Harrison Gradwell Slater Wignall was an American writer, pianist, and educator. Born Harry James Wignall in New Bedford, Mass., he lived in New Bedford while his father, a US Army officer, was a prisoner of war for three years, held by the Communist Chinese in North Korea. In his youth Harry lived for four years in Mannheim and Frankfurt, Germany while his father was stationed with the US Army Northern Army Command. He graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mt. Holly, NJ. He changed his name circa the publication of his first book to Harrison Gradwell Slater. A pianist, he studied with

Anthony di Bonaventura Anthony di Bonaventura (November 12, 1929 – November 12, 2012) was an American pianist and Professor of Music at Boston University's College of Fine Arts for 40 years. He was the director of a Piano Institute at Colby College Piano Instit ...

and for many years with Paul Doguereau, the noted French pianist who was a pupil of

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, Emma Bardac (second wife of

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

) and

Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Tre ...

. In addition to writing and recording, Slater coached many world-class pianists, and served as chairman and Artistic Director of the

Peabody Mason International Piano Competition The early Peabody Mason Piano Competitions were organized by Fanny Peabody Mason's longtime friend, pianist Paul Doguereau. The music competition, piano competition was inspired by Mason’s commitment to, and aspirations for, the arts and serves ...

Biography

Harrison Gradwell Slater Wignall combined the careers of musicologist, pianist and novelist. He has published three books on

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, the last of which is the mystery novel ''NightMusic'', which deals with the life and music of Mozart. The sequel, ''Nocturne'',Slater, Harrison Gradwell, ''Nocturne'', Editions Peabody Mason, 2010 explores Chopin's biography and music within a contemporary narrative. For his first book, Slater (the author's pen name since 1995) traveled to fifty-five cities in nine European countries and completed his research over three years with correspondence to archives throughout Europe, always posing unresolved questions about Mozart Gedenkstaetten – the palaces, concert halls and salons in which Mozart performed, the houses and taverns in which he lodged, and the churches and public edifices that he visited. The resulting reference book, ''In Mozart's Footsteps'', has been called "an amazing feat of scholarship" by the pianist,

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Biography Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...

,''Ibid.'', Jacket inscription while

Nicholas Slonimsky Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (), was a Russian-born American musicologist, conductor, pianist, and composer. Best known for his writing and musical reference work, he wrote the ''Thesaurus ...

described it as "absorbing in its brilliance". ''NightMusic'' was voted "Rising Star of 2003" by nine publishing houses, was on the

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

bestseller list for mystery trade paperback for nineteen weeks and was optioned for a film. Scholarly articles by Slater (a.k.a. Harrison James Wignall) have appeared in the journals ''Mozart-Jahrbuch'', ''Opera Quarterly'' and ''Mozart Studien'', among others. Some of his recent discoveries include previously unknown Mozart documents and manuscripts that have shed light on issues of recent Mozart research. He has also written entries for the latest editions of ''

The New Grove ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'', ''Die

Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' (''MGG''; "Music in the Past and Present") is a German music encyclopedia. It is among the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth ...

'', ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'' and has published articles in ''

Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Musi ...

'', ''

Indiana Theory Review The ''Indiana Theory Review'' () is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It began publication in 1977, under the auspices of graduate students in music theory at the Jacobs School of Music, making it the sec ...

'', and the ''Nuova rivista musicale italiana''. Slater's discovery in 1993 of the vocal nocturne tradition, and its influence on Mozart and Chopin are found in his seminal work ''Mozart and the Duetto Notturno Tradition'',''Op. Cit.'' and his entry "Duetto Notturno" in ''The New Grove''. His present musicological work on the influence of the vocal nocturne on Chopin's piano music continues that research. Slater accepted a full academic scholarship to Boston University, where he graduated first in his class, Bachelor magna cum laude, 1972, followed by a Master of Arts, Boston University, 1987 and a certified advisory study, Harvard University, 1987. In 1995, he was awarded a PhD in musicology from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

with a dissertation on Mozart's opera Mitridate. Slater worked in various music capacities: a music theory instructor at Massasoit Community College, Brockton, Massachusetts, 1975–1980; music specialist, Munich (Germany) International School, 1980–1982, and International School of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, 1984–1985; ballet pianist, National Theatre, Munich, 1982–1984; and as a ballet pianist at La Scala, Milan, 1985–1986. He performed numerous concerts during this period. He was a member of the American Musicological Society, Society Music Theory, Harvard Club, and Phi Beta Kappa. Slater studied music and languages at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in Munich and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and was fluent, in addition to English, German, French and Italian. He was active as a music instructor in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Munich,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and Tokyo and worked at the

