Harold Morris (March 17, 1890 – May 6, 1964) was an American pianist, composer and educator. Morris was born in

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. He graduated from the

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in 1910 and received his master's degree from the

Cincinnati Conservatory of Music The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, w ...

in 1922. He married Cosby Dansby, August 20, 1914; the couple had one daughter. Morris moved from his native

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in 1916.

Performances and compositions

Morris toured extensively as a recitalist and soloist and his compositions were performed frequently during his lifetime. He made his New York concert debut in recital in January 1921 at Aeolian Hall, with a program of Brahms, Busoni, Chopin, Godowsky, Cyril Scott and Charles T. Griffes. On November 21, 1931, Morris was the piano soloist for a performance of his Piano Concerto with the

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at Carnegie Hall. Morris' composition, ''Poem'' was performed by violinist and conductor Eugène Ysaÿe in

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with the Cincinnati Orchestra on November 29, 1918. Violinist

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performed the work at Carnegie Hall with the

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three months later.

Teaching career

Morris taught at the

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from 1922 to 1939, at

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from 1939 to 1946, and at The Castle School in

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. Morris also taught at his studio in Manhattan, at

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(1933), Duke University (1939–40), and the

. He died in

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Leadership and Affiliations

Morris was one of the principal founders of the American Music Guild in New York in 1921. He served as United States director of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1936 to 1940. From 1937 to 1963, Morris served variously as Vice President and Program Committee Chairman of the National Association of American Composers and Conductors.

Selected Compositions

''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Seventh Edition, Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Schirmer Books, New York, 1984

For Orchestra

* ''Poem'', after Tagore's '' Gitanjali'' (1918) * ''Dum-a-Lum'', variations on a Negro spiritual (1925) * Piano Concerto on Two Negro Themes (1931) * Symphony No. 1, after Browning's ''Prospice'' (1934) * Violin Concerto (1939) * Passacaglia and Fugue (1939) * ''Suite'' (1941) * American Epic (1942) * Heroic Overture (1943) * Symphony No. 2, "Victory" (1943) * Symphony No. 3, "Amaranth" (1948)

Chamber music

* Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 2 * Opus No. 3 (1915) (solo piano) * Violin Sonata * ''Prologue and Scherzo'' (flute, violin, cello and piano) * ''Rhapsody'' (flute, cello, and piano)

Footnotes

External links

* (John Ranck, pianist) {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Harold American male composers University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Columbia University faculty Juilliard School faculty Rice University faculty Duke University faculty Texas classical music American music educators 1890 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians