Books › Musical Courier 1927-01-06: Vol 94 Iss 1, 1927 › scan 11
Scan 11
Musical Courier 1927-01-06: Vol 94 Iss 1, 1927
73 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 12. See the scan on archive.org.
1MILTON CHARLES TO DIRECT DEPARTMENT OF THEATER ORGAN AT THE GUNN SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMATIC ART, CHICAGO
3The Gunn School of Music and Dramatic Art of Chicago, of which Glenn Dillard Gunn is president, has just issued a catalog for the Department of Theater Organ, for which department Milton Charles has been secured as director. Mr. Charles made his debut as pianist in a joint recital with Ernestine Schumann-Heink at the age of fourteen; at the age of sixteen he was a church organist and choir master, and soloist at the Strand Theater in San Francisco and Circuit Theaters. A year later he was the soloist at the Rialto in Los Angeles, and opened the new Wurlitzer organ at Pasadena and at Los Angeles. Five years ago he received a call from Balaban & Katz and since then he has been solo organist at the Tivoli and Uptown Theaters in Chicago, two of the largest of the kind in the country. He recently signed his sixth contract with the Balaban & Katz organization.
5THE ART OF MILTON CHARLES
7In organizing the Department of Theater Organ, the Gunn School has sought for a master to head it who knows the modern organ—this marvelous instrument which is a product of the greatest acoustic and theatrical engineering of the age—and who plays it with unrivalled brilliancy. In Milton Charles, noted solo organist of the Balaban & Katz Theaters in Chicago, the Gunn School has found a pioneer in this new art who is not only a brilliant performer, already occupying a position of enviable distinction, but also a pedagogue who has successfully formulated the principles to be applied in the study of the new instrument.
9Interviewed by a representative of the MUSICAL COURIER, Milton Charles stated that he will absolutely refuse to take beginners, though he will supervise all the work of his assistants.
11A NEW ART
13Speaking about the theater organ, Mr. Charles had the following to say: "The theater organ is a one man orchestra. It possesses all the colors, all the facility, the same capacity for accent, for contrasts of power, for the expressive delivery of melody or for the building of vast tonal masses.
15LEOPOLD AUER SAYS: about the MAIA BANG VIOLIN METHOD
17"I have read and re-read your Violin-School with great interest and recognize with pleasure how thoroughly you have been guided by my own teaching principles and how completely and clearly you have presented them in the book. I consider the method an excellent one for beginners and sincerely hope that it will find the deserved sympathy and support of teachers, who, from the start, wish to lead their pupils along the real and sure road of violin playing.
19Equally enthusiastic endorsements come from Kreisler, Helfetz, Thibaud, Elman, Zimballist, and Eugene Levinson.
21CONTENTS
22Part I Elementary Rudiments (First Position Only.)
23Part II Continuation of Elementary Material (First Position Only.)
24Part III Study of the Higher Positions (Second and Third Positions.)
25Part IV Study of the Higher Positions (Fourth and Fifth Positions.)
26Part V Study of the Higher Positions (Sixth and Seventh Positions.)
27Supplement—Higher Art of Bowing.
28Piano accompaniment to the melodies in the Bang Violin Method.
30Price $1.25 Each Part
31Order from your local dealer
32CARL FISCHER, Inc., Cooper Square NEW YORK
33BOSTON CHICAGO
35"Because of its increased capacity in every direction, the modern theater organ demands a new technic, exploits a new literature, and, in general, develops effects and is employed for purposes as foreign to the classic pipe organ as to the pianoforte.
37"The theater organist has at his disposal an action quicker than that of the pianoforte. Wherefore, he must have great digital agility. Imagination, in the terms of the effects of has had forty lessons privately with me. No student will be turned out of the Gunn School until he has received my absolute approval in the theater organ department. This is most necessary because of the standing of the school and keeping of faith with the motion picture exhibitors who will be supplied with organists by this school.
39THE SOLO ORGAN
41"The solo organ, a three manual Wurlitzer organ, that will be used in my studio, will also be used for recitals. The instrument has been constructed according to my specifications and is therefore extremely well adapted to the purpose of study of theater playing. It is unified throughout and contains all the essential tone colors. It is probably the largest studio organ in this part of the country."
43Mr. Charles gave the writer the complete specifications of this three manual Wurlitzer organ that is to be used at the Gunn School, but because of lack of space the figures can not be given here.
45PRACTICE ORGANS
47At the present writing, two practice organs are being installed at the Glenn Dillard Gunn School. Those two organs contain a wide range of stops and are equipped with practically all the effects found on the modern theater organ. Those organs have been built to specifications of Mr. Charles, who has made a thorough study of the needs of the student in this respect.
49BEGINNERS
51Mr. Charles informed the writer that the student who will be started by one of his assistants will be given the foundation instructions, including pedal technic, left hand and pedal, independence of hands and feet, reading the three staffs, and elementary registration. The student qualified by experience and organ instruction from reliable teachers will be accepted by Milton Charles. His instruction will include organ construction, registration (advanced), repertory (standard-modern), style, reading, solo playing and improvisation. There will be classes with Mr. Charles presiding, taking up the various subjects relative to the modern organ playing in the motion picture theater, and Mr. Charles will also give to the advanced student and professional player the benefit of his vast experience in the preparation and execution of the organ solo.
53A MODEST MAN
55Though Milton Charles is one of the most popular musicians now residing in Chicago, his modesty has won him many friends just as his playing has won him many admirers. At the close of the interview, Mr. Charles said: "The only clipping that I have kept of my playing is the one written in the MUSICAL COURIER by your correspondent in San Francisco, at the time of my debut. The man who wrote that article, an excellent musician by the way, made many prophecies about my playing, all of which have come true. Probably due to this, though much has been written about my playing, and though I have often been interviewed, I have kept in my scrap book only that review which I have not only cherished as being the first one written about me, but I have read it time and again until I have practically memorized it. Although the reviewer praised my work, he also found faults which I have corrected. I have always been thankful to that critic for giving me advice before it was too late."
57This being said, Mr. Charles took his leave, having to rush to the Tivoli Theater where thousands of people enjoy his art daily.
59Jas. Hargis Connelly photo
60MILTON CHARLES
62his mighty instrument, is the modern organist's greatest need.
64"Already the theater organist has become a conspicuous figure. No program in a first class motion picture theater is today complete without its organ solo. And as an accompanying instrument to the screen drama the organ in the hands of the skilled professional is a more sensitive and flexible means of providing a musical background than any orchestra can be. Few organists entering the field, however, realize that, although in its infancy, the art of theater organ playing has certain definite means and methods that can be taught as systematically and as profitably as the fundamentals of any other art. Or that its most effective devices and resources can be learned only from one who has mastered the art and is able to give practical demonstration of his ability.
66ADEQUATE COMPENSATION FOR THEATER ORGANIST
68"Some theater organists have risen to the opportunity thus provided, and have won thereby fame, popularity, and an income of big proportions. The most successful in the profession often command salaries as high as $20,000 to $30,000 a year, while those of perfunctory ability, who have made no effort to exploit the vast possibilities of their work, enjoy a wage that is high even in this day of adequate compensation for the musician.
70DIPLOMA
72Mr. Charles continued: "I have arranged with President Gunn that no student will be considered finished until he
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.