Sigma Alpha Iota

22 Fall 2022 • sai-national.org Music Histy By Laurie J. Sampsel When you think about Colorado women and music, perhaps the names Katherine Lee Bates, Baby Doe Tabor, or the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown come to mind? Bates is remembered for writing the lyrics for America, the Beautiful while she was visiting Colorado Springs during the summer of 1893. Her poem was latter paired with a hymn by Samuel A. Ward, creating the patriotic song we all know and love. e story of Baby Doe, Horace, and Augusta Tabor is the real- life love triangle that took place in Leadville, CO, during the height of the silver mining boom. It is the topic of Douglas Moore's 1956 opera e Ballad of Baby Doe. Margaret "Molly" Brown also spent time mining in Leadville. Her adventures inspired Meredith Willson's 1960 musical and 1964 movie e Unsinkable Molly Brown. Brown was literally "unsinkable" because she survived the notorious voyage of the Titanic in 1912. While each of these notable women have a strong Colorado connection, none of them were musicians. e purpose of this article is to highlight the life and music of a woman from the Centennial State who was a musician, Estelle Philleo (1880-1936). Women were active as composers, performers, and publishers in Colorado during the early twentieth century. Elizabeth Spencer, Helen Black, and Josephine Antoine are examples. Spencer and Antoine had professional careers as singers. Helen Black was the first woman manager of a symphony orchestra in the United States; she helped found the Central City Opera Association. Examples of female composers include Maude Price, Hattie Green, Dorothy Barrows, Kate Ellis, Genevieve Scott, and Lillian Cooper. While most wrote only a song or two about romance, the natural beauty of the state, or World War I, others had long careers and gained national recognition during their lives. Most of these composers remain unstudied today, both because of their gender and geography. Music from the West has been overshadowed by works from both coasts. As a result, songs by women about the region were marginalized then, much as they are today. One notable modern exception is Libby Larsen's cycle Songs from Letters with texts by Calamity Jane. Estelle Philleo stands apart from many other women composers, because she composed delightful songs about the West that were popular during the early twentieth century and still remain relevant today. Philleo was a new woman—educated, single, and independent—who lived in Colorado. Aer an overview of her life and career, this article focuses on two of her most famous songs from the World War I era, Out Where the West Begins and Roundup Lullaby. Philleo was not born or raised in Colorado. She moved to Denver from Mason, MI, aer her education at the Michigan Female Seminary in Kalamazoo. is girls' school provided a strong liberal arts education with music as a specialty. She taught there as a junior piano teacher while still a student herself! By 1906 she had moved to Denver where she taught lessons and performed before she began composing. Later she spent time at her cabin in nearby Dumont, although she traveled frequently. She died from cancer at the young age of 55. roughout her career as a musician, Philleo continued to teach group piano lessons, perform her own music, and compose. While her earliest compositions included the expected parlor songs (one example is A Fragrant Memory) and short piano pieces, she soon found her niche writing music to honor the people and spirit of the West. Inspiration came from her new home, and she travelled around the region to learn more about the lives of the cowboy and pioneer while exploring the landscape and history of the Rocky Mountain West. Some of her trips were supported by teaching Melody Way group piano lessons. For example, in 1927 she taught W. Otto Miessner's method to children in three states—Texas, Colorado, and Kansas. Philleo's complete catalog includes about 40 songs and piano pieces. Many are rare today, and some were never submitted for copyright registration. In 1920 she began performing a program titled "Setting the West to Music." While the pieces sometimes changed during the first few years, she began advertising concerts with a standard set of five songs in 1925. is article highlights two of these. e first is her 1917 hit, Out Where the West Begins. e second, titled Roundup Lullaby, was published in 1919. ese two songs are readily available for performance, because the sheet music is in the public domain and has been digitized. For an example, visit the University of Colorado Boulder's Digital Library at https://cudl. colorado.edu/luna/servlet/allCollections. Arthur Chapman wrote the poem "Out Where the West Begins" in 1911 for his column, "Center Shots," in the Denver Republican newspaper. Praising the way of life in the region, rather than its geographical boundaries, it remains popular today as an example of cowboy poetry. Consider the final verse: "ere's more of singing and less of sighing / ere's more of giving and less of buying / And a man makes friends without half trying / Out where the West begins." Philleo set it to music and it was published in 1917 by her friend and business partner Margaret St. Vrain Sanford. e sheet music includes pen and ink drawings by Western novelist Harold Bell Wright. Interestingly, of the four people involved with its creation only Sanford — a soprano from Greeley, CO — was born in the West. Both Music Trades magazine and ASCAP named Out Where the West Begins a top seller the year it was published. It later became popular during WWI with troops from the West. EstEllE PhillEo's songs About thE AmEricAn WEst Estelle Philleo (1880-1936). Estelle Philleo (1880-1936). Image courtesy of Denver Public Library Image courtesy of Denver Public Library Special Collections, C Photo Collection 516 Special Collections, C Photo Collection 516

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