Will Marion Cook
Will Marion Cook (born January 27, 1869 in Washington DC , † July 19, 1944 in New York City ) was an American composer.
Cook studied violin at the Oberlin Conservatory from 1884 before moving to Berlin in 1887. There he was a student of Joseph Joachim at the Hochschule für Musik . After his return to the USA in 1889, he briefly studied at the National Conservatory of Music with Antonín Dvořák .
In 1890 he became director of a chamber orchestra with which he toured the east coast. His first composition Scenes from the Opera of Uncle Tom's Cabin was not performed in 1893. In 1898, Clorindy was created in collaboration with Paul Laurence Dunbar ; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk , the first African American musical comedy to be performed at the Broadway Theater .
Cook became a composer for the George Walker - Bert Williams Broadway Shows Company and composed numerous musicals , as well as songs under the name Will Marion . In 1898 he married the singer Abbie Mitchell , who also took on roles in many of his works.
In 1910 he founded the New York Syncopated Orchestra , with which he toured the United States and Europe and performed in front of King George V in 1918 . The later jazz saxophonist Sidney Bechet also took part in this tour .
After returning to the United States in 1922, he founded the Clef Club Orchestra , to which the singer Paul Robeson also belonged. In the early 1920s he was one of Duke Ellington's important sponsors .
Cook's son Mercer Cook was a diplomat and professor at Howard University .
Cook died of cancer in New York in 1944.
Works
- Scenes from the Opera of Uncle Tom's Cabin , 1893
- Clorindy; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk , 1898
- The Policy Players , 1900
- The Casino Girl , 1900
- Uncle Eph's Christmas , Musical, 1901
- The Cannibal King , 1901
- Who Dat Say Chicken , Song, 1902
- Darktown Is Out Tonight , Song, 1902
- In Dahomey , 1903
- The Southerners , Musical, 1904
- Abyssinia , 1906
- The Ghost Ship , 1907
- Bon Bon Buddy , Song, 1908
- Bandanna Land , 1908
- The Traitor , 1913
- In Darkeydom , 1914
- The Cannibal King , 1914
- Runnin Wild , Song, 1923
- I'm coming Virginia , song, 1927
- St. Louis Woman , Song, 1929
- Swing Along , 1929
literature
- Marva Griffin Carter: Swing Along. The musical life of Will Marion Cook . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-510891-0 .
- Detlef Diederichsen : 150th birthday of Will Marion Cook. The mentor. In: The daily newspaper . January 27, 2019 .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cook, Will Marion |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 27, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, DC |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 19, 1944 |
| Place of death | New York City |