Paul W. Whear

Paul W. Whear (born November 13, 1925) is an American composer, music educator, double-bassist, and conductor.

Life

Whear was born in Auburn, Indiana, and studied at Marquette University, the Catholic Jesuit University in Milwaukee where he received the B.N.S. After service as an officer in the U.S Navy, he attended DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana, where he received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received the Ph.D. (Smith 1979, 248). He received the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Marquette University in 2002.

He taught at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, as well as at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Later he became a Professor at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where he also was Composer in Residence and conductor of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra. Later he retired as emeritus composer and conductor and received an honorary doctorate at Marquette University. He also taught composition courses at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.

He appeared as a guest conductor in the United States, Canada, Japan, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. As a composer he won many prizes and distinctions, as well as a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the ASCAP Award. His works have been performed by leading orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Rochester Civic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Charleston Symphony, the U.S. Navy Band and the Band of the Coldstream Guards, London.

Writings

• 1960. "Problems of the Small College Band". Music Educators Journal 46, no. 4 (Feb.–Mar.): 76–78.

Compositions

Orchestra

• A Celtic Set, for string orchestra
• A Shakespeare Prelude, for orchestra
• An Appalachian Folk Tale, for speaker and orchestra
• Catharsis Suite, for orchestra
• Concertino, for string orchestra
  1. Overture
  2. Dirge
  3. Toccata
• Lancaster Overture
• Mallard Cove—Prelude and Rondo, for string orchestra
• Olympiad, for string orchestra
• Overture for strings, for string orchestra
• Pastorale Lament, for horn and string orchestra
• Prelude to the Ten Commandments, for orchestra
• Preludio, for string orchestra
• Psalms of Celebration - Part I, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
• Psalms of Celebration - Part II, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
• Psalms of Celebration - Part III, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
• Reflections, Scherzo for Strings, for string orchestra
• Symphony No. 2, for orchestra
• Symphony No. 3, for orchestra
• The Chief Justice John Marshall, A Musical Epic for speaker and orchestra
• Waltz, for strings
• White River Legend (Overture), commissioned by The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Band

• 1958 Hartshorn, overture - Whear's first published work
• 1962 Jedermann, overture
• 1964 Contrapunctus
• 1964 Czech Suite
  1. Romantic Song
  2. Rippling Waters
  3. Festival Dance
• 1964 Kensington Overture
• 1966 Antietam
• 1968 Bellerophon, overture
• 1968 Land of Lincoln, concert march
• 1968 Decade Overture
• 1969 Wycliffe Variations
• 1970 Elsinore Overture
• 1971 Stonehenge Symphony - Symphony no. 1
  1. Solstice
  2. Evocations
  3. Sacrifice
• 1972 Of This Time
• 1973 Lexington Overture
• 1979 Celebration XXV
• 1981 The Enterprise Overture
• 1982 Symphony No. 4
  1. Overture
  2. Melodrama
  3. Finale
• A Lyric Suite
  1. Prelude
  2. Clog Dance
  3. Pastorale
  4. Procession
• An Appalachian set
• Canada—A Folksong Set for Band
• Catskill Legend
• Defenders of the Blue
• Down to the Sea in Ships
• Eternal Father
• Introduction and Invention
• Modal Miniatures
• Proscenium Overture
• Quiet Music, based on Hans Leo Hassler’s Passion Chorale
• Sonata for Band
• Yorktown, 1781

Stage Works

• The Door, opera

Choir

• Old Gold—a Celebration, for mixed choir
• Crystals, for three-part women’s choir, three flutes, harp and percussion

Vocal Music

• Sounds of Celebration, for baritone solo, mixed choir and band
• The Seasons, for baritone solo, mixed choir and orchestra
• Sonnets from Shakespeare, for baritone solo and chamber orchestra

Chamber Music

• 1975 Trio Variations, for cello, clarinet and piano
• A Separate Piece, for bassoon solo
• Five Haiku, for flute (or piccolo)
• March of the Viols, for contrabass and piano
• Prelude and Toccata, for trombone quartet
• Sonata "The Briefcase", for viola and piano
• Sonata, for cello
• Sonata, for trombone (or baritone) and piano
• String Quartet No. 3 "The Phoenix"
• Suite, for violin and cello
  1. Canon
  2. March
  3. Ostinato Aria
  4. Toccata
• The Viol Habit, for contrabass and piano
• Three Chorales, for brass quartet or brass ensemble
  1. Lass't uns erfreuen by Johann Christian Bach
  2. Chorale for Brasses by Carl Ludwig
  3. Freuet Euch Ihr Christen by Johann Sebastian Bach

Organ

• Music For Service With "Truro" (together with David Craighead)

This article translated from the Dutch Wikipedia

References

• Anderson, E. Ruth. Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary, second edition. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982. ISBN 978-0-8161-8223-7. (First edition, Boston: G. K. Hall, 1976. ISBN 0-8161-1117-0)
• Berger, Kenneth Walter. Band Encyclopedia. Kent, Ohio: Band Associates, 1960.
• Bierley, Paul E., and William H. Rehrig. The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991. ISBN 0-918048-08-7.
• Bly, Leon Joseph. "The March in American Society", Ann Arbor: University Microfilms 1978.
• Bull, Storm. Index to Biographies of Contemporary Composers, vol. 2. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974. ISBN 0-8108-0734-3.
• Frank, Paul, Burchard Bulling, Florian Noetzel, and Helmut Rosner. Kurzgefasstes Tonkünstler Lexikon - Zweiter Teil: Ergänzungen und Erweiterungen seit 1937, fifteenth edition, vol 1: A-K. Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1974. ISBN 3-7959-0083-2; Band 2: L-Z. 1976. ISBN 3-7959-0087-5.
• Hedges, Bonnie Lois, and Bonlyn Hall. "Twentieth-Century Composers in the Chesapeake Region". In Twentieth-Century Composers in the Chesapeake Region: A Bio-bibliography and Guide to Library Holdings. Richmond, Virginia: Chesapeake Chapter Music Library Association, 1994.
• Press, Jaques Cattell. Who's Who in American Music: Classical, first edition, New York: R. R. Bowker, 1983. ISBN 978-0-8352-1725-5.
• Press, Jaques Cattell. ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, fourth edition. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1980. ISBN 0-8352-1283-1.
• Smith, Norman E. Band Music Notes, revised edition. San Diego, California: Niel A. Kjos, Jr., 1979. ISBN 978-0-8497-5401-2.
• Suppan, Wolfgang, and Armin Suppan. Das Neue Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, fourth edition. Freiburg-Tiengen: Blasmusikverlag Schulz GmbH, 1994. ISBN 3-923058-07-1.