Halsey Stevens (December 3, 1908 – January 20, 1989) was a

music professor A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, and

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 American music.

Life

Halsey Stevens was born in

Scott, New York Scott is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The population was 1,176 at the 2010 census. The town was named after General Winfield Scott. It is in the northwestern corner of Cortland County and is northwest of the City of Cortlan ...

and educated at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He studied with

William Berwald William Henry Berwald (1864–1948) was an American composer and conductor of German origin. He published some 400 compositions and won numerous prizes, including the Manuscript Music Society in 1901, the Clemson Gold Medal in 1913, the Prosser ...

at Syracuse and with the composer

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

at Berkeley. Stevens served as a faculty member at

(1935–1937),

Dakota Wesleyan University Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) is a private Methodist university in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was founded in 1885 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly fewer than 800 students. The campus of th ...

(1937–1941),

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

(1941–1946), the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

(1946), and then at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

from 1946 until his retirement in 1976. His notable students there included Charles Lloyd,

Houston Bright Robert Houston Bright (January 21, 1916 – December 8, 1970) was a composer of Music of the United States, American music, known primarily for his choral works. The best-known of these is an original spiritual "I Hear a Voice A-Prayin'," but he wr ...

Benjamin Lees Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924 – May 31, 2010) was an American composer of classical music. Early life Lees was born Benjamin George Lisniansky in Harbin, Manchuria, of Russian-Jewish descent. Lees was still an infant when his family emigra ...

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus ...

, and

Williametta Spencer Williametta Spencer (born August 15, 1927) is a composer, musicologist, and teacher who plays harpsichord, organ, and piano. She is best known for her award-winning choral work ''At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners''. Life and career Spencer w ...

. He died in a

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, medical facility on January 20, 1989, after a long battle with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Music

His recorded music includes, in chronological order of composition: * "Go, Lovely Rose," for mixed chorus (SATB) a cappella (1942) * ''Quintet for Flute, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello'' (1945) * ''Symphony No. 1'' (1945) * ''Three Inventions for Piano'' (1948) * ''Sonata for French Horn and Piano'' (1953) * ''Triskelion,'' for orchestra (1953) * ''Five Duos for Two Cellos'' (1954) * ''Intrada for Piano'' (1954) * "Like as the Culver on the Barèd Bough," for mixed chorus (SSATB) a cappella (1954) * ''Partita for Harpsichord'' (1954) * ''The Ballad of William Sycamore,'' for mixed chorus (SATB) and orchestra (1955) * ''Sonata for Trumpet and Piano'' (1956) * ''Sonata Piacevole'' for recorder and harpsichord (1956) * ''Sinfonia Breve,'' for orchestra (1957) * ''Symphonic Dances'' (1958) * ''Sonata for naccompaniedCello'' (1958) * ''Sonatina for Tuba r Bass Tromboneand Piano'' (1960) * ''Sonata for Trombone and Piano'' (1965) * '' Campion Suite,'' for mixed chorus (SATB) a cappella (1967) * ''Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra'' (1969) along with many other works. Among his chamber works, Stevens's 1956 trumpet sonata remains a particular favorite, having been commercially recorded by over a half-dozen trumpeters, includin
Giuseppe Galante
Jouko Harjanne, David Hickman,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

Anthony Plog Anthony Plog (born November 13, 1947) is an American conductor, composer and trumpet player. Life Plog was born in Glendale, California, United States. He is a fellow of the Music Academy of the West where he attended in 1968. From 2006 to 2007 ...

, Scott Thornburg, and George Vosburgh. A present-day music reviewer, Osvaldo Polatkan, sought in 2008 to convey something of the composer's models, influences, and mature style thus:

Writings

A Bartók scholar and musicologist, Stevens wrote a definitive study of the Hungarian composer, ''The Life and Music of Béla Bartók'' (Oxford University Press, 1953; revised edition, 1964). "Mr. Stevens' book... makes one want to rehear the Bartok works in the light of what the author has found in them," observed eminent fellow composer

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

. "That is praise indeed for any book on music."Copland, Aaron, in ''The New York Times''; May 3, 1953
"Essence Remained."
Retrieved November 15, 2012. Stevens also contributed scholarly articles to ''Musical Quarterly'', ''The Journal of Music Theory'', ''Music and Letters'' (London), ''Tempo'' (London), ''Énekszós'' (Budapest), ''Musikoloski Zborník'' (Ljubljana), among other journals.

References

Sources

Composer biography at Halsey Stevens.com
Accessed November 15, 2012.

External links

Official web site
dedicated to Halsey Stevens and his music (published under the Editio Helios colophon); operated by Stevens family members. Accessed November 15, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Halsey 1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Syracuse University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Syracuse University faculty Dakota Wesleyan University faculty Bradley University faculty University of Redlands faculty University of Southern California faculty People from Scott, New York American writers about music 20th-century American non-fiction writers Pupils of Ernest Bloch 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American composers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male musicians Bartók scholars