Edna White - Recollections of 1861-65

[Lucius1958]

It wasn't until I was preparing this for uploading, that I realized today was the anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSQ5hMfuDM[/youtube]

I also found an interesting summary of Edna White's career:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGK7unCOdfY[/youtube]

A child prodigy, Edison artist, vaudeville and radio star; first woman to give a trumpet recital at Carnegie Hall; even composed a major piece in the 1980s!

Bill

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Believe it or not I met Edna White in the late 70's...in the company of Martin Bryan we took Edna to lunch...which was a task in itself given her reduced mobility at that time, but fascinating all the same. I started the ball rolling by asking her about Cesare Sodero, the Edison house conductor. She was a great admirer of his work, but at the same time she expanded an amusing anecdote (which you can hear on Merritt Malvern's recording of one the Edison Nights at the National Historic site in the early 70''s) about his propensity to over-rehearse which is certainly not kind to a brass soloist's embouchure! When I met her she was working on a series of educational cassette tapes for brass players." The Golden Trumpet" was of course the first project. When she heard that I had recently studied at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto she was determined that I would be part of this enterprise. Show woman always, the her mailing on this project had me listed as a professor at the Faculty of Music. I was of course horrified...since at that time I was toying with pursuing an academic career and a clanger like that would NOT be an ornament to my resume in academic circles, let us say. Now I'd be charmed and amused to pieces, but at 24 or so I was too hidebound to enjoy it.
Somewhere in storage I have a few letters from Edna.
But it always gives me an odd sensation when I think that I knew an Edison artist. And it says a lot for the old girl that she would bother to meet two callow youths such as we were in those days.

Jim