Leader of the Marine Band
Another 8th grade football game was on. Both teams were putting up a hard fight. Clutching the ball tight against his body, Bill Santelmann raced towards the goal. The next minute, it seemed to him, that both teams had landed on top of him. When the heap of waving arms and legs had been unscrambled, Bill couldn’t get up.
“That’s not too bad, fellow,” said the gym teacher cheerfully as he looked over the victim. “Just a broken collar bone, I think. It will heal in no time.”
But a horrible thought came into Bill’s mind. “Will I ever be able to play my violin again?” Just the night before, he had heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert, with Fritz Kreisler playing his violin. He had resolved then and there that nothing should keep him from being a violinist.
“And now, this would happen!” he said to himself. “Well, this settles it. No more athletics for me! Playing my violin means more to me than playing football.”
William F. Santelmann was born on February 24, 1902, in Washington, D. C. His father, Captain W. H. Santelmann, was the leader of the U. S. Marine Band.
Of the six children in the Santelmann family, Bill was the only one who had inherited the father’s musical talent. Any one of the three daughters could play the piano well enough to accompany them and the whole family enjoyed singing together on their evenings at home. But Bill’s two brothers pooh-poohed the idea of having anything more than that to do with music.
However, Bill had loved music since he first heard his father play the violin, and he was always thrilled when he watched him lead the gay Marine Band. Finally, when the boy was six years old, Captain Santelmann gave in to his pleading and bought him a small violin. He at once began to give Bill music lessons and was very proud of his son’s love of practicing and his rapid progress.
When Bill entered the McKinley Training High School, he resisted the temptation to try out for any of the athletic teams. Instead he signed up for the orchestra where he was made a welcome member. He also studied at the Washington College of Music from which he was graduated in 1920. Then he left his home and native city to enroll at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
There young Santelmann studied under a staff of famous instructors. Playing in the orchestra, he enjoyed the association with some of the members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra who often played with the Conservatory group in order to gain practice and experience. During the time Bill was in this school he met Margaret Randall, an organ student from Ohio. He knew this was the girl he would marry some day.