equivalent to the European education in their own country.
Gilbert Combs’ success and popularity as a teacher, and his desire to provide pupils with these advantages, led him to found the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia. Combs founded the Conservatory in 1885 and remained its head for many years. The Conservatory was considered successful from the outset. Its teaching-force numbered about 80, and the number of pupils over 2,300. The Conservatory occupied five buildings on South Broad Street. It was highly organized for efficiency and offered a wide range of opportunity for instruction from elementary to advanced grades. Its students had certain privileges at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Two orchestras were maintained, one of 85 members, the other of 60.
Works
As composer Gilbert Combs was best known by his piano-pieces, but wrote in all forms. The ‘Erato’ for piano, dedicated to Leopold GodowskyLeopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...
, the ‘Romance,’ op. 17, ‘Norwegian Dance,’ ‘Autumn’ and ‘Wind of Memory’ were all well known. His ‘Reverie,’ op. 7, for violin and piano, was dedicated to and often played by Henry Schradieck
Henry Schradieck
Henry Schradieck was one of the foremost violin teachers of his day. He wrote a series of etude books for the violin which are still in common use today....
, the famed violin teacher. His Scotch and Irish songs, and many instructive pieces for piano and violin were much used. His Science of Piano-Playing and Introductory Steps to the Science of Piano-Playing were published in loose-leaf ledger form. His ‘Dramatis Symphony’ was first performed in 1908. The orchestral setting for ‘Sheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
,’ an oriental drama, was given at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, in May, 1918.
Affiliations
Combs was one of the founders of Phi Mu Alpha SinfoniaPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
. The Sinfonia became national when he accepted a chapter at the Broad Street Conservatory on October 6, 1900. Combs was Supreme Treasurer from 1901–1902 and 1903–1904; and Supreme President from 1902–1903 and 1914–1915. He was part of the movement among conservatory directors to model their society after the social, intellectual, and artistic clubs devoted to Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
Idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
. In this way, the students at their conservatories could have every benefit of their own experiences in the European conservatories. Combs wrote that the musical societies and fraternities that made up conservatory life helped the Conservatories rise “to the completely first-class.”
As Supreme President of the Sinfonia Gilbert Combs declared his optimism in the Fraternity’s future growth and suggested the idea of international expansion. He believed that the Sinfonia expanded because it responded to a unique sensitiveness and sensibility of musicians, and that its present and future growth would disprove the critics’ impressions “that musicians spend much of their time in mutual quarrellings and recriminations.”
Combs was “a member of all Masonic organizations.” The Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, having record of his attendance but not record of his initiation, believes that he may have been made a Mason while he was studying in Europe. His Ritualistic Music for the 32nd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...
, for men's voices and organ, was written for the Philadelphia Consistory and first presented in 1917.