Deems Taylor

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Deems Taylor 1932 (portrait by Carl Van Vechten )

Deems Taylor (actually: Joseph Deems Taylor ; * December 22, 1885 in New York ; † July 3, 1966 ibid) was an American composer , critic and radio presenter .

biography

Deems Taylor studied architecture at New York University (NYU). In order to help finance his studies, he sold some compositions, despite a poor musical education. The result was a series of works for orchestra and individual vocal pieces. His Siren Song , published in 1912, was awarded a prize by the National Federation of Music Clubs . In 1916 he wrote the cantata The Chambered Nautilus , followed by Through the Looking-Glass (1918), which earned him praise and recognition.

In 1916 he became a member of the editorial board of the New York Tribune and went to France as a correspondent for this newspaper. Taylor was a member of the Algonquin Round Table , a group of writers, critics, and actors who met daily at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel for ten years (1919-1929) . He was in lively correspondence with Dorothy Parker . Between 1921 and 1925 Taylor was a music critic for New York World magazine, and from 1931 to 1932 he was the music critic for the New York American .

Deems Taylor was a promoter of classical music on the radio and annotated with the New York Philharmonic . He starred as master of ceremonies in Walt Disney's 1940 film Fantasia . Since 1924 he was an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and since 1934 of the American Philosophical Society .

In 1910 Deems Taylor married the journalist Jane Anderson (1888-1945), the marriage collapsed shortly afterwards. The daughter, Joan (* 1926) emerged from a later relationship.

Posthumous effect

The story of the Algonquin Round Table was filmed in 1994 by director Alan Rudolph under the title Mrs. Parker and her vicious circle . Deems Taylor was played by James LeGros .

The ASCAP has presented an annual award for music journalism named after Taylor since 1968.

Works (selection)

Books
  • Moments mausicals ("Moments mousicals"). Noack-Hübner, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-88453-016-X .
  • Music lover's encyclopedia . Music Times Comp., Chicago, Ill. 1939.
  • Of men and music . 1937.
  • A pictorial history of the movies . Simon & Schuster, New York 1949.
  • Some enchanted evenings. The story of Rodgers and Hammerstein . Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1976, ISBN 0-8371-5414-6 (reprinted 1953 New York edition).
  • The well-tempered listener. Useful and enjoyable hints, especially for listeners of orchestral works, also on the radio (“The welltempered listener”). Heimeran, Munich 1948.
Operas

literature

  • Christopher Wren: Deems Taylor . Boosey & Hawkes Publishing House
  • James A. Pegolotti: Deems Taylor. A biography . Northeastern Books, Boston, Mass. 2003, ISBN 1-5555-3587-9 .
  • John T. Howard: Studies of contemporary American composers. Deems Taylor . Fisher, New York 1927.

Web links

Commons : Deems Taylor  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members: Deems Taylor. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 29, 2019 .
  2. ^ Member History: Deems Taylor. American Philosophical Society, accessed March 7, 2018 .
  3. ^ Deems Taylor Award
personal data
SURNAME Taylor, Deems
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Taylor, Joseph Deems (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer, critic, and broadcaster
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH 3rd July 1966
Place of death new York