Goldman Edwin Franko
Goldman Edwin Franko
Goldman, Edwin Franko, eminent American bandmaster and composer, father of Richard Franko Goldman; b. Louisville, Jan. 1, 1878; d. N.Y., Feb. 21, 1956. He studied composition with Dvorak, and cornet with J. Levy and C. Sohst in N.Y. He became solo cornetist of the Metropolitan Opera orch. when he was 21, remaining there for 10 years. For the next 13 years, he taught cornet and trumpet. He formed his first band in 1911. In 1918 the Goldman Band outdoor concerts were inaugurated. His band was noted not only for its skill and musicianship but for its unusual repertoire, including modern works especially commissioned for the band. Goldman was a founder and first president of the American Bandmasters7 Assn.; he received honoraryD.Mus. degrees from Phillips Univ. and Boston Univ., and medals and other honors from governments and associations throughout the world. He wrote more than 100 brilliant marches, of which the best known is On the Mall; also other band music; solos for various wind instruments; studies and methods for cornet and other brass instruments; several songs. He was the author of Foundation to Cornet or Trumpet Playing (1914), Band Betterment (1934), and The Goldman Band System (1936).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire