| ORCHESTRA : Festival March; Serenade in D-Major; Music to Hamlet. | |
| CHORUS : Stabat Mater; Requiem; Te Deum; Psalm; Five Vocal Quartets. | |
| OPERA : Nubia; Frederic the Friar. | |
| Songs, anthems, pieces for piano, violin, etc. |
About Sir George Henschel:
Henschel G. Musings and Memories of a Musician; Shaw, Bernard. Music in London.
Musical Opinion 51:708 1928.
EDWARD BURLINGAME HILL, who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 9, 1872, contributes the following autobiographical sketch: "I was brought up in a University atmosphere. My grandfather, Thomas Hill, was president of Harvard University before Eliot; and my father was professor of organic chemistry at Harvard, as well as director of the Boylston Chemical Laboratory. As a boy I knew John Knowles Paine, who established what I believe was the first music department in an American college ( Harvard), and as a student took all of his courses. William F. Apthorp, in his day a prominent music critic, was also a friend of my father. Both played the classics at our house. My father sang the songs of Schubert and Franz, and was a great admirer of Bach. Thus at an early age I was inculcated into a deep love for beautiful music. I wasted many years in trying to play the piano, with only one good result: a sound knowledge of its literature.
"I went to Harvard as a matter of course, and should do it again, altho it was impossible for me to get thoro technical preparation at college, Paine being an indifferent teacher. After two years of study in New York, chiefly valuable for acquiring independence, I began to teach piano and harmony in Boston, composing incidentally, chiefly piano music and songs. A complete course with Chadwick at the New England Conservatory started me towards the orchestra, which has become one of my chief interests. My 'chance' came when I was asked for a pantomime- ballet by the Boston (now New York) artist, Joseph Lindon Smith, for a benefit performance in aid of the Chicago Orchestra in 1908. I had the valuable experience of having this somewhat tentative music carefully rehearsed by Frederick Stock, and learned much as to orchestral effect. As a result, I was asked to teach in the Division of Music at Harvard during Professor Spalding's leave-of-absence, and have been there ever since ( 1908); for the the past five years I have been chairman of the Division.
"My chief work has been as teacher of musical history, orchestration, French music and Russian music. My summers, spent for the most part in Francestown, New Hampshire, when not in Europe, are occupied with composition (there is no time for composing during the academic year). I should naturally be classified as an 'academic,' and I suppose this is just. But I was interested in French music when it was regarded as intensely radical, and trust that I have a liberal attitude towards Stravinsky, Schönberg and Hindemith.
"My method of composing? Orchestral works are always composed in sketch, and then orchestrated with many changes necessary for orchestral style. I am unfortunately addicted to the use of a piano when composing. Being devoted to the country, I do my best work there. The location of my small workshop in the woods is most conducive to composition. I seldom compose except in the morning, and try deliberately in the afternoon and evening to forget music. I believe the eraser an all-important adjunct to composition. I think I get better results from a few hours concentration, followed by relaxation which brings a fresh viewpoint the following morning.
-112-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Composers of Today:A Comprehensive Biographical and Critical Guide to Modern Composers of All Nations.
Contributors: David Ewen - Editor, David Ewen - Compiler.
Publisher: H. W. Wilson.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 1934.
Page number: 112.
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