Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/164

ing and arranging music, at which he has become known the world over. However his path to success was not one sudden leap to fame. Some hint of this may be gathered from a recent statement by A. L. Maresh, composer, pianist and president of the Cleveland Music Trade Association at a banquet given in his honor at the Hotel. Winton in Cleveland to the effect that: “Thirty years ago Bohemian groups gave dances every Sunday night, and each member of the band got $2.50 for the night. Competition became keen and I remember at one time a band conducted by Zamecnik, now a prominent composer, was competing with my own band for a job. The members of my band agreed to play for $2 and six beer tickets each, and we got the job.”

Nevertheless thirty years ago had been undoubtedly a very early period in Mr. Zamecnik’s musical career. His great work, it will be remembered, has been composed within the last fifteen years during which time he has been associated with Sam Fox Publishing Company, of Cleveland, Ohio in the capacity of star composer and editor. During those years he composed some of his best known compositions such as “Neapolitan Nights” and “Indian Dawn”. These numbers have gained great popularity both here and abroad, being extensively recorded and played throughout the musical world. “Neapolitan Nights” has been reviewed in the 1927 Christmas number of the “Musical Observer” as the song of the month; truly a distinction of no small merit.

By way of illustrating the prolific manner in which Mr. Zamecnik writes music, it is but necessary to mention that his composition is so extensive as to make it necessary for him to use not one, but several noms de plume. To his credit it must be mentioned that he won a prize of $2000 for writing the California state song in a contest which he entered along with upwards of nine hundred competitors.

All this unmistakably shows his versatility, yet it is this same rare quality, which, in conjunction with his thorough knowledge of the technic of orchestral writing, makes him the much sought composer of special music for motion pictures. In fact the first music purposely written for motion picture accompaniment was produced by him in 1913, and the tremendous success of it at once established Mr. Zamecnik as the leading authority on motion picture music. This rank he has held undivided ever since, and today no picture theatre library is considered complete without a generous representation of his music, for one may now go whereever motion pictures are shown, be it London, Paris, Berlin or even Melbourne, and very likely hear at least one Zamecnik number in the score.

Undoubtedly, one of the chief influences which caused Mr. Zamecnik to become interested in composing music for the silent drama was his association with the huge spectacular stage productions at the Cleveland Hippo-