Douglas Allanbrook
Encyclopedia
Douglas Allanbrook was an American
composer
, concert pianist and harpsichord
ist. He was associated with a group of mid-twentieth century Boston
composers who were students of Nadia Boulanger
.
, a suburb of Boston. He began taking piano lessons at eight. Within two years he was playing Bach
, Haydn and Czerny
. By thirteen, he started composing; his first serious piece was entitled On the Death of a Beautiful White Cat. While in high school, he was composing sonatas for violin and piano and writing sketches for a "Symphony in G Minor."
After high school, Allanbrook studied at Boston University for one year. In 1939 he was hired as a music teacher at the Mary Wheeler finishing school in Providence
, where Gloria Vanderbilt
was among his piano students. But the chief attraction for the young composer was the proximity of the WPA
-funded Rhode Island Symphony, which in 1941 played his student orchestral work "Music for a Tragedy."
In 1941, the exiled teacher Nadia Boulanger came to Providence to accept an honorary degree from Brown University
. She heard some of Allanbrook's music and immediately took him under her wing. He began commuting regularly to Cambridge
to study with her and to become part of her coterie of Boston composers, which included Harold Shapero
, Irving Fine
, Paul Desmarais
, and Daniel Pinkham
.
In the fall of 1942, the Army drafted Allanbrook. Serving as an infantry
man for three years, he fought his way up the Italian peninsula, in the process earning a Bronze Star
and starting his lifelong love affair with Italy
. His time in Italy is recounted in his 1995 book, See Naples: A Memoir.
When the war ended, he returned to Boston to enter Harvard University
on the G.I. Bill. His major professor was composer Walter Piston
, with whom he studied harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration. Among his fellow students were Peter Davison, who was to become a poet and publisher, and John Clinton Hunt, also to become a writer. Allanbrook composed prolifically, including his first three-movement piano sonata, and a cantata to T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday." He completed his B.A. degree in May 1948. He was awarded a Paine Traveling Fellowship from Harvard, which he used to spend the next two years (1948–1950) in Paris
honing his composing and performing skills, once again studying under Nadia Boulanger. There he formed close musical friendships with composers Ned Rorem
, Noel Lee
, Leo Preger and Georges Auric
.
In the summer 1950 on a Fulbright scholarship, he returned to Italy to study harpsichord under the great Ruggero Gerlin, longtime associate of Wanda Landowska
, at the Naples Conservatory. Under Gerlin's tutelage, he learned to perform the partitas and the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier of J.S. Bach, the ordres of Francois Couperin, and various sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. Allanbrook spent two extraordinarily creative years in Italy as composer and performer. His main work from this period is his first opera, Ethan Frome
, a brilliant setting of Edith Wharton
’s classic novel with a libretto by John Clinton Hunt.
In 1952 he returned to the U.S. to become a tutor at St. John’s College
in Annapolis in its Great Books
Program. Although he taught part-time at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore from 1953 through 1956, he chose to stay at St. John's for the duration of his teaching career. Although he retired from the college in May 1986, he continued to teach and perform there until his death. For many years, he was a member of the board at the Yaddo
artists colony near Saratoga Springs, NY He died in Annapolis, Maryland on January 29, 2003, from a heart attack at the age of 81.
His catalog contains 63 mature musical compositions, from his Te Deum (1942) to his String Quartet no. 6 (2002). His main works include seven symphonies, two operas, Ethan Frome and Nightmare Abbey (based on the novel by Thomas Love Peacock
), choral works, four string quartets, numerous chamber pieces, and innumerable piano and harpsichord works. During his lifetime, his orchestral works were performed by orchestras across America and Europe, including the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra
. He had a warm and creative collaboration with the Annapolis Brass Quintet
from 1975 until its disbandment in 1991. Other performers who gave premieres of his music under his supervision include harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, violinist Robert Gerle, and the Kronos Quartet.
Allanbrook was married twice. As recounted in See Naples, his first marriage was in 1952 to Candida Curcio, a theater actress who he met in Italy; they had a son, Timothy, an architect. Later in 1975, he married the Mozart
scholar and future president of the American Musicological Society
Wye Allanbrook née Jamison
(March 15, 1943 - July 15, 2010); their son, John, is a musician who has conducted recordings of several major Allanbrook works for Mapleshade Records.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, concert pianist and harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
ist. He was associated with a group of mid-twentieth century Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
composers who were students of Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
.
Life and work
Allanbrook was born on April 1, 1921 and raised in Melrose, MassachusettsMelrose, Massachusetts
-Government:Robert J. Dolan is the mayor. Melrose is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by Paul Brodeur . Katherine Clark is the state senator for wards 1 through 5 and Thomas McGee is the state senator for wards 6 and 7. Melrose is part of the seventh Congressional...
, a suburb of Boston. He began taking piano lessons at eight. Within two years he was playing Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Haydn and Czerny
Carl Czerny
Carl Czerny was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. He is best remembered today for his books of études for the piano. Czerny's music was profoundly influenced by his teachers, Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven.-Early life:Carl Czerny was born...
. By thirteen, he started composing; his first serious piece was entitled On the Death of a Beautiful White Cat. While in high school, he was composing sonatas for violin and piano and writing sketches for a "Symphony in G Minor."
