H. Benne Henton

H. Benne Henton , actually Benjamin Hopkins Henton (* 23. October 1877 in Shelbyville , Illinois ; † 9. July 1938 in Philadelphia ) was a the ragtime and early jazz figures relate to American alto saxophonist and the first born in the United States representatives his subject, which has gained international reputation . In the 1910s in particular, he made a significant contribution to increasing the popularity of the saxophone among the population with numerous sound recordings and his furious playing in various bands. He is still considered the first "superstar" of this instrument and the first musician to record a saxophone solo. In later years he distinguished himself as a music teacher, entrepreneur, music dealer , conductor and author.

• 

  date unknown, probably in the 1900s

• 

  date unknown, probably in the 1910s

• 

  1927

• 

  1928

• 

  1930

Family and personal life

Henton's grave site: The Boardman Crypt in North Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia

The artist was born as the son of the wagon builder Isaiah Henton (1836-1924) and Susan A. Freshwater (1839-1904) under the real name Benjamin. His parents had married in 1858. Benne had five older siblings:

• Dora A. (* 1859; ∞ William Oaks)
• Alice M. (* 1861–1940; ∞ Elias Miller)
• Minnie A. (* 1862–1945; ∞ Electious Downs)
• Rachel A. (* 1863)
• John Rodney (1866–1951; ∞ Gertrude Richardson)

He lived in his childhood with the family in Ridge Township ( Shelby County , Illinois ). Later he lived around 1907 in La Porte ( Texas ), where he spent his own words half of the happiest years of his life. In March of that year, Henton was elected for twelve months as secretary to the board of directors of the Cemetery Society, which designed, designed and administered the new Cedarhurst Cemetery. Around 1910 he lived in his native Shelbyville with his sister Alice and her husband Elias, around 1917/1918 in Atlantic City and from around 1920 in Philadelphia . In 1915 he married Mabel Jane Vickers (* 1894).

Henton, who had never known his age in public, died on July 9, 1938 at the age of sixty and was buried four days later in North Cedar Hill Cemetery (Sec. K, Lot 35, 36, 49, 50, Boardman Crypt) in Philadelphia .

Musical and professional career

"Playing a band instrument has enabled me to travel from one end of the country to the other. To form acquaintanceships with presidents, senators, educators and big business men - besides professional associations with world famous musicians. This opportunity is open to any boy. "

- Henton's review in a magazine ad for CG Conn , Ltd. ( Boys' Life , March 1930, p. 47)

The beginnings

Like many saxophonists, Henton found his way into music through the clarinet . His musical inclination became apparent early on when, at the age of three, he already demonstrated great skill on the instrument, recognizing and holding notes. At the age of ten, he was among a small town chapel in Tower Hill ( Illinois on). When his further artistic career began to emerge as a teenager, his family wanted to dissuade him from these considerations. Instead, he should either pursue a career as a priest or as a lawyer. To avoid traveling the country and being able to work as a professional musician, he first joined the band of the Ringling Brothers Circus , but toured with minstrel shows .

Henton's favorite key on the clarinet was always E flat major . At the age of 15 he applied - apparently convinced of his own talent - for admission to the band of the well-known conductor John Philip Sousa in February 1893 , but was rejected.

Probably the performances of the then very well-known saxophone comedian Knox Wilson inspired him to switch to his instrument. He took the step in 1903 and learned to play the saxophone in Chicago . There, Henton worked with numerous violinists and opera and operetta singers, which also drew his attention to the different pitches of the human voice as a means of artistic expression - and to the fact that the saxophone can best imitate these of all instruments.

Beginning fame

Only fragmentary information is available about the following stages in Henton's career, which, for example, does not allow precise statements about the date or duration of individual engagements or collaborations. What is certain, however, is that the following year, on March 31, 1904, he was leader of the saxophone quartet at the first performance of the Sinfonia domestica on US soil in New York's Carnegie Hall , which the composer Richard Strauss himself conducted . In the absence of suitable musicians, the previous performances in Germany had not yet included any of the saxophone passages composed ad libitum . He was a soloist in the well-known band Allessandro Liberatis (1847–1927) and in Thomas D. van Ostens Marine Band, before he accompanied the scenic reciter and stage artist Lulu Tyler Gates with other musicians - he initially played both clarinet and saxophone . During this vaguely defined period he was under the management of the Redpath Lyceum Bureau and the Slayton Lyceum Bureau. In 1906 Henton was a founding member of Bohumir Kryl's band (1875–1961).

Shortly after switching to the saxophone, he was considered an exceptional talent and his performances were always given great praise and admiration. From 1909 he recorded numerous of his arrangements on phonograph cylinders and shellac records for the Victor Talking Machine Company and Edison Records - from 1911 onwards he also recorded his own compositions. The recordings were sold all over the world and generally received extremely positive reviews. As he had done for several seasons since the end of August 1909 at the latest, he joined Patrick Conway's (1865–1929) band again as a soloist and assistant conductor in July 1916, and performed with her many times in the following years.

"H. Benne Henton, world famous saxophonist to be heard with the celebrated Patrick Conway Band this season: Bandmaster Patrick Conway is pleased to announce through the courtesy of the CG Conn , Ltd. that H. Benne Henton, the great exponent of the saxophone will be heard with his celebrated organization this season. The news is being hailed with delight by Mr. Henton's many friends and admirers. "

- The Metronome , July 1916, p. 6

208 days with Sousa

On June 11, 1919, he traveled to New York City to complete two-day rehearsals with Sousa's band. Neither Henton's meanwhile outstanding reputation nor the fact that the saxophone achieved unprecedented popularity with musicians and audiences remained hidden from this, and when he made some new line-ups in the summer, as every year, he engaged a total of seven saxophonists more than ever before . Henton also convinced him and - unlike 26 years earlier - was accepted into the group; he was intended as an audience-effective soloist, the others as a sextet .

A little later, they embarked on a major, 20-concert tour through Canada , during which Henton made his first appearance with the band on June 30 at the Calgary Exhibition . This date - as well as all others of the five-week tour in Edmonton , Saskatoon , Winnipeg and Regina  - were bookings by the Western Canada Fairs Association. H. Benne Henton quickly became a crowd favorite and was given enough opportunities to distinguish himself at the concerts. Between August 7th and September 14th they performed in Willow Grove ( Pennsylvania ), among other things with some park concerts. On September 15, finally began in Westfield ( Massachusetts ) the actual main part of the season: the annual Transcontinental Tour of the band, the twelfth overall.

Most of the venues that stretched across the United States had an afternoon matinee and an evening performance. Unlike those of earlier Sousa saxophonists, Henton's solos were not assigned to a fixed program position. So he sometimes played in seventh position, sometimes eighth and sometimes second. Depending on the applause, which was usually exuberant for him, he gave the audience one or two individual encores or was accompanied by the saxophone sextet. His repertoire at this time consisted of thirteen pieces of music, three of which he composed himself and three more arranged himself.

The decisive date was January 5, 1920. On this day the group was booked in Winston-Salem and was supposed to play a matinée and an evening concert. The musicians were annoyed by the frequent poorly coordinated hotel bookings at the end of the tour and unannounced changes to the timetable for the 660-kilometer train connection from the last venue Nashville (January 3) to Winston-Salem. Overtired and in a bad mood, they decided to show their displeasure by not playing the matinée; the second appearance should take place as planned. H. Benne Henton also took part in the protest. In the end, only 19 of the 57 musicians in the band entered the stage and completed the matinée. The musical level of the event was correspondingly inadequate despite all efforts to compensate. Sousa then offered the audience a full refund of the entrance fee to those who so requested. However, none of the listeners accepted this offer. Sousa was furious in response to the strike. In his opinion, even under the adverse circumstances, it was inexcusable for a musician to cancel a contractually agreed performance in front of a paying audience if one were physically able to do so. He instructed his HR manager, with one exception ( percussionist Gus Helmecke), not to consider any of the striking musicians for an engagement in the band after the tour ended five days later. Henton's time with Sousa ended after 208 days and 119 appearances.

Music according to Sousa

At the beginning of the 20th century, critics initially met with a lot of rejection of jazz as a comparatively new genre of music. The fact that the saxophone became one of the leading instruments of this style did not improve the situation, since critics still mostly regarded it as an amateur instrument of light art from the vaudeville and circus milieu. This may have moved many classical saxophonists to distance themselves - also verbally - from jazz as much as possible. Henton also went this way and remarked in January 1927, for example, that he would not play anything that had the "slightest flaw in jazz". He had already made a similar statement four years earlier:

