Katherine Kennicott Davis (June 25, 1892 – April 20, 1980) was an American composer,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, arranger, and teacher, whose most well-known composition is the

Christmas song 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 m ...

"Carol of the Drum," later known as "

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 19 ...

Life and career

Davis was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 25, 1892. She composed her first piece of music, "Shadow March," at the age of 15. She graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1910, and studied music at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...

in Massachusetts. In 1914 she won the college's Billings Prize. After graduation she continued at Wellesley as an assistant in the Music Department, teaching music theory and piano. At the same time she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Davis also studied with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

in Paris. She taught music at the

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became ...

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the co ...

, and at the Shady Hill School for Girls in Philadelphia. She became a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

in 1941. and was granted an honorary doctorate from Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida. Katherine K. Davis continued writing music until she became ill in the winter of 1979–1980. She died on April 20, 1980, at the age of 87, in

Littleton, Massachusetts Littleton (historically Nipmuc: ''Nashoba'') is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,141 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the neighborhood of Littleton Common, please s ...

.''Boston Globe'' obituary She left all of the royalties and proceeds from her compositions, which include operas, choruses, children's operettas, cantatas, piano and organ pieces, and songs, to Wellesley College's Music Department. These funds are used to support students studying performance.

Music

Many of her over 600 compositions were written for the choirs at her school. She was actively involved in ''The Concord Series'', multiple-volume set of music and books for educational purposes. Many of the musical volumes were compiled, arranged, and edited by Davis with

Archibald T. Davison Archibald Thompson Davison (11 October 1883 – 6 February 1961) was an American musicologist, conductor, composer and music educator. Davison was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his studies in music at Harvard University, finally gra ...

, and they were published by E.C. Schirmer in Boston. She wrote "

" (originally titled "The Carol of the Drum"), in 1941. It became famous when recorded by the

Harry Simeone Chorale Harry Moses Simeone (May 9, 1910 – February 22, 2005) was an American music arranger, conductor and composer who popularized the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy", for which he received co-writing credit. Early years Simeone was born ...

in 1958: the recording went to the top of the ''Billboard'' charts and Simeone insisted on a writer's royalty for his arrangement of the song. Another famous hymn by Katherine Davis is the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

hymn "Let All Things Now Living" which uses the melody of the traditional Welsh folk song The Ash Grove.

Musical compositions

Large works

*''Children of Bethlehem'', Christmas cantata for children's voices, 1973, Broadman Press *''The Drummer'', Christmas play with music for soloists, mixed chorus (SATB), organ or piano and handbells, 1966, Mills Music *''This is Noel'', carol cantata for SATB voice, SB solos, optional oboe, piano or organ, 1935,

Remick Music Jerome Hosmer Remick (15 November 1867 – 15 July 1931) was an American music publisher, businessman and philanthropist in Detroit, Michigan. Life and career Remick was born in Detroit as the son of James Albert Remick and Mary Amelia Hosmer. ...

*''The Unmusical Impresario'', musical comedy in one act, 1956,

G. Schirmer G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-know ...

*''Who is Jesus?'', Easter cantata for children's voices, 1974, Broadman Press

Sacred songs for voice and piano or organ

*Be Ye Kind, One to Another (Ephesians 4: 32, 31), 1948, Galaxy Music *Bless the Lord O My Soul (Psalm 103), 1952, Galaxy Music *Dear Lord and Father, R. D. Row/ Carl Fischer *How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings (Psalm 84 : 1–3), 1952, Galaxy Music *Raising of Lazarus (John XI: 1,3,4,17,41,42,43,44,25), 1957, Carl Fischer *Thou Wilt Hear our Prayer, R. D. Row/Carl Fischer *Treasure in Heaven, R. D. Row/Carl Fisher *Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3: 5–6), 1946, Galaxy Music

Secular songs for voice and piano

*''Folk Song Settings'', arrangements and English texts by Katherine K. Davis, Galaxy Music #The Deaf Old Woman (Missouri Folk Song), 1947 #He's Gone Away (North Carolina Folk Song), 1947 #The Soldier (Kentucky Folk Song), 1947 #Bagpipes (Hungarian Folk Tune), 1949 #The Mill Wheel (J'entends le moulin, French Canadian Folk Song), 1949 #The Pitcher (Portuguese Folk Song), 1951 *I Have a Fawn (

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

), 1966, Galaxy Music *Nancy Hanks (Rosemary Benét), a work about

Nancy Lincoln Nancy Hanks Lincoln (February 5, 1784 – October 5, 1818) was the mother of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Her marriage to Thomas Lincoln also produced a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Thomas Jr. When Nancy and Thomas had been married for ...

