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Sigmund Gottfried Spaeth (April 10, 1885 – November 12, 1965) was an American musicologist who traced the sources and origins of popular songs to their folk and classical roots. Presenting his findings through books, lectures, liner notes, newspapers, radio and television, he became known as The Tune Detective.

Sigmund Spaeth
Sigmund Spaeth

Biography


Spaeth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Adolph Spaeth and Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth. His father, his grandfather Charles Porterfield Krauth and his great-grandfather Charles Philip Krauth were all Lutheran clergymen. He attended Haverford College (where he composed the "Haverford Harmony Song")[1] and went to Princeton where he did his Ph.D. thesis on "Milton's Knowledge of Music." He taught school and worked for Life, The New York Times, the Evening Mail and the Boston Evening Transcript.

He composed the music score for the silent film The Magic Flame (considered lost), with Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky; and wrote the lyrics[note 1] of one of the songs in The Trespasser (1929), the talkie debut of Gloria Swanson. His books include Read 'Em and Weep, Weep Some More, My Lady, A History of Popular Music in America, The Common Sense of Music, Fifty Years With Music, The Importance of Music and Stories Behind the World's Greatest Music.

On NBC his program of piano instruction, Keys to Happiness (1931), brought an avalanche of 4000 fan letters each week. In November, 1931 he began his 15-minute NBC program, The Tune Detective, airing Tuesdays at 10pm and continuing until 1933. Beginning in 1932 NBC also carried his Song Sleuth which was heard Thursdays at 8:15pm. On Mutual he did Sigmund Spaeth's Musical Quiz on Sunday afternoons at 1:15pm from January 19 to March 23, 1947. He also appeared on Metropolitan Opera Quiz.

He was a charter member of the Iota chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Northwestern University. He was awarded the 1958 Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award for his contributions. Haverford College awarded him an honorary D.H.L. in 1965.[3]

Spaeth died in New York City, New York at the age of 80.


Selected bibliography



Books


Song collections (as editor)

Essays and reporting



Notes


  1. Spaeth translated the original Italian lyrics written by Alfredo Silvestri for the song Serenade by Enrico Toselli.[2]

References


  1. Raber, Rebecca (27 September 2017). "Curt Cacioppo Honors "Lives That Speak" In Song". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  2. "Serenade : Rimpianto (1923)". University of Maine Digital Commons. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  3. "Honorary Degree Recipients" (PDF). Haverford.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2022.



На других языках


- [en] Sigmund Spaeth

[ru] Спет, Зигмунд

Зигмунд Готфрид Спет (нем. Sigmund Gottfried Spaeth; 10 апреля 1885 (1885-04-10), Филадельфия — 12 ноября 1965, Нью-Йорк) — американский музыкальный журналист и критик немецкого происхождения.



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