CALE, Rosalie Balmer Smith

Rosalie Balmer Smith Cale was an American pianist, piano teacher and composer. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1875, she came from a strongly musical family connected with the city’s theatrical and publishing life. Her work belongs mainly to the world of light opera, songs and piano music, and reflects the lively musical culture of St. Louis at the turn of the twentieth century.
Cale was active both as a performer and as a teacher, and taught music in St. Louis for more than thirty years. As a composer, she is best remembered for her operettas, some of which were performed in St. Louis and New York. Her stage works include Four Pecks or A Bushel of Fun, later performed in New York as Cupid’s Halloween, Love, Powder and Patches, and Summer: A Flirtation. She also wrote piano and vocal works, including Idyl, Master and Pupil, and Song without Words.
Her music was published by Balmer & Weber, a St. Louis music publishing house connected with her family. Cale’s career places her among the American women musicians whose work combined performance, teaching, composition and local cultural leadership. Her papers are preserved at the Missouri Historical Society.