Eleanor Sophia Smith
Eleanor Sophia Smith | |
---|---|
Born | Atlanta, Illinois, U.S. | June 15, 1858
Died | June 30, 1942 Midland, Michigan, U.S. | (aged 84)
Occupation(s) | Music instructor and composer |
Years active | 1880s–1936 |
Known for | Hull House Music School |
Eleanor Sophia Smith (June 15, 1858 – June 30, 1942) was an American composer and music educator. She was one of the founders of Chicago's Hull House Music School, and headed its music department from 1893 to 1936.
Born into a musical family, Smith taught herself to play the piano and later became a classically trained musician. Earning a teaching degree, she began publishing music compositions for children using the philosophy of
Returning to the United States in 1890, Smith began working at the settlement house, Hull House, as a music instructor. Within three years she had co-founded the Hull House Music School, a school which followed her progressive teaching ideas, cross-training students in vocal music as well as instruments. Simultaneously, she worked in several institutions in the Chicago area which trained music educators.
Smith published numerous compilations of songs, including two six-volume textbook series, which were widely used throughout the United States. Most of her writings were focused on children's voices and contained short songs written with attention paid to the limited range and short attention span of children. Many of her compositions were still being used in music education programs in the latter part of the 20th century.
Early years and education
Born in
Career
After completing her schooling, Smith commenced teaching at the
Composition
Smith began publishing for children in 1887, with her first volume of children's music entitled Songs for Little Children, Part 1.[9] She was a proponent and follower of the teaching philosophy of Friedrich Fröbel. Smith incorporated Fröbel's ideas that childhood is a universal experience in which children learn by imitation, using their natural abilities. Her compositions also recognized that children learn by movement and play, but have limited attention spans. Thus, the compositions she created were usually short melodies with limited vocal ranges that were easy to sing.[10] The songs were in major keys- typically C, F, and G- and extended only from C4 to F5. She composed most of her melodies as stepped triads[9] and provided pauses for activity. For example, in her song "The Wind Mill" there is an eight measure rest for the children to make the motions of the turning blades.[11]
In 1894, after Smith returned from Germany, she published her second volume Songs for Little Children, Part 2.[11] As in her previous work, most of the songs were in major keys, with the most common being A-flat major and E-flat major. Second, third, fourth and fifth intervals were typical in her voice scores with the piano accompaniment creating interest through varied rhythm patterns.[12] In this volume, most of the compositions were Smith's own work, though some of the pieces were adaptations of German folk songs.[13]
Smith's first textbook series, The Modem Music Series, in six volumes[1] was published in 1898 by Scott, Foresman and Company, with rights later purchased by the Silver Burdette Company. It was a collaboration with Robert Foresman, another music educator who believed that children should be allowed to learn intuitively. [14] It set forth a new movement in music instruction which rejected the traditional sight singing memorization method of training and instead relied on the "song method".[5] In this type of instruction, students learned the skills for reading music from a combination of interval recognition, ear training and observation of songs.[11] The books were successful, using many of Smith's own songs and became the basis for similar textbooks based on her ideas and works,[5] such as the publication in 1909 by Charles H. Congdon called the Congdon Music Readers series, which incorporated 21 songs by Smith.[15] Smith published a second textbook series, The Eleanor Smith Music Series, in 1908,[5] which also contained six volumes and was widely distributed in US public schools.[16]
In 1910, Smith published Songs of a Little Child’s Day, which included 66 songs of original compositions by Smith and text by
Teaching
Smith arrived at Hull House in the autumn of 1890 and, shortly after her first visit, [5] began to give voice and piano lessons to both children and adults. Initially, free concerts were given on Sunday, both to uplift the community and to highlight the talents of the settlement house teachers and musicians. Between November 1891 and April 1892, there were 22 Sunday concerts held at Hull House before the music school was officially founded.[19] Smith was one of the founders of Hull House Music School the following year, which became the first settlement music school in the United States.[1] She invited one of her friends from Germany, Amalie Hannig, who had been teaching piano at the Klindworth Conservatory to help her with the school. Hannig taught both piano and voice[7] at the school until 1898. Mary Rozet Smith, one of the benefactors of Hull House, provided the funding to establish the school.[20]
In the late 1890s,
Smith's teaching style differed from conventional music instruction at the time in that she required instrumental students to study voice.[24] Piano, organ and violin instruction was offered[2] by 1907. Gertrude Madeira Smith,[20] Eleanor's sister,[2] gave organ instruction and Charles Moerenhout of the Chicago Orchestra taught violin. Five assistants also helped the teachers.[20] Smith felt that adding vocal training gave a level of experience that was neglected by singular focus on memorization of scales and structural drills usually prevalent for those learning instruments. She also incorporated songs from the students' homelands as a way to intermingle their old cultures with their new lives[24] and made efforts to involve their parents in the development of the curricula. As a progressive reformer, Smith advocated that inclusive diversity was a means of building a cosmopolitan citizenry united by pursuit of music excellence.[25] She also encouraged students to compose music from their earliest instruction and to recover songs from their cultural backgrounds.[26]
As well as teaching music at Hull House, Smith served as its choral director. She also composed songs[2] and arranged music specifically for her students to perform.[24] She initiated an annual Christmas concert which also included a dramatic presentation and was eagerly anticipated by the neighborhood for its holiday pageantry.[5] Under her direction of the music school, the Hull House Boy's Band developed, which included immigrant boys from the neighborhood who would later become noted jazz performers. Jazz pianist Art Hodes recalled that one of the first jam sessions he ever had occurred when a young clarinetist named Benny Goodman joined the Boy's Band. James Petrillo, who later led the American Federation of Musicians, a musician's union, was also a member of the group.[27]
In addition to her work at Hull House, Smith was involved in public education.
