Arthur Batelle Whiting

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Arthur Whiting
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Hans Bussmeyer
Notable studentsD. G. Mason

Arthur Batelle Whiting (June 20, 1861 – July 20, 1936) was an American teacher, pianist, composer, and writer on music, known for his conservative compositional style, espousal of early music, and his long-running university lecture-recital series.

Biography

Whiting was born on June 20, 1861, in

New England Conservatory[1] for five years, approximately from 1880 to 1885, probably coinciding with his organist position. There he studied piano with William Hall Sherwood[1][4][5] and harmony, counterpoint, and composition with George Whitefield Chadwick.[1][3][5] During this time he continued to give piano recitals in Boston and Worcester.[4]

From 1883 to 1885 Whiting studied in Germany at the

Brahms".[5] Rheinberger was known for a caustic teaching style, very much like the one Whiting later developed.[6][7] Whiting also studied piano with Prof. Hans Bussmeyer, head of the piano department at the School[4] and continued concertizing while in Munich.[4] Along with fellow American students H. W. Parker and H. H. Huss,[3][4] he received their highest honors in composition and many performances of his student works.[3][4]

In 1885, Whiting returned to America, and settled back in Boston.[1][5] He married into a prominent New England family;[5] his wife's name was Grace Kneeland.[2][7] During this time, he devoted himself mostly to composing, in small forms predominantly.[5]

In 1895, he and his wife moved to New York City.[1][7] There he performed frequently as a concert pianist,[1] as soloist with several American orchestras,[1] gave solo recitals, and played with chamber ensembles. At this time, Whiting began to composer in larger forms.[5] An early success was his "Floriana: Overheard In the Garden," a setting of Oliver Herford's cycle of poems by that title, which was first performed in New York in 1902.[5] In New York, he also taught piano (and possibly composition).[7] He was a "tough-love" kind of teacher. He was harsh, often mockingly humorous, in his criticisms of his students, but at least some of them felt that it was well-meant.[7] He frequently offered the same blunt criticisms of his adult friends' music, as well as of his own.[7] In 1905 he was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.[1] Sometime during his career, he was head of the Organ Department at the Cincinnati College of Music, under Theodore Thomas.[3]

His main claim to fame during his lifetime was a yearly lecture/recital series on chamber music that continued from 1907 until 1930.

Yale,[1] and Columbia[3] universities.[5] Their purpose was to generate interest in music among the undergraduate students there.[7] After these began, Whiting mostly gave up composing.[2]

Through the years, Whiting also occasionally wrote on the subject of music.

The Outlook, New Music Review, and in newspapers like the New York Times.[7] In his later years he regretted not composing more.[5]

Whiting died on July 20, 1936, in Beverly, Massachusetts.[1]

Musical style

Whiting was not a prolific composer.[1] When he did write, he composed mostly in small forms.[1] Stylistically, he was considered to be a Classicist, influenced by Bach and Brahms.[1][5][7] (He admitted to friend and former student D. G. Mason that he also enjoyed music by impressionists Debussy, Ravel, and Loeffler, which was popular at the time.[7])

Whiting also admired

Handel.[2] Whiting perhaps performed them at the harpsichord in a series of concerts he gave in 1911.[1] He also wrote an article in New Music Review in 1908 called "The Lesson of the Clavichord",[1] which was re-printed as a pamphlet in 1909.[2][7] It was, according to D. G. Mason, "an impassioned plea for the subtle and suggestive as opposed to the brutal sensationalism prevalent in contemporary music",[7] which was exemplified in his opinion by the compositions of Richard Strauss.[7]

He was critical of the contemporary efforts of his fellow composers to create an

American style of art music.[7] This was especially evident in 1915–1917, when he became engaged in a literary battle about the position of the American composer, expressing in various newspapers his opinion that American works and their creators weren't in the least denigrated.[3]

Selected works

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Charles H. Kaufman. "Whiting, Arthur Battelle." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30228
  2. ^ a b c d e f Arthur Battelle Whiting Scores, JPB 84-421, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Whiting, Arthur". Clippings file. Music Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Arthur Whiting." Unknown newspaper. 1885?. In "Whiting, Arthur". Clipping file. Music Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Arthur B. Whiting (1861–1936)," Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. Accessed March 21, 2016.
  6. ^ "Hofcapellmeister Josef Rheinberger." Boston Home Journal, 1885? Accessed in New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Music Division, Clippings File.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Mason, D. G. "Arthur Whiting". The Musical Quarterly. 23 (January 1937), pp. 26-36.
  8. ^ "Best Six American Anthems" (PDF). The Diapason. 7 (3): 1. January 1, 1916.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Batelle_Whiting&oldid=1179847174"