Arthur Fickenscher (March 9, 1871 in

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– April 15, 1954 in

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) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and academic. The first head of the music department of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, he is credited with being an early 20th-century pioneer of

microtonal music Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...

Career

Fickenscher studied music in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

under

Joseph Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was an organist and composer from Liechtenstein, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. As court conductor in Munich, he was responsible for the music in the royal chapel. He is ...

and lived then as a teacher in

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, and

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. From 1911 to 1914, he was a vocal teacher in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. From 1920 until 1941 he was the first head of the music department at the University of Virginia. From about 1923 to 1933 he was the conductor of the

Virginia Glee Club The Virginia Glee Club is a men's chorus based at the University of Virginia. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works typically in TTBB arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the university's oldest musical organizatio ...

, a male choral ensemble at the University of Virginia. He composed a Mimodrama, orchestral variations in the medieval style, a Dies Irae, visions for voice and orchestra, church works, a piano quintet, and various songs (including the song cycle ''Willowwood''). His first major work, ''Visions'' for dramatic soprano and orchestra, received its premiere at the Royal Conservatory in Berlin in 1913 to acclaim from the New York Times. Recordings have been made of his song cycle ''Willowwood'' and his piano quintet ''From the seventh Realm''; of the latter, Percy Grainger wrote, "While I am a reverent admirer of the piano and string quintets by Bach, César Franck, Brahms, Cyril Scott and others, I must confess that this American work by Fickenscher out-soars them all, for my ears, in point of spiritual rapture and sensuous loveliness." Fickenscher also invented the Polytone, a keyboard instrument that could produce sixty distinct tones within the scope of an octave.

Works

* ''Visions'', symphonic seal for dramatic soprano and large orchestra, 1912 * ''Willowwood and Well Away'', 1925 * ''Day of Judgement'', 1927 * ''Out of the Gay Nineties'', 1934 * ''From the seventh realm'', Piano Quintet, 1939 * ''Aucalete'', symphonic poetry, 1945 * ''Lament for organ'', 1951 * ''Improvisational Fantasy for organ'', 1954 * ''Aucassin and Nicolete'', symphonic poetry for chorus and orchestra * ''The Chamber Blue'', poetry for chorus and orchestra * ''The Land East of the Sun'', symphonic poetry for chorus and orchestra * ''Old Irish Tune for chamber orchestra'' * ''Evolutionary Quartet'', String Quartet * ''Willowwood'' for alto, viola and piano

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fickenscher, Arthur 1871 births 1954 deaths American male composers American composers University of Virginia faculty