Charles Wakefield Cadman

Charles Wakefield Cadman, portrait by Herman Miskin

Charles Wakefield Cadman (December 24, 1881 – December 30, 1946) was an American composer who was a member of the American Theosophical Society.

Personal life

Cadman with Native American flute

Charles Cadman was born on December 24, 1881 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to William and Carrie Cadman. He had a younger sister, Mabel. At the age of thirteen, he began taking piano lessons. After moving to Pittsburgh, he worked as a railroad clerk and also taught music. He studied musical theory with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, but otherwise had little formal training. His mother moved in with him around 1902.

Cadman moved briefly to Colorado, and then to Los Angeles. He died on December 30, 1946.

Musical career

Cadman with Tsianina Redfeather, ca 1920-1925

In 1902, Cadman began collaborating with his next-door neighbor, Nelle Richmond Eberhart. She wrote lyrics, and he furnished the music, beginning with a hymn, in a collaboration that lasted 40 years. In 1908, Cadman became the music editor and critic of the Pittsburgh Dispatch, and by 1909, he was also working as an organist.

Cadman was drawn to American Indian music and ethnomusicology. He spent time living with Native Americans and learning their instrument and music, and also worked with ethnologist Francis La Flesche to make wax cylinder recordings of native songs. He began touring as a lecturer and performing his own compositions along with Native American music. His best-known work is "From the Land of Sky-Blue Water", which was often performed by "Princess Redfeather," Tsianina Redfeather a Muscogee/Cherokee Indian. The lyrics were written by his friend Nelle. He toured the United States and Europe for about 25 years.

In addition to his Indian music, Cadman composed scores for films, and wrote at least eleven operas. He wrote innovative chamber music that incorporated ragtime.

Theosophical Society involvement

Cadman was admitted to the Pittsburgh Lodge of the American Theosophical Society on September 28, 1907. During his years in the Society, he moved to Denver and Ft. Collins, Colorado, and eventually to Los Angeles, near the Krotona colony. His membership became inactive on June 30, 1922.

When the Krotona Brotherhood of Art formed in 1917, Cadman took a leadership role. It was reported that "Mr. C. W. Cadman who lives not far away from [Krotona, in Hollywood], comes here frequently to work on his compositions. He says he never found a place where he felt more inspired."

In 1918 Cadman was living at Krotona in Hollywood in Hollywood, California when he and Camille Zekwer composed music for a theatrical version of The Light of Asia. The play ran for 35 performances in the Krotona Stadium that could seat 800 people, and also in Beachwood Canyon. Walter Hampden played the role of Buddha, and Ruth St. Denis performed with her Denishawn dancers. that same year, Cadman presented a program during the annual convention held in Hollywood.

Lodge programs during the 1930s and 1940s often featured presentations by musical Theosophists of Cadman's compositions: his longtime collaborator Nelle Eberhart Richmond of Pittsburgh, who wrote lyrics for "From the Land of the Sky Blue Water," "At Dawning," and other compositions; Chicago mezzo-soprano Constance Eberhart; baritone J. Henry Ormé; and Houston Lodge's operatic baritone Emmet Lennon. Dr. Cadman himself visited Besant Lodge in Hollywood in 1945: "Special guests were Dr. Charles Wakefield Cadman and his composer-pianist protégé Richard Earle. Dr. Cadman contributed to the program one of his famous American Indian Compositions."

Sheet music by Cadman

Musical compositions

A list of selected works is in Wikipedia.

• Four American Indian Songs, Op. 45. 1908.
• "From the Land of Sky-Blue Water". 1909.

Additional resources

• Charles Wakefield Cadman in Wikipedia.
• "From the Land of Sky-Blue Water" in Wikipedia.
• Shanewis, a 1918 opera by Cadman, in Wikipedia.
• Recordings by Francis La Flesche at Library of Congress].
• The Light of Asia play performed in Hollywood.