Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American
composer,
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
, pianist,
conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is generally characterized by lyricism in a popular or conservative style which generally eschewed the more experimental progressive trends of
musical modernism. Composer
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
described Moore as a
neoromantic composer who was influenced by American folk music. While several of his works enjoyed popularity during his lifetime, only his folk opera ''
The Ballad of Baby Doe'' (1956) has remained well known into the 21st century.
Moore first created music while a student at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
from 1911 through 1917; writing usually humorous songs in a popular style for school events in addition to creating music for school plays and musical revues. His work composing music for the
Yale Dramatic Association
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the third oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the United ...
,
Elizabethan Club
The Elizabethan Club is a social club at Yale University named for Queen Elizabeth I and her era. Its profile and members tend toward a literary disposition, and conversation is one of the Club's chief purposes.
The Elizabethan Club's collectio ...
, and
Yale Glee Club
The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in ...
drew the attention of Yale music department chair
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradu ...
, who persuaded Moore, then a philosophy major, to pursue a second degree in music composition. After completing that degree in 1917, he served as an officer in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
before pursuing graduate studies in music composition with
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
at the
Schola Cantorum de Paris
The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera.
History
La Schola was founded ...
(1919–1921) and with
Ernest Bloch at the
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
(1921–1922).
Moore began his professional life as the organist and music director for the
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
(CMA) from 1921 through 1925; during which time he also worked professionally as a leading actor with the
Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square whe ...
. His first composition of note, ''Four Museum Pieces'', was originally written for organ in 1922 with its four movements named for works of art in the collection of the CMA. Like many of Moore's compositions, this piece was composed during a summer residency at the
MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...
, an artistic summer residency program which Moore attended for many years; first as a fellow and later as a member of the governing board. Moore arranged the work for orchestra at the MacDowell Colony in 1923, and conducted it's world premiere with the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...
that year. The piece won him a competitive Joseph Pulitzer National Traveling Scholarship which funded further composition studies 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 ...
in Paris in 1926.
In the fall of 1926 Moore joined the music faculty of
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
; beginning a lengthy professional career at Columbia. He was rapidly promoted at Columbia from adjunct faculty to professor and head of the music department at Barnard College in 1927; thanks in large part to the success of his orchestral suite ''The Pageant of P.T. Barnum'' (composed 1924, premiered 1926) which won the
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music ...
composing competition in 1927 and became Moore's first work to be widely programmed in the United States. Moore was director of the
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
orchestra from 1926 through 1935. In 1940 he succeeded
Daniel Gregory Mason
Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic.
Biography
Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...
as chair of the music program at Columbia; a post he held until his retirement in 1962. His roles at Columbia and the MacDowell Colony as well as leadership roles on the governing boards of the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and the
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
made Moore one of the more influential music educators of the mid 20th century.
Moore composed music for the theater, film, ballet and orchestra. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his folk
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
s, beginning with the children's opera '' The Headless Horseman'' (1936) which was widely performed at high schools and colleges throughout the United States during the mid 20th century. His next folk opera to achieve success was ''
The Devil and Daniel Webster
"The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) is a short story by American writer Stephen Vincent Benét. He tells of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is later defended by Daniel Webster, a fictional version of the noted 19th-c ...
'' which premiered on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1939 and was based on the
1936 short story of the same name by
Pulitizer Prize winning poet Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...
. Benét was a close friend of Moore's from Yale, and prior to this opera Moore had already composed several art songs to poems by Benét. Benét served as the opera's librettist, and the work went on to enjoy many stagings by American and European opera companies and at universities and conservatories during the 20th century. Moore's
Symphony No. 2 in A major (1945) was composed in memory of Stephen Vincent Benét who died in 1943 at the age of 44.
Moore was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...
for the opera ''
Giants in the Earth'' in 1951. His best known work, ''
The Ballad of Baby Doe'', premiered at the
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932 by Julie Penrose and Anne Evans. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Ce ...
in 1956 and received a critically lauded production at the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
(NYCO) in 1958. The NYCO recorded the opera with
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s.
Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned f ...
in the title role. It has remained a part of the standard opera repertory. As an author he penned two books on music, ''Listening to Music'' (1932) and ''From Madrigal to Modern Music'' (1942).
Life
Early life (1893–1911)
Douglas Stuart Moore was born on August 10, 1893 in
Cutchogue,
Long Island,
New York in the farmhouse of his grandfather, Joseph Hull Moore (1817–1904), where both his father and brothers were also born.
He was the youngest child of Stuart Hull Moore (1854–1915) and Myra Drake (1856–1933); both of whom descended from the first colonial English settlers to America.
He had two older brothers, Arthur and Eliot, and an older sister, Dorothy.
His father's ancestor Thomas Moore (1615–1691) originally settled in Connecticut but moved to
Southold, New York
The Town of Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 23,732 at the 2020 census. The town also contains a ha ...
on Long Island in 1640.
His mother was a descendent of both
Myles Standish and
John Alden
John Alden (c. 1598 - September 12, 1687) was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, US. He was hired in Sou ...
who traveled to America on the ''
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
''.
[McBride, p. 2] His father built another nearby home for his family on the Moore family's farm, named Quawksnest, in which Moore and his family spent their summers.
[McBride, pp. 1–2] As an adult Moore lived on the family's Cutchogue property until his death in 1969.
He resided in a cottage named Salt Meadow which was originally a garage and clubhouse before being converted into a home for Moore in 1933.
Moore's father made a living as a publisher of among other things the literary magazine ''Ladies' World''; a business which he sold to
S. S. McClure upon his retirement in 1913.
While not in Cutchogue, the Moore family resided in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, at a house located at 43 McDonough Street until 1914 when the family moved into a Brooklyn apartment building at the corner of Van Buren Street and Sumner Avenue.
The family also owned a summer home in
Pasadena, California which was purchased after Stuart Moore sold his business.
While there were no professional musicians in Moore's family, his mother was an amateur pianist who also sang in the women's chorus of Brooklyn's Chaminade Society (CS).
At his mother's insistence, Moore began his music education at the age of seven with the conductor of the CS chorus, Emma Richardson Kuster, who began giving him piano lessons in 1900.
He later was a piano student of Beverly Day.
His father enjoyed playing
pianola rolls in the family home during his youth.
Moore attended elementary school at the
Adelphi Academy (now Adelphi University) in Brooklyn which was operated at that time by
Charles Herbert Levermore
Charles Herbert Levermore (October 15, 1856 – October 20, 1927) was an American academic and peace activist. He was a founder and the first president of Adelphi University from 1896 to 1912. He won the American Peace Award in 1924. He was corresp ...
.
[McBride, p. 3] At the age of 13 he matriculated to the
Fessenden School
The Fessenden School is an independent day (Pre-K – Grade 9) and boarding school (Grades 5 – 9) for boys, founded in 1903 by Frederick J. Fessenden as a school for the intellectually gifted, and located at 250 Waltham Street, West Newton, M ...
, a boys boarding school in
West Newton, Massachusetts
West Newton is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States.
Among the oldest of the thirteen Newton villages, the West Newton Village Center is a National Register Historic District. ...
which he attended for the 1906–1907 academic year. After this, he completed the last four years of his college preparatory education at the
Hotchkiss School in
Lakeville, Connecticut
Lakeville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, close to Dutchess County, New York. It is within the town of Salisbury, but has its own ZIP Code (06039). As of the 2010 census, the population of Lak ...
from which he graduate in the Spring of 1911.
[McBride, pp. 3–4] At Hotchkiss he made close friendships with several fellow students that would last through adulthood. These included friendships with
Archibald MacLeish, who became a three time
Pulitzer Prize winning poet, writer, and the ninth
Librarian of Congress;
Donald Oenslager Donald Oenslager (March 7, 1902 – June 11, 1975) was an American scenic designer who won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.
Biography
Oenslager was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and attended Harvard University, graduating in 1923. He beca ...
, who became a
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
winning scenic designer;
Henry Luce, who founded the magazines ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'', and ''
Fortune''; and Emily Bailey, whom Moore eventually married in 1920.
Yale University (1911–1917)
Moore entered
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
as a college freshman in the fall of 1911 alongside his Hotchkiss friend Archibald MacLeish.
[McBride, p. 4] At Yale he composed songs for school events which demonstrated a talent for writing music within a popular style.
He quickly gained a reputation at Yale for writing humorous songs; one of which, "Naomi: The Restaurant Queen", was performed by actress Ethel Green in her vaudeville act and was published by Charles F. Smith in 1912.
[McBride, p. 5] Of the other songs he wrote while at Yale, the most well known is the Yale
fight song
A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
"Goodnight, Harvard" which he composed in 1913.
This song has been recorded by several artists, including
Rudy Vallée
Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type.
Early life
Hubert Prior Vall ...
.
He also wrote another fight song, "Parabalou", in 1912.
Moore was a member of the
Yale Glee Club
The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in ...
from 1913 through 1915; succeeding
Cole Porter as the ensemble's "soloist and stunt man".
With the glee club he often starred in comedy acts that contained music that he had composed.
He was also a member of the banjo and mandolin club, and notably composed ''Concerto for Piano and mandolins'' which he premiered on campus as the pianist.
In May 1914 he became a member of the
Wolf's Head secret society.
He also performed in stage plays with the
Yale Dramatic Association
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the third oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the United ...
and the
Elizabethan Club
The Elizabethan Club is a social club at Yale University named for Queen Elizabeth I and her era. Its profile and members tend toward a literary disposition, and conversation is one of the Club's chief purposes.
The Elizabethan Club's collectio ...
.
Yale being an all-male school at that time, he often portrayed female characters on stage in drag, such as Mabel Chilters in
Oscar Wilde's ''
An Ideal Husband''.
Moore developed close friendships with several fellow students in these performance groups, including
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...
,
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...
, and Cole Porter.
Originally a philosophy major, Moore didn't begin formal music studies at Yale until the fall 1913 semester when he became a pupil of
David Stanley Smith who was one of his principal music teachers at Yale.
His other principal teacher at Yale was
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradu ...
, who encouraged Moore to focus his music studies on composition after Parker heard works composed by Moore for the
Yale Dramatic Club
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the third oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the United ...
's productions of
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
's ''
Quentin Durward
''Quentin Durward'' is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1823. The story concerns a Scottish archer in the service of the French King Louis XI (1423–1483) who plays a prominent part in the narrative.
Compositi ...
'' and
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
'' in 1914.
For those productions Moore served as conductor.
[McBride, p. 6] He earned two degrees from Yale University, a B.A. in Philosophy in 1915, and a B.M. in music composition in 1917.
For his final graduate project he conducted his orchestral composition ''Fantaisie Polonaise''.
[McBride, p. 7] One of Moore's composition classmates at Yale was
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...
.
While a student at Yale, Moore's father died in Pasadena on 18 April 1915.
His father was a millionaire, and left Moore a considerable fortune which allowed him to freely pursue his music interests and live comfortably with the services of a butler and cook for the rest of his life.
In the summer of 1916 he was a fellow at the
MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...
, and he later returned to MacDowell multiple times during his career.
War Service, Paris studies, and marriage (1917–1921)
Moore further utilized his song writing skillset while serving in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
for two years during the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as a lieutenant from 1917 through 1919; writing songs to entertain his fellow servicemen in the Navy.
One of these songs, "Destroyer Life", appeared in the 1928 anthology ''Songs My Mother Never Taught Me'' which Moore co-authored with
John Jacob Niles
John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...
; bringing Moore his first recognition as a songwriter.
Other songs penned by Moore from this era included "Santy Anna", "When I Lays Down", "Ate My Breakfast", "Hanging Johnnie", and "Jail Song"; many of them humorous accounts of life in the navy or about romantic liaisons with local women while on shore leave.
[McBride, p. 7] He also wrote music to several poems by his friend MacLeish during this time.
His songs demonstrated music influences from
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
,
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
, American folk tunes, and
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...
s.
