GOLDMARK

GOLDMARK , Viennese and U.S. family. joseph goldmark (1819–1881), Austrian revolutionary leader and U.S. physician and chemist, was born in the province of Warsaw. He studied at Vienna University (1838), entered medical school in 1840, and took a research post in chemistry in 1845. When revolution broke out in Vienna in 1848 Goldmark was a hospital intern. He enlisted in the Academic Legion, became president of the Students Union, and was elected to the Reichstag. Accused of complicity in the murder of Minister of War Latour (for which he was later sentenced to death in absentia), Goldmark fled the country, and in 1850 left France for New York. In 1868 he was acquitted after voluntarily returning to Austria to stand trial on the murder charge. Goldmark first practiced as a physician in New York but achieved greater prominence through the practical application of his knowledge of chemistry. In 1857 he took out a patent for manufacturing mercury compound, and in 1859 he established a highly successful factory for making percussion caps and cartridges. Of his ten children, one married Louis D. *Brandeis and another Felix *Adler. A third daughter, pauline goldmark (1874–1962), was a well-known social worker and served as secretary of the national and New York consumer leagues. A son, henry goldmark (1857–1941), was a civil engineer engaged in railroad construction, and was the designer of the locks for the Panama Canal. The composer karl *goldmark was a half brother of Joseph Goldmark. rubin goldmark (1872–1936), U.S. musician, nephew of Karl Goldmark, was born in New York. Moving to Colorado for reasons of health, he directed the Conservatory of Music at Colorado College from 1895 to 1901. From 1902 he lived in New York, teaching piano and harmony and giving numerous lecture recitals throughout the United States and Canada. In 1911 he became director of the department of theory of the New York College of Music, and in 1924 head of the department of composition of the Juilliard Graduate School. While Goldmark was known in his day as a composer (in 1910 his piano quartet won the Paderewski Chamber Music Prize), his influence as a teacher was more considerable. His pupils included Aaron *Copland, George *Gershwin, and Efrem *Zimbalist, and he was highly respected for his intellectual honesty, artistic integrity, and broad general culture. In 1956 City College, New York, named its music building in his honor.

bibliography:

J. Goldmark, Pilgrims of '48 (1930); New York Times (March 7, 1936); dab, 22 (1958), 249–50; Grove, Dict, 3 (1954⁵), 699–701; mgg, 5 (1956), 481–5; O. Thompson (ed.), Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1956⁷), 682–3; Baker, Biog Dict (1958⁵), 583–4.