Volume XIX · Winter 1964 · Number 2
Music Manuscripts Of Weldon Hart
--RUTH WATANABE
 
 

Among the music manuscripts in the Sibley Music Library is a collection of works by the late Weldon Hart. Born in Bear Spring, Tennessee, on September 19, 1911, Hart was an alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, earning a doctorate in composition in 1946. Previously he had graduated with a bachelor of music degree from Peabody College in Nashville (1933) and had received a diploma in violin from the Ward-Belmont Conservatory the same year. At the University of Michigan he received a master of music degree three years later. From 1946 to 1949 he was head of the Department of Music at Western Kentucky State College in Bowling Green. Then, for nine years he was Director of the School of Music at West Virginia University in Morgantown. He had been head of the Department of Music at Michigan State University for only a few months when he died on November 20, 1957.

Several years after his death, his manuscripts were sent to the Sibley Music Library as a memorial by Mildred Hart Harder of East Lansing, Michigan. They form a significant portion of the manuscript collection of music by twentieth-century American composers. As a pupil in composition of Howard Hanson, Bernard Rogers, and John Vincent, Weldon Hart was a fine, sensitive writer, whose music was characterized by either a bold use of harmonic devices or an interesting incorporation of folksong material. His works served as a model for several younger composers, among them the late Lyndol Mitchell. In 1945 he was awarded first prize for an orchestral work in a contest sponsored by the ABC Network through the National Fellowship of American Composers. In addition to performances of his music at the Festivals of American Music in Rochester, there have been presentations by symphony orchestras of Oklahoma City, Washington, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Wheeling, sometimes with the composer conducting. Although his premature death cut short a promising career as both educator and musical creator, the thirty-four completed works and the unfinished sketch listed below are a witness to his abilities as a composer.

1. Chanson Innocente I, for mixed chorus a cappella, on words by e. e. cummings. Holograph in ink.
2. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Morgantown, W. Va., 1951. Full orchestral score. Holograph in ink.
   Same. Composer's arrangement for violin and piano. Holograph in ink.
   This work, dedicated to Joseph Knitzer, at present Professor of Violin at the Eastman School of Music, was performed during the Festival of American Music in Rochester during the 1951-52 season.
3. The Dark Hills, for orchestra, based on a poem by Edward Arlington Robinson. Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink.
4. Darling Cory, a Study [for orchestra] based on a Folk-Tune, Rochester, N.Y., 1944. Score and string parts. Holograph in ink.
   The work was presented for the first time at the Symposium of Student Compositions, Eastman School of Music, 1943-44.
5. Dost Thou in a Manger Lie, to words by Jean Mauburn, 1494, translated by Elizabeth Charles. Two holographs, one in pencil, the other in ink.
6. Fugue for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon. Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink. "An original composition submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Composition."
7. Fugue for Piano. Holograph in pencil.
8. Fugue for Violin, Viola, and Cello. Holograph in pencil.
9. I Held a Jewel in My Fingers, for voice and piano. Holograph in pencil.
10. I Will Cry Unto God, for mixed voices and organ, on a text from Psalm 77, 1954. Two holographs, one in pencil, the other in ink.
11. Interlude for Flute and Bassoon, written for Murray Panitz and Loren Glickman, Rochester, 1945. Holograph in ink. Panitz and Glickman were students at the Eastman School of Music.
12. Irish Legend, for Junior High band, 1953. Full score. Holograph in pencil, another in ink.
    Same. Piano score (band condensed for piano). Holograph in pencil.
13. John Jacob Niles Suite, for orchestra, Bowling Green, Ky., 1948. Full score. Photolithograph of manuscript. This suite became one of Hart's most popular works. It was given its first performance at the Festival of American Music in Rochester during the 1948-49 season.
14. Lost, a song, to words of Carl Sandburg. Two holographs in ink.
15. Manuscript of an unfinished sketch of an unknown work. A single page in pencil.
16. Miniatures, Three, for piano: Valse, Lullaby, Serenade. Holograph in ink. This manuscript is not dated.
17. Miniatures, Three, for piano: Sarabande, Fairy Tale, Transition. Holograph in pencil.
18. .Nocturne, for violin and piano, dedicated to Kenneth Rose. Holograph in ink.
19. O Sing Unto the Lord, for mixed chorus and orchestra, on text adapted from Psalms 98 and 92. Full score. Holograph in pencil.
    Same, for mixed chorus and organ or piano accompaniment. Holograph in ink.
20. Pennyrile, a Concert Overture for Orchestra, Bowling Green, Ky., 1947.
    Score. Holograph in pencil.
    Same. Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink. During the Festival of American Music in Rochester in 1947-48 Pennyrile was performed with great success.
21. Piece for Brass Choir and Percussion, Morgantown, W.Va., 1957. Full score. Two holographs, one in pencil, the other in ink.
    Same. Condensed score. Holograph in pencil.
22. Two Pieces for Piano. Holograph in ink.
23. Piece for Three (in 12- Tone Technique). For trumpet, clarinet, and bassoon. Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink.
24. Piece for Two Violins, Viola and Cello. Score in pencil, instrumental parts in ink.
25. Quartet, String, No. 1. Score and separate instrumental parts. Holograph in ink. Viola and cello parts lacking in second movement. On cover: "An original composition submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Composition."
26. Quartet, String, No. 2. Fragments of score in pencil.
27. Sinfonietta, for orchestra, Bowling Green, Ky., 1936. Holograph score in ink. All instrumental parts for wind and percussion in composer's manuscript; all string parts with the exception of one Violin I part in the manuscript of a copyist.
28. Sonatina in D Minor for Flute with Violin Accompaniment. Dedicated to John N. Vincent, 1931. Score. Holograph in ink.
29. Stately Music, for strings. Score. Holograph in pencil. The composer visited the Eastman School of Music for the first performance of this work during the Festival of American Music in 1955-56. It was the last of his pieces to be premiered in Rochester.
30.  Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, on a poem by Robert Frost. For men's voices and piano. Morgantown, W. Va., 1951. Score. Holograph in pencil.
31.  Suite for Small Orchestra: Pavan. Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink.
32.  Summer is Gone, on a ninth-century Irish poem, translated by Kund Meyer, Morgantown, W. Va., 1951. Holograph in ink.
33. Symphony No. 1, Rochester, 1946. Full score, including revised ending. Holograph in ink. This symphony, whose first movement was played during the Symposium of 1944-45, was premiered in its entirety during the Festival of American Music in Rochester in 1945-46. It was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Composition at the Eastman School of Music.
34. West Virginia Folksongs, Three, for mixed chorus and orchestra: "When I set out for Glory;" "Early in the Morning;" "Groundhog." Score and instrumental parts. Holograph in ink.
    Same. Arranged for piano accompaniment. Holograph in ink.