After leaving the Navy, Moore pursued graduate studies at the
Schola Cantorum de Paris
The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera.
History
La Schola was founded ...
from 1919 through 1921 where his teachers included
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
(composition) and
Charles Tournemire
Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...
(organ).
Tournemire left his teaching post in 1920; and Moore completed his organ studies 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 ...
.
[McBride, p. 8] From D'Indy, Moore gained a compositional style similar to
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
who had been D'Indy's teacher.
While his music later moved in other directions beyond this style, Moore credited D'Indy for giving him a grounding in musical form from which he composed during the rest of his career.
While a student in Paris, Moore returned to the United States to wed Emily Bailey, a close friend since his Hotchkiss days, on 16 September 1920 at
Martha's Vineyard.
They spent their honeymoon sailing the eastern coast of the United States before returning as a couple to Paris.
In France, the couple were at the center of a social group of American artists all studying in Paris. These included his old Yale friend
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...
, composer
Quincy Porter
William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music.
Biography
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...
, and pianist Bruce Simonds (who was later head of the music department at Yale) among others.
Emily gave birth to the couple's first child, Mary, in Paris on 7 July 1921.
Cleveland and return to Paris (1921–1926)
From 1921 through 1925 Moore worked as the curator of music at the
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
(CMA), and concurrently served as organist at
Adelbert College of Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) from 1923 through 1925.
At the CMA he gave weekly organ concerts on the CMA's McMyler Memorial Organ which was built by
Ernest M. Skinner during his first year with the museum in 1921, and then installed in 1922.
In addition to performing these concerts, his other CMA duties included directing a children's music program of regular weekly classes, giving public lectures on music history and appreciation, and coordinating a chamber music concert series.
He used his position at the CMA to champion American composers and their music through programming their works.
[McBride, p. 9]
During his time at CMA, Moore continued his education through continued composition studies with
Ernest Bloch in his masterclass at the
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
in 1921–1922.
His classmates included composers Theodore Chandler,
Quincy Porter
William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music.
Biography
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...
,
Bernard Rogers, and
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...
.
[McBride, p. 10] Moore thrived under Bloch more so than his earlier composition teachers.
Bloch encouraged Moore and his classmates to compose music in their own aesthetic and style rather than conform to a specific aesthetic for their assignments.
Moore also worked as a leading actor at the
Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square whe ...
(CPH) in the 1920s.
Roles he portrayed at this theater included Reverend Cyril Smith in
G. K. Chesterton's ''
Magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
'' (1922–1923 season); Henry Higgins in
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's ''
Pygmalion'' (1923–1924 season); Geoffrey Wareham in Harry Wagstaff Gribble's ''March Hares'' (1923; and later reprised in 1928); and the title role in
Clare Kummer
Clare Kummer (January 9, 1873 — April 21, 1958) was an American composer, lyricist, and playwright.
Early life
Kummer was born Clare Rodman Beecher in Brooklyn, New York, the granddaughter of Rev. Edward Beecher and great-granddaughter of Lym ...
's ''
Rollo's Wild Oat''.
His experiences performing at the CPH later informed his work creating pieces for the stage.
Reviews of his performances were highly positive, and for a time Moore considered abandoning his career in music and pursuing an acting career.
Moore made his first significant professional contribution as a composer and conductor on November 15, 1923; conducting the premiere of his ''Four Museum Pieces'' with the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...
.
[McBride, p. 11] That work had originally been composed by Moore for organ while in attendance at the MacDowell Colony in the summer of 1922, and, after encouragement from
Daniel Gregory Mason
Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic.
Biography
Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...
, was orchestrated by Moore at the MacDowell Colony in the summer of 1923.
Moore titled each movement after a work of art in the collection of the CMA.
During these summers at MacDowell, Moore also composed several art songs to poems by Stephen Vincent Benét ("A Nonsense Song" and "A Sad Song"), Archibald MacLeish ("April Weather"), and
Elinor Wylie
Elinor Morton Wylie (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensu ...
("The Apple Boughs Bend"); all of which were performed at MacDowell with the poets in attendance.
