Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
Second Glance History
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
Story

The Marathon Musician

On January 11, 2023 by Elyse

Do you remember last year’s epic story about our friend James Waterbury, the champion piano torturer? It turns out there’s a spinoff starring one of his chief adversaries, Charles Wright:

From the Washington Herald, April 28, 1909.

After practicing on a piano for twenty-seven consecutive hours, a Michigan near-Paderewski was removed to a sanatorium, and will probably die. What happened to the poor, defenseless neighbors is not stated.

– The Washington Herald, April 28, 1909

At least death by piano playing is more respectable than death from misadventure through mussel eating. Fortunately, the wanna-be Paderewski didn’t die. As you probably don’t remember, less than two months later:

From the Oakes Times, June 10, 1909.

J. M. Waterbury of New York is no longer the champion long time piano player of the world. He lost that title. . . the other day to Charles Wright, a Battle Creek musician, who played for twenty-seven hours and forty-five minutes without cessation in a Battle Creek theater.

. . . after which, he was promptly returned to the sanatorium:

When Wright passed the record held by Waterbury by one minute he was removed from the piano, placed in an automobile and hurried to a sanitarium, where he arrived completely exhausted.

 – The Oakes Times, June 10, 1909
From the Presbyterian of the South, November 29, 1911.

Just like with his rival James Waterbury, not everyone cheered him on:

It must have been a great thing to have played the piano incessantly for twenty-seven hours and forty-five minutes, something that this young man’s descendants will mention with pride, provided he ever gets out of the sanatorium.

There may be, it is true, some worldly minded prosaic people who will aver that Mr. Wright might better have been occupied laying a street car track, or repairing plumbing, or selling dry goods.

There are even some to aver that to play the piano continuously for nearly twenty-eight hours is not a championship performance, but a crime.

– The Evening Star, May 2, 1909

I hope Charles’ descendants do indeed still speak of his heroic feats of piano pounding. His record, however, didn’t stand the test of time: As of this writing, the world record for marathon piano playing is 130 hours.

If earplugs aren’t enough to withstand that level of torture, there’s a way to prevent such egregious crimes altogether:

From the North Wales Express, October 18, 1889.

Am I trying too hard?

Recent Posts You
May Have Missed

  • Romeo Gone Wrong
  • The Marathon Musician
  • Brussels Bonanza
  • Eggnog Eggcess
  • The Perfect Foot
  • Bearbnb

Did you click through Facebook or Twitter? We got lucky—don’t let social media algorithms keep you from seeing a post! Save yourself a click, and subscribe to have stories delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re published.


Disclaimer: The modern era is far from the first to grapple with rampant “fake news.” As I am neither a historian nor journalist, I make no claims about the accuracy or lack thereof of the above sources. I assert only that they make for a good story.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Tags: 20th Century, Music, Newspaper, Piano, United States

4 comments

  • David January 11, 2023 at 11:06 am Reply

    He was just trying to prove the person wrong who said piano was not his forte.

    • Elyse January 11, 2023 at 12:36 pm Reply

      …And that person was clearly already in the Guinness Book of World Records for Best/Worst Pun!

  • Josh January 11, 2023 at 11:30 pm Reply

    Are you saying his pun fell a bit … flat?

    • Elyse January 12, 2023 at 1:17 am Reply

      😂 What a “sharp” observation!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • Clip of the Week: March 22, 2023
  • Clip of the Week: March 8, 2023
  • Clip of the Week: February 22, 2023
  • Romeo Gone Wrong
  • Clip of the Week: January 25, 2023

Follow Second Glance History

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog via Email

Never miss a new post ever again! Enter your email address to subscribe to Second Glance History, and stories will be delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re published.

Search

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018

Categories

  • Clip
  • News
  • Story

About This Blog

Welcome to Second Glance History! This blog seeks to uncover the people and the stories forgotten by history and give them another read through a modern lens. Join me every week as we examine the differences that divide and the common threads that connect the then to the now.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Never miss a new post ever again! Enter your email address to subscribe to Second Glance History, and stories will be delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re published.

© Elyse and Second Glance History, 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. | Theme by ThemeinProgress | Proudly powered by WordPress