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3;L of LEO SOWERBY for the Degree of By 3;L A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS OF LEO SOWERBY THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the ]orth Texas State Teachers College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By 0. G. Parks, B. M. Beaumont, Texas August, 1941 9(P42 91742 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO TMSTUvDy.. 1 The Problem teed for the Study Reliability of the Data Sources of Information Organization of the Study II. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF LEO SOWERBY 5 SIGNIFICAITT ASPECTS OF THE SOERBY STYLE. 12 IV. A STUDY OF REPIESETATIVE SOWiYREBY CO10OSITIO.TS 25 V. LEO S(WERBY'S PLACE IN UMRICAK ISIC........ 56 VI, SUMAR AND COCLUSIONS...................... 63 APPIE TDIX ............................................. 66 B IBLIOGRAPHY .. , ...... .. ** 72 iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. ain Theme of "eediaeval Poem" in Complete and Fragmentary Forms as Used in Development of the Composition .............................. 29 2. Opening Neasures of Introduction Showing Long Pedal Point in Organ Part Supported by Kettle- drums, and Instrumentation of Other Parts .... 29 3. Free Inversion of the Lain Theme .............. 32 4. Horn Votive Adapted from Fragment (1) *......... 32 5. Tru et Motive, Combining Fragments (1) and (4...32 6. Opening Subject of "Carillon" .................. 38 7. Carillon Votive Supported by Chromatic Har- monies and Pedal Point.................... 38 8. First and Second Themes of "Requiescat in Pace" .. ,-*--*.----...... ..... ...... ..... 42 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY The Problem Leo Sowerby is an American composer who has, in the writer's opinion, made a fine contribution to the field of modern music. This fact will be substantiated in the fol- lowing study, the purpose of which will be to examine and to analyze to some extent the works of this eminent Chicago composer, teacher, organist, and choir-master. The term "critical analysis" as used in the title is rather a loose one; it is impossible to say definitely what place Sowerby will occupy when the history of our present- day musical activity is written. It is possible, however, to apply some sort of critical yardstick to his works and measure their value according to such a standard. Need for the Study There is a marked scarcity of material published about Sowerby and his compositions; this is the case with refer- ence to most contemporary composers. Often students of music find it difficult to obtain organized, compact in- formation in regard to our illustrious moderns, and a study of this nature would be of interest to them. This study 1 2 will-be of particular interest to students of the organ, for it concerns itself chiefly with the organ works of Sowerby, and to students of composition and modern harmonic trends, for the study high lights the composer's characteristic pro- cedures in these two directions. Reliability of the Data Before this study was started, an outline of procedure was worked out with Wilfred C. Bain, Director of the Depart- ment of Music, North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Texas, and John McIntire, organ instructor in that school. It was agreed that, in addition to the usual biographical notes, there should be a thorough examination of Sowerby's style of composition and an objective analysis of several representative compositions, including the "Mediaeval Poem," which is the piece selected for the writer's graduate re- cital. The selection of these representative compositions was made by a process of examining recital and concert programs of the outstanding organists of our country, choos- ing the two works most frequently played. In making this study of Sowerby's compositions, the writer made no attempt to sit in judgment on them. On the contrary, the analysis was made on the basis of materials used and characteristic methods and means pursued by the composer. Naturally, the standards of musical values have colored his examination of these works, for there had to be 3 a starting point for a study of this nature; however, a sincere attempt at objectivity has been made. To substantiate further any conclusions drawn from this study, letters were written to various eminent organ- ists, composers, and conductors asking for their evaluation of Sowerby's work. These letters are quoted in Chapter V. Sources of Information Because Leo Sowerby is still living, most of the in- formation about him had to be gleaned from articles in magazines and newspapers. These were comparatively scarce, however. The Diapason, The American Organist, and The Musical Quarterly each furnished valuable information. The New York Times also carried articles which were very helpful in contributing factual information which made possible a more complete biographical sketch of the com- poser. Other musical publications studied were chiefly concerned with the life and activity of Sowerby up to the present time. The letters from some of Sowerby's most important col- leagues mentioned in a paragraph above were sources of in- formation which the writer considers of unusual import in the evaluation of the composer's work. It might be appropriate to say here that the writer was introduced by correspondence to Leo Sowerby by Edward 4 Collins, who is an outstanding composer in his own right and who is on the staff of the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, where Sowerby is also engaged as a teacher. Collins assured the writer that Sowerby is "very affable and also flattered that you are to make him the subject of your thesis." 