In 1926 Moore joined the board of directors of the
Edward MacDowell Association which ran the MacDowell Colony among other things.
In 1923 Moore met and befriended the poet
Vachel Lindsay
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (; November 10, 1879 – December 5, 1931) was an American poet. He is considered a founder of modern ''singing poetry,'' as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted.
Early years
Lindsay was bor ...
; a relationship which had a significant impact on the future trajectory of Moore's compositional focus.
Lindsay persuaded Moore to write music using American culture and history as its inspiration, and from this point on Moore's compositional output was mostly based on American subjects or themes for the rest of his life. His first American themed work was the symphonic piece ''Pageant of P.T. Barnum'' (composed 1924).
Well received at its premiere by the Cleveland Orchestra under
Nikolai Sokoloff on 28 March 1926, this work was the first piece by Moore to bring the composer recognition among the broader public.
The piece enjoyed a great deal of popularity in America during the mid 20th century, but has since been programmed infrequently.
He also composed the ''104th Cavalry Regiment March'' in 1924 in honor of the
regiment of the same name of the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard
The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylvan ...
; a work later arranged for band by Joseph C. Painter.
[McBride, p. 12] In 1925 he composed incidental music for a production of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'' on a commission from
Richard Boleslawski
Richard Boleslawski (born Bolesław Ryszard Srzednicki; February 4, 1889 – January 17, 1937) was a Polish theatre and film director, actor and teacher of acting.
Biography
Richard Boleslawski was born Bolesław Ryszard Srzednicki on February ...
's
American Laboratory Theatre
The American Laboratory Theatre was an American drama school and theatrical company located in New York City that existed during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a publicly subsidized, student-subscription organization that held fund-raising campaign ...
(ALT).
He continued to compose incidental music for the ALT in succeeding years for productions of ''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' and
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter.
He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...
's ''
The Road to Rome
''The Road to Rome'' is a play by American author Robert Sherwood. The plot revolves around Hannibal's attempt to capture Rome during the Second Punic War. It was Sherwood's first published play.
The play opened on Jan. 31, 1927 at the Playh ...
'' in 1927.
From the autumn of 1925 through the spring of 1926 Moore studied composition with Boulanger in Paris after being awarded a Joseph Pulitzer National Traveling Scholarship in recognition of his ''Four Museum Pieces''.
[McBride, p. 14] While Moore had a positive experience as an organ pupil of Boulanger, his compositional studies were not happy ones under her tutelage. His interests in sentimental American subjects, opera, musical theatre, folk music, and a penchant for more conservative melodic writing clashed with Boulanger's progressive aesthetic of
musical modernism.
Moore stated the following about Boulanger:
"We never got along in composition. She didn't like what I could do and I didn't like what she taught. She was a devotee of Fauré and Stravinsky. She didn't want you to be yourself."
As a result, Moore's time with Boulanger was not productive; with only a few small chamber pieces for woodwinds surviving.
However, Moore did gain from Boulanger a stronger grounding in counterpoint and general musicianship skills, and he met several esteemed musicians in Boulanger's circle which proved to be valuable professional contacts in his career.
He also devoted time to some vocal works while in Paris; although it is not clear if Boulanger had any input into these works.
The most important of these was the ''Ballad of William Sycmamore'' which used text by Stephen Vincent Benét, and was scored for baritone voice, flute, trombone, and piano.
[McBride, p. 15] He also worked on his first stage work while in Paris, the musical ''Oh, Oh, Tennessee'', but the work has never been published or performed.
Columbia University (1926–1962)
After Moore returned to New York from Paris, he joined the music faculty at
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in the Fall of 1926.
The success of the ''Pageant of P.T. Barnum'' upon its New York career at
Carnegie Hall on January 18, 1927 and the work's win of the 1927
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music ...
Orchestra Contest had a positive impact on Moore's career at Columbia.
[McBride, p. 17] He was rapidly promoted from adjunct faculty member to assistant professor at the wider Columbia University and head of the music department at Barnard College specifically on July 1, 1927.
From 1926 through 1935 Moore was the conductor of Columbia University's orchestra.
[McBride, p. 16] Under his leadership, Moore was instrumental in instituting several new policies in the music program at Columbia. These included giving students college credit for playing in the orchestra and taking music lessons for the first time, opening up the orchestra to women players for the first time, and instituting scholarships for instrumentalists in the orchestra that were difficult to obtain (such as oboists and bassoonists).
[McBride, p. 18] In addition to his busy schedule administrating the music program and conducting orchestra rehearsals and concerts, Moore taught courses in music appreciation. This latter work led to the publication of his first book, ''Listening to Music'' (1932), which was written for a general audience without any music background.
The book explained the basic elements of music: melody, harmony, polyphony, tonality, rhythm, and form with a suggested guide to recordings for listening and further reading.
It was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, music textbooks to incorporate music recordings into the text.
In 1940 Moore succeeded
Daniel Gregory Mason
Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic.
Biography
Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...
as head of the music faculty at Columbia; a post he held for the next 22 years.
During his tenure he served as the administering secretary of the
Alice M. Ditson Fund which was responsible for funding works by composers like
Béla Bartók,
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
,
Gian Carlo Menotti,
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
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
among others. He retired from Columbia in 1962 after having taught at that institution for 36 years.
Moore was a member from 1941 of the
National Institute and American Academy of Arts and Letters. He served as President from 1953 until 1956. In 1954 he was a co-founder, with
Otto Luening
Otto Clarence Luening (June 15, 1900 – September 2, 1996) was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music.
Luening was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to German parents, Eugene, a conduct ...
and
Oliver Daniel, of the
CRI
CRI or CRi may refer to:
Organizations
* Canadian Rivers Institute, for river sciences, University of New Brunswick
* Cancer Research Institute, New York, US
* Centro de Relaciones Internacionales (International Relations Center), Universidad N ...
(Composers Recordings, Inc.) record label.
His second book was,''From Madrigal to Modern Music'' (1942).
Work as a composer (1926–1966)
1926–1929
During his time at Columbia, Moore remained active as a composer; writing works with American themes. The first major work he composed during this time was the
symphonic poem ''Moby-Dick'' (1928); which told the story of
Melville's
1851 novel of the same name through music.
This is one of the few compositions by Moore which attempted to embrace elements of musical modernism with applications of
quartal and quintal harmony
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths ...
,
polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key ...
, frequent
metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
changes, increased dissonance, and atonality; all techniques not usually found in Moore's works.
The work was likely an attempt to utilize techniques learned by Moore from Boulanger, and an attempt to write in a style currently in vogue with his contemporaries.
Premiered by the
Rochester Philharmonic
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music.
History
George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Compan ...
, the work was not well received, and Moore never again chose to create a piece in this modernist style.
In 1928 Moore co-authored a collection of songs from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
with
John Jacob Niles
John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...
entitled ''Songs My Mother Never Taught Me''. The anthology included mainly anonymous songs from the army and navy which were arranged by the two men; but also included some original music from Moore's songwriting days while in the navy.Moore also contributed the children's songs "The Cupboard" and "Fingers and Toes" to the 1928 anthology ''New Songs for New Voices''.
Moore also composed music for a planned play on American outlaw
Jesse James for the ALT that year, but financial issues ultimately prevented that project from making it to the stage. His 1929 ''Violin sonata'' was written for violinist Hildegarde Donaldson.
1930s
In the summer of 1930 on the Moore family farm in Cutchogue, Moore began composing his first symphony: ''A Symphony of Autumn'' in three movements.
Completed in 1931, the symphony was dedicated to composer and conductor
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...
who conducted the Rochester Philharmonic in the work's premiere on April 2, 1931.
[McBride, p. 19] The symphony incorporates programmatic elements while maintaining a traditional symphonic form; although the work omits the
scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...
movement.
Moore conducted the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of his ''Overture on an American Tune'' on December 11, 1932. The work was originally titled ''Babbitt'' after the
1922 novel of the same name by
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...
. Program notes at the work's premiere indicate that the piece was meant to express musical ideas inspired by the "maligned" title character of the novel.
Utilizing a
sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
structure, the overture uses the tune "
Sweet Adeline" by
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
composer
Henry W. Armstrong as a
motif.
Moore develops the melody to this tune using the techniques of
augmentation,
diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series ...
, and
retrograde.
Moore's ''String quartet'' was premiered by the Arion String Quartet at Barnard College on November 16, 1933, just two weeks before the death of his mother in Pasadena on December 1, 1933.
The string quartet was dedicated to the Roth Quartet and is written in Moore's characteristic melodic style with effective use of countermelodies and modal harmony.
[McBride, p. 20]
In 1934 Moore was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship which enabled him to spend time in Bermuda composing his first opera, ''White Wings'', after the 1926 Broadway play by dramatist
Philip Barry.
Moore had seen the work on Broadway, and was one of several composers interested in adapting work with a music setting; among them
Kurt Weil.
Two of Moore's old school friends, magazine magnate and Hotchkiss alumnus Henry Luce and poet and Yale alumnus
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...
, were instrumental in convincing Barry to select Moore to adapt the play as an opera.
The work was supposed to be mounted by the
Federal Theatre Project in 1935, but a union strike by workers put an end to the planned staging.
[McBride, p. 22] The overture for the opera was premiered by the
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra in June 1935; but a staging of the opera did not happen until fourteen years later when it was mounted by
The Hartt School
The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...
on February 10, 1949.
Conflicts with Barry and his widow prevented the opera from being published.
In 1936 ethnomusicologist and music educator
Willard Rhodes, then music director for the
Bronxville Union Free School District
Bronxville Union Free School District is a public school district serving the Village of Bronxville, Westchester County, New York. In 2012, 1635 students were enrolled in the district elementary, middle and high school which are all housed wi ...
, commissioned Moore to write an
operetta based on
Mayne Reid
Thomas Mayne Reid (4 April 1818 – 22 October 1883) was an Irish-American novelist, who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). His many works on American life describe colonial policy in the American colonies, the horrors of slave ...
's 1866 novel ''
The Headless Horseman''. Written in the style of
Gilbert and Sullivan, the Bronxville High School presented the world premiere of the work on March 5, 1937. Stephen Vincent Benet wrote the libretto to the work. This opera was regularly performed at American high schools and universities during the 20th century.
Moore and Benet collaborated again on the folk opera ''
The Devil and Daniel Webster
"The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) is a short story by American writer Stephen Vincent Benét. He tells of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is later defended by Daniel Webster, a fictional version of the noted 19th-c ...
'' (1939) which was adapted from Benet's
1936 novel of the same name. Composed in the years 1937 through 1939, the work premiered at
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
's
Martin Beck Theatre on 18 May 1939 in a double bill with
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
's ''Filling Station''.
1940s
1950s
Moore was also influenced by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
, developed by African Americans. This is most readily apparent in his operas. ''
The Ballad of Baby Doe'' has several rag elements (a honky-tonk piano is used extensively in the first scene). In his "soap opera" ''Gallantry'' (1950), the commercials for Lochinvar soap and Billy Boy wax are sung in a blueslike fashion. The ''allegretto'' from his
second symphony has been described as having an almost
neoclassical style.
Douglas Moore's music has been described as having a "modesty, grace and tender lyricism", especially marking the slower passages of many works, especially his ''Symphony in A major'' and the clarinet quintet. The faster movements of these works have "robust, jovial and a somewhat terpsichorean quality." Most of Moore's energy was devoted to music for opera rather than to orchestral works.
The novel ''
Giants in the Earth'' was written by a Norwegian American and first published in Norwegian in 1921–1922. Moore composed music after the 1927 English translation of this work about Scandinavian settlers on the
Great Plains was adapted as an opera. He won the 1951
Pulitzer Prize for Music for this work.
