Howard A. Brockway (November 22, 1870 – February 20, 1951) was an American composer. Brockway was born on November 22, 1870 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

. He spent five years in Berlin, studying composition under Otis Bardwell Boise and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

under

Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...

. Afterwards he returned to the U.S. and worked as a piano teacher and composer at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–186 ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, along with the Institute of Musical Art (now the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

) and the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...

, both in

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. Collaborating with the classically-trained singer

Loraine Wyman (Julie) Loraine Wyman (October 23, 1885 – September 11, 1937) was an American soprano, noted for her concert performances of folk songs, some of which she collected herself from traditional singers in field work. Paul J. Stamler has called Wyma ...

, he carried out a six-week fieldwork journey in the

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in Kentucky to collect traditional folk songs from the people living there. Brockway recorded the tunes (and later wrote piano accompaniments), while Wyman recorded the words. They published their work in two volumes, which appeared in 1916 and 1920. Brockway’s own compositions include a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning ...

, a

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite ...

, a symphonic ballad, a

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpi ...

chamber-music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

works,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

s, and

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s. He died on February 20, 1951 in New York. From around 1911 to 1920, Brockway worked for the American Piano Corporation (Ampico) as a recording artist and piano roll editor. He recorded at least 155 works for the classical catalogue, and also numerous accompaniment and popular items. He was Ampico's most prolific artist. The 1925 Catalogue of Ampico Music states: "His interpretations of selections from the operas are of particular importance, as he has made a special study of that form of musical expression, and his illustrated lectures on this subject are well known." He recorded under a number of pseudonyms including Al Sterling and Andrei Kmita. The 1921 QRS Artecho listing of reproducing piano rolls shows Brockway as recording 22 works.

Specific works

*Suite of Small Pieces for Pianoforte Op.26 ( G. Schirmer) 1901 # Idyl # Étude # Scherzo # Evening Song # Humoresque # March # Symphony in D # Piano Quintet # Sonata for violin and piano # Suite for Cello and Orchestra (or Piano), Op. 35 (John Church) 1908 Obenchain, Elaine. The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls. New York: William H. Edgerton, 1977

Notes

External links

Howard Brockway biography
at livedaily.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brockway, Howard 1870 births 1951 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers Mannes College The New School for Music faculty Pseudonymous artists