Speaks, Oley

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Speaks, Oley

Speaks, Oley, American baritone and song composer; b. Canal Winchester, Ohio, June 28, 1874; d. N.Y., Aug. 27, 1948. He studied singing with Emma Thursby and composition with Max Spicker and W. Macfarlane. After singing at various churches in N.Y. (1898–1906), he devoted himself entirely to concert singing and composition. He wrote some of the most popular songs in the American repertoire of his day: On the Road to Mandalay (1907), Morning (1910), To You (1910), Sylvia (1914), and The Prayer Perfect (1930).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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