Sybla Ramus

Sybla Ramus
Born(1874-10-03)October 3, 1874
Virginia, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1963(1963-01-00) (aged 88)
OccupationsMusician, music educator, writer

Sybla Ramus (October 3, 1874 – January 1963) was an American musician, music educator, and writer. She wrote fiction, plays, and a libretto for an opera.

Early life and education

Ramus was born in Virginia, the daughter of Charles Emil Ramus and Sybla Faulds Ramus. Her father was born in Denmark and her mother was born in Canada.[1] Her brother Carl Ramus became a prominent physician. She studied music with Madame Neilson Rounseville in Chicago,[2][3] Max Bendix in New York,[4] Arno Hilf in Leipzig, and Otakar Ševčík in Prague.[5][6]

Career

Ramus performed as a violinist and a pianist in Europe and the United States.[7][8] She and her brother gave a joint piano recital in Chicago in 1886, when she was twelve.[2] In 1888, she played at Kimball Hall,[9] and the Chicago Tribune described her and Augusta Cottlow as "two remarkably talented children".[10] She gave a well-reviewed piano concert in Chicago in December 1889.[11] She played viola in the St. James Orchestra in Chicago in 1894.[12] In 1905, she was called "one of the finest violinists in Honolulu."[13] In 1934 she was soloist at a free concert at the Brooklyn Museum.[14]

Works

In the 1920s, Ramus wrote an opera libretto,[15] two plays, and a serialized novel.[16] In the 1930s, she summarized European publications for the journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. In the 1940s, she arranged music.

  • "The Land of Bye and Bye" (1920, a song by Francis Whiting Hatch, arranged by Ramus)[17]
  • Armand (1921, an opera libretto, with music by Gerard Carbonara)[18][19]
  • Dishonored (1923, a four-act play)[20]
  • Her Girl Friend (1923, a three-act play)[21]
  • Coils of Darkness (1924, serialized novel, Weird Tales)[22]
  • "The Continental Journals" (1931, Psychic Research)[23][24]
  • "In the Bamboo Forest" (1946, arranged by Ramus)[25]
  • "Melodie" (1945, a composition for violin and piano)[26]
  • "Serenata" (1945, composed by F. Paolo Tosti, arranged by Ramus)[27]
  • "Dream Girl", "The Evening Star's Story", "A Lovely Song", "The Song of the Bells", "Chaser", "Rolling, Rolling", "Stand by Your Country", "Venezuela", and "A Song of the Sea" (1945, songs by Margaret Beatrice Shelford, arranged by Ramus)[26][27]
  • "Desert Echoes", "Mrs. Dooley's Cat", "My Love is a Rose", "The Song of My Soul", and "Tenderness" (1947, songs by Margaret Beatrice Shelford, arranged by Ramus)[25]
  • "Lullaby-loo" (1948, arranged by Ramus)[25]
  • Violin in a Nutshell for Beginners (1954, arranger, with Elena de Sayn)[25]

References

  1. ^ 1880 United States Census, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ a b "Chicago". Musical Courier. 13 (348): 230. October 13, 1886 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Musical Notes". Chicago Tribune. 1888-05-27. p. 27. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Untitled brief item". The San Francisco Examiner. 1903-12-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Musical Mention". Evening Star. 1908-12-27. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "The Week in Music". The Washington Herald. 1909-01-03. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Sybla Ramus to Play in this Country". Musical Courier. 62 (12): 44. March 22, 1911 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "Repertory of Sybla Ramus". Musical Courier. 62 (14): 41. April 5, 1911 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "The Theatres". Chicago Tribune. 1888-06-01. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Two Youthful Piano Performers; Gussie Cottlow and Sybla Ramus; Their Talents and Possibilities". Chicago Tribune. 1888-06-03. p. 27. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "The World of Music: Chicago" Brainerd's Musical World (January 1890): 38.
  12. ^ Saint James' Parish (Chicago Ill.) (1894). The Year Book of St. James' Parish, Chicago, Illinois. p. 43.
  13. ^ "Successful Symphony Held at Jas. B. Castle's Waikiki Residence Last Night". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 1905-07-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Guest Artist; Will Play in Free Concert at Brooklyn Museum". Daily News. 1934-08-17. p. 551. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Opera In English First by Chicago Opera Co". Variety. 72 (1): 1. August 23, 1923 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Davin, Eric Leif (2006-01-01). Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965. Lexington Books. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-7391-1267-0.
  17. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1920. p. 1701.
  18. ^ "Cronaca d'Arte". La Voce Del Popolo. 1923-08-15. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Backstage Gossip". Daily News. 1923-09-05. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1923). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law ... Wherein the Copyright Has Been Completed by the Deposit of Two Copies in the Office. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 172.
  21. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1923). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law ... Wherein the Copyright Has Been Completed by the Deposit of Two Copies in the Office. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 431.
  22. ^ Ramus, Sybla. "Coils of Darkness" Weird Tales 3(2/3/4)(February/March/April 1924); via Internet Archive
  23. ^ Ramus, Sybla (September 1931). "The Continental Journals". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. 25 (9): 407–409 – via Internet Archive.
  24. ^ Ramus, Sybla (October 1931). "The Continental Journals". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. 25 (10): 459–460 – via Internet Archive.
  25. ^ a b c d United States Copyright Office (1946). 1946-1954 Copyright Registration Cards (O-Z).
  26. ^ a b Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1945). Catalog of Copyright Entries, New Series. Part 3: Musical Compositions 1945: Vol 40 No 10-12. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  27. ^ a b Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1945). Catalog of Copyright Entries, New Series. Part 3: Musical Compositions 1945: Vol 40 No 1-9. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
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