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Charles Adams Prince

Charles Adams Prince (1869 – October 10, 1937) was an American conductor, bandleader, pianist and organist known for conducting the Columbia Orchestra and, later, Prince's Band and Orchestra. He made his first recordings, as a pianist, in 1891 for the New York Phonograph Company. Later in the 1890s he worked as a musical director for Columbia Records. He also conducted the Columbia Orchestra and Columbia Band starting in 1904 as the successor of the cornetist Tom Clark.

In 1905, Prince assembled the ensembles Prince's Band, Prince's Orchestra, and the Banda Espanola. They principally recorded for Columbia's disc releases and performed much of the same music as the Columbia Band, which was given over for cylinder recording to the veteran flutist and conductor George Schweinfest. Prince's own composition, "The Barbary Rag", was recorded by the band in 1913.

Prince's Band was the first to record many compositions that became jazz standards. Their version of W. C. Handy's "Saint Louis Blues" in 1915 is the first known recording of the song. It took the band two sessions to record a successful take, which was considered unusual considering the talent of the band and its leader. Another song by Handy, "The Memphis Blues", was recorded by Prince's Band in 1914, a week after its first recording by the Victor Military Band. Other standards introduced by the band are Porter Steele's "High Society" (1911) and Lew Pollack and Ray Gilbert's "That's a Plenty" (1914). His band also played the popular instrumental "Too Much Mustard" released by Columbia and Sears's Oxford Records.

Prince recorded as a solo celeste player under the name Charles Adams. As such, his recording of "Silver Threads Among the Gold" was popular.

At Columbia, Prince also showed initiative in expanding the company's "classical" orchestral catalogue and in experimenting with the size of ensembles that acoustic recording equipment could capture. In October 1910 he conducted an abbreviated version of Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, popularly known as the Unfinished Symphony, on two sides of a 12-inch disc (released as Columbia A 5267), which was the first orchestral recording of any part of a symphony. He assembled a 90-piece orchestra to record the overture to Richard Wagner's opera Rienzi in February 1917 (released as Columbia A 6006), which was the largest ensemble commercially recorded to that date. Prince's last recording for Columbia was in 1922. He then changed labels to Puritan Records and later to Victor Records, where he worked as associate musical director.

Prince was related to the U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Birth and Death Data: Born 1869, Died October 10, 1937

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1903 - 1927

Roles Represented in DAHR: conductor, director, piano, arranger, composer, celeste, lyricist, xylophone, organ

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 526-550 of 556 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 5655 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 Lejos del bien amado Banda Española Band conductor  
Columbia 5660 10-in. 1907 Incantatrice Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5661 10-in. 1907 The good man Banda Española Band conductor  
Columbia 5666 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 Quo vadis : Waltz Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince conductor  
Columbia 5694 12-in. between 1903 and 1907 Marcha de la coronación Banda Española Band conductor  
Columbia 5700 12-in. 1907 Royal Italian march Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5701 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Danza delle ore Banda Española Band director  
Columbia 5702 12-in. 1907 Garibaldi march Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5703 12-in. 1907 Morning, noon and night in Vienna (Overture) Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5705 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Overture Banda Española Band director  
Columbia 5708 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Selection from Madame Butterfly Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5709 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Selection from Madame Butterfly Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5710 12-in. 1907 Selection from "Traviata" Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5711 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Overture "Magic flute" Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5716 12-in. either 1906 or 1907 Martha : Overture Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band director  
Columbia 5719 12-in. 1907 Mignon overture Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5721 12-in. 1907 I puritani : Selections Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band director  
Columbia 5722 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Overture Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5723 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Overture "Barber of Seville" Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5724 12-in. between 1903 and 1908 Overture Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5725 12-in. 1907 Quartette from the opera "Rigoletto" Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5726 12-in. 1907 Largo Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince Band conductor  
Columbia 5754 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 La rubia (Tango criollo) Banda Española Band director  
Columbia 5755 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 You haunt my dreams Banda Española ; Charles Adams Prince director  
Columbia 5881 10-in. between 1903 and 1908 Little Pierrots march Banda Española conductor  
(Results 526-550 of 556 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Prince, Charles Adams," accessed May 9, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

Prince, Charles Adams. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 9, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

"Prince, Charles Adams." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328

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