Samuel Richards Gaines (1869 to 1945) was a composer, teacher,
organist, and associated with other composers hhis day, namely Sousa
and Granger. I would like to find any information about his life. To
date, I know his birth and death dates, taught at Columbia U., wrote a
number of pieces of music which are out of print, attended the opening
of Carnegie Hall.

Helo jhawthorne-ga,

Thanks for your question.

As you're probably aware by now, there is not a great deal of
information on the internet about the life of Samuel R Gaines.  There
are, however, a few other excellent sources of information.


The NY Times carried a siazable obituary for Samuel R. Gaines on
October 11, 1945.  Due to copyright restrictions, I cannot post the
full article here, but I have provided a detailed summary of the key
facts of Mr. Gaines' life below:


==========

SAMUEL R. GAINES
New York Times
Oct 11, 1945
The New York Times
pg. 23

Samuel R. Gaines
Composer Wrote Song 'Home' -- Was an Organist Here

--Died in Boston at the age of 75 while walking home from a dinner with a friend

--Lived in Boston for 15 years.

--'Home" premiered in Scranton, PA a year before his death.  

--Published several hundred musical works, mostly songs and chorales.

--Married twice, leaving a wife and two children.  

--Gaines was born in Detroit, and began studying organ at age 14.  He
became an organist at a NY Synagogue, and then soloist at St. Thomas
Episcopal Church.

--Returning to Detroit, he taught in music school, and conducted the
Orpheus Club and the Elgar Society.

--He spent a short time in Ohio, then moved to Boston as the organist
and choirmaster at Shawmut Church.

--Among his many compositions were:  

-The Corn song, a harvest exultation
-Cambria, a Welsh rhapsody
-Daniel Boone, an opera
-Rex Gloriae, a Christmas tune
-O Victorious People, a patriotic piece
-The Village Blacksmith, a cantata


==========

If you are interested, you can access the full text of the NY Times article here:

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/advancedsearch.html

by searching on his name.

Additional details are avaliable from other sources.  

If you search at the NewspaperArchive site:

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

for "Samuel Richards Gaines" (include quotation marks), you'll see a
number of search results for newspaper articles spanning a period from
1917 to 1953.

For the most part, these articles only contain brief mentions of Mr.
Gaines' pieces that were played at one performance or another.  By
subscribing to the NewspaperArchive service, you can access the full
text of all the articles, if this is of interest to you.

Before rating this answer, please let me know if anything here is not
clear, of if you need any additional information.  Just post a Request
for Clarification, and I'll be happy to assist you further.


pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 23 May 2004 09:51 PDT

Here's another link to information about "The Village Blacksmith":

http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=21972

Gaines' put this famous Longfellow poem ("Under a spreading chestnut
tree...") to music, as did numerous other composers.  Gaines'
composition is described as:

by Samuel Richards Gaines (1869-1945) , "The Village Blacksmith" ,
published 1925. [cantata: mixed voices, soprano and baritone soli,
piano or orchestra]

---

Request for Answer Clarification by jhawthorne7-ga on 23 May 2004 10:20 PDT

Thanks for the information. I had done some searching previously, and
was looking for info beyond his obituary, as I had this already --
info such as where he received his education. Who Charlotte Gaines was
(he dedicated some pieces to her) -- maybe first wife? The name of his
first wife and the names of his children with her? (My grandmother was
his second wife). He won at least one organ competition, more data on
this? Whether any of his compositions are still in print? I understand
it is hard to find much. Thanks for your help.

---

Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 23 May 2004 18:30 PDT

Hello again,

Thanks for getting back to me on this.

For future reference, the more you can tell us at the outset about
what you know, the better we can draw our research baseline.  That
way, we can concentrate on only finding new information for you.

I took a more in-depth look at several sources of information.   There
appears to be very little information about SRG's (pardon the
abbreviation) personal life.  In addition to the NY Times, I also
checked several other major papers:  The Washington Post, and the Los
Angeles Times.  They had no additional information to offer regarding
any personal details.

I also checked several major biographical references, including the
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and Who's Who, but neither of
these comprehensive references included a biography of SRG.

At the NewspaperArchive.com site, which tends to focus on smaller
papers, I rechecked the articles I referred to earlier, and gleaned
the following:




The Newark (Ohio) Advocate
February 2, 1917

SRG was the accompanist at the Women's Music Club Concert in the local
Newark, Ohio high school.




Lima (Ohio) News
March 8, 1942

An article on the University of Dubuque A Cappella choir, performing
in Lima, mentions that SRG, "Noted composer of choral music, of
Boston, Mass." was in correspondence with Noel J. Logan, Director of
the Dubuque choir.



Chronical Telegram 
Elyria, Ohio
May 18, 1937

"Chorus Director Studied With Famous Composer"

This article tells of the career of J. Marti Beck of the Elyria
Musical Society, who "At Columbia...studied with SRG, nationally known
composer, primarily of choral works, who is now in Boston..."


 

Marion (Ohio) Daily Star
January 12, 1924

An article mentions "I'm a Wand'rin", a spiritual by SRG



Marion (Ohio) Star
September 9, 1921

"...'Ohio Day' will be celebrated October 24, when SRG, of Columbus,
eminent director and composer, will direct the singing of three of his
own compositions, "Roumanian Love Song", "Spring and Youth", and
"Pretty Blushing Roses"..."


Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio
May 4, 1939

mentions "Quiet Places" by SRG


Zanesville (Ohio) Signal
February 2, 1941


An article mentions Bernard Anderson, a performer at a local concert
who "studied for a number of years with SRG of Columbus who is now
organist and choir director of Old Shawmut church, Boston.  Mr.
Anderson received a letter last week from Mr. Gaines who reminisced
about his former pupils in Zanesville."


Times Recorder
Zanesville, Ohio
November 11, 1951

Notes a women's ensemble in town performing "...'Salutation' the best
known composition of SRG.  Written by the composer as an "opener" for
his own choral programs, it was immediately accepted and adopted for
use in opening musicales all over the country.  Their next number "On
the Morrow" also a Gaines composition, an arrangement of an old
Yorkshire folksong."

==========


Another useful source is the search site for the American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers -- ASCAP:

http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=4265400&search_in=c&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1


You can find here a listing for 35 pieces of music written by SRG:

1 .   AGAIN THE LORD OF LIFE ETC 
2 .   ALLELUIA AMEN 
3 .   ARIOSO 
4 .   CANZONE ALL ANTICA 
5 .   COLONEL DAVY CROCKETT 
6 .   COMRADES IN ARMS 
7 .   COSSACK CRADLE SONG 
8 .   CYGNE LE 
9 .   DAY OF JUDGMENT 
10 .   DEMOCRACY FOREVER 
11 .   FAITH ONLY FAITH 
12 .   FANTASY ON A RUSSIAN FOLK SONG 
13 .   GODS GARDEN 
14 .   HAPPY SONG 
15 .   HOLD THOU ME UP 
16 .   HOME 
17 .   HOMELAND DEAR HOMELAND 
18 .   IMMORTAL SONG OP 23 
19 .   LORDS PRAYER THE 
20 .   LULLABY FROM SYMPHONY NO 3 
21 .   MY HEART HATH A MIND 
22 .   O LOVELY NIGHT 
23 .   O PARADISE 
24 .   PASSAGE BIRD S FAREWELL 
25 .   PASTORALE GENTILE 
26 .   PSALM 150 
27 .   QUIET PLACES 
28 .   SALUTATION 
29 .   SCANDIA 
30 .   SERAPHIC SONG REVE ANGELIQU 
31 .   SUN SHINE FORTH 
32 .   THINE EYES SO BLUE AND TEND 
33 .   THIS FAIR AND BEAUTEOUS ETC 
34 .   THOUGH LIGHT IS MY HEART 
35 .   YONDER YONDER 



For each of the pieces listed, you can click on the title to get
additional information, including contact information for the current
copyright/license holder for the music.

For example, here's the entry for "Home":

HOME      (Title Code: 380063118)  
  Writers:
   GAINES SAMUEL RICHARDS 
   POWELL BRYCHAN B 

  Performers:
(none found)

 
  Variations:
  (none found)

  Publishers/Administrators:
  CARL FISCHER LLC 
    65 BLEECKER STREET 
    NEW YORK , NY, 10012
    Tel. (212) 777-0900

-----

A letter or phone call to Mr. Fischer could possibly get you a good
deal of additional information about the music.

==========
  
About Ms. Charlotte Gaines, I can only take an educated guess.  Her
name turns up in several Ohio newspapers, and in a choral music
context, so it may well be that she is the first wife of, or otherwise
related to Mr. Gaines.  However, the actual relationship -- if there
is one -- is not mentioned in any of the articles I reviewed:



Times Recorder
Zanesvill, Ohio
August 15, 1939

"Music Teachers Take Training Course"

The article mentions numerous courses being offered, including:

"Voice Classes and Choral Groups -- Mrs. Charlotte Gaines"
"Repetoire and Program Building -- Mrs. Charlotte Gaines"



Zanesville (Ohio) Signal
December 11, 1938

"Mrs. Rausch [soprano] studied with...Charlotte Gaines of Columbus"




Newark (Ohio) Advocate
October 19, 1932

"Mrs. ...Fitch was a guest of Mrs. Charlotte Gaines, well-known voice
teacher of Columbus..."

"Mrs Gaines and Mrs. Fitch were pupils of Dr. Charles Norman Granville
in Chicago last summer, specializing in the Voco study plan for group
singing."




Newark (Ohio) Advocate
October 19, 1932


"...the local audition was held...under chairmanship of Mrs. Charlote
Gaines, choral director of the columbus Women's club..."


==========

That's about it!

Wish there was more to offer, but I'm afraid the details Mr. Gaines'
personal life -- and that of Ms. Gaines -- are pretty scarce.   I hope
the information I've provided is useful to you in your quest, however.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to further assist you. 

pafalafa-ga

Hard to find much info on this topic. I think the respondent did a
good job of finding what was out there.

Thanks so much for the kind feedback.   I actually did a bit more
searching around for additional info on Gaines, but came up empty...he
left his music behind, but not a heck of a lot of information on the
man himself.