“The jazz stupidity and the faked [Original: trick] playing the saxophone seem to be a thing of the past. Of course there may be some orchestras in out of the way doing this stuff, but I haven't heard a howl, sneeze, or any of those similarly hideous things in over a year. During this time I have listened to almost all of the more prominent dance and coffee house orchestras in the East and Midwest . The saxophonists in these orchestras and those who make the big bucks play almost as pristine as possible and - I'll tell you - do a damn good job with it. […] Some of the special arrangements that are used in these better orchestras have very beautiful and very difficult saxophone passages. Everyone with the saxophone [every saxophonist] in these orchestras devotes the free time they have between engagements and rehearsals to practice and study. The past year has brought great changes in dance orchestras and these have benefited the saxophone and saxophonists who are learning and studying their instrument. It also marked the exit for those who could not read [in the sense of: reading the instrument], but managed to make ends meet for some time by pretending. "

- Henton 's statement in Jacob's Band Monthly , May 1923

In later years he had a few appearances with the Conway School Concert Band, about February 17, 1924 in the Lyceum Theater in Ithaca ( New York ) and on March 1, 1925 in the sports hall of the Ithaca School of Physical Education. Patrick Conway was employed at the Ithaca Conservatory of Music at the time, where he was head of the band department. On June 22, 1925, Henton performed a solo in Conshohocken ( Pennsylvania ) at a promotional concert by the band in his shop . Nothing is known about any musical activities on his part afterwards. In September of the same year, however, he and Conway traveled through southern and western Pennsylvania for three days and were invited to dinner by Sousa in Willow Grove . It can therefore be assumed that the personal relationship between Henton and Sousa has improved again some time after the strike. Henton also tried to get people excited about the saxophone using the relatively new medium of radio . For example, he appeared in a series on October 16, 1927 on the Chicago radio station KYW. This was initiated by James F. Boyer, the managing director of C. G. Conn Ltd. A half-hour program was broadcast every Sunday afternoon for 26 weeks, with solos and ensembles focusing on a different instrument. Excellent musicians played in this setting and the history, the sound generation, the tonal qualities and the possible uses of the respective instrument were explained. At the special request of Conway, Henton was also a guest on January 21, 1928 in the one-hour program General Motors Family Party on the radio station WEAF in New York City.

Evidently at least in June 1933 he officiated as secretary of the Bandmasters Association of Pennsylvania and on July 21, 1936 he was guest conductor of David E. Croll's Perkiomen Symphony Orchestra at a concert in East Greenville ( Pennsylvania ).

Entrepreneurial career

1923 newspaper advertisement for the mouthpiece developed by Henton

Just a few months after the Winston-Salem strike, in 1920 Henton and his former Sousa colleague Albert A. Knecht (1884–1954) opened a music shop with an attached music school in downtown Philadelphia - the In 1924, the Henton-Knecht Conservatory had over 200 students. The facility was located at 1734 Market Street in July 1924, later at 110 South 17th Street and 24 South 18th Street from January 1926 onwards. During their active days, neither of them had such extensive care during their long journeys across the United States and good service from music dealers, as they would have liked. They had the ideal idea that the leading music business of a place should be like the headquarters of a musician - a place where he could learn the latest gossip and the latest information from his trade, practice if necessary and also keep up to date with job offers and the like should be kept. They tried to implement these ideas in their very successful business - also due to extensive marketing - in which Henton's brother John was also employed and were highly praised for the concept and the implementation. One acted as a contractual partner among other things the instrument manufacturers CG Conn Ltd. whose saxophones Henton himself had used for a long time, and Leedy Mfg. Co. , which produced membranophones . Music books, teaching materials and instruments were both sold and rented - for example to schools where Knecht and Henton also gave music lessons and helped organize school bands. Due to their numerous contacts from earlier years, they were also able to count numerous professional musicians among their customers, who contributed significantly to the lively exchange in the business.

In this ultimately "sedentary" time, Henton was awarded half of a patent for an instrument mouthpiece (US 1401634 A) applied for by Harry E. O'Brien at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on December 27, 1921 . On July 7, 1922, he submitted his own development, which was patented on March 18, 1924 (US 1487566 A). In 1928 he also published a textbook on getting started with practicing the saxophone. After his death ten years later, Knecht continued to run the shop.

