Harriet Ware (August 26, 1877 – February 9, 1962) was an American composer, pianist, and music educator.

Early life

Harriet Ware was born in Waupun, Wisconsin, the daughter of Silas Edward Ware and Emily Sperry Ware. She showed musical promise from an early age,"Harriet Ware, Musician, Noted Pianist, Composer"
''Courier-News'' (February 10, 1962): 20. via Newspapers.com and graduated from Pillsbury Conservatory of Music in 1895, with further studies in Paris and Berlin.

Career

Harriet Ware composed songs, choral works, piano pieces, and at least one opera, ''Undine''. Her "Hindu Slumber Song" (1909) and ''Call of Râdha'' (1909) were settings of poems by Sarojini Naidu. She also wrote settings of poems by

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

, Edwin Markham,

Cale Young Rice Cale Young Rice (December 7, 1872 – January 24, 1943) was an American poet and Playwdramatist. He was professor of English at Cumberland University. His opera, ''Yolanda of Cyprus,'' was widely received. Life and career Rice was born in Dixon, ...

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, Richard Lovelace,

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, Joyce Kilmer, and

Marie Van Vorst Marie Louise Van Vorst (November 23, 1867 – December 16, 1936) was an American writer, researcher, painter, and volunteer nurse during World War I. Early life Marie Louise Van Vorst was born in New York City, the daughter of Hooper Cumming V ...

. She also wrote musical plays, ''The Morning Glory'' and ''The Varying Shore'', both with Zoë Akins. Her "Women's Triumphal March" was the official song of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in 1929, and her setting of Daniel A. Poling's poem "The Rose is Red" was the song of the American Mothers Association. Harriet Ware's works were especially popular in programs of American song, or in programs focused on women composers. Harriet Ware saw the importance of women's clubs in supporting the arts, saying "Musicians do well to pin their faith to these aggregations of 'the people' rather than to the wealth or social influence of a few." She was a founder and leader of the Musical Art Society of Long Island. During World War I the society gave a concert of Ware's music, to benefit local wives and children of soldiers. She also served on the advisory council of the New York Music School Settlement. She was also active with the Musical Alliance of the United States, and served on a jury for the organization's national Girl Scout songwriting competition in 1918, along with composers Amy Beach,

Gena Branscombe Gena Branscombe (4 November 1881 – 26 July 1977) was a Canadian pianist, composer, music educator and choir conductor who lived and worked in the United States. Early life and education Gena Branscombe was born 4 November 1881 in Picton, Ont ...

Fay Foster Fay Foster (November 8, 1886 – April 17, 1960) was an American pianist, composer, and teacher. Biography Foster was born in Leavenworth, Kansas on November 8, 1886. She was a child prodigy, performing publicly by the age of 5, and professionall ...

and

Margaret Ruthven Lang Margaret Ruthven Lang (November 27, 1867 – May 29, 1972) was an American composer, affiliated with the Second New England School. Lang was also one of the first two women composers (along with Amy Beach) to have compositions performed by Amer ...

. As a pianist, she toured in the American South in 1920. In 1937 she was touring the western United States, giving classes, interviews, and lectures, as well as performances. She heard one of her works conducted at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

by Hidemaro Konoye. For several years she ran a summer music school in Plainfield, New Jersey. From 1926, she ran her own music publishing house, and was a member of the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP).

Personal life

Harriet Ware married a chemical engineer, Hugh Montgomery Krumbhaar, in 1913; the bridal air she wrote for the cantata ''Sir Oluf'' was played at their wedding ceremony, and David Bispham sang her song "How Do I Love Thee?".John William Leonard, Albert Nelson Marquis
''Who's who in America''
(A. N. Marquis 1920): 2969. She was widowed in 1950 and died in New York City in 1962, aged 84 years."Harriet Ware, Concert Pianist and Composer, is Dead at 84" ''New York Times'' (February 11, 1962): 86. via ProQuest

References

External links

Harriet Ware's gravesite
on Find a Grave.
Harriet Ware compositions at IMSLP
Petrucci Music Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Harriet 1877 births 1962 deaths American women classical composers American classical composers 20th-century American pianists People from Waupun, Wisconsin 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women pianists Classical musicians from Wisconsin 20th-century women composers