CHARLES GILBERT SPROSS (POUGHKEEPSIE,
DUTCHESS COUNTY, NEW YORK, USA, JANUARY 6, 1874 – POUGHKEEPSIE, DUTCHESS
COUNTY, NEW YORK, USA, DECEMBER 23, 1961)
He began his
musical studies in his hometown with the organist Helen Andrus (1853–1927) and
Adolf Kühn, and later studied at the Scharwenka Conservatory in New York with
Franz Xaver Scharwenka and Karl Lachmund.
For seven
years he served as organist at St. Paul’s Church in Poughkeepsie, and later at
several Presbyterian churches in New York and New Jersey. As a pianist, he
gained renown primarily as an accompanist. Among the musicians he accompanied
were Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, Olive Fremstad, and other leading
vocalists, as well as his brother Hubert Spross (1878–1959), who was noted for
his artistic whistling.
As a soloist,
in 1911 he recorded a number of short pieces by Frédéric Chopin, Robert
Schumann, Moritz Moszkowski, Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jean
Sibelius, Benjamin Godard, Cécile Chaminade, and others.
He was the
composer of numerous songs for voice and orchestra, several cantatas, and a
violin sonata. One of Spross’s songs, Will-o’-the-Wisp, proved particularly
popular and was recorded over the years by Alma Gluck, Rosa Ponselle, and
Marian Anderson.
TRACKLIST
Dornroschen –
The Sleeping Beauty (Bendel) Aeolian 66138D 1923
Chimes Of St.
Cecilia (Spross) Aeolian 6385 1923
Spring Song
(Spross) Duo-Art 5866 1922
Barcarolle
(Spross) Duo-Art 5896 1915
Etude
Melodique, Op. 130, No. 1 in A-Flat Major (Raff) Duo-Art 5806
Monastery
Bells Op.54 (Lefébure-Wély) Duo-Art 6424 1921
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