Helen Ware (violinist)
{{short description|American violinist}}
{{about|the American violinist|the American actress|Helen Ware}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Helen Ware
| image = Helen Ware circa 1918 (cropped).jpg
| alt = A young white woman seated, light hair braided across crown and held with a dark headband; she is smiling, and playing a violin; she is wearing a dark dress with a lace-trimmed neckline
| caption = Helen Ware, from a 1910s news photograph in the Library of Congress
| other_names = Helen Ware Schwartz, Helen Ware Cappel
| birth_name =
| birth_date = September 9, 1887
| birth_place = Woodbury, New Jersey
| death_date = September 3, 1974 (age 86)
| death_place = Keene, New Hampshire
| occupation = Violinist, composer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| children = Herta Ware
| parents = Ella Reeve Bloor
| relatives = Harold Ware (brother), Jessica Smith (editor) (sister-in-law), Ellen Geer (granddaughter), Willow Geer (great-granddaughter)
}}
Helen Ware (September 9, 1887 – September 3, 1974) was an American violinist and composer.
Early life and education
Helen Ware was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, the daughter of Lucien Bonaparte Ware and Ella Reeve Bloor. Her mother was founder of the Communist Labor Party of America. Her brother was Harold Ware, an expert on agriculture and an alleged Soviet spy, and his third wife was a noted Quaker pacifist and editor, Jessica Smith. Ware studied violin in Philadelphia with Frederick Han. In Europe she studied with Otakar Ševčík in Vienna and Jenő Hubay in Budapest.{{Cite journal |date=November 6, 1914 |title=Helen Ware in Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&q=Helen+Ware&pg=RA18-PA10 |journal=Music News |volume=6 |pages=10}}{{Cite news |date=1926-03-01 |title=Ferry to Give Organ Recital Here Tonight |pages=2 |work=Evening Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104276707/ferry-to-give-organ-recital-here-tonight/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Ware was best known for performing and composing violin music with Hungarian and Slavic themes.{{Cite journal |date=November 27, 1914 |title=New Role of Bach's Chaconne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA20-PA27 |journal=Music News |volume=6 |pages=27}}{{Cite journal |date=December 4, 1914 |title=Helen Ware as Composer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA22-PA6 |journal=Music News |volume=6 |pages=6}}{{Cite journal |date=September 18, 1914 |title=Helen Ware: The Eminent Interpreter of Hungarian and Slavic Music Makes Her Headquarters in New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA11-PA4 |journal=Music News |volume=6 |pages=4}} She played the "Old Adam" violin, an instrument once owned by a German concertmeister, Franz Adam.{{Cite journal |date=December 1913 |title=The Old Adam Violin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeAqAAAAYAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA2-PA28 |journal=The Violinist |volume=16 |pages=28}} She also played a Stradivarius violin, the "Mr. Soames Strad".{{Cite journal |date=June 19, 1915 |title=Taking Music Lessons from a Canary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mkc0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Musical%20America&pg=RA6-PA17 |journal=Musical America |volume=22 |pages=17}}{{Cite news |date=1950-05-14 |title=Civic Symphony Plays Tuesday |pages=20 |work=Cumberland Sunday Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104277048/civic-symphony-plays-tuesday/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Caines |first=Gracia |date=1971-11-25 |title=Stradivari's Home without Violin |pages=84 |work=The Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104279702/stradivaris-home-without-violingracia/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} She toured in the United States in the 1910s,{{Cite news |date=1915-04-12 |title=A Large Audience Heard Helen Ware; Violinist of International Fame at Auditorium |pages=11 |work=The Houston Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104275084/a-large-audience-heard-helen-ware/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} sometimes including her own compositions in the program.{{Cite news |date=1917-02-06 |title=Helen Ware, Violinist, Tonight |pages=5 |work=The Macon Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104276870/helen-ware-violinist-tonight/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} Ware made several recordings in 1914, 1915, and 1916, some of them with pianist Francis Moore, for the Victor and Edison companies.{{Cite web |title=Ware, Helen |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/110104/Ware_Helen |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings}} She had a summer home, "Fiddler's Camp", in Arden, Delaware.
Ware toured and performed steadily through the 1920s and 1930s,{{Cite news |date=1914-01-11 |title=Yolanda Mero to Return; Will Appear Here in April with Helen Ware, Violinist |pages=70 |work=Detroit Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104276766/yolanda-mero-to-return-will-appear/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1933-01-23 |title=H. Ware to Appear in Recital Here |pages=8 |work=The Bristol News Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104275168/h-ware-to-appear-in-recital-here/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and formed a chamber trio with two other women, cellist Margaret Day and pianist Eugenia Cerniafskaya.{{Cite news |date=1926-04-18 |title=New Chamber Music Group Wednesday |pages=67 |work=Evening Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104277246/new-chamber-music-group-wednesday/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1948, after her second husband died, she briefly took over his work as tour director of the United States Marine Band.Simmons, Amanda. [https://www.marineband.marines.mil/News/article/1278605/new-library-acquisitions/ "New Library Acquisitions"] United States Marines News (August 15, 2017). In the 1950s she gave performances mostly near her home in Delaware.{{Cite news |date=1951-08-23 |title=Violinist, Pianist to Give Program |pages=14 |work=The Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278540/violinist-pianist-to-give-program/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1953-08-20 |title=Helen Ware, Violinist Pleases at Rehoboth |pages=28 |work=The News Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104276278/helen-ware-violinist-pleases-at/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Helen Ware joined the Communist Labor Party of America when her mother founded the party, in 1919. She was sometimes confused with actress Helen Ware, or composer Harriet Ware.{{Cite journal |date=November 20, 1914 |title=Helen Ware and the Other Helen Ware |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA20-PA27 |journal=The Music News |volume=6 |pages=27}}{{Cite journal |date=August 20, 1913 |title=Helen Ware Ready for Busy Season |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pek6AQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violin&pg=RA8-PA18 |journal=Musical Courier |volume=67 |pages=18}}
Publications
- "The Violin Student Abroad" (1913){{Cite journal |date=August 1913 |title=The Violin Student Abroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeAqAAAAYAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violin&pg=RA12-PA37 |journal=The Violinist |volume=15 |pages=35}}
- "A Visit to Madame Remenyi" (1914){{Cite journal |last=Ware |first=Helen |date=August 1914 |title=A Visit to Madame Remenyi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeAqAAAAYAAJ&q=Helen+Ware&pg=RA10-PA33 |journal=The Violinist |volume=17 |pages=33–34}}
Personal life
Ware married twice. Her first husband was her manager, Hungarian-born violinist Laszlo Schwartz;{{Cite journal |last=Schwartz |first=Laszlo |date=August 21, 1914 |title=Managerial Maxims |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bndFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Helen+Ware+violinist&pg=RA20-PA27 |journal=Music News |volume=6 |pages=6}} they married in 1912, and had a son{{Cite news |date=1918-08-03 |title=Motherhood and a Career; Helen Ware, Violinist, Tells of the Inspiration her Little Son Has Brought to Her |pages=17 |work=The Marion Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104276616/motherhood-and-a-career-helen-ware/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and daughter. Her second husband was Clarence C. Cappel, tour director of the United States Marine Band; they married in 1923, and had three children, Andor, Helen{{Cite news |date=2004-04-08 |title=Helen Miller (obituary) |pages=12 |work=The Brattleboro Reformer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278660/helen-miller-obituary/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and Edward (Dan);{{Cite news |date=1948-08-10 |title=League to Sponsor Musicale Thursday |pages=17 |work=The Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278150/league-to-sponsor-musicale-thursday/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} Cappel died in 1948,{{Cite news |date=1948-04-17 |title=Clarence C. Cappel |pages=4 |work=The News Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278755/clarence-c-cappel/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1948-04-17 |title=C. C. Cappel, Musician, Dies; Was Manager of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra |pages=6 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104280018/c-c-cappel-musician-dies-was/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and Helen Ware Cappel died on September 3, 1974, aged 86, in Keene, New Hampshire.{{Cite news |date=1974-09-20 |title=Cappel Services |pages=19 |work=The Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278242/cappel-services/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her daughter with Schwartz was actress Herta Ware,{{Cite news |last=Themal |first=Harry F. |date=1985-06-23 |title=Film: Veterans Romp Through Latest Roles |pages=75 |work=The Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104278400/film-veterans-romp-through-latest/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and her grandchildren include actress Ellen Geer. Actress Willow Geer is her great-grandchild.