Philip Frederick Wright James (May 17, 1890 – November 1, 1975) was an American composer, conductor and music educator.

Life

James was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.J. Warren Andrews and in 1907 began advanced harmony and counterpoint lessons with

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. He also studied composition with Rubin Goldmark, Elliott Schenck, and

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, as well as organ with Joseph Bonnet and

Alexandre Guilmant Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantor ...

in Paris. In World War I James played in and subsequently became bandleader of the American Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Band. Victor Herbert heard his work with the band and upon James' discharge from the Army hired him as musical director for his musical comedy ''My Golden Girl.'' James conducted the Victor Herbert Opera Company from 1919 to 1922. In 1922 James co-founded and became the first conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. From 1929 to 1936 James was conductor of the Bamberger Little Symphony, broadcast weekly over radio station WOR in New York. In 1923 James began a long teaching career at New York University, serving as head of the music department from 1934 until his retirement in 1956. His students at NYU included

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, Bernard Herrmann, and

Marvin David Levy Marvin David Levy (August 2, 1932 – February 9, 2015) was an American composer, best known for his opera ''Mourning Becomes Electra''. ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' was given its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1967. Although deemed ...

. From 1929 to 1936 James was conductor of the Bamberger Little Symphony, broadcast weekly over radio station WOR in New York. In 1932 he won a $5000 prize from NBC for his satirical composition ''Station WGZBX'', which subsequently received performances by many major orchestras. Other prize-winning compositions from the 1930s include his ''Bret Harte Overture,'' ''Suite for String Orchestra,'' and ''Song of the Night.'' Though he remained active as a composer until his death in 1975, James' larger-scale compositions were infrequently played after the mid-twentieth century. However several of his early sacred compositions, including ''Meditation a Ste. Clotilde'' for organ and the anthem ''By the Waters of Babylon'' remain in the sacred repertoire.

Selected works

Orchestra

*Song of the Night (1931) *Station WGZBX (1932) *Bret Harte Overture (1934) *Sinfonietta (1938) *Brennan on the Moor (1940) *Symphony #1 (1943) *Symphony #2 (1946) *Miniver Cheevy (1947) *Richard Cory (1947) *Overture to a Greek Play (1952)

Band

*Colonel Averill March (1917) *Festal March "Perstare et Praestare" (1942) *E.F.G. Overture (1944) *Fanfare and Ceremonial (1955)

Chamber orchestra

*String Quartet (1924) *Kammersymphonie (1926) *Suite for String Orchestra (1933) *Suite for Woodwind Quintet (1936) *Piano Quartet (1937)

Piano solo

*Twelve Piano Preludes (1951)

Organ solo

*Meditation a Sainte Clotilde (1916) *First Organ Sonata (1929) *Pantomime (1941) *Galarnad (1946) *Alleluia-Toccata (1949) *Pastorale (1949) *Solemn Prelude (1956)

Choral

*By the Waters of Babylon (1920) *General William Booth Enters into Heaven (1932) *Psalm 150 (1940) *Psalm 149 (1959) *Chorus of Shepherds and Angels (1956) *To Cecilia (1966)

References

External links

*Finding aid fo
Philip James Papers
at University of Maryland Special Collections. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
Philip James Collection at Stony Brook University
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Philip 1890 births 1975 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers American male conductors (music) 20th-century classical composers Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) Classical musicians from New Jersey 20th-century American male musicians