Roger Lee Hall (born 1942) is an American composer and
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
.
Personal life
Hall was born in
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Glen Ridge is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2 ...
He grew up in
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District.
History
The initial patent for the land that w ...
and spent several years in the 1950s attending
Eastern Military Academy
Eastern Military Academy (EMA) was a Military high school, high school military academy founded in 1944 in Connecticut, United States by Roland R. Robinson, a former mathematics teacher at Peekskill Military Academy (now also defunct), and his bro ...
at
Oheka Castle
Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, also known as the "Gold Coast," a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment finan ...
, where he had his first music training in the glee club. He graduated from
Bloomfield High School in 1960, where he was already involved with writing songs. He began his music career with piano lessons and as a songwriter during the 1960s. Later he turned his attention to studying music in more depth and received his B.A. in music theory and composition from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
in 1970 and his composition teachers were
Robert Nagel
Robert Nagel (September 29, 1924 – June 5, 2016) was an American trumpet player, composer, and teacher. He was an early advocate for brass chamber music, especially the brass quintet. Nagel was the founder and director of the New York Brass Quin ...
and
George Walker George Walker may refer to:
Arts and letters
* George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer
*George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer
* George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...
. His M.A. degree was awarded from
Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
in 1972. He also did Ph.D. studies at
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...
, where he taught his first class on American popular music, formerly taught by well-known Cleveland disc jockey,
Bill Randle
Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 – July 9, 2004) was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor.
Randle was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio (now WDTK) calle ...
. During his early college years, Hall composed his first
classical compositions.
Work
In 1977 he moved to
and he was a music instructor at
Stonehill College
Stonehill College is a Private college, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on ...
and the
Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
Adult and Community Education Program where he taught both classical and popular music courses. He also conducted various church choirs and composed music for them to perform.
Since 1998, he has been involved as a
film music
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
critic and the editor of an online magazine, Film Music Review. He is a member of the
International Film Music Critics Association
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is a professional association for online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.
History and purpose
The IFMCA was founded in the ...
. He is the author of "A Guide to Film Music" which has been reprinted in seven editions. In addition, he has been a lecturer and consultant on various topics concerning music of the United States.
As a longtime music preservationist, Hall has helped preserve music of the
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...
and other music from earlier America. He has written over fifty publications in the PineTree Multimedia Editions series, including music guides on
Shaker music
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the United States in the 1780s. They were initially ...
,
Film music
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
,
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
in America,
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
, Old-Time Radio, and
Old Stoughton Musical Society. In addition, he has written several memoirs about his songwriting years, "Songs of Survival" in 1996 and "Free As The Breeze" in 2015, and he has written autobiographical multi-media books with audio in the series, Memories and Music.
In 1971, he began studying Shaker music and has become an authority on the subject, especially the Shaker song, "
Simple Gifts". He compiled and edited numerous Shaker songs and hymns for a series in a national magazine on Shaker culture and has edited and arranged over one hundred Shaker spirituals and published many of them in music collections and on CDs.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Hall was vice-president, Historian and Conductor of the
Old Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
society in the United States. He has published several monographs and music collections about this choral society, including a
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
about Stoughton composer,
Edwin Arthur Jones
Edwin Arthur Jones, (June 28, 1853 – January 9, 1911) was an American composer. His works include a cantata and a large oratorio in three parts, modeled after Handel's ''Messiah (Handel), Messiah''.
Early life and education
Edwin Arthur Jones w ...
. With his interest in community music, he has produced and hosted several cable television series. He has been a frequent guest on radio programs and hosted his own radio program, ''In the Mood'', playing music of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
In 2006, he became the moderator of an extensive site devoted to preservation of American music. He is also Director of the American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC), a large archive of vintage recordings, and Director of the Center for American Preservation (CAMP) which specializes in preserving lesser known music.
Hall has been listed in various directories; including
International Who's Who in Music
The ''International Who's Who in Music'' is a biographical dictionary and directory originally published by the International Biographical Centre located in Cambridge, England. It contains only biographies of persons living at the time of publicati ...
,
Who's Who in America
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
and Who's Who in the World.
Selected music
For various ensembles
*Piano Variations,
:Op. 1a - on an Original Theme (1968)
:Op. 1b - on a Shaker Marching Tune (1971)
*Three Organ Preludes, Op. 5 (1970–1972)
*Tricinium for flute, oboe and bassoon, Op. 6 (1972)
*Six Carols for Christmastime for two recorders, Op. 13 (1983)
*A Little Theatre Music for solo flute, op. 22 (1990)
*Three Shaker Songs for string quartet, Op. 23 (1990)
*Benjamin Franklin's Armonica, Op. 30 (2000)
For solo voice and piano
*six haiku songs, Op. 3 (1970)
*Bellamy's Musical Telephone, Op. 19 (1988)
*Credo: Walt Whitman, Op. 24 (1992)
For unaccompanied chorus
*Two Shaker Humility Songs, Op. 7 (1976): "Gentle Words" and "Love is Little"
*Season's End - Four songs for SATB chorus, Op. 10 (1979)
*The Pleasures of Variety – Homage to William Billings, Op. 11 (1980)
*Two Russian Songs, Op. 18 (1988)
*Two Old Stoughton Songs, Op. 21: "Peace" (1981/ rev. 1990) and "Dedication" (1986)
*Four New England Shaker Spirituals, Op. 40 (2013)
For chorus and piano or organ
*Nine Carols for Advent and Christmas, Op. 9 (1979)
*Three Choral Responses based on themes by J.S. Bach, Op. 15 (1985)
*Four Commemorative Songs, Op. 17 (1989)
*Creator God, We Give You Thanks, Op. 25 (1993)
*Simple Gifts - Shaker Dance Song, Op. 28 (1998)
Discography
* The Humble Heart (2006)
* Gentle Words - A Shaker Music Sampler (2009)
* Celestial Praises - A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals (2013)
* Creator God - Hymns and Spirituals (2015)
* Gentle Peace - A Sampler of Instrumentals and Songs (2015)
* Search Thou My Heart - A Musical Life (2017)
* My Shaker Home (2018)
References
External links
Official websiteClassical Composers DatabaseFilm Music Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Roger Lee
American male composers
21st-century American composers
1942 births
Binghamton University alumni
Bloomfield High School (New Jersey) alumni
Musicians from New Jersey
Living people
Rutgers University alumni
Case Western Reserve University alumni
People from Bloomfield, New Jersey
21st-century American male musicians
Shaker music