James Edgar Rotschy, known as Edgar, was a Swiss-American self-taught amateur composer who resided near Yacolt, Washington.
Rotschy was born August 29, 1868 in Geneva, Switzerland, where his father owned a music school. Having been told that he had no musical talent and discouraged from a career in music, Rotschy trained as a photographer, specializing in retouching and printing.
Rotschy arrived in the United States in September 1889 and, after working as a photo finisher in New York, worked his way west with friends from Switzerland. In July 6, 1891 he filed for a homestead overlooking the Chelatchie Prairie near the town of Yacolt in Clark County. In 1894 he married the sister of a fellow homesteader, Madeleine de Niederhausern, with whom he had nine children between 1895 and 1909. Rotschy worked at various jobs including laborer at the Long Bell Paper Mill, cook at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and fire watch at the Greenleaf logging camp.
In1898 Rotschy began to compose music. His compositions are conservative in style, emphasizing melody and simple harmonic accompaniments. Several fugues display a didactic style imitative of the Baroque. His music is characterized by the lack of dynamic and articulation markings. He felt that the meaning of his music should be clear to any "good" musician and that each musician was free to supply his own expression markings.
Edgar Rotschy donated music manuscripts to the University of Washington Libraries on several occasions between 1938 and 1953. He also presented Hazel Kinsella music for the American Music Center in the Music Library. On his trips to Seattle, Rotschy discussed his music with George McKay, professor of theory and composition in the School of Music, who arranged for a reading of his string quartets. According to his journal this was the most satisfying time in his musical life.
In 1920 Rotschy moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he died in 1960.
The Rotschy papers contain original musical compositions, musical writings, journals and correspondence. The journals, which include drawings, serve as a first hand account of the historic Yacolt Burn of 1902 and that of a working man's life in logging camps and saw and paper mills in the 1920s and 1930s. The correspondence with the Libraries details the nature of his gifts to the Libraries.
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Creator's literary rights not transfered to the University of Washington Libraries.
Edgar Rotschy papers, Special Collection Division, University of Washington Libraries
Most of the Edgar Rotschy papers were transferred from the University of Washington Music Library.
Gift of Edgar Rotschy to the Libraries between 1938 and 1953. Some music was given to Hazel Kinsella of the School of Music and transferred to Manuscripts Division in 1983 from the Music Library. Correspondence with Samuel Rotschy given to Libraries by John Gibbs in 2006.
Processed by John R. Gibbs; processing completed in 2007.
Eleven black and white photographs of Edgar Rotschy, his family and his homestead.