Howard Boatwright

Howard Boatwright (born March 16, 1918 in Newport News , Virginia , † February 20, 1999 in Syracuse , New York ) was an American composer , violinist , musicologist and author .

Life

Howard Boatwright learned to play the violin at the age of seven . Until 1942 he studied with the Kreisel student Israel Feldman in Norfolk , he made his debut with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in New York City Hall . From 1943 to 1946 he studied at the University of Texas at Austin . From 1946 he studied composition with Paul Hindemith at Yale University . He finished his studies in 1947 with a Bachelor of Music and in 1948 with a Master of Music . Until 1964 he taught at Yale. He conducted the Yale Symphony Orchestra , was concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1962 and first violinist in the Yale String Quartet . Boatwright was a member of the Collegium Musicum at Yale University and music director of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church in New Haven . From 1964 to 1971 he was Dean of the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University and from 1971 Professor of Composition and Music Theory , he lived in Fayetteville . During his term of office, the university developed into an important starting point for new music . In addition, non-Western forms of music found their way into the curriculum. In the Hindemith Music Center in Blonay , Switzerland , he opened a branch of the university and initiated summer courses. He composed more than 100 works. His wife was the soprano Helen Strassburger.

Works (selection)

• 1949: Variations for Small Orchestra
• 1952: Serenade for Strings and Winds
• 1976: Symphony
• 1980: Clarinet Sonata

Discography

• String Quartet No. 2 (1975)
• Kierkegaard Set to Music (1998)

Publications

• Introduction to the Theory of Music (1956)
• Indian Classical Music and the Western Listener (1960)
• A Handbook on Staff Notation for Indian Music (1960) after a stay in Bombay as part of the Fulbright Program and the Rockefeller Foundation
• The Gypsy Laddie: Vocal Score With Instruments (1985)
• Chromaticism: Theory and Practice (1994)
• Essays Before a Sonata, the Majority, and Other Writings (1999)

literature

• Don Michael Randel: The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Belknap Press. ISBN 0-674-37299-9 , pp. 87f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Howard Boatwright in the catalog of the German National Library
• Obituary for Howard Boatwright in the New York Times on February 24, 1999