Sol B. Cohen: Composer, Soldier, Translator

By Aaron Khan and Maggie Weimer, Edited by Connor Monson and Rick Partin

“I left Europe with very fair technical equipment, a large repertoire, and a mind stored with oceans of excellent music and the stuff of the continental concert halls.”

- Sol Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage: Memoirs of a Musician

Figure 1: Sol Cohen

Courtesy of the Champaign County Historical Archives

This article is part of the Champaign County History Museum’s Voices From the Past Series which looks at recently uploaded and transcribed oral history interviews from local historical figures. Sol Cohen was interviewed by museum staff in 1978 during six separate interviews to talk about his fascinating life. You can find several of his interviews HERE.

Sol B. Cohen, soldier, composer, translator, and music educator was born to a musically gifted and influential family on January 11, 1891 in his family home at 511 W. Elm Street in Urbana, Illinois. Cohen was the son of Nathaniel (Nat) H. Cohen and Addie Bernstein (1).

In his fourth interview with the Champaign County History Museum, Cohen shared that his father really had to prove that he would be a good husband, as Addie’s father, a clothier, was very particular when it came to who his four daughters would marry. He did, in fact, prove himself and was allowed to marry Addie, an actor and singer. Nat had also been an actor and singer, but later became a cigar maker and manufacturer upon settling in Urbana.Additionally, he described his father as being a personal friend to many Illinois politicians, often performing at Republican politician’s events (2).

Together, Nat and Addie had three sons: Sidney, Sol, and Julius, two of whom would eventually perform with them many times in local productions (3). Cohen’s earliest recollection was of his mother and father singing. In addition to sharing their talents within their home, Cohen’s parents also shared their musical talents with the community, establishing themselves as favorites around Champaign and Urbana. According to Cohen, his parents sang at a benefit for the now defunct Julia F. Burnham Hospital and performed in several operas such as Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado,HMS Pinafore, and Trial by Jury (4).

Figure 2: Addie Cohen being honored by the Sinai Congregation, 1938.

From left, Addie’s grandson Nat, her son Sol, Addie, Dr. A.L. Sachar, and her son Julius.

Courtesy of the Champaign County Historical Archives: Local History Online Collections.

In their community, the Cohen family fostered the beginnings of the Hillel, which continues as the epicenter of Jewish life on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. They also were founding members of the local Sinai Temple. Nat was an active member of B'nai B’rith, a Jewish service organization, and Addie was a founding member of the Jewish Ladies Social Circle, which was established in 1889 (5). Overall, the Cohen family played vital roles in the Jewish, music, and artistic communities of the Champaign-Urbana area.

Composer: Learning the Violin

When he was eight, Nat and Addie’s second son, Sol Cohen, began to learn how to play the violin from Charles Foster. Mr. Foster was a prominent violin teacher in the area, and at the beginning of their lessons together, it became immediately obvious that Cohen would be an expert violin player (6).

Mr. Foster taught Cohen the violin for about three years until Cohen stumbled across some exciting news in a copy of the Chicago Tribune: Émile Sauret (1852-1920), the famous French violinist, composer, and ex-husband of Teresa Carreño (1853-1917), had been recruited as the head of the violin department at the Chicago Musical College (7).

Through his father’s prominent connections, Cohen was soon granted an audition with Sauret. Cohen was enamored with the famous violinist - the sight of whom made the young boy's heart race. Interestingly enough, Cohen’s father Nat had once performed with Sauret and Carreño, and right before his son’s audition, Nat shoved signed memorabilia into Sauret’s face as a hopeful reminder of the time in which they had performed together. Unfortunately for the younger Cohen, this incurred the ire of Sauret, who was now irritated by the actions of a man he likely barely remembered (8).

Figure 3: Emile Sauret

Courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collections.

As his audition began, Cohen recalled how the irritated Sauret snapped, "Well, play for me!" and by some unknown force—or rather the young Cohen's talent on the violin—Sauret deemed his ability sufficient, uttering words that sounded like magic to the young boy: “Well, he may study with me. But he will have to begin all over again. And he will have to work hard” (9).

Composer: His Education and Early Performances

Figure 4: Chicago Musical College building, 1908

Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America

As he became a violin prodigy under the tutelage of Sauret, Cohen lived with various relatives in the Chicago area. He would often find his life consumed by the "perusal of tiny orchestral scores" and his high school studies (10). At the Chicago Musical College, Cohen created relationships with his musical contemporaries and was constantly surrounded by beautiful music created by those who would grow to become musical greats.

For two magical years, Cohen’s days were filled with studies, music, and lessons with Sauret, but for many reasons, as Cohen recalled, his first two years of high school in Chicago came to a stop, and he spent the rest of his high school career in Urbana. Then, Urbana High School was called Thornburg High School. Cohen remembered his high school teachers in Urbana fondly, mentioning that they were all excellent and gave him an education that “gave him great pleasure.” He didn’t stop his violin lessons, however. As he finished out his high school studies in Urbana, he also made weekly trips to Chicago for lessons (11) .

By 1908, the teenage Cohen was given the opportunity to continue his violin lessons in Europe, and he studied under accomplished musicians and composers in Prague and Budapest for a few years (12). After returning to America for the foreseeable future following his European studies, Cohen began his career as a violin teacher in 1911 at the age of twenty. He instructed the Foster family, who lived in Bloomington, Illinois, for one dollar per lesson. He also began performing professionally at this time. In that same year, acting on a suggestion by a family friend, Cohen performed at the Chicago Standard Club, one of the first times he would ever be paid to perform in public. As a child, he had received compensation for performing at parties for family friends. Still, it likely did not compare with the relatively generous fee that he received for this performance (13).

In 1912, dissatisfied with his position as a violin teacher, Cohen left for his grandparents' hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio and auditioned for the city’s orchestra. He became a member of the first violin section and the second violin of the string quartet, receiving a salary of thirty-five dollars a week. However, he soon became disillusioned with this position also, and by 1914, he began a new phase in his career and life (14).

Soldier & Translator: Cohen’s Time in the Service

Following his time with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cohen, who was now well into adulthood and the establishment of his career, received a phone call from a man by the name of Franklin Stead, an organist and faculty member at the Peoria Musical College. Stead asked Cohen if he would be interested in joining the college’s faculty as a violin teacher in the beginning of September 1913. Cohen had left quite an impression on Stead when he performed at the dedication of a synagogue in Peoria, Illinois. Cohen quickly agreed to accept the new position (15).

In addition to his career at Peoria Musical College, Cohen would also travel to small Illinois towns such as Farmington, Canton, and Pekin to conduct what he referred to in his interviews with CCHM as “dollar lessons” for the children of these communities. It was also during this time that World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, and like many other young men like himself, Cohen was vying to serve his nation (16).

Three factors mainly influenced Sol’s interest in serving his country: 1) his admiration of his oldest brother Sidney, a member of the Illinois National Guard; 2) a newspaper in Marion, Indiana which notified him of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination; and 3) his new-found longing to experience France (17).

So when the United States entered World War I in 1917, Cohen attempted to follow in his brother Sidney’s footsteps. Sidney was then a captain in the Illinois National Guard and located at Camp Logan in Houston, Texas. After being rejected by four or five different recruiting stations in Peoria due to his poor eyesight and a head injury he had sustained in a Peoria streetcar accident, Cohen decided to try and make his way to Texas where his brother was stationed. Using his brother’s influence in Texas, Cohen resigned from his position at Peoria Musical College and left for the Lone Star State (18).

Figure 5: Camp Library at Camp Logan, Texas, 1918

Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America

With a combination of a major’s connections, the laziness of a few medical personnel, and Cohen’s cheating on the eye exam, Cohen was inducted as a soldier in the Headquarters Troop, a cavalry unit, on October 24, 1917. Subsequently, he was quickly transferred to Headquarters Company, an intelligence unit, as he was fluent in both German and French.

Cohen’s transfer to the Headquarters Company and subsequent work in intelligence proved to be especially stimulating because he could hear the rehearsals of the regimental band. Even if he was not a member of the band, simply hearing their music helped to break up the monotony of military life (19).

