Walter Eugene Page (13 May 1876 – 26 May 1922) was an early 20th-century American performing artist who made records with Victor. He was considered a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

on the mandolin, and played

marimbaphone The marimbaphone is an obsolete tuned percussion instrument, developed by J. C. Deagan, Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, in the early 20th century. Description The marimbaphone had either shallow steel or wooden bars arranged chromatically with a tu ...

, banjo and

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

as well.University of Iowa Digital Collections, concert announcement for W. Eugene Page and Florence Phelps McCuneSemi Weekly Iowa State Reporter, Waterloo, Iowa, July 3, 1900, page 5. He toured with his performing company, The Eugene Page concert company, as part of the

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

movement.The Atlanta Constitution, September 23, 1900, Page 8
Members included Page on mandolin; Florence Phelps McCune also on mandolin; Emma McDonald, violincello, and Signor Innocenrio Zito, harp.

Recordings

Page made 5 commercial recordings with

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

* La della (W. Eugene Page mandolin; D. F. Ramseyer harp guitar) * Mobile prance (W. Eugene Page mandolin; D. F. Ramseyer harp guitar) * Tipica polka (W. Eugene Page mandolin; D. F. Ramseyer harp guitar. Composed by

Carlo Curti Carlo Curti (6 May 1859 – 8 May 1922), also known as Carlos Curti, was an Italian musician, composer and bandleader. He moved to the United States whose most lasting contribution to American society was popularizing the mandolin in American mu ...

. * Mobile prance (

Roy Butin Roy Hunter Butin (October 30, 1876, in Logan, Ohio – August 16, 1943, in Long Beach, California) was an American recording artist in the early 20th century, known for his playing of the harp guitar. He recorded more than a dozen early cylinder ...

harp guitar; W. Eugene Page mandolin) *Polka scherzo (Roy Butin harp guitar; W. Eugene Page mandolin

References

External links

Library of Congress online recordings of W. Eugene Page.

1906 advertisement for William C. Sherman, that said he was a pupil of Page and called Page a virtuoso. Column 1

Flyer for other members of the Chautauqua movement that Page was part of. Arthur Wells and Clay Smith, both multi-instrumentalists that played mandolin.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, W. Eugene American performance artists American classical mandolinists 1876 births 1922 deaths