Sergius Kagen (August 22, 1909 – March 1, 1964) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, music editor and

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in sing ...

.Lott, ''Grove online''

Life and musical career

He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, the third son of wealthy, intellectual Jewish parents, his father Isaiah Kagen, a newspaperman, and his mother Vera Lipshitz, a writer and educator.Villamil, p. 247 His older brother was studying to be a pianist, but he died in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Sergius then began his own piano study at the age of nine and soon entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. But in 1920 his family fled the Revolution, moving to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and a year later he studied with Leonid Kreutzer and Paul Juon at the Hochschule für Musik. He and his family moved again, to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1925, and in 1930 he entered the

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

School in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, studying piano with

Carl Friedberg Carl Rudolf Hermann Friedberg (September 18, 1872 in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, German Empire, Germany – September 9, 1955 in Merano, Italy) was a German pianist and teacher of Jewish origin. Biography He was son of Eduard Friedberg (?–1937) ...

, composition with

Rubin Goldmark Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, his ...

and singing with

Marcella Sembrich Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935), known professionally as Marcella Sembrich, was a Polish dramatic coloratura soprano. She is known for her extensive range of two and a half octaves, precise intonation, ch ...

, and earned his diploma in 1934. After Sembrich's death in 1935, he took over the training of many of her students, and he formally joined the faculty at

in 1940. There he taught singing and vocal literature from 1940 to 1964, and at the

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

, from 1957 also until his death. He married soprano Genevieve Greer in 1937. He became an American citizen in 1930. He became influential and important to the field of singing and

voice pedagogy Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how singing technique is accomplished. Vocal pedagogy covers a broad r ...

through his own teaching, as well as his writings and editions of a wide variety of vocal works. One of his students at Juilliard was the important American

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 ...

Jan DeGaetani Jan (Janice) DeGaetani (July 10, 1933 – September 15, 1989) was an American mezzo-soprano known for her performances of contemporary classical vocal compositions. DeGaetani was born in Massillon, Ohio. Educated at The Juilliard School with ...

. As a pianist, he specialized in accompanying singers, especially important artists such as

Povla Frijsh Povla Frijsh (3 August 1881 – 10 July 1960) was a Danish classical soprano and voice teacher. Life Frijsh was born on the island of Ærø in Denmark in 1881. She studied with Ove Christensen in Denmark and Jean Périer in Paris.< ...

Ezio Pinza Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892May 9, 1957) was an Italian opera singer. Pinza possessed a rich, smooth and sonorous voice, with a flexibility unusual for a bass. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 75 ...

and

Mack Harrell Mack Kendree Harrell, Jr. (October 8, 1909 — January 29, 1960) was an American operatic and concert baritone vocalist who was regarded as one of the greatest American-born lieder singers of his generation. Growing up Harrell was born in Ce ...

. In the late 1940s he appeared with the newly formed

Bach Aria Group The Bach Aria Group is an ensemble of vocal and instrumental musicians that was created in 1946 by William H. Scheide in New York City to perform the works of J. S. Bach. The Bach Aria Group was a classical music ensemble that specialized in perf ...

, an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists that presents the works of J. S. Bach.

Music and writing

He began his work as a composer later in life, after 1949. He wrote somewhere between 50 and 70 songs, and about 20 of them were published. They are written in a chromatic idiom with careful attention to text declamation. His three-act opera ''Hamlet'', in a lyrical style ranging from tonal to 12-note, was first performed in Baltimore on 9 November 1962. A second opera, ''The Suitor'' (based on Molière's ''

Monsieur de Pourceaugnac ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' is a three-act ''comédie-ballet''—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on 6 October 1669 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. ...

''), was never completed. As an editor, he prepared 39 volumes of songs and arias for the International Music Company. These editions cover a wide range of historical eras and vocal styles: opera arias, Baroque works by

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, and Scarlatti, German

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er by most of the important composers, and many French

mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German '' Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is " ...

s by both familiar and less-familiar composers. As a writer on singing, he published his important catalog of vocal literature ''Music for the Voice'' in 1949. A year later he wrote a second book for

s, ''On Studying Singing''. These books and musical editions are still in print and are still widely used by American singers and voice teachers today. Kagen died in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

Books by Sergius Kagen

*''Music for the Voice'' (New York, 1949, Indiana University Press, 2nd edition, 1968) *''On Studying Singing'' (New York, Norton, 1950, Revised)

Music

Songs for voice and piano *All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters (

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

), 1950 *Because I Could Not Stop for Death (

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

), Leeds Music Corp., 1951 *Drum (

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

), Mercury Music, 1954 *The End of the World (

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

) *A June Day (

Sara Teasdale Sara Trevor Teasdale (later Filsinger; August 8, 1884January 29, 1933) was an American lyric poet. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Filsinger after her 1914 marriage. In 1918, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her 1917 poetry ...

)Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *I'm Nobody (

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *I Think I Could Turn... (

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

), Mercury Music, 1952 *Impression IV (

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...

)Unpublished, manuscript is held by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

*A June Day (

), 1950 *Let It Be Forgotten (

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *London (William Blake), Mercury Music, 1954 *Mag (

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *Maybe (

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *Memory, Hither Come (

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

), Mercury Music, 1952 *Mill Doors (Carl Sandburg), 1956 *Miss T (

Walter De la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fi ...

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 *O Cool is the Valley Now (James Joyce) *Prayer (Langston Hughes), Leeds Music Corp., 1951 *She Weeps over Rahoon (James Joyce) *Sleep Now, O Sleep Now (

), Leeds Music Corp., 1951 *''Three Satires'', Mercury Music, 1956/1961 #Persons of Intelligence and Culture (Louis MacNeice) #Yonder See the Morning Blink (

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

) #How Pleasant it is to have Money (Arthur Hugh Clough) *Upstream (

), Weintraub Music Co., 1950 Other musical works *''Hamlet'', opera in 3 acts, 1962 *''The Suitor'', opera, unfinished, 1964 *various piano piecesMentioned in ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary'', p. 878

Footnotes

References

*. * *

External links

photos
of Sergius Kagen with the

, 1948–49 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kagen, Sergius 1909 births 1964 deaths Musicians from New York City Russian Jews White Russian emigrants to the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent Accompanists American male songwriters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians