Constance Cochnower Virtue (6 January 1905 – 21 February 1992) was an American composer and organist who developed a

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

system called the ''Virtue Notagraph''.

Life and career

Virtue was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, to Robert and Edith Rankin Cochnower. She married Navy doctor Clark W. Virtue and they had two children, Christie and Robert. Virtue received a B.M. from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in 1927, and a master's degree in sacred music from the

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

in New York in 1945. She gave private piano and organ lessons and taught at

Grossmont College Grossmont College is a public community college in El Cajon, California. Its name originated with the silent film actor and producer William J. Gross, who was enticed by Ed Fletcher to invest in the purchase of land, part of which was called Gro ...

from 1961 to 1963. She also served as the organist/music director at several churches in New York and California. In 1968, she toured as the pianist with an opera program for Alaska Music Trails. Virtue developed the ''Notagraph'', which has a seven-line staff, in 1933 as a new system of musical notation. She trademarked the ''Notagraph'' and published two books about it: ''Design for a Modern Notation'' (1945) and ''Music without Accidents'' (1975). Virtue was a member of

Mu Phi Epsilon Mu Phi Epsilon () is a co-ed international professional music fraternity. It was established as a music sorority in 1903 at the Metropolitan College of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. has over 75,000 members in 227 collegiate chapters and 113 alumni ...

and the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educa ...

. Her papers are archived at the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Center for Research in Computing and the Arts. Her music was published by H.W. Gray and G. Schirmer, Inc.

Works

Virtue's compositions include:

Chamber

*F''airy Tale for a Sleepy Child'' (cello) *''For Spring Returning'' (violin) *''Romanza'' (violin, cello and piano) *''String Quartet in G''

Orchestra

*Mystic Sonnet: To a Tree in Bloom (also arranged for piano)

Theater

*Queen of Camelot (musical) *What Gift to the King? (Christmas music drama)

Vocal

*"Farragut March Song" *"I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" *"Love is Like a Rose" (text by

Christina Georgina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

) *''Six Songs from the Chronology of Love''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virtue, Constance Cochnower American women classical composers 1905 births 1992 deaths Musical notation 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American women composers 20th-century American organists Musicians from Cincinnati University of Cincinnati alumni Union Theological Seminary alumni