Over
the years Elmira has been home to a number of musicians, composures and music
teachers. In the opening decades of the 20th century it was
home to Charles X. O’Brien, a man who was all of the above. From 1899
until he left the city for Texas in 1920, O’Brien taught music. He had
his own studio on East Water Street where he gave piano and voice
lessons. In addition to his private tutoring, O’Brien also worked at the
Elmira Free Academy conducting the orchestra and directing, sometimes even
writing, their annual minstrel shows.
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| Charles X. O'Brien |
Although
all his students have since passed on, he was, by all accounts, quite popular
among them. In a 1976 interview, Mrs. Kathryn Jewett Allen recalled
O’Brien as being tough but good. “There was no fooling around in his
classes and no one ever got away with anything,” she recalled. When he
wasn’t busy keeping them in line, O’Brien was very supportive of his
students. Five of them went on to become professional musicians in their
own right including Talitha Botsford, Kathryn Allen, Gwynn Bement, Jay Parker
and Muriel Chamoulaud Iszard
Today,
O’Brien is best remembered for his many, many compositions. He wrote
dozens of songs for the school minstrel show, for the Rorick’s Glen summer
theater and for fun. One song, “Japi Rag” was written specially for piano
student, E. Harold Wetsel, as a solo for him in the Elmira Free Academy
Follies.
The
Chemung County Historical Society has the sheet music for over a dozen of his
compositions. You can listen to his song “If You Were a Big Red Rose”
here: http://www.chemunghistory.com/redrose.html
