Casper Reardon(1907-1941)
- Actor
Casper Reardon was born to a vaudeville family in Little Falls, New
York. At the age of five he trouped with his parents. His father, who
was of Irish descent, presented him with a small Irish harp on his
eighth birthday. His début as soloist was with the Philadelphia
Orchestra, under the direction of
Leopold Stokowski. As a result of
winning a scholarship, he became one of the most brilliant pupils of
the illustrious Carlos Salzedo at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
Graduating in 1926, he became first harpist of the Cincinnati Symphony
under Fritz Reiner for five years, and head
of the Harp Department at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Newspaperman
Edwin H. Schloss wrote (July 19, 1939), 'In Cincinnati, some of
Reardon's Southern pupils interested him in jazz and he fell in love
with the music of W.C. Handy. He found the percussive harp to be as
well suited to Gershwin as to Debussy and the rest is history, mostly
made via radio.' On his own, Reardon devised a technique of playing
'jazz.' The precedent for jazz music on the harp had not been explored
to a significant degree. It wasn't unusual for a dance orchestra to
utilize the harp for texture. (The dance orchestras of Leonard Joy,
Richard Himber,
Victor Young and
Raymond Paige used harp
regularly.) Reardon thought the harp had more potential than the usual
flourishes and interludes that were expected of him. When he became a
regular feature on the powerful Cincinnati station WLW, he used the nom
de radio "Arpeggio Glissando," so as to not shock his classical harp
students. He moved to New York City in 1931 and immediately created a
niche for himself and his instrument. On September 18, 1934, he
recorded an unprecedented long harp solo on the
Jack Teagarden recording of "Junk
Man" for Brunswick Records. Although his name does not appear on the
record, determined music lovers soon found out who the swing harpist
was. By 1936 he recorded some dance records as Casper Reardon & His
Orchestra, for Liberty Music Shop. He became known as the "Swing
Harpist." He was immortalized as "Cousin Caspar" [sic] in Alice Faye's
film
You're a Sweetheart (1937).
He was a regular on radio shows such as 'Saturday Night Swing Club'
with the orchestra of Bunny Berigan, and
was often featured by
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.
George Gershwin featured Reardon on his
popular Feenamint broadcast in 1934. Casper Reardon met
Dana Suesse in nineteen thirty-nine, through
their friend, Gus Schirmer. Suesse
told this writer, "Casper told me about having an engagement with the
Philadelphia Symphony and wanted me to write something for him. At the
time, Young Man with A Horn was a best selling novel." It seemed
logical to create a concert piece called Young Man with A Harp.
Alexander Smallens, who would always be remembered as the original
conductor of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, conducted the concert at the
Robin Hood Dell in 1939 Dana and Casper repeated their Young Man With A
Harp on February 25, 1940 with Guy Fraser Harrison conducting the
Rochester Civic Orchestra. The program was made up almost entirely of
harp and orchestra pieces: Debussy, Couperin, Salzedo and Suesse. The
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (Norman Nairn) boasted there was a
"pleasurable evening for a large audience which 'ate up' the swing
music of Mr. Reardon. " After these favorable responses, Dana and
Casper wanted to make a recording of their effort. What better place to
try than their friend, Gus Schirmer, Jr. and his new recording studio.
In 1940 Reardon performed with Suesse at a Cabinet Dinner for President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and his family. Reardon became ill and died on
March 8, 1941. He was 33 years old.