Ernest Schelling

Ernest Henry Schelling (July 26, 1876 – December 8, 1939) was an American pianist, composer, and conductor, and music director. He was the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 1937. His first wife was Lucie Howe Draper, whom he married on May 3, 1905, in Manhattan, New York City. She died on February 4, 1938, at their summer home in Lausanne, Switzerland. He married his second wife, Helen Huntington “Peggy” Marshall, on August 11, 1939, when she was 21 and he was 63. She was the stepdaughter of the philanthropist Brooke Astor, and a niece of Vincent Astor. He died of a cerebral embolism at his home in Manhattan, New York City, on December 8, 1939. His bride of four months was at his deathbed side. Composer Schelling wrote numerous works for piano, orchestra and chamber groups which were often performed during his lifetime, but have since fallen from the repertoire. His most popular work was A Victory Ball, a symphonic poem for orchestra based on an anti-war poem by Alfred Noyes. Willem Mengelberg and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra made an early electrical recording of the music for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Honours He was elected an honorary mem