Personal life Charles von Stade was born in
Old Westbury,
Long Island,
New York to
Francis Skiddy von Stade, Sr. (1884–1967) and Kathryn Nevitt Steele (1896–1981). He was raised in
Saratoga Springs, New York, and trained as an
architect. He married Sara Worthington Clucas (1918–1983) in
Gladstone, New Jersey, on January 24, 1942.
Polo In 1941, together with
John H. H. Phipps,
Michael Grace Phipps and
Alan L. Corey, Jr., he won the
U.S. Open Polo Championship at the
Meadow Brook Polo Club against the Aknusti team (Edward H. Gerry, Henry A. Gerry,
George H. "Pete" Bostwick, and
Elbridge T. Gerry)
Military service Von Stade enlisted in the
United States Army in March 1942 and achieved the rank of
first lieutenant. He is buried at the
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in
Eijsden-Margraten, Netherlands.
Elegies During his time in service, Charles von Stade wrote several heart-felt letters to his wife, who was pregnant with their second child. Their daughter,
Frederica von Stade, was born after he was killed in World War II, and grew to become an internationally renowned opera singer. Frederica von Stade premiered the work the following year with
Thomas Hampson. According to
Classics Today, "The five songs form a sort of a conversation across the gulf of time between father and daughter. The text alludes to their separation, longing for each other, and their eventual reconciliation on the spiritual plane."
Elegies has been recorded by
Sony Masterworks, with Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra and Perspectives Ensemble conducted by Roger Nierenberg. ==Notes==