Schneider, Edward F. (Edward Faber), 1872-1950

Obituary

appeared in the Oakland Tribune, Sunday, July 2, 1950, p. 14a.

Edward Faber Schneider, 77, Dean of Music at Mills College for 30 years, (sic) and world famous composer of tone poems, died yesterday [i.e., Saturday, July 1, 1950] in a Santa Clara County rest home.

Noted as a pianist and as a teacher of piano, Mr. Schneider has been in ailing health. He was active as teacher, however, until recent years.

Mr. Schneider established his home in San Jose in 1910. Even during the period he was at Mills, he continued to live in the Santa Clara County city. His house on Stockton Avenue was known for its large library of music manuscripts, and many musical figures of the era visited Mr. Schneider there.

Numbered among his friends were Charles Wakefield Cadman, Rudolf Ganz, Pierre Monteau, Henry Hadley and other noted musicians.

Two of Mr. Schneider's best known works were Sargasso Sea and Thus Spake the Deepest Stone, introduced by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and played by many other symphonies.

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Schneider studies in Berlin under Xaver Scharwenka. He was a member of the Bohemian Club and wrote the music for three Bohemian Grove shows.

Mr. Schneider is survived by a daughter, Elsa, of San Jose and three sons, Bonfield, an army sargent in Japan; Herbert, of Las Vegas; and Edward Jr., of San Jose. Services will be held tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Amos O. Williams chapel, San Jose.

Brief Biography

Schneider, Edward F(aber) (b Omaha, 3 Oct 1872; d Santa Clara, California, 1 July 1950). Teacher, pianist, and composer. He received his early musical training at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California and with Louis Lisser in San Francisco. Later he studied with Xavier Scharwenka in New York (piano and composition), and Karl Heinrich Barth (piano) in Berlin. In 1901 Schneider joined the music faculty at Mills College and held the post until 1919.

Schneider's principal form of musical expression was the programmatic symphonic poem. His musical language was conservative and exuded post-Wagnerian sentimental qualities. It was dominated by lyrical melodies, tonal harmonies with carefully resolved dissonances, and the judicious use of chromaticism. During the 1920's, especially, there were frequent performances of his works on the West Coast. Schneider composed incidental music to three San Francisco Bohemian Club "Grove" plays. his autograph compositions are held by the Music Library at the University of California at Berkeley.

by John A. Emerson University of California at Berkeley N.B.; This biographical sketch of Edward F. Schneider will appear in the forthcoming American Supplement to The New Grove's Dictionary.