Carl Stoeckel was an American philanthropist and patron of music. He formed the Litchfield County Choral Union, with a nucleus of the Norfolk Glee Club and the Winsted Choral Union.
Background
Carl was born on December 7, 1858 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, the son of Gustave Jacob Stoeckel and his wife, Matilda Bertha Wehner. The elder Stoeckel was a Bavarian musician who came to the United States in 1848, and became an instructor and professor of music at Yale University from 1855 to 1894. He was the first head of the Yale School of Music.
Education
Carl Stoeckel was educated at the Thomas School and the Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven, and with private tutors in America and in Europe.
Career
After his marriage in 1895 he and his wife became patrons of art and music in a manner that exerted an influence on the development of musical life not only in their own community but throughout the country as well. Stoeckel founded the Litchfield County University Club in 1896, and in 1904 provided funds for the publication of books pertaining to Litchfield County to be written by members of the Club. Three neighboring organizations were subsequently admitted to membership: the Salisbury Choir (1905), the Canaan Choral Society (1906), and the Torrington Musical Association (1906).
For the first seven years the concerts of the organization were devoted to choral works with orchestral accompaniment, but in 1907 concerts consisting exclusively of orchestral music were added to the festivals, held annually in June. The first festivals were held in the armory at Winsted, but from 1906 they were given in the "Music Shed, " which Stoeckel erected for the purpose on his Norfolk estate.
Until they were discontinued in 1923 the festivals represented an ideal in community expression, and in mutual cooperation and participation. Although guided and financed by the founders, the choral union and the festivals belonged to the members of the union. The concerts brought to Norfolk distinguished guests from America and Europe, and, commencing in 1908, eminent composers were commissioned to write works for performance at the festivals. By 1922 sixteen prominent composers had been commissioned for one or more works each.
He died at his Norfolk home.
Achievements
Connections
He was married on May 6, 1895, on the Isle of Wight, England, to Ellen Battell Terry, the daughter of Robbins Battell, jurist and philanthropist, of Norfolk, Connecticut. After their marriage Stoeckel and his wife made their home in Norfolk.