1960s
Selected works
Stage works
*''Oh, Oh, Tennessee'', musical comedy (1925)
*''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'', incidental music (1925)
*''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'', incidental music (1927)
*''The Road to Rome'', incidental music (1927)
*''Jesse James'' (1928)
*''Greek Games'', ballet (1930)
*''White Wings'', chamber opera (1935)
*''The Headless Horseman'', operetta (1936)
*''
The Devil and Daniel Webster
"The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) is a short story by American writer Stephen Vincent Benét. He tells of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is later defended by Daniel Webster, a fictional version of the noted 19th-c ...
'', folk opera (1939)
*''The Emperor's New Clothes'', children's opera (1948)
*''Puss in Boots'', children's operetta (1950)
*''
Giants in the Earth'', opera (1951)
*''
The Ballad of Baby Doe'', opera (1956)
*''
Gallantry
Gallantry may refer to:
* military courage or bravery
* Chivalry
* Warrior ethos
* Knightly Piety Knightly Piety refers to a specific strand of Christian belief espoused by knights during the Middle Ages. The term comes from ''Ritterfrömmigkei ...
'', a "soap opera" (1958)
*''
The Wings of the Dove
''The Wings of the Dove'' is a 1902 novel by Henry James. It tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honourable ...
'', opera (1961), based on 1902 eponymous novel by
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
*''The Greenfield Christmas Tree'' (1962)
*''
Carry Nation'', opera (1966)
Orchestral works
* ''Four Museum Pieces'' (1923)
* ''The Pageant of
P. T. Barnum'', suite (1924)
* ''Moby Dick'', symphonic poem (1928)
* ''A Symphony of Autumn'' (1930–31)
[McBride, p. 19]
* ''Overture on an American Tune'' (1932)
* ''Village Music'', suite (1941)
* ''
In memoriam'' (1943)
* ''Down East suite'', also arranged for violin and piano (1944)
*
Symphony No. 2 in A major (1945)
* ''Farm Journal'', suite (1947)
* ''Cotillion Suite'' (1952)
Chamber works
* Violin sonata (1929)
* String quartet (1933)
* Quintet for woodwinds and horn (1942)
*
Quintet for clarinet and strings (1946)
* Piano trio (1953)
Film music
* ''Power in the Land'' (1940, material later used for ''Farm Journal'' in 1947)
* ''Youth Gets a Break'' (1940)
* ''Bip Goes to Town'' (1941)
Organ
*Prelude and Fugue(composed from 1919–1922)
*March (1922)
*''4 Museum Pieces'' (1922)
*Scherzo (1923)
Piano
*''3 Contemporaries: Careful Etta, Grievin' Annie, Fiddlin' Joe (composed 1935–40)
*''4 Museum Piece'' (1939)
*''Passacaglia'' suite (1948)
*''4 Pieces'' (1955)
*''Dance for a Holiday'' (1957)
*Prelude (1957)
*''Summer Holiday'' (1961)
Choral works
*''Perhaps to Dream'' (S. V. Benét), SSA chorus (1937)
*''Simon Legree'' (V. Lindsay), TTBB (1937)
*''Dedication'' (A. MacLeish), SSATBB chorus (1938)
*''Prayer for England'', TTBB chorus (1940)
*''Prayer for the United Nations'' (S.V. Benét), A/Bar, chorus (1943)
*''Westren Winde'', canon (1946)
*Vayechulu (Heb.), cantor, chorus, org, (1947–8)
*''Birds' Courting Song'', tenor soloist and chorus (1953)
*''The Mysterious Cat'' (1960)
*''Mary's Prayer'', soprano soloist and SSA chorus (1962)
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
Finding aid to Douglas Moore papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.The Ballad of Baby Doe web sitefro
usopera.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Douglas
1893 births
1969 deaths
20th-century classical composers
Columbia University faculty
American opera composers
American organists
Male opera composers
American male classical composers
American classical composers
Pulitzer Prize for Music winners
Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni
People from Cutchogue, New York
Hotchkiss School alumni
Yale University alumni
Pupils of Vincent d'Indy
Pupils of Ernest Bloch
20th-century American composers
Classical musicians from New York (state)
20th-century American male musicians
Fessenden School alumni