Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - Pans Pipers Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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HAROLD MORRIS AROLD MORRIS, B. A. University of Texas, distinguished H graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, is now resident in New York, where he and his wife, Cosby Dansby, also a Conservatory graduate. with their little daughter form one of the Conservatory centers of that city. The long list of Mr. Morris's achievements mark him as one of the most promising of the .vounger American composers. His Poem for Orchestra tafter Tagore's Gitanjali'ii has been play- ed by New York Philharmonic. Joseph Stransky, conductor, Cin- cinnati Symphonv Orchestra. Eugene Ysaye, conductor, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Walter Rothwe11.conduct0r. The following tributes from critics of the calibre of Mr. Hune- ker and Mr. Finck mean much to the musical wzorld The Poem is full of passionate strivings and is scored in the Warmly colored stvle dear to the younger men. Mr. Morris has .talent, has science .--James G. Huneker, New York Times. iiThe composer has shown much ingenuity and there is a mod- ernity Which is neither Debussyan nor Stravinskyan and encourag- es bright hopes for the future. He was repeatedly called out after the performance .eHenry T. Finck, New York Evening Post. Mr. Morris's Trio for piano. violin and cello has been played by Felix Salmond, English cellist, Albert Stoessel. violinist and the composer. It was one of the five American works chosen by a committee of distinguished New York musicians and critics for the Salzburg Festival in 1923. Of it Lawrence Gilman, critic of the New York Tribune, wrote: uThis IS music of exceptional strength and originality, sinewy in structure, distinguished in speech, strikingly independent and self-sprung, and with a curious astringency of fiavor that sets it- apart from any other American music that we can recall. It is a superb piece of writing, and we can think of no contemporary Who would not have been justified in patting himself on the back if he had written it . First piano sonata has been played by Oliver Denton, pianist in Aeolian Hall, New York, and by the composer. The following criticism is in the same congratulatory mood as those already given: There is charm, originality of conception and a curiously buoyant suggestion of courageous youth and poised maturity in the work . In 1920, Mr. Morris gave a Recital of his own compositions in Aeolian Hall, New York, the program consisting of two piano sonatas and sonata for violin and piano. His songs have been sung by Alma Beck and Lambert Murphy. Mr. Morris is one of the founders of the American Music Guild which gives concerts of American music. Page 162

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t: A. .H-lfhrsf'. ETHEL GLENN H'IER 1924, has this to say: nEthel Glenn Hier, one of the youngest members of the tbig flvei group of American woman composers tthe other four being Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, Gena Branscombe, Harriet Ware and Mary Turner Salteri who played some of their own works at the annual meeting of the League of American Pen Women in Washington last April, is one of the few woman composers utilizing the ultra-modern ideas for compositions. At the present time Miss Hier is writing a suite scored for fiute, oboe, violin, cello and piano, which is to be' performed at the Composerst Festival of Music, to be given in Washington next April, at the Authorst Congress of the League of American Pen Women . This suite is in five movements: 1. The Night Wind Sings; 2. Foreboding; 3. Caprice; 4. Intermezzo; 5. Dance. In a recent letter to Miss Baur, Miss Hier writes: A group of Conservatory friends, who live within six blocks of each other, is meeting tonight to rehearse thiseand two others, Sarah PosSell, fiute and Albert Marsh, oboe, are invited. The others playing are: Edwin Ideler, violin; . Robert Schenck, Viola; C'Zelma Crosby, cello; Ethel Glenn Hier, piano. Other members of the Club, who will be present are: Gladys Shailer, Em Smith, Rose Schenck and Pearl Ideler. I have been invited to present this suite at the Mac- Dowell Club, March 28, also Mr. Francis Moore is playing my piano variations on the same evening . Miss Hier, a Cincinnati girl, holds a diploma from The Cincinnati Conservatory and from the Institute of. Musical Art of New York, and has also studied abroad. She is a member of the Peterborough Colony, where she has spent several Summers, a member of the MacDowell Club of New York City, and has recently been initiated as an honorary member of the Delta Omicron National Musical Sorority in Cincinnati. In 1922 she was given an honorary degree from the Conservatory and in 1924 was elected a member of the Composers, Unit of the League of American Pen Women. ' Miss Hier does not confine herself to one medium, but seems to be equally at home whether writing for voice, piano or other instruments. Miss Hier is not only a brilliant composer but a successful teacher as well, presenting her pupils in six Recitals during the year. She very naturally says, New York is terribly strenuous when you have to lead this sort of double life . 0 F Miss Hier the Washington, D. C. Star, of July 27,

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JOSEPH W. CLOKEY OSEPH W. Clokey, Miami Univei'sity 1912, and a J graduate in composition. Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, 1915. has spent this yeafs leave of absence from Miami University, in California, occupying practi- cally his whole time in composition. His things are in great demand among such publishers as C. C. Birchard, Boston, H. W. Gray 06., New York and Clayton F. . Summy, Chicago, and have found a cordial hearing at the . following institutions and others of their type: 5 Northwestern University, Leland Stanford Univer- L sity, New York State Normal tHollis Dann, directori, '. University of North Carolina, University of Kansas, Brick . Presbyterian Church, New York, Trinity Cathedral, t Cleveland, Union Theological Seminary, New York, First ' Congregational Church, Chicago, College of the City of ,- New York, Organ-Orchestra Concerts, Orchestra Hall, f Chicago. - Among his compositions which have had an appreci- ative reception are: . Choral Works: Hymn Exultant tfor Easteri. I. The Vision. 0 S l . ,-. When the Christ Child Came. . M t- . r5315 : h o OSt '1 Part Songs twomenis voicesi, Loun gm e 0 es. A Snow uegend. xfgegl e-d Id 11 Night Song. 00 an y ' Operas: Songs: The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Dawn. In Grandmotheris Garden top- The Cathirdi erettai. Far Away Song. Part Songs tmixed voicesii Blue Are Her Eyes. Lincoln. Sea Breath. Seven and Eight Part a capella numbers for church use. Four Christmas Carols. The following criticisms from various well-known musical journals give some idea of Mr. Clokeyis standing in the musical world. The Vision-JtIt is one of the most interesting and inspiring publications of church music in recent years',. The most striking characteristics of the music are a certain vagueness of rhythm and harmony, the skillful use of light and shade, the ever-changing moods which find expression now in lyric passages of surpassing beauty, then in dramatic themes of most stirring charac- ter . It is a beautiful work, original and daring, packed with beauty from cover to cover with inspirational quali- ties as superb as its musicianship and technic . The Pied Piper-JtWe started to glance over it, and presto! an hour had gone and we found ourselves wishing we could see the work performed? tilt is full of delicious music. Mr. Clokey possesses both magnetism and skill . It is interesting to know that Tony Sarg is using as inci- dental music with his marionette performance of The Pied Piper, selections from Mr. Clokeyis Opera. Page 163