The Rambler
Walter G. Haenschen
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Browse piano sheets by Walter G. Haenschen on Zen Virtual Piano. Walter G. “Gus” Haenschen earned money as a young newspaper carrier, and while a high-school student he co-founded the Eclipse Novelty Company with some friends, making pennants to sell at baseball games. His father had abandoned the family, leaving his mother, a seamstress and dressmaker, as the main support. As a teenager he accompanied silent films on the piano in St. Louis theaters while improving his technique, and he may have studied briefly with Scott Joplin. A mother as the main support, beside a boy carrying papers and selling pennants, may suggest money mattered early in his household. Whether he truly studied with Joplin is something the Syncopated Times writer cannot conclude decisively, though the writer leans toward yes: probably for a short time in 1904 and 1905, when Haenschen was 14 and 15. He wrote the rag The Rambler at 16; the Syncopated Times writer judges it better than the average rag of its time and markedly different from Joplin's style; it was published by Joplin's publisher John Stark. The Rambler was co-composed by Arthur F. Beyer, and Stark copyrighted it on October 30, 1906. A teenage rag published by Joplin's publisher but unlike Joplin's work suggests that he was already finding his own sound. The Rambler's notable departure from Joplin's style, beside possible lessons with Joplin in 1904 and 1905, may point to a gap between what he studied and what he wrote. His composition Moorish Tango became popular with dancers in the St. Louis area, and a telegram asked his permission to use it in a Broadway show. In 1919 Brunswick-Balke-Collander offered him the lucrative post of founding director of popular-music releases for its new line, Brunswick Records. At Brunswick he conducted the house orchestra on recordings, using the name Carl Fenton Orchestra on the labels because of anti-German feeling just after World War I. Conducting the house orchestra under another name, beside the offer of a founding director's post, may suggest a man whose work at Brunswick went beyond conducting. With Frank Black he also developed radio programs for large stations through their World Broadcasting Company, the first being The Champion Hour, sponsored by a firm of the same name. In 1945 Ithaca College gave him an honorary doctor of music degree. The Syncopated Times writer sums him up as a fine musician who played a part, perhaps a large one, in American popular recordings through much of the 1920s and in radio up to the early 1950s. A career from silent-film piano to work at Brunswick to radio programs may suggest a musician whose work crossed several media. An honorary degree from a college in 1945 suggests that his work was recognized beyond the record trade.
Browse piano sheets by Walter G. Haenschen on Zen Virtual Piano.
Walter G. “Gus” Haenschen earned money as a young newspaper carrier, and while a high-school student he co-founded the Eclipse Novelty Company with some friends, making pennants to sell at baseball games. His father had abandoned the family, leaving his mother, a seamstress and dressmaker, as the main support. As a teenager he accompanied silent films on the piano in St. Louis theaters while improving his technique, and he may have studied briefly with Scott Joplin. A mother as the main support, beside a boy carrying papers and selling pennants, may suggest money mattered early in his household.
Whether he truly studied with Joplin is something the Syncopated Times writer cannot conclude decisively, though the writer leans toward yes: probably for a short time in 1904 and 1905, when Haenschen was 14 and 15. He wrote the rag The Rambler at 16; the Syncopated Times writer judges it better than the average rag of its time and markedly different from Joplin's style; it was published by Joplin's publisher John Stark. The Rambler was co-composed by Arthur F. Beyer, and Stark copyrighted it on October 30, 1906. A teenage rag published by Joplin's publisher but unlike Joplin's work suggests that he was already finding his own sound. The Rambler's notable departure from Joplin's style, beside possible lessons with Joplin in 1904 and 1905, may point to a gap between what he studied and what he wrote.
His composition Moorish Tango became popular with dancers in the St. Louis area, and a telegram asked his permission to use it in a Broadway show. In 1919 Brunswick-Balke-Collander offered him the lucrative post of founding director of popular-music releases for its new line, Brunswick Records. At Brunswick he conducted the house orchestra on recordings, using the name Carl Fenton Orchestra on the labels because of anti-German feeling just after World War I. Conducting the house orchestra under another name, beside the offer of a founding director's post, may suggest a man whose work at Brunswick went beyond conducting.
With Frank Black he also developed radio programs for large stations through their World Broadcasting Company, the first being The Champion Hour, sponsored by a firm of the same name. In 1945 Ithaca College gave him an honorary doctor of music degree. The Syncopated Times writer sums him up as a fine musician who played a part, perhaps a large one, in American popular recordings through much of the 1920s and in radio up to the early 1950s. A career from silent-film piano to work at Brunswick to radio programs may suggest a musician whose work crossed several media. An honorary degree from a college in 1945 suggests that his work was recognized beyond the record trade.
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Walter G. Haenschen
Common questions
Walter G. Haenschen, known as Gus Haenschen, was a pianist and composer who worked for Brunswick Records, conducted its house orchestra and developed radio programs.
It is a rag he wrote at 16, co-composed with Arthur F. Beyer, published by John Stark and copyrighted on October 30, 1906.
Right after World War I, public feeling against Germans led him to put Carl Fenton Orchestra on record labels.
The Syncopated Times writer cannot settle for certain whether he studied with Joplin but leans toward believing he probably did, for a short time.