Collection Description

Article: VanderCook's Voice

Listen to VanderCook's Voice

Bibliography

Hale A. VanderCook Papers

Collection Description

Hale A. VanderCook was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1864. He was
performing in bands by the age of 14, and became conductor of the J.H. LaPearl Circus Band in 1891. He settled in Chicago and founded VanderCook Cornet School (later VanderCook College of Music) in 1909. The purpose of the school was to train musicians as performers, directors, and teachers. VanderCook composed over 70 marches as well as numerous series for solo brass instruments. Among his most famous marches are American Stride, Olevine, Pacific Fleet, Pageant of Columbia and S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. He published his Course in Band and Orchestra Directing in 1916. VanderCook studied cornet with Frank Holton and A.F. Weldon. He published Modern Method of Cornet Playing in 20 Lessons in 1922. He died in Allegan, Michigan in 1949. This collection includes manuscripts and published versions of most of his musical compositions and writings.

3.606 cubic feet (12 boxes)

VanderCook’s Voice
by Don Widmer
(this article appeared in VanderCook College of Music's newsletter The Vanguard, Spring 2006)

The following excerpt is from the book, “H.A. VanderCook: The Teacher,” by Gilbert Edwin Wilson, M.M.Ed. 1949, published in 1971. Special thanks to the family of G.E. Wilson for permission to reprint this material. G.E. Wilson died on August 7, 2004.

[H.A. VanderCook] had a very deep voice which was used only when necessary. He knew the value of silence. When he spoke, he capitalized on a flair for the dramatic which left a vivid, distinct impression with a student. He seemed to have some incredible ability to correlate his concept of musical expression with a mannerism of speech. Former students, while they responded positively to the magnetism of that voice and retain vivid memories of it, now find it difficult, if not impossible, to describe. If a student would ask him such a question as, “Would you do this?” and the answer was in the affirmative, he would answer in his deep voice, “By all means.” This was one of his favorite expressions, which is certainly not unusual, but the important thing was that he could make it sound as if it were. He would use certain “catch phrases” to “hammer home” his ideas. His eloquent use of silence was described by Mr. Joseph Roberts of Waukegan, Illinois. Mr. Roberts was a professional musician for many years and was one of VanderCook’s students. He relates an early experience from the days when he was a student at Marshall High School in Chicago:

I had practiced every day for my lesson and prior to the lesson had spent at least ten hours in practice. But I knew that I didn’t quite have the idea that Mr. VanderCook wanted me to develop. When I got through my lesson, Mr. VanderCook did not say one word—not one word!

While this technique of teaching might be criticized by many teachers, Mr. Roberts values it as a personal experience in his own development as a musician. Roberts believes that one of VanderCook’s most outstanding traits was an almost uncanny ability to train the student to teach himself. Through the dramatic quality of his personality, he inspired the student with the practical, but yet simple, fundamentals.

Audio: Listen to Mr. VanderCook read from his book, "Expression in Music."

Bibliography

• Ancestry Record #1171695: VanderCook, Hale A 1864-1949
• Biography Index. A Cumulative Index to Biographical Material in
  Books and Magazines. Volume 2: August, 1949-August, 1952.
  New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1953.
• Biography Index. A Cumulative Index to Biographical Material in
  Books and Magazines. Volume 8: September, 1967-August, 1970.
  New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1971.
• Bridges, Glenn D. Pioneers in Brass, 1st electronic digital revised ed. 4.0 Coupeville, Wash.: Trescott Research, 2001.
• The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music Vol. 2, by William H. Rehrig, edited by Paul E. Bierley. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991.
• The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Four volumes.
  Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie. London:
  Macmillan Press, 1986.
• Obituary for Hale A. Vandercook. Grand Rapids Herald (Michigan), Monday, October 17, 1949.
• Wilson, Gilbert E. H.A. VanderCook: the Teacher. Chicago: VanderCook College of Music, 1971.