Carl Edouarde
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Carl Edouarde (October 31, 1875 – December 8, 1932) was an American composer of film music, known particularly for his association with
Samuel Roxy Rothafel Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (July 9, 1882 – January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1 ...
.


Early life

Carl Edouarde was born in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, on October 31, 1875. He was born to an Irish–American family and began playing violin at a young age. He attended the
Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edwar ...
in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. He played the violin and at his graduation in 1889, he was gifted a violin by
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
.


Career

Following graduation, Edouarde returned to the United States. He was a violinist and assistant director of Allessandro Liberati's band. He then taught at the Cleveland Conservatory of Music as a professor of harmony and theory for several years. He conducted Knapp's Millionaire Band, the band of the 1st Regiment of the
New York National Guard New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
. They performed in
Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...
, and
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania Willow Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 13,730 at the 2020 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper More ...
. He also directed music for hotels in New York City, including Hotel Marlborough, Hotel Wolcott, Hotel Victoria and
Holland House Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean architecture, Jacobean country house in Kensington, London, situated in a country estate that is now Holland Park. It was built in 1605 by the diplomat Sir Walter Cope. The b ...
. In 1912, Edouarde was convinced by
Samuel Roxy Rothafel Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (July 9, 1882 – January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1 ...
to go to the Regent Theatre in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. At the Regent, he composed the first musical score for a motion picture. Following this accomplishment, Edouarde and Rothafel were invited to join Manhattan's Strand Theatre at its opening and the pair continued their association. He served as the Strand's musical director. He remained in that role until 1927. Edouarde compiled
photoplay music Photoplay music is incidental music, soundtrack music, and themes written specifically for the accompaniment of silent films. Early years Early films (c. 1890–1910) merely relied on classical and popular repertory, mixed usually with improvi ...
into scores for features at the Strand regularly, including ''
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film) ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' is a 1923 American Drama (film and television), drama film starring Lon Chaney, directed by Wallace Worsley, and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. The supporting cast includes Patsy Ruth Miller, Norma ...
'' and ''
The Private Life of Helen of Troy ''The Private Life of Helen of Troy'' is a 1927 American silent comedy adventure film about Helen of Troy based on the 1925 novel of the same name by John Erskine, and adapted to screen by Gerald Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Kord ...
'' (1927). Edouarde then worked in the field of synchronizing musical scores to
sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
. During this time, he synchronized several films for
Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...
, including '' A Close Call'', '' Barnyard Melody'' and '' Tuning In''. In 1929, he synchronized
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
's ''
Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...
'', one of the first cartoons to have sound effects. On December 10, 1929, he fractured his left ankle in a fire at the Pathé Studios on Park Avenue and 124th Street that killed several people. He survived from leaping from a second-story window. This injury forced him to retire from conducting on stage.


Personal life

Edouarde married Marian Doty of
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, in 1904. They had a son, William Doty. He was friends with
Daniel Frohman Daniel Frohman (August 22, 1851 – December 26, 1940) was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer. Biography Frohman was born to a Jewish family in Sandusky, Ohio. His parents were Henry (1826–1899) and Ba ...
,
B. A. Rolfe Benjamin Albert Rolfe (October 24, 1879 – April 23, 1956) was an American musician known as "The Boy Trumpet Wonder" who went on to be a bandleader, recording artist, radio personality, and film producer. Biography He was born on October 24, ...
,
John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...
and
Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...
. Edouarde had an operation in 1932. He died on December 8, 1932, aged 57, at his home in Locust, New Jersey. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.


References


External links

* 1875 births 1932 deaths 20th-century American violinists American film score composers American male film score composers Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester) Musicians from Cleveland Musicians from New York City People from Monmouth County, New Jersey University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni {{US-composer-19thC-stub