The Scores of Martin G. Dumler (1868-1958)

The College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Library recently was the fortunate recipient of the music scores of Cincinnatian Martin G. Dumler, whose long and distinguished life embraced the cultural communities of both Cincinnati and the nation. He combined success in business with the artistic pursuits of painting and composing music.

Dumler was born in Cincinnati on December 22, 1868. Music captured his interest early, and as a boy he sang in his church choir. His first musical instruction, in violin and piano, came from Professor H. Steinfeld, the organist for St. Joseph’s Church.

In 1883, Dumler became a four-dollar-a-week office boy for Chatfield and Woods Sack Company. By 1929, he was president of the company. While making his way to the top of Chatfield and Woods, Dumler found time in 1888 to visit the musical centers of Europe, and in 1890 to begin his studies at the Cincinnati College of Music (now UC’s College-Conservatory of Music), graduating in 1901. In 1924, the college presented him with its first honorary Master of Music degree. Ten years later, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music.

Dumler’s music compositions were primarily settings of sacred texts. In 1927, the Society of St. Gregory of America recommended his Missa Latreutica, op. 10 as a model of Catholic liturgical music. That same year, Xavier University presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws. In 1932, Dumler became president of the Bruckner Society of America (named for Austrian composer Anton Bruckner). Dumler’s orchestral work Four Ballet Scenes received the 1944 Sachs Prize from the Institute of Fine Arts in Cincinnati.

Perhaps the greatest single honor bestowed upon Dumler was acceptance of his Stabat Mater, op. 40 by the Cincinnati Music Festival Association for the presentation of its world premiere given by the Cincinnati May Festival on May 25, 1935. The text is a medieval lyric poem credited to the 14th-century poet Jacopone da Todi. Dumler’s Stabat Mater was most recently performed March 26, 2000, by the choral group Musica Sacra conducted by Dr. Helmut J. Roehrig at Saint Francis De Sales Church in East Walnut Hills.

Dumler’s association with the University of Cincinnati was an active one. He served on UC’s board of directors for 30 years, including 12 as its chairman. He was also vice president of the merged College-Conservatory of Music.

Dumler wrote orchestral and chamber music, but his sacred music brought him the most recognition. Several of his masses and motets have become part of the permanent repertoire of leading choirs in the U.S. and in Europe. His devotion to sacred music went beyond the act of composition. He was a choir member of St. Francis de Sales Church for more than 40 years.

Dumler was also widely known for his oil paintings, which have been exhibited in many American art museums. He was an honorary life member of both the Cincinnati Art Club and the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 1946, he was named to the advisory board of the International Fine Arts Council in New York. He provided start-up money for painter Edward Henry Potthast to purchase canvases and paints and was a colleague of Cincinnati painters Henry Farny, Elizabeth Nourse, and Frank Duveneck.

Dumler died in Cincinnati on October 19, 1958, at the age of 90. His musical legacy of some 70 works is currently housed in University Libraries Archives and Rare Books Library and is available for onsite research during regular business hours.

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