As he began to learn cryptography and put his language skills to use, Cohen made one of his very first friends during his subsequent two years of military service. This new recruit was Scott, a civil engineering student who begrudgingly interrupted the pursuit of his education to serve his country. Scott was prone to bouts of depression, and whenever Cohen played the violin, Scott would go into “mysterious reveries” and bask in the magic of music. Finding his new friend enamored with his music, Cohen, who was likely one of the oldest soldiers in the unit at twenty-six years old, took Scott under his wing and began to help him navigate life in an army intelligence unit.

It wasn’t long after the blossoming of Cohen and Scott’s friendship that they both were promoted and sent to Intelligence School for additional training. Unfortunately, at the Intelligence School, Cohen found himself struggling academically.

Cohen, however, had one saving grace that made up for his lackluster academic performance: his gift for public speaking. He was well liked among his Intelligence School classmates but equally disliked by his instructors, staunch West Point men who didn’t see why a violin teacher in his late twenties was even sent to their school in the first place. Ultimately, Cohen was promoted as a sergeant of his unit, as his public speaking skills and fluency in foreign languages made him a desirable instructor (20).

To Cohen’s dismay and despite his father’s and brother’s influence, he was never promoted any farther due to his poor academic performance at the Intelligence School. In hindsight, Cohen found the silver lining of this situation, as many of his friendships and experiences during his time in Europe would never have occurred had he been promoted.

Soldier & Translator: Cohen’s Experience in World War I

On May 15, 1918, Sol B. Cohen and the men of the 33rd Division boarded a steamer headed for France and war. Nine days later, they reached the harbor in Brest, France, and, to the joy of its citizens, began a march through the city on their way to barracks situated five miles outside of Brest. After a period of rest, Cohen and his regiment received the order to gather their gear and move on again by train through the Somme. Cohen learned from a local that this train was headed to the front. As he informed his comrades, they became ecstatic at the news. They would finally be able to prove themselves on the battlefield (21).

Figure 6: “United States Warships throwing out smoke screens to protect troop ships”

Retrieved from New York Public Library Digital Collections

It was that next morning that Cohen encountered his first real taste of war. He was awakened from his slumber by an air raid during their passage through the town of Abbeville, France. War was no longer a dream. As he heard the sounds of bombs exploding, he realized people were actually dying. And not only did he see real death and destruction for the first time, but he and his comrades were now headed directly into one the most contended sections of the front. After this experience, Cohen found himself in the tiny commune of Maigneville in north-central France (22).

Here, Cohen and his regiment were billeted for a few days at the house of a middle-aged Frenchman who had, to his surprise, found American soldiers quartered on his family farm. Much to his chagrin, this middle-aged man, himself a former soldier, found America’s enlisted men undisciplined. Learning that Cohen spoke French and using him as a translator, the man asked the unit’s superior officers to whip these men into shape. At this man’s home, Cohen taught the Frenchman’s daughter violin for a few days until the unit yet again received orders to move on. His time in Maigneville was just another short break. The unit took one additional train ride, which transported them to within eighteen miles of the front.

Outside of a village named Ailly-le-haut-Clocher, Cohen was assigned his first mission as a soldier. He, alongside eight of his squad members, was sent on a reconnaissance mission with Australian soldiers. They were instructed not to fight but to observe and learn what combat was like and how to operate in this foreign land. It was during this week of observation that Cohen experienced his first battle. The Australians and British were fighting yet again over control of the village of Villers-Bretonneux, which had been contested since the beginning of the war in 1914. The goal of this battle was simply to “straighten the lines,” which resulted in the capture of a German battalion (23).

Figure 7: “At Brieulles-sur-Meuse, Argonne Sector”

Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America

This battle is now known as the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, and it lasted from April 24-27, 1918. Cohen saw additional combat in Villers-Bretonneux and the Battle at the Meuse-Argonne from September 26 to Armistice day on November 11 of that same year (24).

On Armistice day, as they held the Germans in place, Cohen and his regiment waited for word that the armistice had taken effect. In the wee hours of the morning, the colonel, an Irish man from Chicago, learned that Cohen had captured a German violin and asked Cohen to play. To please the colonel, Cohen played a few Irish tunes as the shelling and air bombardments still roared overhead. Cohen remembers that “... it was very difficult playing violin when it’s very, very cold. I think I may have even tried to play with gloves on. It was freezing” (25). He supposed he only played for about ten minutes, the chords of the violin dancing through the air alongside the cacophony of war. All of the soldiers, knowing that something great would happen soon, stopped to listen as they waited for it to reach the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but it would be May of 1919 before Cohen returned home and resumed his musical career (26).

