Arnold Henry Wagner

Arnold Henry Wagner (September 9, 1878 – September 9, 1949) was a musicologist and linguist who helped pioneer the improvement of voice and musical vibrato and advanced the theory of the psychology of music. Over four decades he taught music and foreign singing language at the University of Southern California.

Early life and family Arnold Wagner was born in Lisborn on 9 September 1878 and died on 9 September 1949.He was the youngest of seven children of William Henry Wagner who was a farmer and American Civil War veteran and his mother called Harriet Parmelia Arnold. His father conducted local choruses and community singing events and he has greatly influenced to Arnold Henry Wagner.

Arnold Wagner married Pearl Carlotta Comer. She was a concert pianist.

Education

Arnold Wagner attended rural schools at the Ogdensburg Grammar School and Free Academy. He earned his lifetime teaching certificate at the State Normal and Training School in Potsdam, New York. In 1904, he traveled to Europe to study the French, German and Italian languages. He returned to the United States in 1906. By 1911, he resumed his education in Los Angeles. In 1919, he earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree at the University of Southern California (USC) and a Master's Degree in 1924 in music.

He continued his studies at the Teachers College at Columbia University in 1925-1926. He spent summers from 1924 to 1928 at the State University of Iowa where he received his doctorate degree in music.

Musicologist career

Arnold Wagner began his career as a teacher in 1900 in Adirondack, New York. However, he quickly accepted a position offered by the United States government to teach English and music in the Philippines. He was part of the first batch of 100 students in 1901 to go overseas to teach English, music and art. He initially taught in the provinces before moving to Manila.

He developed techniques to correct bad vibrato in singers' voices and in string and woodwind instruments, which was previously thought impossible.

Arnold Wagner also conducted research with Dr. Carl E. Seashore, a prominent psychologist and educator at the State University of Lowa where they studied the vibrato in the voice and its application to string and woodwind instruments.The focus was to remedy bad vocal vibrato. The research resulted in Seashore's book called "Studies in the Psychology of Music, Vol. 1," in which Wagner contributed the chapter "Remedial and Artistic Development of the Vibrato." The Vibrato as a Factor in Artistic Singing (Pacific Coast Musician, June 1927) An Experimental Study in the Control of the Vocal Vibrato (University of Iowa Psychology Monographs, 1930) Research in the Field of Voice Training (Music Educators’ National Conference, 1939-1940) Interpretation in singing (Music Supervisors Journal, May 1928)