Oeuvre

Laverne Waltz Caprice

Fantasy on scenes that are brightest , photo from 1910

Cavatine from Die Favoritin , photo from 1910

The kiss , photo from 1910

His best-known arrangements include versions of Aloha ʻOe , the folk song When you and I were young, Maggie (original by James Austin Butterfield ) and the serenade Sing, smile, slumber , Fernando's cavatine from the fourth act of Donizetti's opera Die Favoritin and the singing waltz by Luigi Arditi, called The Kiss in English (Original Italian: Il Bacio , German: Kusswalzer ). In 1918 Henton published Fantasie on scenes that are brightest , a piece with variations based on a song from the third act of the Grand opéra Maritana by William Vincent Wallace - it became his most-performed work. A selection of his most famous own compositions, whose level of difficulty and sophistication has steadily increased over the years, is listed below:

• Laverne Waltz Caprice

• 1910: Listed in Victor Records' March catalog
• 1911: Published (dedicated to Laverne A. Morris)
• 1912: Recorded for Victor Records in March

• Eleven O'Clock

• 1911: Verifiably partially played
• 1912: Published
• Probably never recorded

• Lanette Waltz Caprice

• 1916: Published
• 1916: Recorded for Victor Records

• Nadine Waltz Caprice OR Nadine, Concert Waltz

• 1919: Published

Style and influence

Autograph of the cadenza for Eleven O'Clock , composed by Henton in 1911 , published in 1912 in CG Conn’s Musical Truth . The use of the Altissimo tone area becomes clear here .

H. Benne Henton was a pioneer of modern saxophone playing and was largely responsible for the sustained rise in the standards of saxophone concerts. One of his most important successors in the efforts to establish the saxophone as a concert instrument was Cecil Leeson (1902–1989), who chose Lanette Waltz Caprice for his audition at Dana's Musical Institute in Warren ( Ohio ) and thus laid the foundation for his musical future . Even later he remained closely connected to Henton's plays.

His musical abilities quickly enabled Henton to be successful in a more musically demanding environment, even beyond variety and circus performances. He had an exceptionally deep and extensive technical understanding and his musical ability was legendary. In addition to his playing in rubato , Henton was also characterized by his willingness to experiment with the endeavor to test the limits of his instrument and to strain it as much as possible. The best example of this is a cadenza played in 1911 by his own composition Eleven O'Clock , published the following year , which uses the range of altissimo up to d ⁴ . Even if the possibilities of this pitch had already been discovered in the 19th century, Henton was probably the first soloist to make virtuoso use of it. Although he performed the piece a few times, it was probably never recorded. However, a version of Laverne recorded for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1918 illustrates his skills in this highly demanding field. Critics highlighted him as a poet on the saxophone and attested that he gave his instrument a powerful, vibrating sound. His playing in masterly control resembled a human operatic voice rather than a musical tone and hovered lyrically above the orchestra.

At first he was in the shadow of Edward A. Lefebre (1835-1911). This is how CG Conn’s musical Truth judged in January 1912:

"[Henton] has become one of the leading band instrument artists of America, and many of his friends call him the 'Saxophone Prince'. They would no doubt call him the 'Saxophone King', only that the famous Lefebre held that title and will always be known as such. "

A little more than four and a half years later, his record label Victor referred to him in a booklet published in October 1916 as " Paganini des Saxophone" and in announcements for concerts in 1924 he was touted as "World's greatest saxophone soloist". Even taking into account the intended advertising effect and journalistic exaggeration, this is remarkable and illustrates on the one hand the exposed position that Henton held in the music world at the time and on the other hand the significant increase in his reputation during these years.

Publications

• Henton: Beginner's method for the saxophone . Theodore Presser Co., Philadelphia 1928.

Remarks

1. ↑ Hopkins is originally a family name. His grandparents were Benjamin Henton and Sarah Hopkins. The name Hopkins was passed on to several men in the family.
2. ↑ The date of birth is often mentioned as 1867. For example in:
   • Michael E. Hester: A study of the saxophone soloists performing with the John Philip Sousa Band 1893-1930 . (PDF) University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1995, p. 47.
   • Stephen Cottrell: The Saxophone . Yale University Press , New Haven 2013, ISBN 978-0-300-10041-9 , p. 161.
   However, the most reliable source is the data of the United States Census, which shows 1877 as the year of birth.
3. ↑ Edward A. Lefebre (1834–1911) and Rudy Wiedoeft (1893–1940) are equally regarded as the “first superstars of the saxophone” .
4. ↑ The underground Boardman Crypt was acquired in 1907 by John Boardman. Henton was buried there due to family ties: his mother-in-law Mary J. Boardman was the daughter of John Boardman.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Profile of H. Benne Henton on findagrave.com . Retrieved April 3, 2014.
2. ↑ Data from the United States Census 1880 from Ridge Township (Shelby County, Illinois) on files.usgwarchives.net . Retrieved April 28, 2014.
3. ↑ Houston Texas Chronicle , December 29, 1919.
4. ^ La Porte Chronicle , March 14, 1907, p. 1.
5. ↑ Henton's World War I Draft Registration Card ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on genforum.genealogy.com . Retrieved April 3, 2014.  
6. ^ The Evening News , July 11, 1938, p. 18.
7. ↑ ^{a b} The Lincoln Star , January 6, 1918, p. 11.
8. ^ Boys' Life , March 1930, p. 47.
9. ↑ ^{a b} C. G. Conn’s Musical Truth , Vol. IX, № 11, January 1912, p. 18.
10. ↑ James Russell Noyes: Edward A. Lefebre (1835-1911). Preeminent saxophonist of the Nineteenth Century. (PDF) Manhattan School of Music , New York City 2000, p. 168.
11. ↑ James Russell Noyes: Edward A. Lefebre (1835-1911). Preeminent saxophonist of the Nineteenth Century. (PDF) Manhattan School of Music , New York City 2000, p. 263.
12. ^ Presentation of Henton on classicalmusicnow.com . Retrieved April 3, 2014.
13. ^ Frederick L. Hemke: The early history of the saxophone . University of Wisconsin Press, Madison 1975, p. 302.
14. ↑ Brochure of the Slayton Lyceum Bureau about Lulu Tyler Gates and her Company of Artists ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on lib.uiowa.edu ( University of Iowa ). Retrieved April 22, 2014.  
15. ↑ ^{a b c} Stephen Cottrell: The Saxophone . Yale University Press , New Haven 2013, ISBN 978-0-300-10041-9 , p. 161.
16. ^ Joel Patrick Vanderheyden: Approaching the classical style. A resource for jazz saxophonists . University of Iowa , 2010, p. 6.
17. ^ Billboard , April 12, 1919, p. 49.
18. ↑ Michael E. Hester: A study of the saxophone soloists performing with the John Philip Sousa Band 1893-1930 . (PDF) University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1995, pp. 60-61.
19. ^ ^{A b c} Paul E. Bierley: The incredible band of John Philip Sousa . University of Illinois Press , Champaign 2006, ISBN 978-0-252-03147-2 , p. 32.
20. ^ ^{A b} Paul E. Bierley: The incredible band of John Philip Sousa . University of Illinois Press , Champaign 2006, ISBN 978-0-252-03147-2 , p. 33.
21. ^ "Saxophones Used in Fight on Devil" . In: Smyth County News , Volume 44, January 27, 1927, p. 6.
22. ^ ^{A b} The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLIV, No. 97, February 14, 1924, p. 2.
23. ^ The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLIV, No. 99, Feb. 16, 1924, p. 2.
24. ^ The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLV, No. 109, Feb. 25, 1925, p. 2.
25. ^ The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLV, No. 110, Feb. 26, 1925, p. 2.
26. ^ The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLV, No. 111, Feb. 27, 1925, p. 2.
27. ^ The Cornell Daily Sun , Volume XLV, No. 112, Feb. 28, 1925, p. 2.
28. ^ Henton-Knecht Co. featuring Conn line . In: The Music Trade Review , Vol.LXXX, No. 26, June 27, 1925, p. 40.
29. ↑ Better grades predominate in the demand with Philadelphia merchants . In: The Music Trade Review , Vol.LXXXI, No. 12, September 19, 1925, pp. 40 and 41.
30. ^ Indiana Evening Gazette , Dec. 6, 1927, p. 7.
31. ↑ H. Benne Henton on radio with Conway's band . In: The Music Trade Review , Vol. 86, No. 4, January 28, 1928, p. 24.
32. ↑ Reading Times , June 21, 1933, p. 2.
33. ^ Pottstown Mercury , July 21, 1936, p. 6.
34. ↑ How Henton and Knecht had an idea and it worked. Philadelphia Conn representatives find theory works out in practice judging by success . In: The Music Trade Review , No. 85, Section 2, July 9, 1927, pp. 5 and 13.
35. ↑ Mouthpiece for musical instruments US 1401634 A on google.com/patents; accessed April 20, 2014.
36. ↑ Mouthpiece for musical instruments US 1487566 A on google.com/patents; accessed April 20, 2014.
37. ↑ Stephen Cottrell: The Saxophone . Yale University Press , New Haven 2013, ISBN 978-0-300-10041-9 , p. 162.

Web links

Commons : H. Benne Henton  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files