Musical AKAs: Assumed Names and Sobriquets of Composers, Songwriters, Librettists, Lyricists, Hymnists and Writers on Music

664 Pages·2006·2.98 MB·English

by  Jeanette Marie Drone

Music • Reference
DRONE
There are many reasons for a musical artist to write or compose under an assumed name, be it dis-
guising ethnicity or gender, pursuing an additional career or genre, or writing a parody or humorous
music. Nicknames are often assigned to composers and lyricists whether they want them or not.
Whatever the reasons for artists to use assumed names instead of, or in addition to, their own, this
comprehensive resource has amassed and cataloged them. Musical AKAs is a wide-ranging index of
assumed names and sobriquets of nearly 10,000 composers, songwriters, lyricists, librettists, hym-
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nists, and writers on music. More than 15,000 alternative names—including legal name changes, s
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pseudonyms, pen names, and nicknames—have been collected into one easy-to-reference listing. i
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Jeanette Marie Drone has assembled information from numerous music sources—dictionaries, stsamU
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encyclopedias, biographies, journals, websites, and print and online copyright sources—and organ- L
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ized them into this extensive four-part volume. Chapter 1 alphabetically lists the sources in which cn
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assumed names or sobriquets were found for three or more individuals. Chapter 2 lists original ts, SC
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names of artists from both popular and classical music, detailing their assumed names and sobri- b
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quets, dates, occupations, source codes, and complete bibliographic citations for print and Internet m
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sources. The pseudonyms are cataloged in chapter 3, with references to the original names. Musical tsts
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JJEEAANNEETTTTEE MMAARRIIEE DDRROONNEE is a freelance educator and author of Musical Theater Synopses: An rp
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Index (1998) and Index to Opera, Operetta, and Musical Comedy Synopses in Collections and erse Assumed Names and Sobriquets of
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Periodicals (1978), both available from Scarecrow Press. on, SA Composers, Songwriters, Librettists,

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JEANETTE MARIE DRONE
For orders and information please contact the publisher
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5739-1
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Musical AKAs
Assumed Names and Sobriquets of Composers,
Songwriters, Librettists, Lyricists, Hymnists,
and Writers on Music
Jeanette Marie Drone
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2007
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SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Awholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2007 by Jeanette Marie Drone
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Drone, Jeanette Marie, 1940–
Musical AKAs : assumed names and sobriquets of composers,
songwriters, librettists, lyricists, hymnists, and writers on music /
Jeanette Marie Drone.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5739-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-5739-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Musicians—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries. 2. Anonyms and
pseudonyms. 3. Nicknames—Dictionaries. I. Title.
ML105.D76 2006
780.92'2—dc22
2006000542
° ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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For my mother, Frances Rebstock Drone,
and in memory of my father, William Alexander Drone.
Thank you!
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Contents
Preface: Pseudonymity in Music vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1 Sources 1
2 Original Names (with Assumed Names and Sobriquets) 11
3 Assumed Names and Sobriquets (with References to Original Names) 415
4 Notes 609
References 643
About the Author 645
v
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Preface: Pseudonymity in Music
In the introduction of his third edition of Dictionary of Pseudonyms(1998), Adrian Room discusses the various rea-
sons literary authors use assumed names, i.e., pseudonyms pen names, noms de plume,initialisms. Using this es-
say as an outline, I have identified parallel examples in the field of music.
Individuals may use different names on works submitted to different publishers. In addition to using his own
name, Wallingford Riegger used the following pseudonyms (see table P.1).
Table P.1. Pseudonyms of Wallingford Riegger
Assumed Names Publishers
Edwin Farrell Morrissey
George Northrup Leeds
Gerald Wilfring Gore Flammer
William Richards Lorenz
Edgar Long Pro Art
Walter Scotson Witmark
John H. McCurdy Boosey & Hawkes
Leonard Gregg Columbia Recordings
Sometimes individuals use different names on publications submitted to a single publisher. William Arms Fisher
used at least fourteen pseudonyms on titles published by Oliver Ditson, making the Ditson catalog appear more
comprehensive than it really was.
There are numerous examples of individuals using different names for different musical genres. Charles N(eil)
Daniels, also known as Neil Moret, used at least eight additional pseudonyms, including L’Albert on marches and
Charlie Hill on western songs. Perhaps the most noted example is Vladimir Dukelsky, who composed symphonic
works under his birth name and popular songs as Vernon Duke.
An assumed name can also hide the fact that a person is involved in endeavors outside his/her main career.
While pursuing a career as an orchestral flutist, Otto Luening used the name James P. Cleveland to conceal the fact
that he also was employed as an actor and stage manager for the Joyce English Players, and composer George An-
theil wrote Death in the Dark,adetective novel, as Stacy Bishop.
Names are frequently changed when birth names are identified with a social condition or an ethnic group, or are
difficult to pronounce, or to avoid confusion with another person with the same or similar name. During the WWI
era, individuals frequently changed their German names or “Americanized” the spellings. Unquestionably, Paul
Creston is easier to remember and pronounce than Giuseppe Guttoveggio. And to avoid confusion, Edward Jones
added his father’s given name, Stephen, as a middle name so that he would not be confused with another student
who had the same name. (Later he dropped his original surname and became known as Edward Stephen[s].)
Sometimes individuals with generally common names assume a “foreign” name under the guise that “foreign is
better.” Sir Henry Joseph Wood was also known as Paul Klenovsky, and Ethel Liggins became Ethel Leginska.
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viii Preface
In some cases assumed names are used to re-enforce the style or subject of a song. Cavan O’Connor wrote “My
Senorita” as Jose Sabado. And then there is the delightful example of James [or Jimmy] (Francis) McHugh and
Lewis Michelson’s use of the names Ura Herring and Ima Fish on “Hey! You Want Any Codfish? We Only Have
Mack’rel Today.”
The use of a nom de plumeon a collaborative endeavor avoids a cumbersome listing of several names. “Our Miss
Gibbs” was by Cryptos—a group of lyricists and composers, including Adrien Ross [i.e., Arthur Reed Roper]; Percy
Greenbank; Ivan Caryll [i.e., Felix Tilken]; and (John) Lionel (Alexander) Monckton.
Music publishers, like literary publishers, often allocate house names on “for hire” publications. Arthur P.
Schmidt Co. used several house names, including W. F. Ambrosio, Ferdinand Meyer, Arthur Dana, Carl Erich,
Hugh Gordon and G. P. Ritter.
Like literary critics, music critics frequently use assumed names. One of the most interesting examples is George
Bernard Shaw, who wrote music criticism for The Starunder the name Corno di Bassetto (Italian for basset horn),
an instrument he described as wretched and having a peculiar watery melancholy sound.
In retrospect, several music critics who chose to write under their own names probably wished they had used
assumed names. Claudia Cassidy was dubbed “Acidy Cassidy” and “Poison Pen Cassidy,” William James Hen-
derson was called “Singer’s Critic and Lord High Executioner,” and Henry Taylor Parker’s initials H. T. P. were
facetiously interpreted as “Hard to Please” and “Hell to Pay.”
Assumed names are frequently found on works of parody. A contemporary example is the works of P. D. Q.
Bach. Although many consider the name a pseudonym of Peter Schickele, others disagree, saying that since Schick-
ele does not use the name as a means of concealment, it is an alter ego.
Assumed names are frequently used to obscure the sex of the composer or author. Until recent times women re-
ceived less recognition for works published under their own names. Frequently a woman used initials with her
surname, keeping her identity yet concealing her sex. Using the pseudonym “ALady” identified the sex of the au-
thor/composer but masked the woman’s true identity. Sometimes a minor adjustment to a given name provided a
disguise, for example, Louise became Louis, and Alberta became Bert. Perhaps the most noted example in this cat-
egory is Polish composer Irene Regine Wieniawska, who used the pen name Poldowski. Although men rarely as-
sume feminine names, there are there are a few noted cases, including Septimus Winner who used the name Alice
Hawthorne, and Robert A. King (originally Keiser) who composed numerous songs under the names Mary Earl,
Kathleen A. Roberts, Mrs. Ravenhall, and others.
In several cases composers have assumed names of more famous composers to assure acceptance of their works.
Perhaps the most noted musical hoax was perpetuated by Fritz Kreisler, who composed dozens of pieces for vio-
lin in the “olden style” which he ascribed to various 18th-century composers, including Louis Couperin, Karl von
Dittersdorf, Niccolo A. Porpora, Johann Stamitz, and Antonio Vivaldi. In 1935 Kreisler finally admitted the hoax,
and today the pieces are still part of the standard violin repertoire. The question remains—would they have been
accepted as readily if published under Kreisler’s name?
Sometimes assumed names are chosen in a sense of fun or in an attempt to be clever. Perhaps that is why Fanny
J. Crosby wrote as Mrs. Nom D. Plume or why Kenneth Werner chose the name Phil Harmonic. And then there
was C(yrus) Van Ness Clark and Martin Hickey,who jointly used the name Dick C. Land on “Bile Them Cabbage
Down” and “Flounder Foot Polka.”
Another category is described under “pseudonyms” in Nicholas Slonimsky’s Baker’s Dictionary of Music
(Schirmer Books, 1977, 804). Pseudonyms can be used when “. . . a dignified composer writes undignified music.”
Did Slonimsky include this definition to explain his use of the pseudonyms Sol Mysnik and Nicholas Sloane? An-
other example in this category is Leslie Sarony [i.e., Leslie Legge Sarony Frye], who used the name Q. Kumber on
“Mucking About in the Garden.” And on second thought, perhaps the example of McHugh and Michelson’s use
of the names Ura Herring and Ima Fish, cited above, would be moreappropriately be placed in this category.
Acategory not discussed in Room’s essay is “spirit writing.” In recent times the most noted examples are Clif-
fordEnticknap, who claimed to be a “channel” for Handel’s music, and Rosemary Brown, who produced hundreds
of works allegedly dictated by numerous famous composers. (See Melvyn J. Willin’s “Music and the Paranormal,”
http://www.musicpsyche.org/Journal/mp1Willin11.html [29 May 2005].)
TYPES OF PSEUDONYMS
Anagrams and reverse spellings areeasily identified, for example, CesareMeano [i.e., Marco E. Senea] and Trebor
Rellim [i.e., Robert Miller]. Atranslated surname is another easy way to mask one’s identity, for example Fredrick