George Hamilton Green
George Hamilton Green, Jr. (1893-1970) was a child
prodigy on piano and violin. He made his first xylophone as a boy in
Omaha, Nebraska. At the age of 9 he made his first solo appearance with
his father’s concert band.
While still a teenager he was considered to be “the
greatest xylophonist in the world” and was acclaimed as such wherever he
appeared. His repertoire of solos, while still a boy, was well over 300
standard overtures, Hungarian rhapsodies, violin concertos and concert
piano selections. The United Musician, a New York musical publication,
said of him in 1915,
“He has
begun where every other xylophone player has left off. His touch,
attack, technique and interpretation in rendition of his solos being
different than other performers. To say that his work is marvelous and
wonderful would not fully express it.”
This is typical of the
reviews written about Mr. Green when he was appearing on the concert
stage, vaudeville, recording and early radio.
He began his recording career as a soloist for the
Edison Company in 1916.He recorded for virtually every label from that
time until his retirement in 1940. It is a great blessing that his
musical genius has been preserved in those thousands of recordings.
George Hamilton Green elevated the xylophone to the
position where it was recognized as a legitimate concert instrument.