Arthur Foote (Composer, Arranger)

Born: March 5, 1853 - Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Died: April 8, 1937 - Bosdton, Massachusetts, USA

The distinguished American composer, organist, and teacher, Arthur (William) Foote, studied harmony with Emery at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (1867-1870) and took courses in counterpoint and fugue with J.K. Paine at Harvard College (1870-1874), where he received the fIrst M.A. degree in music granted by an American University (1875). He also studied organ and piano with B.J. Lang, and later with Stephen Helier in France (1883).

Returning to the USA, Arthur Foote taught piano, organ, and composition in Boston; was organist at Boston's Church of the Disciples (1876-1878) and the 1^st Unitarian Church (1878-1910). He also appeared frequently as a pianist with the Kneisel Quanet (1890-1910), performing several of his own works. He was a founding member and president (1909-1912) of the American Guild of Organists. He taught piano at the New England Conservatory 0f Music (19211937). Foote was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1898).

Arthur Foote's music, a product of the Romantic tradition, is notable for its frne lyrical élan. His Suite in E major for strings (1907) enjoyed numerous performances and became a standard of of American orchestral music. He published Modern Harmony in Its Theory and Practice (with W.R. Spalding; 1905; revised edition, 1959; republished as Harmony, 1969), Some Practical Things in Piano Playing (1909), and Modulation and Related Harmonic Questions (1919). His autobiography was privately printed (Norwood, Massachusetts, 1946) by his daughter, Katharine Foote Raffy.

Works

Orchestral:
In the Mountains, overture (1886; Boston, February 5, 1887; revised 1910)
Cello Concerto (1887-1893)
Francesca di Rimini, symphonic prologue (1890; Boston, January 24, 1891)
Serenade for Strings (1891; based on the earlier Suites, Opp. 12 & 21)
Suite in D minor, Op. 36 (1894-1895; Boston, March 7, 1896)
4 Character Pieces after the Rubáiyát of Omar Kjayyam (1900; based on a set of piano pieces)
Suite in E major for Strings, Op. 63 (1907; revised 1908; Boston, April 16, 1909)
A Night Piece for Flute and Strings (1922; derived from the Nocturne and Scherzo for Flute and String Quartet, 1918)

Chamber:
2 piano trios (1882; revised 1883; 1907-1908)
3 string quartets (1883; 1893; 1907-1911)
Violin Sonata (1889)
Romance and Scherzro for Cello and Piano (1890)
Piano Quartet (1890)
Piano Quintet (1897)
Sonata for Cello or Viola and Piano (n.d.)
Nocturne and Scherzo for Flute and String Quartet (1918; also as A Night Piece for Flute and Strings, 1922)
also various piano pieces; organ music

Vocal:
The Farewell of Hiawatha for Men's Chorus & Orchestra (1885)
The Wreck of the Hesperus for Chorus & Orchestra (1887-1888)
The Skeleton in Armor for Chorus & Orchestra (1891)
O Fear the Immortals, Ye Children of Men for Mezzo-soprano and Orchestra (1900)
Lygeia for Women's Chorus & Orchestra (1906)
some 100 songs, 52 part songs, and 35 anthems

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2007)

Bach-Foote: Arthur Foote | Works | Recordings

Links to other Sites

Bibliography

F. Kopp, Arthur Foote: American Composer and Theorist (dissertation, University of Rochester, 1957)
D. Alviani: The Choral Church Music of Arthur Wiiliam Foote (dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, 1962)
D. Moore: The Cello Music of Arthur Foote, 1853-1937 (dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1977)
W. Cipolla: A Catalog of the Works of Arthur Foote (1853-1937) (Detroit, 1980)