Elam Ray Sprenkle, a prolific composer and Peabody Conservatory faculty member who untangled complex musical ideas on his radio program, died in his sleep of progressive supranuclear palsy on Nov. 12 at his North Roland Park home. He was 77.
Born in Waynesboro, Pa., he was the son of Elam Ray Sprenkle, an industrial pattern maker, and his wife, Nita Maude Fisher. His ancestry was Mennonite, and the family attended a Lutheran church.
“He was always the most musical in his family. He loved the violin when it was introduced in the first grade,” said his wife, Linda Lee Spenser Sprenkle. “He wrote the music for his 1965 high school class song.”
After a year at West Chester State College, he transferred to the Peabody Conservatory of Music when a professor told him he was in the wrong school. He earned undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees at Peabody.
A tenor, he sang in the choirs of St. Michael and All Angels, St. John’s Episcopal Churches and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. He then directed the choir at Second Presbyterian Church in Guilford and worked closely with organist Margaret Budd.
Mr. Sprenkle wrote music for the Naval Academy Glee Club, Annapolis Brass Quintet, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Handel Choir, Bach in Baltimore, and the Columbia Pro Cantare. His music was recently played by the Prince George’s Philharmonic.
Jonathan Palevsky, WBJC program director, met Mr. Sprenkle while a Peabody student.
“He had already been on faculty for many years and was adored by his students. Whether it was a music history survey, a class on Beethoven symphonies or the Bach B Minor Mass, he had a way of entertaining and inspiring his students,” said Palevsky. “Applied music students spoke of him with a reverence they don’t often reserve for academics.
“Ray had a way of cutting to the essence of things and finding what was relevant, and it didn’t matter whether the subject was classical music, the Civil War, the songs of Bob Dylan or our beloved and occasionally frustrating Orioles and Ravens,” said Palevsky.
He noted that Mr. Sprenkle also worked at WBJC-FM and produced a show called “On Music.”
“His commentary and musical choices were appreciated by classical music novices and aficionados alike. He had a beautiful way of explaining complex musical ideas in the most elegant way imaginable,” said Palevsky. “He would arrive at the station, tape his program without needing to edit anything, and after it would air, he would use the same tape and record over the previous show.”
A 1991 Baltimore Sun profile noted his thought pattern: “His ideas, stored up in complete sentences, rush out like a sluice letting out the water, all in beautifully crafted, complete thoughts.”
Tim Baker, an attorney and friend for 30 years, said, “He had a gift for explaining serious music to those of us who didn’t read music.”
In 2012, he received the Peabody Alumni Achievement Award, “recognizing contributions to music in Maryland.”
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Linda Lee Spenser Sprenkle; a daughter, Elspeth Leora Sprenkle, of Baltimore; a son, E. Thomas Sprenkle, of Rodgers Forge; a brother, David F. Sprenkle, of Miss.; and a grandson.
A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St. A musical memorial will be held at 4 p.m. Jan. 8 at Peabody, 1 E. Mount Vernon Place.
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