Rosalie Balmer Smith Cale

Rosalie Balmer Smith Cale (née Rosalie Balmer Smith, September 24, 1875 – January 4, 1958) was an American pianist and composer,[1][2] whose operettas were performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and New York.

Cale was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a musical family. Her parents were Rosalie T. Balmer ("Sally") and Thaddeus Smith. Her mother composed several pieces for violin.[3] Her maternal grandfather was Charles Balmer, head of the Balmer & Weber Music Company in St. Louis. Her paternal grandfather, the actor Sol Smith, owned and operated the St. Louis Theatre.[4][5] She married the violinist Charles Allen Cale in 1897.[6][7]

Cale studied music first with her mother and grandparents, then with Abraham I. Epstein and Ernest R. Kroeger. She taught in St. Louis for over 30 years.[8] Her papers are archived at the Missouri Historical Society.[9]

Compositions

Cale’s music was published by Balmer & Weber. Her compositions include:

Dance

Operetta

  • Four Pecks or A Bushel of Fun (performed in New York as Cupid’s Halloween)[11]
  • Love, Powder and Patches (text by Alice E. Hellmers)[12]
  • Summer: A Flirtation (text by William C. Unger)[13]

Piano

Vocal

  • "Master and Pupil" (text by William C. Unger)[13]

References

  1. ^ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers : a checklist of works for the solo voice. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-8498-4. OCLC 6815939.
  2. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  3. ^ Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music. ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
  4. ^ Sampson, Francis Asbury; Shoemaker, Floyd Calvin (1923). Missouri Historical Review. State Historical Society of Missouri.
  5. ^ "Adelina Patti the opera diva". Lafayette Square Archives. January 3, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  6. ^ Wells, Katherine Gladney (1980). Symphony and Song: The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra : the First Hundred Years, 1880-1980. Countryman Press. ISBN 978-0-914378-62-4.
  7. ^ Leonard, John W. (1906). The Book of St. Louisans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of St. Louis and Vicinity. St. Louis republic.
  8. ^ Krohn, Ernst Christopher (1924). A Century of Missouri Music. Privately printed.
  9. ^ Cale, Rosalie Balmer Smith. "SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON WOMEN'S CLUBS IN ST. LOUIS, 1890-1920" (PDF). mostateparks.com. p. 5. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "Sheet Music Collection". www.slpl.org. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Borroff, Edith (1992). American operas : a checklist. J. Bunker Clark. Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press. ISBN 0-89990-063-1. OCLC 26809841.
  12. ^ Catalogue of Title Entries of Books and Other Articles. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1898.
  13. ^ a b Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1912). Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  14. ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (February 4, 1904). "The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, February 04, 1904, Image 9". The St. Louis Republic. p. 9. ISSN 2157-1368. Retrieved February 11, 2022.