, 1941, Galaxy Music

Original choral works

*Alleluia, come, good people, text by John Crowley, mixed voices a cappella, 1941, Galaxy Music *The Birds' Noël (Christmas carol), mixed voices and keyboard, 1965, Galliard/Galaxy Music *In the Bleak Midwinter, text by Christina Rossetti, SSA

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, 1933, E.C. Schirmer *The Little Drummer Boy (with

Harry Simeone Harry Moses Simeone (May 9, 1910 – February 22, 2005) was an American music arranger, conductor and composer who popularized the Christmas song " The Little Drummer Boy", for which he received co-writing credit. Early years Simeone was born ...

and Henry Onorati), SA or SATB chorus and keyboard, 1958, Shawnee Press *Our God is a Rock, mixed voices and keyboard, 1949, C.C. Birchard *''Seasonal Anthems'' for junior choirs (7 original works and 3 arrangements), two-part children's chorus and keyboard, 1963, B.F. Wood Music *Shepherds, Awake!, mixed voices a cappella, 1938, Remick Music *Sing Gloria, text by John Crowley, mixed voices, SA duet, and keyboard, 1952, Remick Music

Original instrumental works

*Hornpipe, piano solo, 1956, J. Fischer and Bros.

The Concord Series

*''The Concord piano books'', 4 volumes, 1925–1927, Nos. 600–602, 604 *''Cinderella'', a folk-tune operetta in three acts without spoken dialogue, 1933, No. 616 *''Songs of freedom'', for unison and part singing (with

and Frederic W. Kempf), 1942, No. 621

Arrangements of other composers' works

*Bois épais (aria from ''Amadis'' by

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas ...

), voice and piano, 1956, Galaxy Music *Choruses (with Channing Lefebre) in ''For us a child is born (Uns ist ein Kind geboren)'' (

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offici ...

, attr. J.S. Bach), cantata for SSA voices, SA solo, and keyboard, 1951, Galaxy Music *God is Life (Gott lebet noch by J.S. Bach), voice and piano or organ, 1955, Galaxy Music *Sheep may safely graze (J.S. Bach), mixed voices and piano, 1942, Galliard/Galaxy Music

Other editions and arrangements

*As it fell upon a night (traditional Christmas carol), mixed voices, soprano descant, and piano, 1942, Galaxy Music *Awake, Thou Wintry Earth (17th-century Dutch carol, text by Thomas Blackburn), 1936, E.C. Schirmer *''The Belfry book'', for unison and two-part singing, 1943, Remick Music *''The Belfry book of Christmas carols'', SSA a cappella, 1958, Remick Music *''The Bow Street book'', folksongs and part-songs for soprano, alto, and baritone, 1951, Birchard Music *Carol of the Drum, Czech carol, SATB chorus, 1941, B.F. Wood Music Company *''Early American anthem book'', anthem tunes and verses from the Colonial period in new settings, 1975, Galaxy Music *''Four Elizabethan madrigals'', for string quartet or instrumental ensemble, ed. with Hazel Weems, 1962, G. Schirmer *''The Galaxy junior chorus book'', two-part folksongs, 1945, Galaxy Music *''The Green Hill'', junior choir and duet book (soprano and alto), 1938, E.C. Schirmer *''The Green Hill'', three-part sacred music for women's voices (S.S.A.), 1940, E.C. Schirmer *Let all mortal flesh keep silence (French carol), SAB chorus and piano, 1941, B.F. Wood Music *Let All Things Now Living, Welsh carol, text by John Crowley, SATB chorus with descant, 1939, E.C. SchirmerAlso for unison voices, 1938, E.C. Schirmer *O God, our help in ages past (St. Anne hymn tune, text by Isaac Watts), mixed voices and keyboard, 1941, Boston Music *Prayer of Thanksgiving (Netherlands folk song), mixed voices a cappella, 1936, E.C. Schirmer *''Sing Unto the Lord'', twenty sacred solos for medium voice and piano or organ, with Nancy Loring, 1948, Carl Fisher *Thou who wast God (hymn from the Genevan psalter), SSA and keyboard, 1960, Galaxy Music

Footnotes

References

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