Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter
Encyclopedia
Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter (15 March 1856 - 1938) was an American
soprano
and composer
. She was born in Peoria
, Illinois
, the daughter of Jonathan and Mary E. Hinds Turner. Turner graduated from Burlington High School in Burlington
, Iowa
, and the Boston College of Music, and then worked as a voice teacher at Wellesley College and performed in churches. In 1881 she married Sumner Salter. She died in Orangeburg
, New York
. She was one of the founding members of the American Society of Women Composers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and 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...
. She was born in Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the daughter of Jonathan and Mary E. Hinds Turner. Turner graduated from Burlington High School in Burlington
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and the Boston College of Music, and then worked as a voice teacher at Wellesley College and performed in churches. In 1881 she married Sumner Salter. She died in Orangeburg
Orangeburg, New York
Orangeburg hamlet , in the Town of Orangetown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Tappan; south of Blauvelt; east of Pearl River and west of Piermont...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She was one of the founding members of the American Society of Women Composers.
Works
Turner wrote about thirty songs. Selected works include:- The Cry of Rachel
- Song of April
- A Der Schmetterling (from Three German Songs) (Text: Heinrich Heine)
- Love's Epitome
- Foreign Lands (text: Robert Louis Stevenson)
- Life (from Five Songs) (Text: Paul Laurence Dunbar)
- The High Song (text: Humbert Wolfe)
- Wandrers Nachtlied (text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)