Parker, Horatio (William)

▪ American composer

born Sept. 15, 1863, Auburndale, Mass., U.S.

died Dec. 18, 1919, Cedarhurst, N.Y.

 composer, conductor, and teacher, prominent member of the turn-of-the-century Boston school of American composers.

      Parker studied in Boston and Munich. Returning to New York, he taught at the National Conservatory of Music, then directed by Antonin Dvořák. In 1894 he became professor of music at Yale, where he was active in choral conducting. He also founded the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

      Parker's principal compositions are his choral works, which include his masterpiece, the oratorio Hora Novissima (1893); the ode Hymnos Andron; and the morality The Dream of Mary. He also wrote two operas, Mona (1912) and The Fairyland (1915), as well as organ works, piano pieces, chamber music, orchestral works, and a book, Music and Public Entertainment (1911).

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