Frank Saddler (9 September 1864 – 25 March 1921, Brewster, New York) was an American orchestrator, music arranger, composer, and conductor.
[5] His father was an oil drilling engineer[6] who was serving in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War around the time of Frank's birth.
[8] While still a young child, the family migrated to Limestone Township, Warren County where John was employed on an oil farm.
[9] Frank's early childhood was spent in this pious environment where he attended both school and church services run by the HS.
[10] In 1872, when Frank was eight years old, the Saddler family left Limestone for Verona, Pennsylvania, just thirteen miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh.
[19] There he studied harmony, counterpoint, composition, and conducting with Joseph Stich (1850–1914); a conductor at the National Theatre, Munich who is best remembered for composing the one act opera Der Geiger zu Gmünd which premiered at the Stadttheater Düsseldorf in 1875.
It was premiered by the German military band Erste Infanterie-Regiments König under the direction of Adolf Fach to an enthusiastic reception from the press and several leading music figures in Munich with conductor Hermann Levi in his review comparing it favorably to Johannes Brahms's Liebeslieder Waltzes.
[25] While studying with Stich, Saddler periodically wrote news items about happenings in Munich for The Pittsburgh Dispatch; acting as a correspondent for that paper.
[27] He also formed friendships with prominent Munich musicians, including opera singer Gustav Siehr and conductor Franz Fischer among others.