a letter by Marie Louka printed in several newspapers in 1912, including:
Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 14
Ukiah Republican Press, Ukiah, California, March 22
Bode Bugle, Bode, Iowa, April 26
Gettysburg Compiler, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, May 8
The Daily Democrat, Greenville, Mississippi, May 8
The Weekly Democrat, Greenville, Mississippi, May 9
The Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, Iowa, July 3
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Lakewood, N. J., Dec. 15, 1911.
Whitney Warner Company,
131 West Forty-first Street,
New York.
Gentlemen—I am sending you with this the last of the five teaching pieces that I promised to write this year. I
have named it "Mission Bells."
The theme, and in fact the whole composition, came to me as an inspiration while traveling through California for
my health two years ago. I traveled most of the time in stage coaches, of which there are still many left between
San Diego and San Francisco. I saw the ruins of many of the old missions, which one hundred years ago were a
refuge and a home for the worn traveler, who could stay as long as he wished and pay what he could afford and
when he went away took the blessings of the Monks, those men of God who sacrificed their lives for mankind in a
country which was inhabited mostly by lawless Spaniards and Mexicans. While almost all of these buildings are in
a ruined state now, I was very much impressed with the bells, which in four or five missions still remained. These
bells were formerly rung at night to guide lost travelers.
One day while making a trip on horseback to the foot of a range of mountains with my companion and a guide we
lost our way. It was late in the afternoon when we discovered this fact. While wondering what to do, we heard the
chiming of sweet bells—three in number, we judged from the sound—and following this, to us most welcome sound,
we came upon an Ursuline convent, situated in a most beautiful natural park in the foothills of a long range of
mountains. As we came close we could hear the soft tones of an organ and the singing of the nuns. It was vesper
time, and I was so deeply impressed with the beautiful scene that I forgot the predicament we were in. We reined
up our horses and stopped until the chanting was over, and the whole scene made such an impression upon me
that I resolved to embody it, just as it then impressed me, in a musical composition.
This I have since done, and I am submitting the manuscript to you under these conditions, that it be named
"Mission Bells," and that a short description of this event in my life be inscribed upon every copy. Kindly send
contracts and any other communications to my home in Philadelphia.
Yours sincerely,
MARIE LOUKA.
references to Marie Louka in The Music Trade Review
NEW YORK, January 13, 1912.
A new company, to be known as the Whitney-Warner Co., has just been formed as a subsidiary to Jerome
H. Remick & Co., the prominent music publishers, and for the purpose of publishing teaching pieces, or, as it is
expressed, to be "publishers of teaching specialties." The efforts of the new company will be devoted entirely to
the publishing of instrumental numbers and the supervision of that branch of the business will be in the hands of
Johann C. Schmid, who has had much experience in that department of the publishing business. When plans
were first made for the publishing of the teaching piece specialties the Remick house began a quiet search for
writers of unusual ability from which to build up a suitable staff and as a result the following have been signed up
in connection with the new enterprise: Marie Louka, Franz Von Falkenburg, Dorma St. John, Clayton Hallowell,
Margaret Eldon, Carl Heinrich Leonhardi and Paul A. Embrock. These names would appear to offer a guarantee
that the new edition will possess much merit. The first issues of the Whitney-Warner Co. include "Mission Bells,"
"Cap and Gown" "Sunset on the Ocean," "Dance of the Toys" and "Dancing Dolls," all of them by Marie Louka,
and "Twilight Shadows," by Franz Von Falkenburg.
NEW YORK, January 27, 1912.
Marie Louka, the prominent composer of music especially adapted to teaching purposes, has signed a contract
to write exclusively for the Whitney-Warner Co., the organization of which, as a subsidiary to J. H. Remick &
Co., was recently noted in The Review.
NEW YORK, May 11, 1912.
The Whitney-Warner Publishing Co. is meeting with continued success with its line of piano compositions,
especially designed for the use of teachers and students. The number for which there has been the strongest
demand are "Mission Bells," the captivating descriptive tone poem by Marie Louka, and the "Awakening of the
Soul," a meditation brilliante, by Dorma St. John. The Whitney-Warner edition is being enlarged slowly but
surely, no title being added to the catalog until its worth and fitness has been proven.
PHILADELPHIA, PA., June 23, 1915.
Weymann & Sons, who have been active as publishers for a number of years, have sold their copyrights and
plates of the famous Marie Louka selections to Volkwein Bros., Pittsburgh. These include the popular sellers
"Silent Prayer" and "Dance of the Dew Drops." There were twelve other numbers. They will discontinue the
publishing of music, as the manufacturing end and the Victrola business has increased so rapidly that it has
compelled them to devote all their attention to these lines.
PITTSBURGH, PA., October 5, 1915.
The sheet music section of Volkwein Bros., 516 Smithfield street, reports that the Marie Louka compositions,
purchased recently from Weymann & Sons, Philadelphia, are selling big. They consist of fourteen semi-classical
compositions for the piano, and were originally published by Weymann & Sons, who have sold the entire rights
to Volkwein Bros.
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14 compositions by Marie Louka sold in 1915 by Weymann & Sons to Volkwein Bros.
7 other compositions by Marie Louka
2 published by World Publications Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(1903) "Karmara" African bolo dance, (1904) "The Fadette" march
5 published by Whitney-Warner Company, Detroit, Michigan, in 1912
"Mission Bells" descriptive tone poem, "Cap and Gown" march, "Sunset
on the Ocean" reverie, "Dance of the Toys", "Dancing Dolls" waltz
sheet music and MIDI sequences of 12 compositions by Marie Louka
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