1 Leo Sowerby himself wrote referring to several articles which had been published about his works and which he thought might help in this study. Organization of the Study Chapter I states the problem and describes the pro- cedures used. Chapter II is devoted to a biographical sketch of the composer. Chapter III concerns itself with pointing out the significant characteristics of Sowerby's musical style--a discussion of the Sowerby idiom. This is followed in Chapter IV by a detailed analysis of three Sowerby works and a rather general analysis of his other compositions. Chapter V is given over to expressions from Sowerby's colleagues in regard to his place in our American music. Chapter VI summarizes what has gone before and draws conclusions relative to Leo Sowerby's position in present-day and future musical activity. 1 Quoted- from a letter to the writer from Edward Collins, October 16, 1940. CHAPTER II BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OFLEO SOWERBY Leo Sowerby was born on May 1, 1895, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father was English and his mother, who died when Sowerby was four years of age, was of Canadian birth. When the boy was eleven his father remarried and it is to the step-mother that we owe a debt of gratitude for pre- serving in the boy a real musical talent. She immediately placed the child with Mrs. Frederick Burton, a teacher of piano, who was Sowerby's teacher until he entered high school. We are told by Burnet C. Tuthill that when the boy was eleven years old his interest in music had advanced to such a point that he secured a text book on harmony from a library and, without the aid of a teacher, he mastered the subject and began to compose. In 1909 the family moved to Chicago where Sowerby en- rolled as a student in Englewood High School, and also as a piano pupil of Calvin Lampert. Perceiving the lad's inter- est in composition, Lampert began to give him instruction in that field, later turning him over to Arthur Olaf 1 Burnet C. Tuthill, "Leo Sowerby," The Vu Ater XXIV (uly, 1938), 250. 5 6 Anderson, a pupil of Vincent d'Indy. At the age of fifteen years, Sowerby again showed his seriousness in regard to the study of music. When, as an organ student of Lampert, he could not afford to pay for organ practice he made an ac- curate drawing of the organ pedal board on heavy brown wrapping paper and placed it beneath his piano. Here he practiced pedal exercises daily to acquire foot technique on his chosen instrument. (Here we see the beginnings of a thorough mastery of the pedals which enables the composer to write the tremendous pedal passages in his "Pageant" and other organ compositions.) The performance in 1913 of his Concerto for violin in a program of American compositions directed by Glenn Dillard Gunn in Chicago marked Sowerby's first public appearance as a composer. The Concerto was received successfully by the public, but the critics agreed that the composer evidenced no musical ability. Later, in 1917, Eric IleLamarter, another Chicago conductor, organist, and teacher, con- ducted an entire program of Sowerby's works in Orchestra Hall. Again the critics spoke disparagingly of the com- poser and his efforts. However, Frederick Stock, the venerable conductor of the Chicago Symphony, heard the concert and was sufficiently impressed to invite Sowerby to write a composition for that orchestra. The result was the "Set of Four" which, it is said, is an orchestration 7 of a group of pieces originally written to be played by the composer himself at the piano and DeLamarter on the cello. December, 1917, found Leo Sowerby in the United States Army, stationed at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois, as a member of the Eighty-Sixth Division. He played clarinet in the band at first but was soon promoted to the post of band- master with the rank of second lieutenant. As such, he sailed for France in the summer of 1918, serving with the 332nd Field Artillery. The year 1918 saw three major performances of Sowerby compositions, the above mentioned "Set of Four" being given its initial hearing by the Chicago Symphony; the overture, "Comes Autumn Time" by the New York Symphony; and the "Serenade" for string quartet, which had been written as a birthday gift for Mrs.
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