Julia Smith (composer)

This article is about the composer. For the television director, see Julia Smith.

Julia Frances Smith ( January 25, 1905[1] – April 18, 1989[2][3][4]) was an American composer, pianist, and author on musicology.

Life and career

She was born in Denton, Texas.

She graduated from University of North Texas College of Music (1930) and then continued with graduate studies in piano and composition at the Juilliard School from 1932 to 1939, earning a diploma. She simultaneously studied at New York University earning a Masters degree in 1933 and a PhD in 1952. From 1932 to 1939, she served as pianist for the Orchestrette Classique of New York, a women’s orchestra. During this time, she also gave concerts of mostly American music in Latin America, Europe, and throughout the United States. As a performer, she became particularly associated with the works of Aaron Copland. From 1941 to 1946, she taught at the Hartt School, where she founded the department of music education.

As a composer, Smith is best known for her operas and orchestral works, which have all been performed. Her music incorporates elements of jazz, folk music and 20th-century French harmony. Her compositional style has an appealing directness and although tonal, makes interesting use of dissonance. Among her works are The String Quartet, which uses irregular metres and driving rhythms, and the operas Cynthia Parker and Cockcrow, which employ folk music within a generally conservative tonal idiom.

Smith was the recipient of several commissions and awards and was active in several music organizations, especially the National Federation of Music Clubs, for which she chaired the Decade of Women Committee (1970–79). As a writer her publications include Aaron Copland: his Work and Contribution to American Music (New York, 1955) and a Directory of American Women Composers (Chicago, 1970), of which she was the editor.

She died in New York City.

Selected compositions

Selected writings

Teaching positions

Family

On April 23, 1938, Julia Smith married Oscar Albert Vielehr (b. Aug. 4, 1892, Rochester, NY;[5] d. Nov 30, 1975, New York, NY[6]), an engineer and inventor who worked for the Gyroscope Company, an Army ordnance plant. They met at a concert.[7]

References

  1. Several publications, including a reference to her age in her obituary in The New York Times, May 3, 1989, wrongly assume her year of birth as 1911; some references cite January 25, 1911 as her date of birth
  2. Note that the date of death shown on Julia Smith Vielehr's grave marker (April 18, 1989) differs from that of the Social Security Death Index (April 1, 1989)
  3. Julia Smith, 78, Composer and Pianist, Dies, The New York Times, May 3, 1989
  4. www.findagrave.com — Julia Smith Vielehr, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery, Denton, Texas
  5. WWII Draft Registration Card
  6. Obituary: Oscar A. Vielehr, Denton Record-Chronicle, Dec. 21, 1975
  7. Sarah Moore, College to Present Dentonite's Operas, Denton Record-Chronicle, Oct. 3, 1954

Sources

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.