DESCRIPTION:
Reed Miller (1880-1923) was an American tenor whose 20-year career encompassed the concert platform, oratorio and recordings. Miller (born James Reed Miller in South Carolina) came from a musical family. His mother, an accomplished soprano, taught music at the Blythewood Institute For Women. His cousin, Lily Strickland was a renowned composer. Miller himself was, at first, not a singer but a violinist, pianist and cornet player. Sadly, he lost both of his parents before reaching the age of 13 and was raised by an aunt. At 16, he enrolled at Clemson University where he played cornet with the college band. Later, he became first cornet with the First South Carolina Regimental Band during the Spanish-American War. At age 20, Miller began his singing career as a vocalist at the Church of Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. However, his meager wages were not enough to survive on and he supplemented his income by working as a piano salesman for the next two years. Frustrated by his lack of progress, Miller, on the advice of a friend, bought a one-way ticket to New York. He arrived in the city with only ten dollars in his pocket, which rapidly dwindled to a dime. Before giving up, however, he auditioned for a voice teacher who, hearing the potential in the young man, agreed to provide lessons…as well as lodging…free of charge. More importantly, he helped the 22-year-old tenor land a paid position as soloist with the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church. Miller remained there for the next three years before moving to Brooklyn’s Old Plymouth Church in 1905. After three years in Brooklyn, the singer left to accept a lucrative position at the prestigious Brick Presbyterian Church on 5th Avenue.

In addition to his fine work as a church soloist, Miller was making a name for himself as a concert artist, having made his solo recital debut in 1903. After signing with leading New York musical agent Henry Wolfsohn, Miller found himself in demand with music clubs and orchestras across the U. S. He appeared with The New York Symphony, The Boston Festival, The Pittsburg Symphony, Chicago’s Apollo Club, The Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, The Philadelphia Symphony, Washington’s Rubinstein Club, The New York Beethoven Society, The Minneapolis Philharmonic, The Milwaukee Arion Society, The Oratorio Society of New York and many others. In between concerts and oratorios, Miller remained a stalwart church musician. He left the 5th Avenue Brick Church in 1912 to accept a position at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, a position he held until the end of his life.

Throughout the 1910s and into the 1920s, Miller remained a popular artist, frequently appearing in the company of his wife, contralto Nevada van der Veer (1884-1958). By now, the tenor had cultivated a repertoire of 100 oratorios, cantatas and operas, including Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, The Creation, Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Graham’s The Piper of Hamelin, Bantock’s Omar Khayyam, Bruch’s Cross of Fire and the world premiere of David Smith’s The Rhapsody of St. Bernard. Although devastated by the loss of his infant son in June of 1919, Miller continued his grueling schedule of concert and oratorio appearances, crisscrossing the U.S. and Canada, once performing Messiah fourteen times in a single Advent season. The strain began to show as he passed the age of forty. A long-time smoker, Miller was now suffering from high blood pressure, headaches and an aggravating cough. Despite these ailments, the tenor remained cheery and enjoyed spending his leisure time fishing or socializing with friends and family. After finishing his 1923 Advent Messiah tour, Miller returned home to spend Christmas with his family. He was looking forward to the New Year and what he jokingly referred to as his 11th birthday (he was born on February 29th during a Leap Year). However, Miller caught a cold that developed into bronchitis by late December. During a fit of coughing, the tenor suffered a massive throat hemorrhage which triggered a fatal stroke. Reed Miller was only 43 years old.

Today, Reed Miller is remembered through his many recordings. Miller (sometimes recording as James Reed) made over 200 sides for Edison, Victor, Columbia, Okeh, Zonophone, Vocalion and Pathé between 1904 and 1923. The repertoire heard on these discs is diverse, running the gamut from barber shop quartet standards (he was a longtime member of the Columbia Stellar Quartette) and popular Southern ditties to operatic arias (sung in English) and, understandably, many sacred selections. In this recording, Miller sings Sir Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord". This was recorded for Edison Records in 1913.