Allen Sapp (1922, Philadelphia – 1999, Cincinnati) was a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of music for piano, voice, chamber, and orchestral music.

Education and family

A native of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, Sapp was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

veteran who had served as a cryptanalyst in England, France, Belgium, and Germany during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the 1940s, Sapp earned bachelor's and master's degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, having studied primarily with

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

and Irving Fine, and privately with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and Aaron Copland. Allen married Norma Bertolami, a concert pianist and sister of the concert violinist Viviane Bertolami Kirkwood.

Career

Sapp joined the Harvard music faculty in 1950. After a brief appointment at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

(1958–61), he was appointed Chair of the music department at the University of Buffalo (later, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo). While at Buffalo, Sapp presided over many significant projects promoting contemporary music and art, including the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts (with Lukas Foss), and helped build a significant music faculty including the Budapest String Quartet, musicologists

Jeremy Noble Jeremy Noble may refer to: * Jeremy Noble (musicologist) Jeremy Noble (27 March 1930 – 30 June 2017) was an English musicologist and music critic. His career comprised two fields, musicological scholarship and music criticism. In the forme ...

and James McKinnon, and music librarians James B. Coover and

Carol June Bradley Carol June Bradley (August 12, 1934 – July 27, 2009) was an American music librarian. Early life and education Bradley was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, the daughter of George Albert Bradley and Alice Bolinger Bradley. Her father was a ...

. He also served as director of major national arts initiatives, including the American Council for the Arts in Education (1972–74), and Project Arts/Worth (1971–74). Sapp served as Provost of Florida State University (1975–78), and as Dean of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM) from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 through the mid-1990s Sapp remained on the faculty of CCM as "Professor of Music," teaching a wide range of courses from music analysis to the history of music theory, and various seminars on special topics. He also taught composition and musicianship in private sessions. The first president of the board of directors of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Sapp retired from his position as professor of composition at the University of Cincinnati in 1993.

Death

Sapp died from heart failure at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio on Monday, January 4, 1999 at the age of 76."Composer, professor Allen Sapp dies, 76," ''The Ithaca Journal'', January 8, 1999.

Bibliography

* Curtin, David. ''The Piano Music of Allen Dwight Sapp.'' D.M.A. diss, Univ. of Cincinnati, 1999. * Green, Alan. ''Allen Sapp: A Bio-Bibliography'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996). * Green, Alan, ed. ''Allen Sapp: Piano Sonatas I-IV'' (Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2021). * Green, Alan, ed. ''Allen Sapp: Violin Sonatas I-IV and Viola Sonata'' (Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2024). * Hogan, Charles. "The Piano Sonatas of Allen Sapp: A Study of Style and Language." D.M.A. diss, Univ. of Cincinnati, 2010. * Pollack, Howard. "Favored Sons: Robert Middleton and Allen Sapp." In ''Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and His Students from Elliott Carter to Frederic Rzewski'' (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1992), 208–30.

Discography

* Bloom, Sara Lambert. ''Premiere Chamber Works'' (Centaur, 1995). * Gelland, Martin, and Lennart Wallin. ''Lyrische Aspekte Unseres Jahrhunderts'' (Vienna Modern Masters, 1995). * Lockhart, Keith (Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra). ''Allen Sapp'' (CRI, 1997). * Vassiliadis, Lambis. ''Allen Sapp: Piano Sonatas'' os. 2-4(Koch Discover International, 1996).

References

External links

Allen Sapp (blog at The Ohio State University)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapp, Allen 1922 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Philadelphia Harvard University alumni American male composers Harvard University faculty Harvard Extension School faculty Wellesley College faculty University at Buffalo faculty Florida State University faculty 20th-century American composers Pupils of Aaron Copland Pupils of Walter Piston Pupils of Irving Fine 20th-century American male musicians