Percy Goetschius

Percy Goetschius (born August 30, 1853 in Paterson , New Jersey , † October 29, 1943 in Manchester , New Hampshire ) was one of the most important music theorists and composition teachers of his time in the USA .

Life

Goetschius was a piano student of Robert EH Gehring . Between 1868 and 1873 he worked as an organist at the Second Presbyterian and First Presbyterian Churches in his hometown, and as a pianist for the Mr. Benson's Paterson Choral Society . In 1873 he went to the Stuttgart Conservatory to study music theory . There he was appointed royal Württemberg professor in 1885 by King Karl Friedrich Alexander of Württemberg.

From 1892 he taught at the New England Conservatory in Boston and in 1905 became a teacher at the New York Institute of Music and Art under Frank Damrosch . His students included u. a. Pauline Alderman , Samuel Latham Mitchell Barlow , Samuel Gardner , Howard Hanson , Swan Hennessy , Eva Jessye , Arthur Loesser , Daniel Gregory Mason , Pierre Maurice , Leo Ornstein , Wallingford Riegger , Richard Rodgers , Zygmund Przemyslaw Rondomanski and Arthur Shepherd . He wrote nine works on music theory, which are recognized as standard works to this day.

Fonts

• The Material Used in Musical Composition (New York: G. Schirmer, 1882)
• The Theory and Practice of Tone-Relations (Boston: New England Conservatory, 1892)
• Lessons in Musical Form (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1904)
• The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition (New York: G. Schirmer, 1921)
• Counterpoint (New York: G. Schirmer, 1930)