Carl Busch

Carl Busch (29 March 1862, Bjerre – 19 December 1943, Kansas City) was a Danish-born American composer and music teacher sometimes associated with the Indianist movement. He was an important figure in the musical life of Kansas City, Missouri for many years.

Busch was born in Bjerre, on Jutland, to a lawyer and his wife, and was the youngest of five children. His father hoped that he would follow him into the legal profession, but Carl was more interested in pursuing a career in music, learning to play the flute, violin, and cello. He studied and played under many of the notables of the day, including Niels Wilhelm Gade and Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann; he also worked under Johan Svendsen. The abilities he showed in his studies led to the offer of a scholarship to the conservatory in Brussels, from which city he went to Paris. There he played under Charles Gounod and Benjamin Godard, and became acquainted with Camille Saint-Saëns as well. From Paris he returned to Denmark for a time before leaving for the United States.

Denmark's vice-consul in Kansas City was one Thyge Skogaard, a former music publisher, and he encouraged Busch to come to the United States. Consequently, in 1887 he and three friends formed a group called the Gade Quartet and came to America, eventually coming to Kansas City. In addition to playing and conducting, he also began to teach, and soon became known in local cultural circles. When the Philharmonic Choral Society was formed, he was chosen as its director. Through this position he met pianist Sallie Smith, one of the Society's members, who became his wife after a short courtship. In 1911, one of the groups with which Busch was associated became the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra; he stayed with it as director for a further seven years, until his activities were curtailed by American entry into World War I. At the same time, he was active as a composer, and served as a guest conductor elsewhere as well.

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