Fred Neddermeyer, to the left of the photo, began music as a viola apprentice with Professor John Bayer and grew to playing xylophone. In 1883, young Fred went to Germany and studied violin at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. He returned to Columbus and became the conductor of the Metropolitan Opera House. In 1897 he played at the dedication of the Columbus Auditorium and later played on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Columbus Maennerchor. On various occasions he was resident soloist with the Columbus Orchestra, the Arion Club, the Women’s Music Club and the Orpheus Club. Fred led a fifty-piece band in Memorial Hall and played concerts in the Chamber of Commerce Auditorium and Olentangy Park. He organized the Columbus Dispatch Newsboys Band which involved two hundred youths. He died on August 9, 1924 at age fifty-eight and as a final tribute fifty of his fellow musicians led the funeral procession. Fred Neddermeyer was one of the greatest musician to live in Columbus-Phil Sheridan, “Those Wonderful Old Downtown Theaters.”
HotFoot Sue was written in 1896 (same year as Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever) and played with great success by Victor Herbert’s Famous 22nd New York Regimental Band. It’s a ragtime style composition using syncopated rhythms with a minstrel type/vaudeville flavor. It is arranged for the instrumentation of bands of the late 19th century.
Interesting to note that a member of Neddermeyer’s band was Karl King who would go on to great fame as a march composer ranking only behind Fillmore and Sousa. King played baritone horn with the Neddermeyer Band. It must have been a good learning experience for King as he composed The Neddermeyer Triumphal March in 1911 as a tribute to his mentor
23 авг 2024
