Evening star., 1936-02-23
COMPOSER GAINS NATIONAL
DISTINCTION AT AGE OF 70
Marches of Mrs. Alfred S.
GiIIett Played by U. S.
Navy Band.
Sacred Music in Churches
and Her Fans Write From
Every State.
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

to her credit and the
of being the only woman
composer to have her marches played
by the United States Navy Band.
These are just a few Of the unusual
enjoyed by Mrs. Alfred s..
Gillett Of 1914 Twentieth street. And
these distinctions have all come to her
since her Goth birthday.
Mrs. Gillett would be the last to
concede that life began for her at a
time when she might very properly
have thought of folding her hands
and seeking sunny nook for the
in Florida instead of having
open before her a wealth of unusual
such as she could not
possibly have anticipated in the Wild
EST imamginings of her early youth
Today bands all over the United
States play her marches. Her sacred
music is heard Sunday after Sunday
IN churches throughout the land.
Every Monday morning the United
States Navy Band in its Hour of
with Lieut.. Charles Benter
plays one or more of her
Her fan mail comes
from every State in the Union and
from Canada and Mexico. In the last
10 years she has composed the words
and music to 60 ballads.
Life in Philadelphia.
r1ptiI about IN ware aoo NSre GiI
lett. widow of the one-time president
of the Girard Insurance Co. of Phila-
ing a town house in Philadelphia for
devoted wife and society matron
Looking well to the ways of her
household, being mindful of those less
fortunate beyond her own circle, clos
ing a town house in Philadelphia for
an exodus to a farm property near
Pa, residing for the
Summer or late Fall on an estate near
Leesburg Va, and spending a portion
of the Winter in the present Wash
ington residence. SO the seasons fol-
lowed each other with her. Often the
urge to express deep emotion or the
fancy Of a passing mood would
"obsess" her, she said, ''but I always
took care to keep my scribbling to
for I was very diffident as a
younger woman and couldn't have
withstood being joked about my
pieces"
These "pieces" we're quite accident
ally stumbled upon by devoted friend
about 10 years ago. Then, at a time
when her contemporaries were with
drawing into the haven of elderly
pastimes, Mrs. Gillett embarked upon
an absolutely new experience as a
band composer
Her gifts were first brought to the
attention of the public through a
friend, Miss Belle Bagley. sister of
Mrs. Josephus Daniels. wife of the
former Secretary of the Navy and
present Ambassador to Mexico. Hap
pening to drop in upon her one day
while Mrs. Gillett was at the piano
in her upstairs sitting room, idly
over one of her compost
tions MRS. Gillett plays only by ear)
Miss Bagley said, What was that
you were playing as I came in?"
Then" says Mrs. Gillett, "the
deep, dark secret of my life was out
in the open"
Interview with Benter.
Miss Bagley, who is soon to christen
the cruiser Bagley, named in honor
Of her hero brother, Ensign Worth
Bagley. who was the first officer to
lose his life in the Spanish American
War, did not rest content until she
had obtained Mrs. Gillett's consent
for her to arrange an interview with
Lieut.. Benter. director of the Navy
Band.
When the time came Miss Bagley
and another brother, Capt. David
Bagley. came to conduct her to the
Navy Yard and to make the introduc-
tions.
IF there had been any honorable
way for me to have withdrawn from
the arrangement, would have" says
Mrs. Gillett, "for I was far more
nervous than any self conscious deb
utante ever could have been. En-
route to the yard, Capt. Bagley, not
ing my trepidation. said: See here. all
the sails are set and the flags are
flying; this ship has to make port.
which just about gave me my final
scare. for. thought to myself. here I
am after all these years about to
make simpleton out of myself in
public. Lieut.. Benter and the men,
bers of his orchestra I met" re-
calls Mrs. Gillett, listened to
me pick and stumble along. Then
Lieut.. Benter called upon some one
to transcribe the notes as I played.
When we had finished he looked over
the results and said something to
this effect: Mrs. Gillett, with your
permission we are accepting two
compositions for our next Monday
broadcast
ITO tell YOU the truth, did not
know whether I was myself or some
one else as we made our way home
ward. Here was I, embarking upon
a brand-new experience when I had
thought the years had just about
brought me their crown of expecta-
tions."
The success of Mrs. Gillett's COM
positions was instantaneous. "All
Fall in Line" 1.-THE Aviation March, I"
dedicated to Lindbergh, and THE
Spirit of the Nation" dedicated to
President Roosevelt, are Mrs. Gillett's
own favorites among her march tunes.
To many musicians Mrs. Gillett is
known as "the grandmother OF the
bands" because so many bands now
play her compositions.
To date her original musical COM
positions total 70. Her ambition Is
TO bring the number up to an even
hundred. Their range is an extensive
one.
Among her sacred compositions are
Savior, Keep Me Close to Thee";
"The Garden of Gethsemane," "I
Come to Thee, My Jesus; my Peace
[ Leave to Thee" dedicated by Miss
Bagley; Heavenly Treasures. "All in
ALI" and Under the Blood" These
-. ha. do oNer as a p1ft IN the