Louis Adolphe Coerne (February 27, 1870 – September 11, 1922) was an American composer and music educator.

Life and works

He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was educated at Harvard University, where he studied under John Knowles Paine, and at the

Stuttgart Conservatory The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

, Germany. He married Adele Turton in 1897. Coerne wrote a number of pedagogical pieces for piano, and also composed a number of orchestral works, one of which, the tone poem ''Excalibur'', Op. 180, was recorded by Karl Krueger with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

in the late 1960s, and reissued on CD in 2006 by Bridge Records. His

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 ...

, ''Hiawatha'', Op. 18 was premiered in Munich in 1893 and performed by the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

in 1894. Coerne's opera ''Zenobia'', Op. 66, premiered in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany, in 1905, was the first opera by an American composer to be performed in Germany. Earlier that year, Harvard had conferred on Coerne the degree of Ph.D., with the score of ''Zenobia'' and his book, ''The Evolution of Modern Orchestration'' (published in 1908), serving as his thesis. Other operas composed by Coerne: * ''Bells of Beaujolais'' (dance directions by

J. Lilian Vandevere J. Lillian Vandevere (Jul 1885 – 10 May 1957) was an American author, composer, and music educator. She is best remembered today for her compositions for rhythm band and toy orchestra, and her work on the California State Series textbooks for musi ...

; text by David Gurden Stevens) * ''A Woman of Marblehead'', Op. 40 * ''Sakuntala'', Op. 67 * ''The Maiden Queen'', Op. 69 Coerne taught at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, Harvard, and Connecticut College. He died in Boston, Massachusetts.

References

* *"Coerne and His New Opera", in: ''New York Times'', December 17, 1905. *Coerne, Louis Adolphe: ''The Evolution of Modern Orchestration'' (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1908). With introductory note by H.E. Krehbiel. *Sadie, Stanley (ed.): ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (London: Macmillan, 1980). *''Who's Who in America'' (1912–13).

External links

* * 1870 births 1922 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers Connecticut College faculty Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Smith College faculty State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni Classical musicians from New York (state) Classical musicians from New Jersey {{US-composer-19thC-stub