National Theatre Munich The National Theatre () on Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany, is a historic opera house, home of the Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian State Ballet. With 2,101 seats, the theatre is the country's largest op ...

and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan as a ballet pianist, performing numerous concerts. Slater finished recordings featuring the music of Mozart and Chopin, and has completed the sequel to ''NightMusic'', entitled ''Nocturne'' (based on rediscovered diaries related to Chopin). His research and writing of the unpublished monograph, "Mozart in Milan" continues and includes, "Mozart and Sacred Music in the Ambrosian Capital" and "Mozart's Singers in Ascanio in Alba," articles which incorporate two handwritten diaries from 1771 found by Slater in archives in Milan. He resided in an historic apartment in

Back Bay, Boston Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and ...

, as well as in

, Paris and

Mount Holly Township, New Jersey Mount Holly is a township that is the county seat of Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest city as of 2020. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

. He died on April 6, 2017, in Mt. Holly, NJ at the age of 66.

Works

Books

* Wignall, Harrison James, "In Mozart's Footsteps", New York: Paragon House, 1991. * Slater, Harrison Gradwell, "NightMusic", New York: Harcourt, 2002, hardcover. * Slater, Harrison Gradwell, "Night Music", Penguin Putnam, 2003, softcover. * Slater, Harrison Gradwell, "Nocturne", Editions Peabody Mason, 2010. * Slater, Harrison Gradwell, "Chopin and the Vocal Nocturne", Editions Peabody Mason, 2011.

Articles

* "And Mozart Came In Search of Work", La Stampa, Year 130, No. 208, July 30, 1996 * "Mozart in Turin", Mozart Studien, 1997 * "Mozart and the 'Duetto Notturno' Tradition", Mozart-Jahrbuch, 1993 * "The Genesis of 'Se di Lauri'", Mozart Studien, 1994 * "Mozart's Imperial Opponent" (Italian and English), Nuova rivista musicale italiana, 1994 * "Mozart in Milan: Between Triumph and Disappointment", Mozartwoche und Salzburger Festpiele, 1997 * "Guglielmo d'Ettore: Mozart's First Mitridate", The Opera Quarterly, 1994 * "Rameau's Treatment of Suspensions", Indiana Theory Review, 1992 * "Current Trends in Italian Opera", Perspectives of New Music, 1991 * "Chickering's 'Old Ironsides'", Piano Quarterly, 1988 * "Behind Closed Doors", Keyboard Classics, 1987 * "The Development of Music in Boston, Part I: The Boston of Psalm-singers & Singing Schools", Massachusetts Music News, 1988 * "The Development of Music in Boston, Part II: Lowell Mason – A Sesquicentennial Perspective", Massachusetts Music News, 1988 * "The Development of Music in Boston, Part III: Pianos, Pedagogy & Performance", Massachusetts Music News, 1989 * "The Development of Music in Boston, Part IV: Chickering's Victory of the Ironclads", Massachusetts Music News, 1989 * "The Development of Music in Boston, Part V: A Taste for the Monumental", Massachusetts Music News, 1990

Recordings

* (2003) "NightMusic: Piano Music of Mozart", Newton Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Rink, Conductor * (2010) "Nocturne: Piano Music of Chopin" * (2012) �
Concerto Paradiso
�� Chopin 2nd Concerto in Fm, Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 in Bb Minor. (Conductor) Slovak Sonfonietta,

References

Sources

External links

Harrison Slater website

Nocturne website

Peabody Mason International Piano Competition website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Harrison American LGBTQ musicians 21st-century American novelists American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male pianists American male novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Mount Holly, New Jersey Harvard University alumni Brandeis University alumni Boston University alumni Musicians from Massachusetts Musicians from Burlington County, New Jersey Mozart scholars 21st-century American male writers Writers from Burlington County, New Jersey