Mortimer Wilson (August 6, 1876 – January 27, 1932) 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 ...

. He also scored several musical and dramatic films in the 1920s. Wilson was born in

Chariton, Iowa Chariton is a city in, and the county seat of, Lucas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,193 at the 2020 census. Lucas is the primary distribution center for and the former corporate headquarters of the Hy-Vee supermarket chain. H ...

in Lucas County, a rural area in the south-central portion of the state. He studied organ, violin and composition with

Frederick Grant Gleason Frederick Grant Gleason (born 17 December 1848 in Middletown, Connecticut - died Chicago, 6 December 1903) was an American composer, and director of the Chicago Conservatory from 1900 to 1903. Gleason's father was a banker. Like many other well- ...

at the Chicago Music College. He then studied in

Leipzig, Germany Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's L ...

with

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

. Upon return to the USA in 1911 he taught composition at the Atlanta Conservatory and conducted the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1916, he moved to

Brenau College Brenau University is a private university with its historic campus in Gainesville, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the university enrolls more than 2,800 students from approximately 48 states and 17 foreign countries who seek degrees ranging from assoc ...

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

. In 1918, Wilson took a job as consulting editor for the National Academy of Music in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he remained until his death at the age of 55. As a composer, Mortimer's style was similar to his contemporaries

Henry Kimball Hadley Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and Conducting, conductor.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th edition, p. 692 Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, t ...

and Frederick Shepherd Converse. Today his works are mostly in manuscript. They include five symphonies and a great deal of chamber music, including three violin sonatas, two piano trios, two piano sonatas and an organ sonata.Butterworth, Neil
''Dictionary of American Classical Composers''
(2013), p.498 The suite for piano trio ''From My Youth'' Op. 5 was published in 1911 (in two books of four pieces each) and premiered by the Sitting Trio. It has been recorded by the Rawlins Piano Trio. The short piano suite ''Silhouettes from the Screen'', Op. 55 (1919) includes miniature musical portraits of

William S. Hart William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and integ ...

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

(who is portrayed in an atonal, expressionistic style) and

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thie ...

). For the 1924 film ''The Thief of Bagdad''. Douglas Fairbanks encouraged Wilson to provide a fully-fledged classical score, unusual at the time. Wilson composed leit-motifs for each character and developed them symphonically. He also spent many hours in the editing room working on combining his music with the film. The score has been re-constructed by Mark Fitz-Gerald and recorded.Mortimer Wilson
''The Thief of Bagdad, Op. 74''
First Hand Records FHR126 (2022) reviewed at ''MusicWeb International'' A 1924 Literary Digest article details Wilson's work on the film (and includes a photo of the composer). Wilson also wrote the music for Fairbanks’s next two films, ''

Don Q, Son of Zorro ''Don Q, Son of Zorro'' is a 1925 American silent swashbuckler romance film and a sequel to the 1920 silent film '' The Mark of Zorro''. It was loosely based upon the 1909 novel ''Don Q.'s Love Story'', written by the mother-and-son duo Kate a ...

'' (1925) and ''

The Black Pirate ''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 American silent action adventure film shot entirely in two-color Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" of pirates. Directed by Albert Parker, it stars Douglas Fairbanks, Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse, an ...

'' (1926). Mortimer was also the author of three books: ''The Rhetoric of Music'' (1907), ''Harmonic and Melodic Technical Studies'' (1908) and ''Orchestral Training'' (1921). His students included

Robert Emmett Dolan Robert Emmett Dolan (August 3, 1908 - September 26, 1972) was a Broadway conductor, composer, and arranger beginning in the 1920s. He moved on to radio in the 1930s and then went to Hollywood in the early 1940s as a musical director for Paramoun ...

, Joseph Littau and

John Tasker Howard John Tasker Howard (November 30, 1890 – November 20, 1964) was an early American music historian, radio host, writer, lecturer, and composer. His ''Our American Music'', published in 1931, was an early general history of music in the United St ...

. He died aged 56 after a bout of influenza.Obituary, ''The New York Times'', 28 January 1932, p.21
/ref>

Filmography

*1920 ''The Mark of Zorro'' - music composer *1924 ''The Thief of Bagdad'' - music composer *1925 ''

'' - music composer *1926 ''

'' - music composer *1928 ''The Good-Bye Kiss'' - music composer *1928 '' Night Watch'' - music composer

References

External links

Mortimer Wilson Collection. UCLA. Performing Arts Special Collections
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mortimer 1876 births 1932 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers American film score composers American male film score composers 20th-century classical composers People from Chariton, Iowa Musicians from Iowa Brenau University faculty 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians