A Brief History of the “Calliope” Barbershop Quartet
"Although the Calliope Quartet name was chartered in 1991, the quartet was not organized until 2 years later by Dan Dekowski, the quartet baritone. The quartet members all belong to the Dundalk Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (at that time The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in
The reason for reserving the Calliope name was because of its unique history. It is not only the name of a famous musical instrument but also the name of the Greek Goddess of Poetry – Calliope. There is a monument to Calliope in the form of a bright star in the sky in the constellation ‘Pleiades’ where Calliope and her six sister goddesses of the arts find refuge from pursuit by Orion, the hunter, according to ancient Greek mythology. When Joshua C. Stoddard invented the steam Calliope in 1855, he named his instrument in her honor. The instrument has the distinction of being incredibly loud and can be heard for miles. It was used as an advertising medium to announce the arrival of circuses and show boats before the days of radio and television.
Three of the original four members of the quartet left within months of its founding for a variety of personal reasons, including poor health. It is unusual for quartets to last for more than a few months but turnover has been a friend to Calliope. Good fortune has blessed the quartet with progressively better singers and improved sound.
All the current quartet members have above average voices and sing with good vocal technique. One of the hallmarks of the quartet is its respect for the musical compositions that it sings. Although the style is barbershop, the underlying music is respected and remains intact. The quartet members constantly strive for good musical style as well as improved vocal technique.
The quartet theme “Calliope Song” is somewhat unique in its musical arrangement. It is based on an old but familiar waltz melody. The song dates to about 1900 but the composer is unknown. The words for Calliope were written by Dan to the tune titled “I Want To Be In Chicago Town”. The unusual musical arrangement of the song is reminiscent of a real steam Calliope.
Calliope, the quartet, has sung for hundreds of audiences and many thousands of people. Over the years, the quartet has been associated with the
For many years, the quartet promoted singing in local schools by visiting music classes to demonstrate the Art Form. Some of the students in the classes learned to sing barbershop and went on to sing in high school and college quartets. Of those students who pursued barbershop singing after high school, two of them, Matt Swann and Joe Eckert, organized barbershop quartets that competed in National Collegiate Quartet Contests and both won gold medals. Matt Swann got a degree in Music Education and now teaches music in
