Bertha Remick

Bertha Remick (15 December 1872 - 14 July 1965) was an American artist, composer, music educator, and pianist.^[1] She sometimes published under the pseudonym Sybil Paget.^[2]

Remick was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Anna L. and Henry T. Remick.^[3] Her father was a singer; her mother was a pianist and teacher. Her uncle Edward T. Remick was a composer and choirmaster.^[4]

Remick studied music in Boston with John Wheeler Tufts and in Dresden with Pittrich (not further identified; possibly Georg Pittrich or Carl Pittrich). She also studied music in New York for five years.^[4]

Remick was interested in American Indian music and gave lecture recitals on world folk music.^[4] She taught at the Florence Fleming Noyes School of Rhythmic Expression in Boston, Massachusetts.^[5] In the summer of 1915, she taught a course on the psychological value and recognition of music through rhythm at the school's summer session in South Woodstock, Connecticut.^[6]

In addition to composing original music, Remick arranged the works of other composers, frequently collaborating with other musicians. With B. R. Sharon, she arranged songs from Wagner's Tannhäuser^[7] and Die Meistersinger,^[8] and with David Stevens, she arranged songs from Bizet's Carmen, all for use by school choruses.^[9]

Although she never formally studied art, Remick's paintings were shown in Boston in 1919^[1] and in 1939 at Morton Galleries in New York.^[10]

Some of Remick's music is in the collection of the Boston Public Library.^[11] Several of her songs were included in The Progressive Music Series by Horatio William Parker^[12] and in Primary Melodies by Elbridge Ward Newton.^[13] Her compositions were published by C. C. Birchard and Co.,^[14] G. Schirmer Inc.,^[15] J. G. Seeling,^[16] and Oliver Ditson.^[17] Her works included: