Joseph Willard Roosevelt

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Joseph Willard Roosevelt (January 16, 1918 – May 18, 2008) was an American pianist and composer.

Early life

Roosevelt was born on January 16, 1918 as the second son of

United States Ambassador to Spain. Among his siblings were brother Kermit Roosevelt Jr.

His paternal grandparents were U.S. President Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt Jr. and First Lady Edith Kermit Carow. He was uncle to Mark Roosevelt and great-uncle to Kermit Roosevelt III, John Palfrey and Quentin Palfrey.[1]

Like several of his family members, Roosevelt attended Groton School and Harvard University and studied piano with Nadia Boulanger in France.[1]

Career

He served in the Pacific during

USS Greene, (APD-36).[3]
With the Greene he supported the invasion of southern France in August 1944 and later served on escort duties in the Pacific.

He taught music at

Longy School of Music. Roosevelt's compositions are published by the American Composers Alliance and Merion Music.[1]

Personal life

On December 22, 1943, while a lieutenant in the Navy, Roosevelt married first Nancy Thayer in

E.E. Cummings. Before their divorce in 1954, they were the parents of two children:[4]

After his divorce, Roosevelt was married on May 28, 1955 in Mendon, Vermont to Carol Adele Russell (1935–2022), a daughter of Eleanor Lavinia Rassmussen and Joseph John Russell.[7] They had three children:

Roosevelt died at his home in Orient, New York the age of 90 on May 18, 2008.[1]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Simon, he was a grandfather of Simon Cummings Roosevelt (b. 1964), an attorney with at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft who married Lolita Ximena Echavarria (daughter of Hernán Echavarría Olózaga, Colombia's Ambassador to the United States in 1967 and 1968), in 1999.[6]

Selected works

Opera
  • And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1976); 1 act with libretto by Loften Mitchell
Orchestra / band
  • Amistad for orchestra (1960)
  • Band Piece No. 1 (1979)
  • Band Piece No. 2 (1979)
  • Concerto for cello and orchestra (1963)
  • Concerto for piano and orchestra
  • Suite for oboe, bassoon and string orchestra (1959)
Chamber / instrumental
  • Flute and Fiddle, 4 Duos for 5 flutes (bass, alto, standard, shakuhachi, piccolo) and 2 fiddles (violin, viola) (1975)
  • The Judgement of Paris for flute (also alto flute) and optional mime (1975)
  • Lament for Willie Thomas Jones for 4 cellos (1975)
  • The Leaden and the Golden Echo for reciter and piano (1957); text by Gerard Manley Hopkins
  • Paul Revere's Ride for flute solo and optional mime (1975)
  • Serenade for oboe, viola and cello (1955)
  • Short Suite for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1982)
  • Sonata for cello and piano (1953)
  • Sonata for violin and piano
  • Song and Dance Suite for oboe, clarinet and viola (1975)
  • String Quartet
  • Suite for viola solo (1963)
  • Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (1952)
  • Waltz for flute (or clarinet) and piano (1978)
Piano
  • Dance Suite (1982)
  • Sonata No. 1 in D major
  • Sonata No. 2 in B major
  • Suite (1963)
Vocal

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Paid Notice: Deaths ROOSEVELT, J. WILLARD". The New York Times. September 21, 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ United States Bureau of Naval Personnel (1949). Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Naval Reserve. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 867. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  3. ^ "Paid Death Notices; J. Willard Roosevelt". The New York Times. September 21, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  4. ^ Times, Special to The New York (7 April 1954). "RENO DECREE GRANTED; Wife of J. W. Roosevelt Wins Divorce, Settlement". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Great-Grandson of T.R. Dies After Collision Here". The New York Times. 2 May 1965. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b "WEDDINGS; Lolita Echavarria, Simon Roosevelt". The New York Times. 28 February 1999. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Carol Russell Roosevelt". The Suffolk Times. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Roosevelt, Dirck (dr2692) | Teachers College, Columbia University". www.tc.columbia.edu. Teachers College, Columbia University. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  9. UPI
    . July 16, 1982. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  10. ^ "TR Center - News and Notes..." Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal. 12 (3). 1986. Retrieved 1 March 2024.

External links