Description

LUCIEN ALEXANDER SCHMIT (LOUVAINE, BELGIUM, JANUARY 6, 1898 OR 1899 – MANHASSET, NEW YORK, USA, JULY 20, 1976)

 

 

 

 

Lucien Schmit was a Belgian-American cellist, orchestral musician, radio performer, and multi-instrumentalist whose career encompassed both classical music and American popular and dance-band music. Born in Louvaine, Belgium, he demonstrated exceptional musical ability from an early age. At the age of seven, he made his first public performance in Paris, and in 1909 he came to the United States. By the age of thirteen, he had become a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, establishing himself as a professional cellist while still a teenager.

Schmit subsequently established himself in New York’s musical life. In 1921 he became first cellist of the New York Symphony Orchestra under the celebrated conductor Walter Damrosch, a position he held for five seasons. During this period he was recognized not only as an orchestral musician but also as a soloist. Contemporary reviews praised his playing, and he performed works including the Cello Concerto in A minor by Camille Saint-Saëns, as well as cello compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and Luigi Boccherini. One contemporary critic described him as a “graceful and fluent player,” while a later recollection of his performance with the Lutèce Trio recalled that an audience of approximately 5,000 regarded him as the outstanding performer of the program.

Schmit’s musical activities, however, extended far beyond the classical concert hall. During the 1920s he became active as a saxophonist in American dance bands, apparently sometimes performing under the name Lucien Smith. His earliest documented appearance under that name dates from February 1922, when he participated as a tenor saxophonist in a recording session with Bailey’s Lucky Seven. From 1924 onward he appeared on numerous recordings with leading dance-band and jazz musicians and orchestras, including Nathan Glantz, Dave Kaplan, Bennie Krueger, Sam Lanin, and Ben Selvin. Tom Lord’s jazz discography lists him on approximately 85 sessions between 1922 and 1931. He apparently doubled on several reed instruments, including tenor saxophone and clarinet, while continuing his career as a principal orchestral cellist.

The relationship between the names Lucien Schmit and Lucien Smith has caused some confusion in discographical sources. Contemporary documents generally associate “Lucien Schmit” with the cellist and “Lucien Smith” with the saxophonist, while other sources use variants such as Schmidt or Schmitt. However, the combination of biographical evidence, discographies, newspaper reports, radio listings, and musicians’ directories strongly suggests that these names referred to the same highly versatile musician. A 1931 radio listing, for example, described “Lucien Smith” as a performer capable of appearing as a soloist on piano, cello, and saxophone, while other contemporary sources explicitly identified the same musician as a virtuoso cellist.

By the 1930s, Schmit became increasingly prominent as a radio musician. He served as musical director of The Royal Typewriter Hour and for approximately twenty years was featured on major American radio programs including The Telephone Hour, The Firestone Show, The Longines Symphonette, and The Prudential Family Hour. Radio listings also occasionally highlighted his unusual ability to perform on several instruments, including cello, piano, and saxophone. Despite this versatility, his principal professional identity remained that of a cellist; directories of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, listed Lucien A. Schmit in the cello section.

Schmit continued to work extensively as a studio musician in the following decades. His cello, and on some occasions violin and viola, can be found in recording sessions associated with such prominent musicians as Kenny Burrell, Perry Como, Johnny Griffin, Coleman Hawkins, Artie Shaw, and Wes Montgomery. According to recollections cited in later research, pianist Dick Hyman remembered Schmit arriving at recording sessions carrying both reed instruments and his cello, further illustrating the extraordinary versatility that characterized his professional career.

Among his documented early recordings as a cellist are performances of Anton Rubinstein’s Melody in F and “The Swan” from Camille Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals, recorded on June 30, 1923. His career therefore occupied an unusual position between the worlds of European-derived classical music, American orchestral performance, radio broadcasting, studio recording, and jazz and popular music.

Schmit married and had one child, Lucien A. Schmit Jr., who later became an engineer. Lucien Alexander Schmit died on July 20, 1976, in a hospital near his home in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, following a stroke. He was 78 years old.

Schmit’s career is notable for the remarkable breadth of his musicianship. Although principally remembered as a distinguished cellist and orchestral musician, his activities as a pianist, saxophonist, clarinetist, and studio musician reveal a much wider contribution to American musical culture than is suggested by conventional biographical accounts. The surviving documentation also illustrates the difficulty of tracing his career, as his recordings and appearances were sometimes credited under variant forms of his name, particularly Lucien Smith, Lucien Schmidt, and Lucien Schmitt.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Berceuse (Godard) Cameo 523

Blackstone Trio Je vous aime (Beiner) with Dan Lieberfeld (piano) and Peter Eisenberg (violin) Brunswick 3038 E17679-E17681

Blackstone Trio Mon homme (Yvain) with Dan Lieberfeld (piano) and Peter Eisenberg (violin) Brunswick 3038 E17675-E17678

Cantiga de Ninar (Francisco Mignone) Lullaby Gladys Swarthout (mezzo-soprano) and Lester Hodges (piano) Victor 10-1181-B

Dream kisses (Yellen) with Kitty O’Connor (baritone), Fred Landau (violin) and Frank E. Banta (piano) Columbia 1140-D W144788

Eagle Trio Love’s dream after the ball (Czibulka) Murray Kellner (violin) and Dan Lieberfeld (piano) Columbia 731-D  W142469

Eagle Trio The herd girl’s dream (Labitzky) Murray Kellner (violin) and Dan Lieberfeld (piano) Columbia 731-D  W142468

I’m walkin’ on air (Tracey) with Kitty O’Connor (baritone), Fred Landau (violin) and Frank E. Banta (piano) Columbia 1174-D W144789

Just a melody (Robison) with Carson Robison (tenor), Vernon Dalhart (tenor), Murray Kellner (violin), Carson Robison (guitar) Columbia 847-D W142310

Le Cygne (Saint-Saëns) Cameo 544

Melody in F (Rubenstein) Cameo 543

Mem’ries of love and you (O’Hara) with Marie Morrisey (contralto) Brunswick 10226 E18089-E18090

Sweetheart memories (Burke) with Kitty O’Connor (baritone), Fred Landau (violin) and Frank E. Banta (piano) Columbia 1228-D W144787

Tre Giorni Siciliana from Nina (Pergolese) Cameo 524

When you’re far away (Robison) with Carson Robison (tenor), Vernon Dalhart (tenor), Murray Kellner (violin), Carson Robison (guitar) Columbia 847-D W142310