Carl Venth
Encyclopedia
Carl Venth was a German
-American
composer
, violin
ist, conductor
, music educator
, and scholar. He was a leading classical music
figure in Texas
in the first half of the twentieth century and was one of the early music directors of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
.
, Germany
, the son of Carl Venth and Friderika von Turkowitz. He began violin study with his father at age 9. He was educated at the Friedrich Wilhelm-Gymnasium; at the Cologne Conservatory, where he studied violin with George Japha and composition with Ferdinand Hiller
, Gustav Jensen, and Otto Klauwell; and at the Brussels Conservatory, where he studied violin with Henryk Wieniawski
and from which he was graduated in 1877.
of the Utrecht
Symphony Orchestra and of the Flemish Opera in Brussels
; in 1879 he assumed the same post with the Offenbach Comic Opera of Paris
. He made his solo debut in 1878 with the Utrecht Symphony, followed by a concert tour of Holland in 1879 and of the United States in 1880.
In 1880 he moved to the United States, whereupon he concertized as a violin soloist for four years before accepting a position in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City
. He lived in New York until 1908, during which time he founded the Venth College of Music in Brooklyn
(1889), founded and conducted the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra (1890), founded and led the Venth String Quartet (1891), and served as conductor or concertmaster with the Euterpe Orchestral Society of New York and the St. Paul
Symphony.
In 1899 he married Cathinka Finch Myhr of Norway
.
In 1908 Venth came to Texas to direct the violin department at Kidd-Key College
in Sherman
. In 1911 he helped bring a moribund Dallas Symphony Orchestra
back into existence and assumed the post of music director, a position he would hold until 1914; in 1913 he took a concurrent similar position with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
. In 1914 Venth was appointed Dean of Fine Arts at Texas Woman's College in Fort Worth (now named Texas Woman's University
and located in Denton
). Venth remained in Fort Worth until 1931 but served as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony from 1927 to 1931. In 1931, he moved to San Antonio
to become Dean of Fine Arts at Westmoreland College (which was renamed the University of San Antonio during Venth's tenure and is now known as Trinity University
), where he taught violin, harmony, and theory.
Throughout his professional life Venth was active as a composer. He composed at least three operas (Pan, The Monk of Iona, Fair Betty [listed as Fairy Betty in one source]), four cantata
s, two violin concertos, two string quartets, a piano trio, three violin sonatas, numerous songs, orchestral works, piano solo works, and pieces for violin and piano. Many of his compositions were premiered in New York and other important venues and were issued by major publishing houses, including Breitkopf & Härtel
and Carl Fischer
. Pan is described in Venth's Dallas Morning News obituary as "the first American opera to gain international recognition."
Venth died in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 77. His autobiography, My Memories, was published posthumously, in 1939, by Alamo Printing Company of San Antonio.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, 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....
ist, 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...
, music educator
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
, and scholar. He was a leading classical music
Classical 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...
figure in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in the first half of the twentieth century and was one of the early music directors of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
.
Early life and education
Venth was born in CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the son of Carl Venth and Friderika von Turkowitz. He began violin study with his father at age 9. He was educated at the Friedrich Wilhelm-Gymnasium; at the Cologne Conservatory, where he studied violin with George Japha and composition with Ferdinand Hiller
Ferdinand Hiller
Ferdinand Hiller was a German composer, conductor, writer and music-director.-Biography:Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph...
, Gustav Jensen, and Otto Klauwell; and at the Brussels Conservatory, where he studied violin with Henryk Wieniawski
Henryk Wieniawski
Henryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer.-Biography:Henryk Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire. His father, Tobiasz Pietruszka, had converted to Catholicism. His talent for playing the violin was recognized early, and in 1843 he entered the Paris...
and from which he was graduated in 1877.
Career
In 1878 Venth was appointed concertmasterConcertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
of the Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
Symphony Orchestra and of the Flemish Opera in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
; in 1879 he assumed the same post with the Offenbach Comic Opera of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He made his solo debut in 1878 with the Utrecht Symphony, followed by a concert tour of Holland in 1879 and of the United States in 1880.
In 1880 he moved to the United States, whereupon he concertized as a violin soloist for four years before accepting a position in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 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...
. He lived in New York until 1908, during which time he founded the Venth College of Music in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
(1889), founded and conducted the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra (1890), founded and led the Venth String Quartet (1891), and served as conductor or concertmaster with the Euterpe Orchestral Society of New York and the St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
Symphony.
In 1899 he married Cathinka Finch Myhr of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
In 1908 Venth came to Texas to direct the violin department at Kidd-Key College
Kidd-Key College
Kidd-Key College was a college and music conservatory for women located in Sherman, Texas. The college was formed in 1919 after first being a private high school and then a college under a different name...
in Sherman
Sherman, Texas
Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. In 1911 he helped bring a moribund Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
back into existence and assumed the post of music director, a position he would hold until 1914; in 1913 he took a concurrent similar position with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Fort Worth, Texas. The orchestra performs at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth...
. In 1914 Venth was appointed Dean of Fine Arts at Texas Woman's College in Fort Worth (now named Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University is a co-educational university in Denton, Texas, United States with two health science center branches in Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas...
and located in Denton
Denton, Texas
The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...
). Venth remained in Fort Worth until 1931 but served as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony from 1927 to 1931. In 1931, he moved to San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
to become Dean of Fine Arts at Westmoreland College (which was renamed the University of San Antonio during Venth's tenure and is now known as Trinity University
Trinity University (Texas)
Trinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District and adjacent to Brackenridge Park....
), where he taught violin, harmony, and theory.
Throughout his professional life Venth was active as a composer. He composed at least three operas (Pan, The Monk of Iona, Fair Betty [listed as Fairy Betty in one source]), four cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s, two violin concertos, two string quartets, a piano trio, three violin sonatas, numerous songs, orchestral works, piano solo works, and pieces for violin and piano. Many of his compositions were premiered in New York and other important venues and were issued by major publishing houses, including Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
and Carl Fischer
Carl Fischer Music
Carl Fischer Music is a major publisher of sheet music based in New York City that has been in business since 1872. As one of the few remaining family-owned music publishers, it supplies educational materials to professional and beginning musicians of all ages, as well as new music works.Notable...
. Pan is described in Venth's Dallas Morning News obituary as "the first American opera to gain international recognition."
Venth died in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 77. His autobiography, My Memories, was published posthumously, in 1939, by Alamo Printing Company of San Antonio.
Sources
- Abraham, April. "Solo Piano Music by San Antonio Composers" (doctoral treatise). Austin TX: 1984.
- Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth Edition, ed. Nicolas Slonimsky. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992.
- "Dr. Carl Venth, 77, Composer, Dies At San Antonio." The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, 30 January 1938. - International Who's Who in Music and Musical Gazetteer, ed. César Saerchinger. New York: Current Literature Publishing Company, 1918.