Composer: Cohen’s Years After the War

Like the decade itself, Cohen’s accomplishments during the 1920s were roaring. He moved to California, became a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and composed scores and played violin for various silent film directors such as D.W. Griffith, Ceceil B. DeMile, Thomas Ince, and more. In addition to rallying behind the building of the Hollywood Bowl, in which he later played many concerts, Cohen also became the musical director for Ruth St. Denis, a co-founder of the American Denishawn Dance Company, and composed several ballets for her (27).

Figure 8: "Ruth St. Denis"

Retrieved from New York Public Library Digital Collections

Recalling his time in the city of dreams during an interview with the CCHM, Cohen reminisced about a dinner he was invited to join and play violin at by Rupert Hughes, Howard Hughes’ uncle. Cohen recalled settling in with visitors such as the prominent writer George Ade when in walked Charlie Chaplin himself. Cohen remembered Chaplin taking up Cohen’s violin and lamenting that he couldn’t play it because he was left-handed. This confused Cohen, as he also was left-handed, and it was standard practice to learn to play right-handed no matter what. Chaplin mentioned that he owned a violin tuned for a left-handed person. This was the only time Cohen ever heard of this in his life, and he assumed Chaplin must have had a violin strung backwards to accommodate him. To this, Cohen joked, “Well, he would do that, Charlie Chaplin'' (28).

Figure 9:Henry Major, 1889 - 1948, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, 16 Apr 1889 - 25 Dec 1977. Charlie Chaplin. c. 1925. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America.

After a few decades of traveling the United States composing, conducting, and educating, Cohen returned to Urbana to live out his later years. Cohen was still active, however, and offered violin lessons from his home in addition to conducting the Champaign-Urbana Community Arts Symphony, playing in the Champaign-Urbana Orchestra, and more (29).

Sol B. Cohen had a long and storied career. He was a composer, soldier, translator, and music educator to not only those in the Champaign-Urbana area, but also to people across the country and globe. Cohen retired from his roles in the Champaign-Urbana area in 1974. He stayed active well into old age, and his memory stayed sharp enough to complete numerous interviews and write memoirs about his life. The CCHA has recorded interviews with transcriptions with Cohen available to the public online in the CCHM Oral History Library.

Sol B. Cohen passed away on September 29, 1988 at the age of 97.

Aaron Khan is a 2023 graduate of the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences. He received a Master of Library and Information Science degree. He worked as a practicum intern for the Champaign County History Museum during the spring of 2023 and contributed to the transcription of Sol Cohen’s Oral Histories. This is his first published article. Maggie Weimer is an educator and also a graduate student at the School of Information Science. She was a volunteer at CCHM over the summer of 2023.

Notes

1. Mayton, Matthew, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen,” The Urbana Free Library, September 6, 2019, https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family-sol-cohen

2. Sol Cohen, “#4 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History

Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

3. Mayton, Matthew and Sherrie Bowser, “The Cohen Family,” The Urbana Free Library, September 6, 2019,

https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family

4. Sol Cohen, “#8 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History

Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

5. Mayton & Bowser, “The Cohen Family” ; “The sisterhood,” Local History & Genealogy Digital Exhibits,

Accessed February 23, 2023, https://urbanafree.omeka.net/exhibits/show/early-jewish-life-in-champaign/the-sisterhood ; “Timeline of champaign-urbana jewish community history,” Sinai Temple, https://sinaitemplecu.org/timeline/

6. Sol Cohen, “#1 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History

Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

7. Cohen, Sol B., Years of Pilgrimage: Memoirs of an American Musician, Mayfair Press, 1982.

8. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

9. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

10. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 5.

11. Cohen, “#1 Sol Cohen”

12. “Sol B. Cohen: A career in music,” Illinois History & Lincoln Collections, June 28, 2023,

https://publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2019/06/28/sol-b-cohen-a-career-in-music/

13. Cohen, “#1 Sol Cohen” ; Mayton, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen”; Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

14. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

15. Cohen, “#1 Sol Cohen” ; Mayton, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen” ; Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

16. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 71 ; Cohen, “#4 Sol Cohen.” Sol taught at this school from 1914 to 1917 until

he left for his service in the Army.

17. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 76.

18. Cohen, “#4 Sol Cohen.”

19. Cohen, “#4 Sol Cohen.”

20. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 108.

21. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 109. Scott and Duerr were also promoted to the rank of sergeant at this time.

22. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage.

23. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 123. Sol believed that his final destination after hearing he was headed to the

front was Maigneville, France; however, he may have confused this city with Aigneville, a short ten-minute drive away.

24. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage ; “Meuse - Argonne offensive,” Wikipedia, Accessed March 2, 2023,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse%E2%80%93Argonne_offensive ; “Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.” Wikipedia, Accessed Mach 2, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Villers-Bretonneux. Taking the timing of this battle into mind his reconnaissance mission was likely assigned on April 21st, 1918. This battle occurred about three days into his time with the Australians.’

25. Cohen, Years of Pilgrimage, 132-149 ; “Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.” Sol was located near Ambly,

France at this time.

26. Sol Cohen, “#7 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History

Library, 5 April 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

27. Cohen, “#7 Sol Cohen.”

Mayton, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen”

28. Sol Cohen, “#5 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History

Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

29. Mayton, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen”

Bibliography

Cohen, Sol B., Years of Pilgrimage: Memoirs of an American Musician, Mayfair Press, 1982.

Mayton, Matthew and Sherrie Bowser, “The Cohen Family,” The Urbana Free Library, September 6, 2019, https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family

Mayton, Matthew, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen,” The Urbana Free Library, September 6, 2019, https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family-sol-cohen.

“Meuse - Argonne offensive,” Wikipedia, Accessed March 2, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse%E2%80%93Argonne_offensive

“Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.” Wikipedia, Accessed Mach 2, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Villers-Bretonneux

“The sisterhood,” Local History & Genealogy Digital Exhibits, Accessed February 23, 2023, https://urbanafree.omeka.net/exhibits/show/early-jewish-life-in-champaign/the-sisterhood

“Sol B. Cohen: A career in music,” Illinois History & Lincoln Collections, June 28, 2023, https://publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2019/06/28/sol-b-cohen-a-career-in-music/

Sol Cohen, “#1 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

Sol Cohen, “#4 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

Sol Cohen, “#5 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

Sol Cohen, “#7 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History Library, 5 April 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

Sol Cohen, “#8 Sol Cohen,” an interview by Unknown, Champaign County History Museum Oral History Library, 1978, https://www.champaigncountyhistory.org/oralhistory

“Timeline of champaign-urbana jewish community history,” Sinai Temple, https://sinaitemplecu.org/timeline/

Image Citations

Figure 1: Mayton, Matthew, “Cohen Family: Sol Cohen,” The Urbana Free Library, September 6, 2019, https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family-sol-cohen. https://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history/blog/cohen-family-sol-cohen

Figure 2:“The sisterhood,” Local History & Genealogy Digital Exhibits, Accessed February 23, 2023, https://urbanafree.omeka.net/exhibits/show/early-jewish-life-in-champaign/the-sisterhood

Figure 3: Music Division, The New York Public Library. "Emile Sauret" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed July 29, 2023. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/74322f05-7141-89ca-e040-e00a180673af

Figure 4:Chicago Musical College building. 1908. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll101:502. (Accessed July 29, 2023.)

Figure 5: Camp Library at Camp Logan, Texas. 1918. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/77f7e9f0-2b7c-0134-1d8b-0050569601ca-f. (Accessed July 29, 2023.)

Figure 6: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "United States Warships throwing out smoke screen to protect troop ships." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed July 29, 2023. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-1153-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Figure 7: War Department, Smith, J. Andre. At Brieulles-sur-Meuse, Argonne Sector. 1918-05. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=nmah_445715&repo=DPLA. (Accessed July 29, 2023.)

Figure 8: Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Ruth St Denis in different costume for St Denis Mazurka." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed July 29, 2023. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-85ee-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Figure 9: Henry Major, 1889 - 1948, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, 16 Apr 1889 - 25 Dec 1977. Charlie Chaplin. c. 1925. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America.http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.86.107&repo=DPLA.