Theodore Bendix

Biography

Theodore Bendix (1862, Detroit, Mich. - 1935) was an American composer and conductor. His first music training was with his father. When still a young boy, the family moved to Cleveland, where his father was leader of the orchestra at the Euclid Avenue Opera House. When Theodore was 13, he was allowed to play in his father’s orchestra. Approximately three years later, he was engaged as the conductor of the Alice Oates Opera Company. Subsequently, he directed the Aimee Opera Company, for whom he wrote My Sweetheart, which was very popular in its day.

Tiring of travel, he settled in Philadelphia as the director at the Chestnut Street Theatre, later leaving Philadelphia to direct the orchestra at Pope’s Theatre in St. Louis. He then moved to Boston where, for nine years, he led the orchestra at the Park and Globe theaters. He also directed performances of the Belle of New York at the New York Casino.

Many of Bendix’s works were issued both in band and orchestra editions. The most famous of these is the characteristic piece, The Dawn of Love. Many of his other works were adapted for band and were popular in the early twentieth century

Works for Winds

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Theodore Bendix." Accessed 4 November 2014.