After high school, Allanbrook studied at Boston University for one year. In 1939 he was hired as a music teacher at the Mary Wheeler finishing school in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, where Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
was among his piano students. But the chief attraction for the young composer was the proximity of the WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
-funded Rhode Island Symphony, which in 1941 played his student orchestral work "Music for a Tragedy."
In 1941, the exiled teacher Nadia Boulanger came to Providence to accept an honorary degree from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. She heard some of Allanbrook's music and immediately took him under her wing. He began commuting regularly to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
to study with her and to become part of her coterie of Boston composers, which included Harold Shapero
Harold Shapero
Harold Samuel Shapero is an American composer.-Early years:Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Shapero and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a child, and for some years was a pianist in dance orchestras. With a friend, he founded the Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing-era...
, Irving Fine
Irving Fine
Irving Gifford Fine was an American composer. Fine's work assimilated neo-classical, romantic and, later, serial elements...
, Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais, Sr., is a Canadian financier in Montreal. With an estimated net worth of $US 4.5 billion , Desmarais was ranked by Forbes as the 4th wealthiest person in Canada and 235th in the world.Desmarais also owns homes in Palm Beach, Florida and New York.He is CEO of the Power Corporation...
, and Daniel Pinkham
Daniel Pinkham
Daniel Rogers Pinkham, Jr. was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Pinkham was one of America's most active composers during his lifetime...
.
In the fall of 1942, the Army drafted Allanbrook. Serving as an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
man for three years, he fought his way up the Italian peninsula, in the process earning a Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
and starting his lifelong love affair with Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. His time in Italy is recounted in his 1995 book, See Naples: A Memoir.
When the war ended, he returned to Boston to enter Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
on the G.I. Bill. His major professor was composer Walter Piston
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....
, with whom he studied harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration. Among his fellow students were Peter Davison, who was to become a poet and publisher, and John Clinton Hunt, also to become a writer. Allanbrook composed prolifically, including his first three-movement piano sonata, and a cantata to T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday." He completed his B.A. degree in May 1948. He was awarded a Paine Traveling Fellowship from Harvard, which he used to spend the next two years (1948–1950) in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
honing his composing and performing skills, once again studying under Nadia Boulanger. There he formed close musical friendships with composers Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
, Noel Lee
Noël Lee
Noël Lee is an American classical pianist and composer living in Paris, France.He studied music in Lafayette, Indiana, then attended Harvard University, studying with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, and Tillman Merritt and was also a student at the Longy School of Music in the early 1940s...
, Leo Preger and Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
.
In the summer 1950 on a Fulbright scholarship, he returned to Italy to study harpsichord under the great Ruggero Gerlin, longtime associate of Wanda Landowska
Wanda Landowska
Wanda Landowska was a Polish harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century...
, at the Naples Conservatory. Under Gerlin's tutelage, he learned to perform the partitas and the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier of J.S. Bach, the ordres of Francois Couperin, and various sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. Allanbrook spent two extraordinarily creative years in Italy as composer and performer. His main work from this period is his first opera, Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome is a novel published in 1911 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, New England, United States...
, a brilliant setting of Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
’s classic novel with a libretto by John Clinton Hunt.
In 1952 he returned to the U.S. to become a tutor at St. John’s College
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in Annapolis in its Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
Program. Although he taught part-time at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore from 1953 through 1956, he chose to stay at St. John's for the duration of his teaching career. Although he retired from the college in May 1986, he continued to teach and perform there until his death. For many years, he was a member of the board at the Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
artists colony near Saratoga Springs, NY He died in Annapolis, Maryland on January 29, 2003, from a heart attack at the age of 81.
His catalog contains 63 mature musical compositions, from his Te Deum (1942) to his String Quartet no. 6 (2002). His main works include seven symphonies, two operas, Ethan Frome and Nightmare Abbey (based on the novel by Thomas Love Peacock
Thomas Love Peacock
Thomas Love Peacock was an English satirist and author.Peacock was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work...
), choral works, four string quartets, numerous chamber pieces, and innumerable piano and harpsichord works. During his lifetime, his orchestral works were performed by orchestras across America and Europe, including the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra
Munich Radio Orchestra
The Munich Radio Orchestra is a German symphony orchestra based in Munich. It is one of the two orchestras affiliated with the Bavarian Radio , the other being the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra....
. He had a warm and creative collaboration with the Annapolis Brass Quintet
Annapolis Brass Quintet
The Annapolis Brass Quintet was a brass quintet founded by trumpet player David Cran and trombone player Robert Posten in 1971 as America's first full-time performing brass ensemble. During the course of its 22-year career through 1993, it played concerts in all fifty states and throughout Europe,...
from 1975 until its disbandment in 1991. Other performers who gave premieres of his music under his supervision include harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, violinist Robert Gerle, and the Kronos Quartet.
Allanbrook was married twice. As recounted in See Naples, his first marriage was in 1952 to Candida Curcio, a theater actress who he met in Italy; they had a son, Timothy, an architect. Later in 1975, he married the Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
scholar and future president of the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
Wye Allanbrook née Jamison
Wye Jamison Allanbrook
Wye Jamison "Wendy" Allanbrook was an American musicologist whose writings demonstrated that much of the music of Mozart and his contemporaries was influenced by the social dances of the time....
(March 15, 1943 - July 15, 2010); their son, John, is a musician who has conducted recordings of several major Allanbrook works for Mapleshade Records.