Charles S. von StadeSources vary on whether his full name was Charles Skiddy von Stade or Charles Steele von Stade. (November 24, 1919 – April 10, 1945) was an American
polo
Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...
, and trained as an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. He married Sara Worthington Clucas (1918–1983) in
Gladstone, New Jersey
Gladstone is an unincorporated community located within Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 07934.John H. H. Phipps,
Michael Grace Phipps
Michael Grace Phipps (January 10, 1910 – March 13, 1973) was an American businessman, champion polo player, owner/breeder of racehorses, and a philanthropist.
Biography
Michael Phipps was the son of John Shaffer Phipps and Margarita Celia ...
U.S. Open Polo Championship
The US Open Polo Championship is an annual polo championship in the United States. It is organized since 1904 by the United States Polo Association (USPA).
History
The tournament was first played on September 20, 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in T ...
Stewart Iglehart
Stewart Birrell Iglehart (22 February 1910 – 19 December 1993) was a rancher, ice hockey and polo player. He was born in Valparaíso, Chile but moved to the United States at a young age. As a child he learned to play both ice hockey and pol ...
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
in March 1942 and achieved the rank of
first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
. During the final weeks of fighting in Europe against the
Nazi regime
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
, he was killed in action in Germany on April 10, 1945, when his
Jeep
Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
ran over a
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
.Laffaye (2011). p. 355, n. 8. He is buried at the
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial () is a Second World War military war grave cemetery, located in the village of Margraten, east of Maastricht, in the most southern part of the Netherlands. The cemetery, the only American one in the N ...
in
Eijsden-Margraten
Eijsden-Margraten (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the very south of the Netherlands. There it is located in the southeastern part of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. ...
, Netherlands.
''Elegies''
During his time in service, Charles von Stade wrote several heart-felt letters to his wife, who was pregnant with their second child. Their daughter,
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associa ...
, was born after he was killed in World War II, and grew to become an internationally renowned opera singer. She had long wished to turn some of the letters by her father into a
song cycle
A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online''
The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...
. Eventually some of his words and expressions were fashioned into poems by Kim Vaeth and based on these in 1997
Richard Danielpour
Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Early life
Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jew ...
was commissioned to compose ''Elegies'', a cycle of songs for
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...
,
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
, and
chamber orchestra
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
. Frederica von Stade premiered the work the following year with
Thomas Hampson
Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings.
Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range ...
. According to ''Classics Today'', "The five songs form a sort of a conversation across the gulf of time between father and daughter. The text alludes to their separation, longing for each other, and their eventual reconciliation on the spiritual plane."
''Elegies'' has been recorded by
Sony Masterworks
Sony Music Masterworks (also known simply as Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known ...
, with Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
and Perspectives Ensemble conducted by Roger Nierenberg.