Francesco Mariano D'Auria (1841-1919) was an Italian conductor,

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 ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. He began his career in his native country but after 1881 he was active in North America. Some of his more well known compositions include the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s ''The Sea King's Bride'' (1890), ''Crusader's Ransom'' (1891), and ''Gulnare'' (1892); the latter of which is considered his best and most innovative work. A number of his songs were published by Abraham Nordheimer between 1888–1893 and Whaley Royce published one of his

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

Life and career

Born in Naples, D'Auria began his career as a conductor in his native country in the 1860s. He toured to the United States in 1881-1882 as the conductor for

Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was an Italian 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her la ...

's concert tour. He liked the country so much that he immigrated to the United States soon after, working as a conductor in New York City and Cincinnati in the mid-1880s. In 1887, D'Auria moved to Canada to join the voice faculty of the

Toronto Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

where he taught for 8 years. Among his notable pupils there were

W. H. Hewlett William Henry Hewlett (16 January 1873 – 13 June 1940) was a Canadian organist, conducting, conductor, composer, and music educator of English birth. Early life and education Born in Batheaston, Hewlett was a Boy soprano, treble in the choir a ...

, Edith Jane Miller, and J. D. A. Tripp. In 1890, he formed and conducted the short lived Toronto Symphony Orchestra (no relation to the current orchestra of that name) which gave several concerts during the early 1890s but disbanded due to financial reasons. In 1895, he joined the faculty of the Winnipeg Conservatory where he remained for two years. D'Auria returned to the United States in 1897, living and working as a music teacher and conductor in Minneapolis for several years. He returned to Canada in 1904, settling in Vancouver where he was active as a teacher and choir conductor. The Vancouver Daily World reported of his death on August 24, 1919, at St. Paul's Hospital, and the Vancouver Province ran an obituary on August 25, where it states that he left a widow and two children, soprano Margherita D'Auria-Eaton and Captain Victor D'Auria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauria, Francesco 1841 births Italian conductors (music) Italian male conductors (music) Italian composers Italian male composers The Royal Conservatory of Music faculty 1919 deaths Musicians from Naples