Dr. Alexander Rommel, Recital & IWC History~1923

BELDEN, CRANE, MCFARLAND, ROMMEL, SCHLIEP, SMITH

Posted By: Pat Ryan White (email)
Date: 6/13/2010 at 10:58:02

The "At Home", in the form of a piano recital, given by Dr. Alexander Rommel to his friends in this city at the college chapel Tuesday evening was a great social and musical success. So many of the old and new friends, and acquaintances of the Doctor responded to the invitation to be his guest at what was at once the observance of his eightieth birthday and also probably his last public recital, that the chapel was filled to its capacity. A representative audience, college officers and members of the faculty, college students, college grads, townspeople, people from the rural communities, all there anxious to show their affection for one of Mt. Pleasant's finest citizens and one who for fifty three useful years has lived among us. Loving hands from the Presbyterian church, of which the good doctor has always been a member, brought autumn flowers and with ferns brightened up the platform.

At promptly eight o'clock, Dr. Rommel appeared on the platform. He was greeted by a tremendous ovation and then for fifteen minutes spoke of his life among us, of the affection which has naturally grown up toward the community, of his work and then something of his program. The Doctor came here fifty three years ago, called here by Dr. Belden, who operated the Female Seminary out on East Washington street, to take charge of the music department. That was in the fall of 1870. The next year Mr. Belden died and his wife took charge, but she too died in 1873. For three years the school struggled on and in 1876, Dr. Rommel organized the Mt. Pleasant Conservatory of Music and had his first studio on the north side of the square about where Crane's store is now located. About this time William Schliep was building his fine business structure on the East side and Dr. Rommel rented the entire floor of one of the three buildings and moved in and remained there until 1884. In 1877 the Conservatory was affiliated with Iowa Wesleyan, but it was not moved from town up to the campus until Dr. McFarland became president in 1884, when Dr. Rommel moved to the campus and was installed in the old pioneer building and where he remained for twenty five years. Later he moved over into the German building on the east campus as Dean of the Conservatory until 1918 when he retired, and has since been at home, busy practicing, teaching and reading incessantly and has never lost step with the trend of music. Few practice with such patient perseverance, few keep so posted on musical matters, few teach as well and few can play as well as can Dr. Rommel, now entering his eightieth birthday.

The program offered by Dr. Rommel was characteristic of the man. It was a program selected from the masters with care and purpose. It opened with Bach, the great John Sebastian, greatest of organists, the man who introduced the organ indeed, the pre-eminent figure in music of the pre-classic era, then Beethoven, the towering figure of the classical era and in the second part of his program, the two dominating masters of the romantic school, Schumann and Chopin. The program took about two hours to play and the marvel of it all was that the Doctor played those long and intricate numbers entirely without notes, and that a man of his year could still play with such admirable technic.

[Program Details follow]

At the close of the program and as Dr. Rommel was leaving the platform amid the cheers of the great audience, President Smith of Iowa Wesleyan stopped him, led him back to the platform and after a brief talk presented to the astonished Doctor a check for $116.00 as a token of affection from the Masonic body, who were there in a body. The doctor of course responded, but his heart was just a little too full for eloquence and he retired while the audience with fluttering handkerchiefs arose to depart. Many went to the front to extend congratulations. It was a great evening for the doctor and a deserving tribute to one of the brightest intellects and one of the finest characters that has influenced this community toward the better things of life.

['The Bystander's Notes', Wednesday, September 26, 1923]