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News Number
THL
VOL. 87. No. 26
REVIEW
Published Weekly.
Federated Business Publications, Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y. Dec. 2 9 , 1 9 2 8
Single Coplea 10 Cents
$3.00 Per Tear
Victor Contest Winners Are
Announced in New York
Thomas Griselle, Mt. Vernon, N. Y., Awarded First Prize of
$10,000 for Jazz Composition—Second Honors to
Rube Bloom, Brooklyn, N. Y.
N Friday evening of this week the Victor Talking Machine Co. announced the winners of
the prizes offered for short jazz compositions within the scope of the small American
jazz or dance orchestra, the prizes being the largest ever offered for compositions of that
character. The official announcement was made at a dinner given at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
at which John Philip Sousa presided, and the prizes were presented by Edward E. Shumaker,
president of the Victor Talking Machine Co., after S. L. Rothafel, chairman of the Judges' Com-
mittee, had described the contest and the man-
_____
.—.
tier in which it was conducted. Thomas Griselle art of musical composition in America. Prizes
of Mount Vernon, N. Y., was awarded the first
were offered for the two best compositions
"within the playing scope of the American
dance, jazz, or popular concert orchestra, not
hitherto published or performed in public."
Hundreds of manuscripts were received from
every section of the country, many of them
being of such excellence that the judges' com-
mittee required two months to reach their final
decision.
Thomas Griselle, winner of the first prize, is
a native of Upper Sandusky, O. His early musi-
cal training was at the Cincinnati College of
Music where he studied piano with Albin Gorno
and composition with Louis Victor Saar. On
his graduation in 1911 he was awarded the
Springer Gold Medal with Great Distinction.
Later he studied organ with William C. Carl of
New York, and more recently he was a student
at the Conservatoire Americain at Fontaine-
bleau, France, where he studied composition
with Mile. Nadia Boulanger, Andre Bloch and
Raymond Pech. For one season he was accom-
panist for Nora Bayes, and for five years he
was solo pianist and accompanist for Alice Niel-
son. He has also accompanied Marie Sundelius,
Clarence Whitehill and many other well-known
singers.
Mr. Griselle's published compositions include
Thomas Griselle, First Prize Winner
"Two Dances of Olden Times," "Minuet,"
prize of $10,000 for his "Two Ame/ican "Bourree," "Danse Moderne," "Cubist," "Nood-
Sketches," and Rube Bloom of Brooklyn, N. Y., lin' " and "Tomfoolery." He is also the com-
poser of music for the dance specialty done by
was named ,as winner of the second prize of
$5,000 for his composition, "Song of the Bayou." Jessica Brown in the Cohan Revue of 1918.
The playing time of each number is less than Recently he wrote "A Keyboard Symphony" for
six pianos (twelve performers) for the Clavier
five minutes.
The contest,, which was announced last May, Ensemble, Providence, R. I. This composition,
was open only to American citizens, and was which is probably the first ever written origi-
designed by the Victor Co. to encourage the nally for this combination of instruments, was
O
performed by the Ensemble in Providence last
Spring with the composer conducting.
Mr. Griselle's prize-winning composition,
"Two American Sketches," contains two move-
ments, a nocturne and a march. It is original
in conception, novel in treatment, and is
thoroughly expressive of the most modern
trend in American music. He worked on it
continuously from the announcement of the
contest until he submitted it two days before
the end of the competition in October.
Rube Bloom, winner of the second prize, is a
native of New York. His study has been almost
entirely with private teachers. During the past
three years he has published several composi-
tions, best known of which is "Soliloquy," a
number that has been successfully played by
several concert jazz orchestras. Other published
Rube Bloom, Second Prize Winner
works are "Sapphire," "Silhouette," "Serenata,"
and "'Fleur de Lis."
Both prize compositions were broadcast over
a large network of stations by a Victor orches-
tra under the direction of Nathaniel Shilkret.
A second Victor contest, which offers a prize
of $25,000 for a composition for symphony or-
chestra, and is open to any American citizen,
closes May 28, 1929.