Spaeth, Sigmund

Spaeth, Sigmund, American writer on music; b. Philadelphia, April 10, 1885; d. N.Y., Nov. 11, 1965. He studied piano and violin with A. Bachmann, then attended Haverford Coll. (B.A., 1905; M.A., 1906) and Princeton Univ. (Ph.D., 1910, with the diss. Milton’s Knowledge of Music; publ. in Princeton, N.J., 1913). He was music ed. of the N.Y. Evening Mail (1914–18), education director of the American Piano Co. (1920–27), and president of the National Assn. of American Composers and Conductors (1934–37). Spaeth lectured widely on music, gave popular talks on the radio, was active in musical journalism, and held various posts in educational organizations. He ed. the valuable collections Read ’em and Weep (1926; rev. 1945) and Weep Some More, My Lady (1927).

Writings

(all publ. in N.Y. unless otherwise given): The Common Sense of Music (1924); The Art of Enjoying Music (1933; rev. 1949); Musk for Everybody (1934); Great Symphonies (Garden City, N.Y., 1936; second ed., rev., 1952); Stories behind the World’s Great Music (1937); Music for Fun (1939); Great Program Music (1940); A Guide to Great Orchestral Music (1943); At Home with Music (Garden City, N.Y., 1945); A History of Popular Music in America (1948); Dedication: The Love Story of Clara and Robert Schumann (N.Y., 1950); Opportunities in Music Careers (1950; second ed., rev., 1966); Fifiy Years with Music (1959); The Importance of Music (1963).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire