Merle John Isaac (October 12, 1898 – March 11, 1996) 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 ...

and prolific

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

who focused on arranging famous pieces for performers of lower experience, especially school orchestras.

Music and recognition

After graduating from the VanderCook College of Music in 1932, he began to teach at John Marshall High School, in Chicago, Illinois. While he was there, Isaac realized that there was little good music available to lower-level orchestras, and began to arrange music for his orchestra, beginning with Bohm's

Perpetual Motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

. After 35 years working in Chicago area schools, he retired from education, though he continued to be a clinician and guest

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

around the United States, and also continued arranging. In 1993, the

American String Teachers Association The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all are ...

gave Isaac a lifetime achievement award, and annually through 1997 continued giving awards under his name. They also have an annual Merle J. Isaac composition contest to "encourage the composition, publication, and performance of music of quality for the benefit of school orchestra programs."

Personal life

Isaac's family included his wife, Margaret, and their daughter, Margrethe (May 6, 1927 – August 14, 2007). Isaac died of natural causes on March 11, 1996, in Des Plaines, Illinois, at the age of 97.

References

External links

H.E. Nutt Archives
1898 births 1996 deaths American music arrangers 20th-century American composers {{US-composer-19thC-stub