Presto

MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1881
Established
1884
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
10 Cents a Copy
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1928
DEATH ENDS CAREER OF ERNEST URCHS
Director of Wholesale and Artists' Department of Steinway & Sons, New
York City, in Thirty=Five Years of Specialized Work Had Materially
Aided the Cause of Art and Industry
Ernest Urchs, head of the artists' department of
Steinway & Sons, New York, died at his home, 320
West Eighty-seventh street, New York, on Thursday
of last week. The funeral services, held at his home
Saturday morning, were attended by the officials of
Steinway & Sons, a great number of employes of the
company and many from the great circle of his friends
in the world of art. Among his business associates
at the service were Theodore E. Steinway, Henry
Ziegler and F. Reidemeister, president, vice-president
and treasurer, respectively, of Steinway & Sons; The-
odore Cassebeer and N. Stetson.
American public is indebted for the opportunities of
hearing a great number of artists. Through his
activities Paderewski, Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Levit-
ski and other great artists were enabled to present
their art to appreciative American audiences. Every
year of his life he had interesting experiences in
Many Musicians Attend.
Many well-known musicians were present, some of
whom took part in the musical part of the services.
There was no religious service. A stringed trio com-
posed of Nadia Reisenberg, Toscha Seidel and Abra-
ham Borodin played the Orenski Trio in D Minor,
and Ernest Hutchinson the Andante from Beetho-
ven's "Sonata Pathetic."
President Steinway made a brief address in which
he eulogized the peculiar abilities of Mr. Urchs and
his notable services to his company and to the musi-
cal art which he strove to advance for the last thirty-
five years.
Some of the artists who were present were Harold
Bauer, Mischa Levitzki, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander
Siloti, Olin Dowites, music critic of The New York
Times; Professor John Erskine, the author; Adeile
Zerne and Richard Epstein.
His Work for Art.
To Mr. Urchs' rare abilities in the work of his
department and his keen judgment of pianistic art, the
$2 The Year
Urchs' activities is Vladimir Horowitz, the Russian
pianist, who was introduced to American audiences
early this year.
Mr. Urchs was a musician of recognized ability,
a circumstance which increased his understanding of
musical requirements and added to his judgment of
efficiency in artists. As a pianist his proficiency was
recognized by professional musicians and his perform-
ances at recitals on several occasions within the past
few years evdked warm commendations from the
music critics.
His Numerous Friends
The pictures on this page recall interesting incidents
of Mr. Urch's life within the past two years and
recall some of his encounters with musical folk during
visits abroad. Indeed, they suggest the special char-
acter of his work as
head of the artists' de-
partment of Steinway
& Sons, w o r k f o r
which, by reason of
his musical abilities, he
was peculiarly fitted.
It was his privilege to
intimately know many
of the greatest artists of
the present time and
whom he reckoned in
his wide circle of close
friends.
That circle is world-
wide and includes many
of the names closely as-
sociated with the high-
est in the musical art
of today.
The small p i c t u r e
shown h e r e w i t h was
taken last year while
AT PADEREWSKI'S
visiting Mr. and Mrs.
HOME.
P a d e r e w s k i at their
home.
Of equal interest are the other pictures on this
page which illustrate incidents in his admirable work
for Steinway & Sons. They bring home to us the
indefatigable efforts to provide music lovers with
opportunities to hear great pianists.
Mr. Urchs is survived by a widow, Mrs. Emma
Urchs, and a daughter, Ottonita. The body was cre-
mated.
ERNEST UltCHS.
meeting celebrities in the world of music and many
amazing discoveries of genius resulted from his fre-
quent trips abroad. One of the more recent artists to
be associated with the Steinway p'ano through Mr.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT—MRS. SIEGFRIED WAG-
NER, ERNEST URCHS ANT) SIEGFRIED WAGNER.
(The picture from which the cut was made was taken
in Beyreuth in August, 1927, during the Wagner Nebe-
lungen festival.)
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ (LEFT) AND ERNEST URCHS
(From picture taken abroad during summer of 1927.)
RIGHT—CARL SCHURICHT, CONDUCTOR OF THE
ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. AT L E F T -
ERNEST URCHS.
(This interesting picture was taken in Weisbaden,
Germany, where Mr. Schuricht had conducted the great
orchestra of that city for fifteen years before assuming
leadership of the St. Louis organization last year.)
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