Robert Theodore Anderson (October 5, 1934 – May 29, 2009) was an American

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

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

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

Biography

He was born on October 5, 1934, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He received his musical training at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago (Piano) and at Illinois Wesleyan University in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

(Bachelor's Degree in organ performance with Lillian Mecherle McCord). Further studies followed at the Union Theological Seminary 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 ...

(Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Sacred Music, 1957 and 1961) and (through a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

) 1957–1959 with

Helmut Walcha Arthur Emil Helmut Walcha (27 October 1907 – 11 August 1991) was a German organist, harpsichordist, music teacher and composer who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German baroque masters. Blind since his teenage years, he is known f ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. In addition, Anderson studied organ with Heinrich Fleischer and Frederick Marriott, composition with Harold Friedell and

Seth Bingham Seth Daniels Bingham (April 16, 1882 – June 21, 1972) was an American organist and prolific composer. Biography Bingham was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, the youngest of four siblings in a farming family that soon relocated to Naugatuck, Con ...

and harpsichord with Maria Jager. Beginning in 1960, he served as Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

and as organist of the University Chapel and

Perkins School of Theology Perkins School of Theology is one of Southern Methodist University's three original schools and is located in Dallas, Texas. The theology school was renamed in 1945 to honor benefactors Joe J. and Lois Craddock Perkins of Wichita Falls, Texas. De ...

, Southern Methodist University,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, until his retirement in 1997. He wrote numerous compositions for organ solo, including a ''Triptych'' (1958), as well as a cantata, "Garden of Gethsemane," after a text by

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...

. Anderson was organ consultant for some of the finest concert hall organs in North America: the

C. B. Fisk C. B. Fisk, Inc. is a company in Gloucester in the U.S. state of Massachusetts that designs and builds mechanical action pipe organs. It was founded in Gloucester in 1960 by Charles Brenton Fisk (1925–1983) and Thomas W. Byers. Charles Fisk ...

organs at

Meyerson Symphony Center The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's ...

(Opus 100, 1992) and SMU's Caruth Auditorium (Opus 101, 1993), both in Dallas, TX. He also initiated the prestigious ''Dallas International Organ Competition'', of which he was chair in 1997 and 2000. As a concert organist, he played numerous recitals in the United States and Europe and was invited to leading organ festivals in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He was the featured organist at the 1977 International Contemporary Organ Music Festival at the

Hartt School of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

. He was one of the leading organ teachers of his time in the United States. Among his more than 100 former students were organists such as

Stefan Engels Stefan Engels is a German organist. Stefan Engels was appointed Professor of Organ and Leah Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Music Performance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in 2014, where he is also head of the Organ Departme ...

George C. Baker George C. Baker (born June 9, 1951 in Dallas, Texas) is an American organist, composer, pedagogue, and dermatologist. Biography Baker received his first musical instruction at age four. In 1961, he began to take organ lessons with Phil Baker ...

Ignace Michiels Ignace Michiels (born 7 December 1963) is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist. Career Michiels studied the organ, the piano and the harpsichord at the music academy of Bruges ...

, Carole Terry and

Wolfgang Rübsam Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule ...

. Robert Anderson died in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

in 2009.

Discography

* The C. B. Fisk Organ, Opus 101, at Southern Methodist University. * Works of Grigny (Pange lingua), Tournemire (Paraphrase-Carillon), Zwillich (Praeludium), Buxtehude (Praeludium in A Major, BuxWV 151), Bach (Trio Sonata VI in G Major, BWV 530) and Reger (

Chorale Fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a cantus firmus. History Chorale fantas ...

on " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", op. 52, No. 2). * Robert T. Anderson (Grigny, Tournemire, Zwillich) und Wolfgang Rübsam (Buxtehude, Bach, Reger), organ. Recorded in June 1994 (Anderson) and July 1994 (Rübsam) on the C. B. Fisk organ at Caruth Auditorium, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Valparaiso, IN: RMC Classics, 1994. 1 CD.

Bibliography

* Shulman, Laurie. "Opus 100: The Lay Family Concert Organ". In ''The Meyerson Symphony Center. Building a Dream''. Denton, TX: University of North Texas, 2000, 304–322.

References

External links

Fisk Organ Opus 100 at Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas (1992)

Fisk Organ Opus 101 at SMU's Caruth Auditorium, Dallas (1993)

* ttp://search.honoluluadvertiser.com/sp?skin=100&aff=1140&dataId=3803985 Obituary in the "Honolulu Advertiser" from June 3, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Robert Theodore American classical organists American male organists American male composers American classical composers Musicians from Chicago 1934 births 2009 deaths Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Southern Methodist University faculty American Conservatory of Music alumni 20th-century American composers 20th-century organists Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians Male classical organists