Hunter Johnson – 2 Piano works – Richard Singer, Piano – Works Progress Administration – 1938 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
Back over to early 20th century Americana this weekend. The music of Hunter Johnson as played by Richard Singer as part of the WPA Composers group in 1938.
The two works performed are: The Valley Of The Muted Songbird and Scherzo from The South.
Hunter Johnson was born on a family farm in Johnston County on April 14, 1906. He began taking piano lessons at age 10 and composed his first music, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” at the age of 13.
After graduating from Benson High School, he entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was interested in writing poetry and short stories as well as in composing music. Although he retained an ongoing interest in literary matters, he transferred to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, in order to pursue a career as a composer. He graduated from Eastman in 1929.
In 1933, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome, which enabled him to spend two years in Italy and France studying in the American Academy and traveling throughout Europe. He was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships (in 1941 and 1954) and the Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1958. In 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly honored him with a citation, and in 1965 he received the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts.
In 1940, Hunter Johnson met choreographer Martha Graham, who commissioned him to compose music for her ballet troupe. “Letter to the Word”, a ballet based on the life and poetry of 19th century poet Emily Dickinson, was described by the New York Times as “a wonderful blend of melodic eloquence, harmonic richness, and extraordinary rhythmic variety. The concert suite from “Letter to the World” has been performed worldwide more than 500 times.
In 1975, Hunter Johnson and Miss Graham worked together again as he composed the score for “The Scarlet Letter,” a ballet based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel. Rudolph Nureyev danced the role of Reverend Dimmesdale when “The Scarlet Letter” was performed in New York.
Hunter Johnson taught music theory and composition at Cornell and the Universities of Manitoba, Michigan, Illinois, and Texas before retiring in 1971. He also served as a guest instructor at the N.C. School of Arts.
Hunter Johnson’s composition have been described as neoclassical, neoromantic, and “intensely American.” He was considerably influenced by jazz and blues, as well as by American folk music.
Two short pieces, just enough to whet the appetite.
