Noah Greenberg (April 9, 1919 – January 9, 1966) was an American

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...

. Greenberg was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. In 1937, aged 18, he joined the Socialist Workers Party of

Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings S ...

, and worked as a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...

operator and party activist. He lost work-related draft deferment in 1944 and joined the U.S. Merchant Marine till 1949. By this time he had lost interest in formal politics. Greenberg, although self-taught, had been conducting amateur choruses such as that of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, and by 1950 was known as a choral conductor. Greenberg founded

New York Pro Musica New York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble based in New York City, which specialized in Medieval and Renaissance early music, music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, ...

in 1952, signing with Esoteric Records of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, and recorded the first of 28 LP albums over the next 14 years.

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

wrote of him, in regard to his having successfully revived interest in medieval, renaissance and baroque music, "To devote one’s musical career, as Noah Greenberg did, to works outside (the standard concert) repertory, calls for faith and courage of the highest order." He died at University Hospital, Manhattan, after an apparent heart attack, on January 9, 1966. His death at only 46 apparently caused his mother to also die when she heard the news."Noah Greenberg Is Dead at 46; Founded New York Pro Musica; Group Spurred a Revival of Pre-Classic Music – Mother Dies on Hearing News"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 10, 1966 The Noah Greenberg Award of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

, where he was a member, is named after him.

Select discography

*''New York Pro Musica: An Anthology of Their Greatest Works'', Noah Greenberg, conductor. 7 record set.

Everest Records Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music. History The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harr ...

(1966, Everest 3145/7) *New York Pro Musica. ''Elizabethan and Jacobean Ayres, Madrigals and Dances.'' Directed by Noah Greenberg. Decca DL 9406,

959 Year 959 ( CMLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * April - May – The Byzantines refuse to pay the yearly tribute. A Hungari ...

LP.

References

External links

Noah Greenberg
at

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* American choral conductors American male conductors (music) Musicians from the Bronx 1919 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians Burials at Beth David Cemetery {{US-music-bio-stub