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Helen Ware (violinist)

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This article is about the American violinist. For the American actress, see Helen Ware.
Helen Ware
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
Helen Ware, from a 1910s news photograph in the Library of Congress
BornSeptember 9, 1887
Woodbury, New Jersey
DiedSeptember 3, 1974 (age 86)
Keene, New Hampshire
Other namesHelen Ware Schwartz, Helen Ware Cappel
Occupation(s)Violinist, composer
ChildrenHerta Ware
ParentElla Reeve Bloor
RelativesHarold 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

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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.[1][2]

Career

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Ware was best known for performing and composing violin music with Hungarian and Slavic themes.[3][4][5] She played the "Old Adam" violin, an instrument once owned by a German concertmeister, Franz Adam.[6] She also played a Stradivarius violin, the "Mr. Soames Strad".[7][8][9] She toured in the United States in the 1910s,[10] sometimes including her own compositions in the program.[11] Ware made several recordings in 1914, 1915, and 1916, some of them with pianist Francis Moore, for the Victor and Edison companies.[12] She had a summer home, "Fiddler's Camp", in Arden, Delaware.[7]

Ware toured and performed steadily through the 1920s and 1930s,[13][14] and formed a chamber trio with two other women, cellist Margaret Day and pianist Eugenia Cerniafskaya.[15] In 1948, after her second husband died, she briefly took over his work as tour director of the United States Marine Band.[16] In the 1950s she gave performances mostly near her home in Delaware.[17][18]

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.[19][20]

A man and woman standing, each holding a small child, outdoors in winter clothing
Helen Ware with her first husband, Laszlo Schwartz, and their children

Publications

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Personal life

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Ware married twice. Her first husband was her manager, Hungarian-born violinist Laszlo Schwartz;[23] they married in 1912, and had a son[24] 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[25] and Edward (Dan);[26] Cappel died in 1948,[27][28] and Helen Ware Cappel died on September 3, 1974, aged 86, in Keene, New Hampshire.[29] Her daughter with Schwartz was actress Herta Ware,[30] and her grandchildren include actress Ellen Geer. Actress Willow Geer is her great-grandchild.

References

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  1. ^ "Helen Ware in Chicago". Music News. 6: 10. November 6, 1914.
  2. ^ "Ferry to Give Organ Recital Here Tonight". Evening Star. 1926-03-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "New Role of Bach's Chaconne". Music News. 6: 27. November 27, 1914.
  4. ^ "Helen Ware as Composer". Music News. 6: 6. December 4, 1914.
  5. ^ "Helen Ware: The Eminent Interpreter of Hungarian and Slavic Music Makes Her Headquarters in New York". Music News. 6: 4. September 18, 1914.
  6. ^ "The Old Adam Violin". The Violinist. 16: 28. December 1913.
  7. ^ a b "Taking Music Lessons from a Canary". Musical America. 22: 17. June 19, 1915.
  8. ^ "Civic Symphony Plays Tuesday". Cumberland Sunday Times. 1950-05-14. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Caines, Gracia (1971-11-25). "Stradivari's Home without Violin". The Morning News. p. 84. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "A Large Audience Heard Helen Ware; Violinist of International Fame at Auditorium". The Houston Post. 1915-04-12. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Helen Ware, Violinist, Tonight". The Macon Telegraph. 1917-02-06. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Ware, Helen". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  13. ^ "Yolanda Mero to Return; Will Appear Here in April with Helen Ware, Violinist". Detroit Free Press. 1914-01-11. p. 70. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "H. Ware to Appear in Recital Here". The Bristol News Bulletin. 1933-01-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "New Chamber Music Group Wednesday". Evening Star. 1926-04-18. p. 67. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Simmons, Amanda. "New Library Acquisitions" United States Marines News (August 15, 2017).
  17. ^ "Violinist, Pianist to Give Program". The Morning News. 1951-08-23. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Helen Ware, Violinist Pleases at Rehoboth". The News Journal. 1953-08-20. p. 28. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Helen Ware and the Other Helen Ware". The Music News. 6: 27. November 20, 1914.
  20. ^ "Helen Ware Ready for Busy Season". Musical Courier. 67: 18. August 20, 1913.
  21. ^ "The Violin Student Abroad". The Violinist. 15: 35. August 1913.
  22. ^ Ware, Helen (August 1914). "A Visit to Madame Remenyi". The Violinist. 17: 33–34.
  23. ^ Schwartz, Laszlo (August 21, 1914). "Managerial Maxims". Music News. 6: 6.
  24. ^ "Motherhood and a Career; Helen Ware, Violinist, Tells of the Inspiration her Little Son Has Brought to Her". The Marion Star. 1918-08-03. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Helen Miller (obituary)". The Brattleboro Reformer. 2004-04-08. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "League to Sponsor Musicale Thursday". The Morning News. 1948-08-10. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Clarence C. Cappel". The News Journal. 1948-04-17. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "C. C. Cappel, Musician, Dies; Was Manager of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra". The Baltimore Sun. 1948-04-17. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Cappel Services". The Morning News. 1974-09-20. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Themal, Harry F. (1985-06-23). "Film: Veterans Romp Through Latest Roles". The Morning News. p. 75. Retrieved 2022-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
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