Emerson Whithorne

Emerson Whithorne (birth surname Whittern) (September 6, 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio - March 25, 1958) ^[1] was a notable American composer and researcher into the history of music. He had a reputation as an authority on the music of China. He wrote music criticism for Musical America and the Paul Mall Gazette.

Contents

• Marriage to Ethel Leginska
• Career
• Trivia
• Partial List of Compositions
• References
• External links

Marriage to Ethel Leginska

In 1907 Whithorne was married to the English musician Ethel Leginska. They met whilst studying music in Vienna. Sometimes they performed duets together, with Whithorne playing the second part in two-piano pieces during her recitals. Whithorne acted as her concert manager for the first two years of their marriage. , and as a composer. ^[2] Emerson Whithorne had one son with her, Cedric Whithorne, born in September 1908 ^[3] after the couple returned to England after visiting the United States. They travelled to Cleveland, Ohio where Leginska made her unofficial American debut at Cleveland's Hippodrome, a vaudeville theater. ^[4] The couple separated in 1910 and divorced in 1916. ^[5] Ethel mounted an unsuccessful custody fight for her son Cedric, ^[3]

Career

Whithorne served on the Council of the International Composers' Guild (ICG). His composition Greek Impressions was the opening piece for the very first of the concerts the ICG organised, held at Greenwich Village Theatre on 19 February 1922. A year later two of his compositions, Tears and Invocations received their world premiere at the Klaw Theatre, a Broadway theatre on 4 March 1923, also under the auspices of the ICG. ^[6] However his piece was performed immediately prior to Edgard Varèse's Hyperprism which led to a riot. ^[6] Following this there was a dispute between Claire Reis and Varèse about programming, and Whithorne left the ICG to join Reis's new organisation, the League of Composers. ^[7]

Trivia

Whithorne lived for a period in London, staying until 1915. The Times reported that Whithorne was prosecuted for playing the pianoforte at unsocial hours. In November 1913 he won the case brought by the landlord of his South Kensington flat.

Partial List of Compositions

• Greek Impressions
• Tears
• Invocation
• Sierra Morena, premiered 1938 by Pierre Monteux and NBC Symphony Orchestra ^[8]
• Moon Trail, premiered 1933 by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. ^[9]
• The Rain, Op. 12 No. 1
• Hototogisu, Op. 14 No. 1
• Put by the Lute, Op. 15 No. 1
• 2 Chinese Poems, Op. 18 (1. Tears based on a Cranmer-Byng translation of a Wang Sang-Ju poem, dedicated to Frances Garrison, and 2. The Golden Nenuphar, based on Cranmer-Byng translation of a Han-zi poem)
• 2 Chinese Nocturnes, Op. 34
• La Nuit: Nocturne, Op.35 No. 1
• Aeroplane, Op. 38 No. 2 (dedicated to Rudolph Ganz) ^{[10] [11]}
• New York Days & Nights, Op. 40 (suite for piano published in 1922, orchestral arrangement premiered by the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra under Whithorne in 1927) ^{[12] [13]}
• Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 49, premiered by Eugene Goossens and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in January 1934. ^{[9] [14]}
• String Quartet, Op. 51
• Hommage, Op. 58 No. 2
• Symphony #2 ^[15]

Related Research Articles

Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas.

Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.

Efrem Zimbalist was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Giuseppe Martucci was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. Sometimes called "the Italian Brahms", Martucci was notable among Italian composers of the era in that he dedicated his entire career to absolute music, and wrote no operas. As a composer and teacher he was influential in reviving Italian interest in non-operatic music. Nevertheless, as a conductor, he did help to introduce Wagner's operas to Italy and also gave important early concerts of English music there.

Frederick Shepherd Converse, was an American composer of classical music, whose works include four operas and five symphonies.

Woldemar Bargiel was a German composer and conductor of the Romantic period.

Antonia Louisa Brico was a Dutch-born American conductor and pianist.

Louis Gruenberg was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in Hollywood in the 1940s.

John E. Ferritto was an American composer, conductor, and music professor.

Harry Farjeon was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years.

The League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce American audiences to the best new music from around the world." It was founded in New York City in 1923 by Claire Reis, Louis Gruenberg, Alma Wertheim, Lazare Saminsky, Leo Ornstein, Emerson Whithorne, Frederick Jacobi, Stephen Bourgeois, and Minna Lederman, when they seceded from the International Composers Guild. In 1954, the League of Composers became the US chapter of the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) and has since been known as the League of Composers/ISCM.

The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (CCS) is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio, with a focus on performing contemporary classical music. Since its inception, the CCS has premiered over 200 performances. The ensemble is affiliated with Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music.

Matthias Bamert is a Swiss conductor and composer.

Ethel Liggins was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and established herself as one of the first female conductors.

Women in Music was an American newsletter founded in July 1935 by its publisher and editor, Frédérique Petrides, then the conductor of the Orchestrette Classique – an orchestra based in New York made-up of female musicians. The publication ran until December 1940. The thirty-seven extant issues were reprinted in the 1991 book by Jan Bell Groh, Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frédérique Petrides. The newsletter title Women in Music was coined in 1935 by Petrides's husband, journalist, Peter Petrides to encapsulate the gist of its contents.

The International Composers' Guild was an organization created in 1921 by Edgard Varèse and Carlos Salzedo. It was responsible for performances and premieres of works by Béla Bartók, Alban Berg, Erik Satie, Carlos Chávez, Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, Maurice Ravel, Wallingford Riegger, Francis Poulenc, and Anton von Webern, and others.

The Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago was an American orchestra based in Chicago. In addition to its regular radio broadcasts which spanned 1925–1948, the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago also toured.

Kathleen Riddick was a British musician, one of the first women in Britain to establish herself in the male-dominated profession of conducting. To do so at a time when it was "considered impossible" for a woman to become a conductor Riddick was initially obliged to found her own ensembles to lead. They included the Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932, the London Women's String Orchestra in 1938, and The London Opera Group Orchestra which was led by Miriam Morley. But she also appeared as guest conductor of BBC orchestras and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Franz Kneisel was a violinist, conductor, and music teacher.

The English Ladies' Orchestral Society was one of the first and largest amateur orchestras for women in the UK, founded in 1893. It had over 100 members, including a full band of wind and strings. The primary organisers were Mary Venables and Marian Arkwright. The conductor was Mr. J. S. Liddle, organist of St Nicholas' Parish Church in Newbury and also the conductor of the Newbury Choral Society from 1884 until his death in 1921. Liddle first organised a series of concerts featuring orchestras for female players in 1877.

References

External links

• Free scores by Emerson Whithorne at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)