From the Land of Sky-blue Water, Op. 45, No. 1

Charles Wakefield Cadman (December 24, 1881 – December 30, 1946) was an American composer.

His musical education, unlike that of most of his American contemporaries, was completely American. Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he began piano lessons at 13.

He was greatly influenced by American Indian music and went to Nebraska to make cylinder recordings of tribal melodies for the Smithsonian Institution. He lived with the Omaha and Winnebago tribes on their reservations, learning to play their instruments. He used elements of traditional music in the form of his compositions of 19th-century romantic music.

Cadman's early works enjoyed little success until the famous American soprano Lillian Nordica sang his "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water," one of several compositions by Cadman with Indian influences.

He was first and foremost a serious composer who wrote for nearly every genre, but his chamber music works are generally considered among his best.

The song, "From the Land of Sky-blue Water" is based upon an Omaha Tribal Melody. It appears here in the arrangement made by Clarence Eddy, and published in 1912.

Hiram Clarence Eddy (23 June 1851 - 10 January 1937) was one of the leading organists of his time. He was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. He studied under Dudley Buck in Hartford, Connecticut, counterpoint under Carl August Haupt, and piano under Carl Albert Loeschhorn in Berlin. In 1874-76 he was organist of the First Congregational Church, Chicago; afterward organist and choirmaster of the First Presbyterian Church for 17 years and from 1875 to 1908 was director of the Hershey School of Musical Art. In 1877-79 he gave a series of 100 organ recitals, with entirely different programs. He had been a student of Guilmant, and had success as a composer and performer. He died in Chicago, Illinois.

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Cadman and Eddy.

Some musical, performance, and personal notes are given in the First Comment.