Ernest Joseph Seitz (29 February 189210 September 1978) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

composer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. He published some of his work under the pseudonym "Raymond Roberts" because he did not wish to be associated with popular music. His most famous work is ''

The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" is a post-World War I popular song, with lyrics by American actor Eugene Lockhart, and music composed by Canadian-born concert pianist Ernest Seitz in 1918. He later claimed he conceived the refrain when ...

'', which he co-wrote with

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

. Some of his other notable songs include ''Laddie Boy'' (1932), ''When Moonbeams Softly Fall'' (1935), and ''The Sky's the Limit'' (1943). He retired from performance in 1945 and from teaching in 1946. For the rest of his life he served as president of his family's business, an automobile dealership in Toronto. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1954, and on 18 July 1984, Toronto acquired a piece of parkland which was dedicated by Ms. Seitz, naming it ''Sunrise'' after Ernest's most famous work.

Life

Born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

, Seitz received his first musical training from A. S. Vogt in Toronto from 1903 to 1910. He went to Germany in 1910 where he was a pupil of

Josef Lhévinne Josef Lhévinne (13 December 18742 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: ''Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing''. Asked how to say his name, he told ''The Li ...

in Berlin for four years. He had initially intended to pursue a career as a concert pianist in Europe, but the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

made this impossible. He was later a pupil of

Ernest Hutcheson Ernest Hutcheson (20 July 1871 – 9 February 1951) was an Australian pianist, composer and teacher. Biography Hutcheson was born in Melbourne, and toured there as a child prodigy at the age of five. He later travelled to Leipzig and entered ...

in New York City. Seitz returned to Toronto in 1914 where he soon acquired a position on the music faculty of the

Toronto 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 as The Toronto Con ...

. He continued to teach there through 1946. Among his notable pupils were Naomi Adaskin, André Asselin,

Ewart Bartley Ewart is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ewart Adamson (1882–1945), Scottish screenwriter * Ewart Astill (1888–1948), English Test cricketer * Ewart Brown (born 1946), Premier of Bermuda * Ewa ...

, Muriel Gidley, Reginald Godden, Scott Malcolm, Adelmo Melecci,

Earle Moss Earle may refer to: * Earle (given name) * Earle (surname) Places * Earle, Arkansas, a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, US * Earle, Indiana, an unincorporated town in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, US * Earle, Northumberland, a settlement in Ber ...

, Harold Packer, Charles Peaker, and Lorne Watson. Seitz was active as a concert pianist from 1914 through 1945, being most active during the 1920s and 1930s. He made a total of 18 appearances with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to seat ...

during his career, performing major works by such composers as Bortkiewicz, Chopin,

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the S ...

, and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

. With that orchestra he notably performed the North American premiere of

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in t ...

's '' The Rio Grande'' on 11 February 1930. He performed in recitals and concerts throughout North America and was frequently heard on Canadian radio. In the United States he made solo appearances with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

, and the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...

among others. He also worked frequently as an accompanist, playing in concerts for such artists as

Arthur Blight Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

Ferdinand Fillion Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

, and

Luigi von Kunits Ludwig Paul Maria "Luigi" von Kunits (20 July 1870 – 8 October 1931) was a Canadian conductor, composer, violinist, and pedagogue. Born in Austria, he studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He later moved to Canada where he was the founding cond ...

References

External links

Sheet music for "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise"
Chappell-Harms, 1919. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seitz, Ernest 1892 births 1978 deaths Canadian male composers Canadian music educators The Royal Conservatory of Music faculty Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian pianists Canadian male pianists 20th-century Canadian male musicians