Upper East Side in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

1025 Park Avenue

Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, October 4, 2016

1. 1025 Park Avenue Marker

Inscription. This elegant house was completed in 1912 by John Russell Pope in the style of an early 17th Century English Jacobean Manor for the well-known composer of light opera and popular music, Reginald DeKoven, and his wife, Anna. DeKoven composed the light opera Robin Hood in 1890, which contained the song "O Promise Me". He also helped build the Lyric Theater on West 42nd Street.

New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation
1989

Erected 1989 by New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1912.

Location. 40° 46.78′ N, 73° 57.437′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in the Upper East Side. Marker is on Park Avenue north of East 85th Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1025 Park Avenue, New York NY 10028, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Lewis Gouverneur and Nathalie Bailey Morris House (within shouting distance of this marker); Carnegie Hill 9/11 Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Park Avenue Christian Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Church of St. Ignatius Loyola

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(about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Regis High School (about 500 feet away); Ada Louise Huxtable (approx. 0.2 miles away); Hardenbergh/Rhinelander Historic District (approx. 0.2 miles away); In Memory of William Church Osborn (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.

Regarding 1025 Park Avenue. The building is listed in the "AIA (American Institute of Architects) Guide to New York City, Fifth Edition".

Also see . . .
1. Reginald DeKoven Biography (AllMusic.com). ...Important though he was as a composer of music for the American theatre, DeKoven’s work was subsequently overshadowed by his successors who wrote in a new style. Few of his operas and operettas have been revived and his reputation rests on the considerable success he enjoyed in his lifetime. Curiously, and almost without parallel before or since, a song written by DeKoven with Clement Scott for Robin Hood, found favour in the sacred world. This song, ‘Oh, Promise Me’, has continued to be performed throughout America and the UK, often in churches with perhaps most of
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, October 4, 2016

2. 1025 Park Avenue Marker - Wide View
The marker is visible here mounted to the building, just to the left of the entryway.
its performers and admirers unaware of its secular origins. Oddly, and a mite awkwardly and unsuitably, DeKoven’s name also lives on in the lyric of a Hoagy Carmichael song, ‘The Old Music Master’, wherein it is rhymed with Beethoven. In addition to his operettas, DeKoven also composed piano sonatas and other classical works, and was founder and first conductor of the Washington DC Symphony Orchestra. (Submitted on October 12, 2016.)

2. Jan Peerce Sings Reginald de Koven's "Oh Promise Me." (Youtube.com, 3 mins.). (Submitted on October 12, 2016.)
3. A Look Inside 1025 Park Avenue (Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2015, 9 pictures). (Submitted on October 12, 2016.)
4. The 1912 DeKoven Mansion - No. 1025 Park Avenue. "Daytonian in Manhattan" entry. (Submitted on March 9, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Originally the Reginald and Anna DeKoven House, 1025 Park Avenue image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner, April 25, 2019

3. Originally the Reginald and Anna DeKoven House, 1025 Park Avenue

Reginald DeKoven image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Clinedinst, 1904

4. Reginald DeKoven

Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 12, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 625 times since then and 41 times this year. Last updated on January 11, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 12, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 3. submitted on February 15, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 4. submitted on October 12, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.