Frederick Shepherd Converse (January 5, 1871 – June 8, 1940), was an American

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 ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, whose works include four operas and five symphonies.

Life and career

Converse was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Edmund Winchester and Charlotte Augusta (Shepherd) Converse. His father was a successful merchant, and president of the National Tube Works and the Conanicut Mills. Frederick Converse's higher education was at Harvard College, where he came under the influence of the composer John K. Paine. Converse had already received instruction in piano playing, and the study of musical theory was a most important part of his college course. Upon his graduation in 1893, his violin sonata (op. 1) was performed and won him highest honors in music. After six months of business life, for which his father had intended him, he returned to the study of composing,

Carl Baermann Carl Baermann (24 October 1810 – 23 May 1885) was a clarinetist and composer from Munich, Germany. Life and career He was the son of noted clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann and Helene Harlas. As a child he was taught the clarinet and the basse ...

being his teacher in piano, and

George W. Chadwick George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Secon ...

in composition. He then spent two years at the Royal Academy of Music in Munich, where he studied with

Joseph Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liecht ...

, completing the course in 1898. His Symphony in D minor had its first performance on the occasion of his graduation. During 1899–1902, Converse taught harmony at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then joined the faculty of Harvard University as instructor in music, and was appointed assistant professor in 1905. Two years later he resigned, and afterwards devoted himself exclusively to composition. Among Converse's notable students were

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

(1911–2000),

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...

(1888–1953), and

Hisato Ohzawa (August 1, 1907—October 28, 1953), known in Japan as Hisato Ōsawa, was a Japanese composer. His relative neglect today contrasts with the view that he was one of the preeminent Japanese composers of his day. Biography He grew up in ...

(1907-1953). He died in

Westwood, Massachusetts Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West De ...

Family

He married, 6 June 1894, Emma Tudor, daughter of Frederic Tudor of

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

. They had seven children, including five daughters.

Compositions

Even though he was firmly committed to composing in the late

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

idiom of his European contemporaries, his works often dealt with American subjects. The lush orchestral scoring of his program music has been compared to the early style of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

. In 1910, Converse's opera ''

The Pipe of Desire ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' became the first American work ever to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Today, Converse is best known for his

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

The Mystic Trumpeter ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1904), based on the poem of the same name from Walt Whitman's iconic

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

, '' Leaves of Grass''.

With opus number

* Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 1 (pub. 1900) * Suite for piano Op. 2 * String quartet No. 1, Op. 3 * Waltzes for piano 4-hands Op. 4 * ''Valzer poetici'', Op.5, for piano 4-hands (1896) * ''Youth'', Op. 6, concert overture for orchestra * Symphony in D minor, Op. 7 (not counted by Converse with his later symphonies) * ''Festival of Pan'', Op. 9 (first performed by the Boston Symphony Orch., 1899, and by the Queen's Hall Orch. in London, England, 1905.) * ''Endymion's Narrative'', Op. 10 * ''Night'' and ''Day'', Op. 11, two poems for piano and orchestra, suggested by verses by Whitman * ''La Belle Dame sans Merci'', Op. 12, ballad for baritone and orchestra (words by Keats) * Violin concerto, Op. 13 * ''Euphrosyne'', concert overture for orchestra, Op. 16 * String Quartet No. 2, Op. 18 (1905), dedicated to the

Kneisel Quartet The Kneisel Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1885 by violinist Franz Kneisel, then concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It continued to perform until 1917, and was generally considered the leading string quartet of its time in t ...

* ''The Mystic Trumpeter'', Op. 19, orchestral fantasy after Whitman (1904) * ''Iolan or The Pipe of Desire'', Op. 21, romantic opera in one act, text by George Edward Barton.Barton, George Edward (1905)
''The Pipe of Desire and other plays''
. Boston: The Merrymount Press. It has a legendary subject, of Celtic origin, based upon the mingling of the old pagan nature worship and the incoming Christian morality. The story rests upon the principle that man may force the way of his desires against the divine order but that he pays the penalty. The work is an avowed fantasy. First produced January 31, 1906, Jordan Hall, Boston, Massachusetts in 1906, and in 1909 was the first opera by an American composer to be presented at the 'old' Metropolitan Opera House. * ''Laudate Domine'', Op. 22, motet for male chorus, organ, and brasses * ''Jeanne d'Arc'' Op. 23, overture, entr'actes and incidental music to Percy MacKaye's play * ''Job'', Op. 24, a dramatic poem for solo voices, chorus and orchestra * ''Serenade'', Op. 25, for soprano solo, male chorus, and small orchestra * ''Hagar in der Wüste'', Op. 26, dramatic narrative for contralto and orchestra * ''The Sacrifice'', Op. 27, opera in three acts (1910), book by Converse, lyrics by

John Albert Macy John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

after ''Los Gringos, or an Interior View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chile, and Polynesia'' by Lieutenant

Henry Augustus Wise Henry Augustus Wise (May 24, 1819 – April 3, 1869) was an author and United States Navy officer. Biography He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to George Stewart Wise and Catherine Standsberry. The Wise family moved to Virginia and his Naval care ...

, writing as "Harry Gringo". The scene is laid in California at the time of the Mexican War, and the characters, some of whom are Americans, enact a modern tragedy. * Three songs for medium voice, Op. 28 * ''Melody'' for violin and piano, Op. 29 * ''Ormazd'', Op. 30, symphonic poem for full orchestra Converse stopped numbering his works after Op. 30 except for the arrangement for band of ''Laudate Domine'' (Op. 32), My wish (Op. 61), and ''Haul Away, Joe!'', Op. 91.

Without opus number

* Symphony in C minor (written 1919) * Symphony in E minor (fp 1923) * Symphony in F major (written 1934) * Symphony in F minor (completed March 1940) ——— * Sonata for cello & piano * ''Silent Noon'', reverie for cello and piano (1906) * ''Beauty and the Beast, or Sinbad the Sailor, His Adventures with Beauty and the Peacock Lady in the Castle of the Forty Thieves'', opera, libretto by Percy MacKaye (1913) (unperformed) * ''The Immigrants'', opera, libretto by Percy MacKaye (composed 1914) (Planned for the

Boston Opera Company The Boston Opera Company (BOC) was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from 1909 to 1915. History The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russel ...

's 1914-15 season but unperformed because of the collapse of the company) * ''Song of the World Adventurers'', words by Percy MacKaye, chorus for mixed voices (part of the Music for the Masque of St. Louis (pub. 1914) * ''The Peace Pipe'', cantata for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, words from '' Hiawatha'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1915) * '' Flivver Ten Million'' (A Joyous Epic Inspired by the Familiar Legend "The Ten Millionth Ford is Now Serving Its Owner"), tone poem for orchestra (1927) * American Sketches, for orchestra :: Manhattan - The Father of Waters - Chicken Reel - Bright Angel Trail * Tone poem Prophecy, biblical symphony commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky, written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Russian soprano Beata Malkin and dedicated to her (1932). * Piano Sonata No. 1 (1937) * Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra (1938)

References

;Citations ;Sources * * Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages, *

External links

* *
Liner Notes for Naxos CD 8.559116

{{DEFAULTSORT:Converse, Frederick 1871 births 1940 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American Romantic composers Harvard College alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni Musicians from Newton, Massachusetts Pupils of George Whitefield Chadwick Pupils of John Knowles Paine Pupils of Josef Rheinberger 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from Massachusetts 20th-century American male musicians 19th-century American male musicians Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters