Abraham Holzmann (19 August 1874 – 16 January 1939) was an American composer, famous for his

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

''Blaze-Away!'' Abraham Holzmann was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. His parents were Jacob Holzmann, a Hungarian-Jewish

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

and Isabella Holzmann, a native of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

.Edwards, Bill. "Abraham Holzmann" ''Guide to Ragtime and Traditional Jazz Composers''
retrieved on 25 April 2009. The young Holzmann learned music in Germany. A review originally published by the

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Hist ...

on Sunday, 13 January 1901, entitled ''German Composer who Writes American Cakewalk Music'' describes " s knowledge of bass and counterpoint is thorough, and his standard compositions bear the stamp of harmonic lore, which makes his proclivity for the writing of the popular style of music the more remarkable."Grainger, Geoff "Abe Holzmann (1874-1939)" ''Composers of Recorder Music''
retrieved on 25 April 2009. Abe married Isabelle Fishblatt around 1908, and he became the manager of the Orchestra Department at Jerome Remick & Company, music publisher in New York. He was an early member (1923) of the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP). He earned his livelihood as composer/arranger for

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

publishers, including Leo Feist. He later was advertising manager for the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

publication, International Musician. He was a member of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, the

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, and

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was found ...

, all in New York City. Holzmann died in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

at age 64. He was survived by his widow, a daughter Natalie Holzmann, three half-brothers, and four sisters. His music was especially revered by

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

enthusiasts, although he composed marches,

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

es, and other light music. His 1899 composition ''Smokey Mokes'' was briefly featured in the 1936 movie ''

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

''.

Works

* ''A-la-carte'' (1915) * ''Alagazam'' (1902) * '' Blaze-Away!'' (1901) possibly a tribute to "Rough Rider" turned U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

* ''Bunch O' Blackberries'' (1899) * ''Calanthe'' (1900) * ''Cowperthwait Centennial March'' (1907) * ''Flying Arrow'' (1906) * ''The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rules The World'' (1901) * ''Hunky Dory'' (1900) * ''Love-Land'' (1905) * ''Old Faithful'' (1908) * ''The Rialto'' (1916) * ''Smokey Mokes'' (1899) * ''Spirit of Independence'' (1912) * ''Symphia'' (1902) * ''Uncle Sammy'' (1904) * ''The Whip'' (1908) * ''The Winning Fight'' (1911) * ''Yankee Grit'' (1905)

References

External links

* 1874 births 1939 deaths American male composers American composers German composers Ragtime composers American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent {{US-composer-19thC-stub

Works

See also

References

External links