View source for Al Sweet

{{Short description|American composer and conductor (1876–1945)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Al Sweet (contrast increased).png|thumb|Al Sweet ({{Circa|1921}}) wearing the distinctive uniform of the White Hussars]]
'''Albert C. Sweet''' (July 7, 1876 &ndash; May 12, 1945) was an American [[bandleader]], [[cornetist]], and [[composer]]. Over the course of his career, Sweet served as music director and soloist for the [[Edison Phonograph Company]], bandmaster of the [[Ringling Brothers Circus]], and eventually founded his own band, '''The''' '''White Hussars'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=H. W. |title=Bands of America |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=1957 |pages=237–250 |chapter=Pryor, Conway, and Sweet Launch Bands |oclc=522755}}</ref> Sweet and his band were an important part of the [[Chautauqua]] movement (in which touring ensembles made up of entertainers and noted speakers ventured from town to town) eventually earning him the moniker "'''Mr. Chautauqua'''".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barrows |first=Roger E. |title=The Traveling Chautauqua: Caravans of Culture in Early 20th Century America |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4766-7773-6 |pages=9–10 |oclc=1091586086}}</ref>
== Life and career ==
Sweet was born in [[Dansville, Livingston County, New York|Dansville, New York]], to a musical family. His father was a violinist and his mother was a pianist. After starting on violin and taking lessons from his father, Sweet later picked up the [[soprano cornet|E{{flat}} cornet]] at the age of 8 and joined the town [[British brass band|silver band]]. He first played professionally at the age of 14 for a year-long stint with the Stowe Brothers Circus band in 1890. At the urging of their bandleader, Monty Long, he switched to the B{{flat}} cornet, which would become his instrument of choice.<ref name=":1" />
For the next few years, Sweet traveled across the country by [[boxcar]], working various jobs and playing for several different bands.<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |last=Peterson |first=O. A. |date=June 1917 |title=Al Sweet |magazine=[[The Musical Messenger]] |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=3–4}}</ref> He eventually arrived in [[New York City]] where he met famed cornetist [[William Paris Chambers]]. Viewing Sweet as a prodigy, Chambers offered him lessons at no cost.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Rehrig |first=William H. |title=The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music |date=1991 |publisher=Integrity Press |isbn=978-0-918048-08-0 |editor-last=Bierley |editor-first=Paul E. |volume=2 |pages=743 |chapter=Sweet, Al |oclc=24606813}}</ref> In 1895, Sweet earned his first position as a bandmaster for the [[Sam A. Scribner|Scribner & Smith's Circus]] until it folded the next year. He then joined the [[Edison Records|Edison Phonograph Company]] to become one of their musical directors, working with the company as an arranger and soloist from 1899 to 1904.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conrad |first=Charles |url= |title=[[The Grove Dictionary of American Music]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2013 |editor-last=Garrett |editor-first=Charles Hiroshi |edition=2nd |chapter=Sweet, Albert [Al] C. |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2087648}}</ref> His past experience as a circus bandmaster led him to be scouted for the position at the [[Ringling Brothers Circus|Ringling Bros. Circus]] to replace an aging [[George Ganweiler]] in 1906. During his tenure there, he wrote perhaps his most popular work, "Ringling Brothers Grand Entry", which was published in 1911.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Studwell |first=William Emmett |url= |title=Circus Songs: An Annotated Anthology |last2=Conrad |first2=Charles P. |last3=Schueneman |first3=Bruce R. |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7890-0879-4 |pages=26 |oclc=976802691}}</ref>
Just prior to [[World War I]], he left Ringling Bros. and founded his own band, the White Hussars, noted for their flashy, militaristic white uniforms outlined with gold trim inspired by the [[Hussar|namesake European light cavalry]]. Each bandsman was as equally capable of a singer and the group often sang [[a cappella]] arrangements leading to the ensemble being promoted as a "singing band". They were eventually endorsed by Chicago producer Ralph Dunbar who took over as their booking agent, leading to the band becoming known in the press as "Dunbar's White Hussars".<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Glenn D. |title=Pioneers in Brass |publisher=Sherwood Publications |year=1965 |pages=82–83 |chapter=Albert Sweet |oclc=1337541}}</ref> The band was a popular touring group, playing in local vaudeville shows and the Chautauqua circuits. Dunbar capitalized on this popularity and devised other Hussar ensembles such as the "Red Hussars" and "Black Hussars".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lush |first=Paige |title=Music in the Chautauqua Movement: From 1874 to the 1930s |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4766-0619-4 |pages=30 |oclc=854585615}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
The last major concert the White Hussars are noted to have played was for the [[Chicago World's Fair of 1933]]. During the later years of his life, Sweet took up conducting bands in the local area around Chicago. He died on May 12, 1945, at the age of 68 due to a heart attack.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1945 |title=Albert C. Sweet: Former Bandmaster for Ringling Circus, Wrote Several Marches |pages=17 |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://nyti.ms/3MjqgmR}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Haskell Harr]], a member of the White Hussars
== References ==
<references />
== External links ==
* {{IMSLP|Sweet, Albert C.}}
* Select recordings of Al Sweet from the Frederick P. Williams Collection
** "[https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/lib/ark:/48907/f30z72j3 L'elegante Polka]" ({{Circa|1898}}) (Edison Record: 2418)
** "[https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/lib/ark:/48907/f36h4gnn In Happy Moments]" (1900) (Edison Record: 7411)
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[[Category:1876 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:American cornetists]]
[[Category:American bandleaders]]
[[Category:People from Dansville, New York]]
[[Category:Edison Records artists]]
[[Category:Pioneer recording artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American composers]]
[[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Circus musicians]]