Silas Gamaliel Pratt (August 4, 1846 – October 30, 1916) was an American composer. A native of Addison, Vermont, he worked in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, in addition to studies and travels in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Between 1868 and 1871, he studied under Theodor Kullak, among others, but he suffered a wrist injury during a lesson, which prevented his becoming a professional concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

. On a later trip to Germany, following a performance of Pratt's works,

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

gave him encouragement and advice. Pratt is known to have completed at least three

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

s, one of which he later revised; only two were ever performed. His musical allegory, ''The Triumph of Columbus'', was composed for the quadricentennial of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

's discovery of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, and was performed at Carnegie Hall on 10 October 1892. Among his other compositions was 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 co ...

about the sinking of the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'', completed in June 1913. He was also the first composer to set "

America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never ...

". Pratt is known to have taught

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 musica ...

for a time in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East sect ...

. In 1895, he was appointed principal of the

West End School of Music West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

in New York. He later moved to Pittsburgh, and established the

Pratt Institute of Music and Art Pratt is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–F * Abner Pratt (1801–1863), American diplomat, jurist, politician, lawyer * Al Pratt (baseball) (1847–1937), American baseball player * Andy Pratt (baseball) (born 197 ...

in 1906; he served as the Institute's president until his death in 1916. He was buried in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Pratt is said to have once met

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, who called him the "Richard Wagner of the United States"; reportedly, Pratt then responded that Wagner was "the Silas G. Pratt of

". Other writings by Pratt include a book entitled ''Lincoln in story : the life of the martyr-president told in authenticated anecdotes'', published by Appleton in 1901.

Upton Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridge ...

Upton, George Putnam. (1889) ''The standard symphonies, their history, their music, and their composers; a handbook''. page 315. Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Co. See books.google.com/books?id=RZgqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA315 . Retrieved November 16, 2013. mentions 2 symphonies by an S.G. Pratt (a standard abbreviation of Pratt's name) – "No. 1, E minor (1870); No. 2, A major (The Prodigal Son) (1875)" (dates may be of composition, performance or publication.)

Operas

* ''Antonio'' (selections performed, written 1870–71) * ''Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra'' (1882) * ''Lucille'' (revision of ''Antonio'') (1887) * ''Ollanta'' (unperformed)

References

USOperawebAccount of the meeting with Wagner
*

External links

* American male classical composers American classical composers 1846 births 1916 deaths People from Addison, Vermont Musicians from Vermont Musicians from Pittsburgh 19th-century classical composers 19th-century American composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians 19th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-19thC-stub