Oley Speaks

Background

Oley was born on June 28, 1874 in Canal Winchester near Columbus, Ohio, United States. He was the last of eleven children - five girls and six boys (one of each died in infancy) - of Charles W. Speaks and Sarah Ann (Hesser) Speaks. His father, descended from English colonists, was a contractor in the building of the Ohio Canal and then a grain merchant in Canal Winchester. His mother was Pennsylvania "Dutch. " Oley was named for William and Henry Oley, family friends.

Education

He finished high school in Canal Winchester.

Career

When his family moved to Columbus, Oley Speaks found a job there in the office of the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad. Music, however, had already claimed his attention. His family on both sides were interested in music, singing in the church choir and in local performances of such works as Gilbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore.

In Columbus he soon had a succession of church positions as baritone soloist. There is no record of his teachers, but since he was described as often playing his own accompaniments, it seems likely that his older sisters or brothers provided piano lessons as well as instruction in singing.

He also began writing songs, and two were published, "In Maytime" and "When Mabel Sings. " In 1898 his railroad pass got him to New York City, and there his fine voice won him the position of bass soloist over seventy-five other candidates at the Universalist Church of the Divine Paternity. Four years later he moved to St. Thomas Church.

Around 1906 he went home to a church job in Columbus. Soon, however, his steady output of successful songs made it possible for him to return to New York, where he lived until his death.

Following a period of declining health and a short stay at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, he died at the age of seventy-four.

Achievements

• Oley Speaks met with success as a church musician and also as a composer. More than 100 of his songs were published by G. Schirmer, the most famous - "On the Road to Mandalay". His songs are of the 19th-century parlor ballad tradition, with simple piano parts and sentimental melodies that fit the needs of both amateur and professional musicians.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Speaks, Oley : When the boys come home

    (When the boys come home / arranged for three-part chorus ...)

  • Oley Speaks Twelve Sacred Songs With Piano or Organ Accompaniment (with lyrics)

    (Oley Speaks Twelve Sacred Songs with Piano or Organ Accom...)

  • Sylvia. For Three-part Chorus of Women's Voices ... Arranged by C. Deis

    (Vocal score for three-part Chorus of Women's Voices)

  • Morning (Le Jour) Song with Piano Accompaniment, Lyrics in English and French, High in D Minor

    (Song in D Minor for high voice.)

  • On The Road to Mandalay Sheet Music

    (Vintage piece of sheet music.)

  • " SYLVIA SONG " BY OLEY SPEAKS * PIANO SOLO 1941

    (35541 Sheet music 1941 5p. 12.00x9.00 PIANO SOLO MUSIC)

  • On the Road to Mandalay
  • In the End of the Sabbath. An Easter Song
  • On The Road To Man Delay
  • The Prayer Perfect: Poem By James Whitcomb Riley Set to Music for Voice and Piano By Oley Speaks

Views

Speaks's songs are mostly either sacred or sentimental. They were clearly intended to be sung in church or at the piano for a live and uncritical audience. Rhythmically and formally, the songs are all uncomplicated. Harmonically they are unadventurous - a few mildly colored chords, no more. Melodically they are instantly accessible.

Personality

He seems to have been a shy, modest, friendly man, neither recluse nor bon vivant.

Quotes from others about the person

• In the Columbus Dispatch in 1891 Josiah R. Smith described him as "a musician to his fingertips. His voice is singularly sweet and flexible, clear and melodious, and he sings as if singing were a delight instead of work. "

Connections

He never married.

Father:

Charles W. Speaks

Mother:

Sarah Ann (Hesser) Speaks

Brother:

John Speaks

associate:

Emma Thursby

associate:

Carl Dufft

associate:

Will C. Macfarlane

associate:

Max Spicker

associate:

J. Armour Galloway

References

• Art Song in the United States, 1759-2011: An Annotated Bibliography
• A Singer's Guide to the American Art Song: 1870-1980 by Victoria Etnier Villamil (2004-11-23)