Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

al life in

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Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergraduate teacher of Charles Ives while the composer attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Biography

He was born in Auburndale,

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. His earliest lessons were with his mother. He then studied in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

with

George Whitefield Chadwick George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Se ...

, Stephen A. Emery, and John Orth. His first professional position was playing the organ at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Dedham, Massachusetts. He was paid a salary of roughly $300 a year from September 1880 to January 1882. He finished his formal education in Europe, a common destination for a young American composer in the 1880s, where he studied in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

with

Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liech ...

. His fellow students at the Royal Music School in

Charles H. Kaufman. "Whiting, Arthur Battelle." ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Oxford University Press, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30228 included Arthur Whiting and H. H. Huss."Whiting, Arthur". Clippings file. Music Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts."Arthur Whiting." ''Unknown newspaper''. 1885?. In "Whiting, Arthur". Clipping file. Music Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. In Munich Parker composed his first significant works, including a symphony and a dramatic cantata. He also premiered Joseph Rheinberger's Organ Concerto No. 1 in F Major from 1884 there. After his return to the United States in 1885, he was for two years professor of music in the Cathedral School of St. Paul in Garden City, Long Island. From 1888 to 1893, he was organist of Trinity Church, New York City, and from 1893 to 1901 organist of

Trinity Church, Boston Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in 17 ...

. In 1893, Parker became Battell Professor of the theory of music at

. He was appointed Dean of Music at that school in 1904, a position which he held for the rest of his life. The

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

bestowed on him the honorary degree ''

Doctor of Music The Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus., D.M., Mus.D. or occasionally Mus.Doc.) is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions and/or scholarly publications on music. Like other higher doctorates, it is granted b ...

'' (Mus.Doc.) in May 1902. He directed the Derby Choral Club, organized by Frances Osborne Kellogg in

Derby, Connecticut Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, approximately 8 miles west-northwest of New Haven. It is located in southwest Connecticut at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers. It borders the cities of Anson ...

, for 16 consecutive seasons until his death. On December 30, 1915, he was elected as a national honorary member of

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music. Parker died in

Cedarhurst, New York Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 6,592 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region of ...

. Parker was the uncle of Parker Bailey. His daughter's family still summers in

Blue Hill, Maine Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill Harbor School, The Bay Sch ...

where Parker was part of the early group of that resort's musically inclined rusticators.

Composition

Before leaving New York City in 1893, Parker had completed his

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

, ''Hora Novissima'', set to the opening words of ''De contemptu mundi'' by

Bernard of Cluny Bernard of Cluny (or, of Morlaix or Morlay) was a twelfth-century French Benedictine monk, best known as the author of '' De contemptu mundi'' (''On Contempt for the World''), a long verse satire in Latin. Life Bernard's family of origin and plac ...

. It was widely performed in America; and also in England, in 1899 at Chester, and at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

at Worcester, the latter an honour never before paid an American composer. European critics called it one of the finest of American compositions. While he is mostly remembered for this single work, he was a prolific and versatile composer in a mostly conservative Germanic tradition, writing two operas, songs, organ and incidental music, and a copious quantity of works for chorus and orchestra. Influences in his compositions include

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

, as well as

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

in some works which he composed closer to 1900. During his lifetime he was considered to be the finest composer in the United States, a superior craftsman writing in the most advanced style. In 1892, Parker composed the hymn tune "Auburndale" in celebration of the laying of the cornerstone of the new church building of the Episcopal parish he was baptised in
Parish of the Messiah
His father, Charles Edward Parker, had been the architect for that congregation's chapel; famed Episcopal bishop

Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, " O Little Town o ...

laid the cornerstone. "Auburndale" was later published in the 1916 Hymnal ("The Messiah Miracle: A History The Church of the Messiah of West Newton and Auburndale 1871–1971," privately published, 1971). Parker entered his opera, '' Mona'', into a contest at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

winning the prize for best composition in 1911. He won 10,000 dollars and his opera was performed by the company. ''Mona'' premiered on March 14, 1912 and ran for four performances. The title role was taken by

Louise Homer Louise Beatty Homer (April 30, 1871May 6, 1947) was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer ...

. He won the

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$10,000 prize for his opera ''Fairyland''.