Personal life
Smith favored
Posthumously, Smith's papers were donated to the
Selected works
- Smith, Eleanor; with words by Kate Starr Kellogg (1885). Five Songs. Chicago, Illinois: W. H. Willis and company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1887). Songs for little children: pt. 1: a collection of songs and games for kindergartens and primary schools. Springfield, Massachusetts: Milton Bradley Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1891). A first book in vocal music. Modern music series. Chicago, Illinois: Scott, Foresman & Co.
- Smith, Eleanor (1894). Songs for little children: pt. 2: a collection of songs and games for kindergartens and primary schools. Springfield, Massachusetts: Milton Bradley Company.
- Smith, Eleanor; Adam, Julia M. (1898). The beginner's book of vocal music. Chicago, Illinois: Scott, Foresman & Co.
- Smith, Eleanor (1901). A First Book in Vocal Music. The Modern Music Series. Vol. Book 1. New York, New York: Silver Burdette and Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1901). A Second Book in Vocal Music. The Modern Music Series. Vol. Book 2. New York, New York: Silver Burdette and Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1901). A Third Book in Vocal Music. The Modern Music Series. Vol. Book 3. New York, New York: Silver Burdette and Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1905). A Fourth Book in Vocal Music. The Modern Music Series. Vol. Book 4. New York, New York: Silver Burdette and Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1909). The Eleanor Smith Music Course Manual. New York, New York: American Book Company.
- Smith, Eleanor (1911). The Eleanor Smith Music Primer. New York, New York: American Book Company.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Leonard 1914, p. 756.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Howe 2013, p. 190.
- ^ Otis 1913, p. 224.
- ^ a b c Mathews 1908, p. 112.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Elrod 2001.
- ^
- ^ a b Mathews 1908, p. 113.
- ^ Smith 1885.
- ^ a b Alper 1980, p. 114.
- ^ Alper 1980, p. 113.
- ^ a b c Alper 1980, p. 115.
- ^ Alper 1980, p. 116.
- ^ a b Alper 1980, p. 117.
- ^ Keene 2010, pp. 229–230.
- ^ Volk 2007, p. 306.
- ^ a b Vaillant 2003, p. 318.
- ^ Alper 1980, p. 118.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, p. 100.
- ^ a b c Mathews 1908, p. 114.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, p. 102.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, p. 103.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, p. 104.
- ^ a b c Vaillant 2003, p. 107.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, p. 108.
- ^ Addams 1911, p. 378.
- ^ Vaillant 2003, pp. 123–124.
- ^ a b "Eleanor and Gertrude Smith Papers". Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois at Chicago. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^
Attribution This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: J. W. Leonard Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915 (1914)
Bibliography
- Addams, Jane (1911). Twenty Years at Hull House. New York, New York: Macmillan Company.
- Alper, Clifford D. (Summer 1980). "The Early Childhood Song Books of Eleanor Smith: Their Affinity with the Philosophy of Friedrich Froebel". Journal of Research in Music Education. 28 (2). Sage Publications, Inc.: 111–118. S2CID 146584405.
- Cassano (Graham), Lunin Schultz (Rima) and Payette (Jessica) (2019). Eleanor Smith's Hull House Songs: The Music of Protest and Hope in Jane Addams's Chicago. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-0428965-9.
- Elrod, Pamela G. (2001). "Eleanor Sophia Smith". In Schultz, Rima Lunin; Hast, Adele (eds.). Women Building Chicago 1790–1990: A Biographical Dictionary (1st ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 810–812. ISBN 978-0-253-33852-5.
- Howe, Sondra Wieland (November 7, 2013). Women Music Educators in the United States: A History. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8848-7.
- Keene, James A. (2010). A History of Music Education in the United States (2nd ed.). Centenniel, Colorado: Glenbridge Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-944435-66-3.
- Leonard, John W. (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915. American Commonwealth Company. p. 756.
- Mathews, W. S. B., ed. (October 1908). "An Interview with Eleanor Smith". The Journal of School Music. 1 (1). Chicago, Illinois: Eunice R. Plumb-Brandt: 112–117.[permanent dead link]
- Otis, Philo Adams (1913). The First Presbyterian church, 1833–1913; a history of the oldest organization in Chicago, with biographical sketches of the ministers and extracts from the choir records. Chicago, Illinois: F. H. Revell Company.
- Vaillant, Derek (2003). Sounds of Reform: Progressivism and Music in Chicago, 1873–1935. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-0-8078-5481-5.
- Volk, Terese M. (Winter 2007). ""Charts and Other Paraphernalia": Charles H. Congdon (1856–1928) and His Music Teaching Materials". Journal of Research in Music Education. 55 (4). Sage Publications, Inc.: 302–312. S2CID 191620215.