Works

Choral

*''King Trojan'' (1885) *''The Kobolds'' *''Harold Harfagar'' (1891) *''Hora Novissima'', Op. 30 (1893) *''The Holy Child'', Op. 37 (1893) *''The Legend of Saint Christopher'', Op.43 (1898) *''A Wanderer's Psalm'', Op. 50 (1900) *''A Star Song'', Op. 54, (1902) *''The Shepherds' Vision'', Op. 63 *''Morven and the Grail'', Op. 79, an oratorio written for the centenary celebration of the

Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...

(1915) *''In Heavenly Love Abiding''

Operas

*'' Mona'', Op. 71 (1912) *''Fairyland,'' Op. 77 (1915)

Orchestral works

*Concert Overture in E, Op. 4 (1884) *''Regulus'', ''Overture héroïque'', Op. 5 (1884) *''Venetian Overture'' in B, Op. 12 (1884) *Scherzo in g, Op. 13 (1884) *Symphony in C, Op. 7 (1885) *''Count Robert of Paris'', Overture, Op. 24b (1890) *''A Northern Ballad'', Op. 46 (1899) *Organ Concerto in E-flat minor, Op. 55 (1902) *''Vathek'', Op. 56 (1903) *''Collegiate Overture'', Op. 72, with male chorus (1911) *''Fairyland'' Suite, Op. 77d (1915)

Orchestral songs

*''Cahal Mor of the Wine-Red Hand'', Op. 40 (1893) *''Crepuscule'', Op. 64 (1912) *''The Red Cross Spirit Speaks'' (J. Finley), Op. 83 (1917)Grove dates it 1918, but The New York Symphony of November 11, 1917 already speaks of it: https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C06E7D7123FE433A25752C1A9679D946696D6CF *''A. D. 1919'', A Commemorative Poem by Brian Hooker Set to Music by Horatio Parker (op.84) ["Published in Memory of the Two Hundred and Twenty-one Yale Men who Gave their Lives in the World War and in Recognition of the Service Rendered to the Allies by the Eight Thousand Yale Men who Responded to the Call to Arms"] - Published by Yale University Press in 1919.

Organ

*''Geschwindmarsch'' for 2 Organists (1881) *4 Compositions, Op. 17 (1890) : 1. Concert Piece No 1 - 2. Impromptu - 3. Romanza - 4. ... *4 Compositions, Op. 20 (1891) : 1. Melody and Intermezzo - 2. Wedding-Song - 3. ... - 4. Fantasie *4 Compositions, Op. 28 (1891) : 1. ... - 2. Concert Piece No 2 - 3. Pastorella - 4. ... *5 Sketches, Op. 32 (1893) *4 Compositions, Op. 36 (1893) : 1. Canzonetta - 2. ... - 3. Fugue - 4. Eglogue *3 Compositions (1896) *Organ Sonata in E flat minor, Op. 65 (1908) *4 Compositions, Op. 66 (1910) : 1. Festival Prelude - 2. Revery - 3. Postlude - 4. Scherzino *5 Short Pieces, Op. 68 (1908)1. Canon In the Fifth - 2. Slumber-Song - 3. Novelette - 4. Arietta - 5. Risoluto *Introduction and Fugue in e (1916)

Chamber music

*String Quartet in F, Op, 11 (1885) *Suite for Piano Trio Op. 35 (1893) *String Quintet in d, Op. 38 (1894) *Suite in e, Op. 41 for Violin and Piano (1894)

Piano

*''Präsentirmarsch'' for 4 hands *''5 Morceaux caractéristiques'', Op. 9 (1886) *''4 Sketches'', Op. 19 (1890) *''6 Lyrics'', Op. 23 (1891) *''2 Compositions'' (1895) *''3 Morceaux caractéristiques'', Op. 49 (1899)

Notable students

References

External links

Art of the States: Horatio Parker
* *
The Horatio Parker Papers at Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale UniversityFree Horatio Parker sheet music
in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Horatio 1863 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century American male musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American Romantic composers Classical musicians from Massachusetts Musicians from Newton, Massachusetts Oratorio composers Pupils of George Whitefield Chadwick Pupils of Josef Rheinberger Yale School of Music faculty