Timothy Mather Spelman (January 21, 1891 – August 21, 1970) was an American composer. Spelman was a native of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and studied in New York with Harry Rowe Shelley in 1908; further study came with

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of the Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised i ...

and Edward Burlingame Hill at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1909 until 1913, and from 1913 to 1915 with Walter Courvoisier at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. In the latter year, returning to the United States, Spelman took up a post as assistant director of training for band musicians under the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

. In 1918 he and his wife, the poet Leolyn Louise Everett, returned to Europe and settled in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

; except for the years between 1935 and 1947, during which the couple returned to the United States, he spent the rest of his life resident in Italy. Spelman's music is reminiscent more of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and European Romanticism, and typically received more performances in Europe than in his native country. Many of his works, including three operas and a large number of songs, were composed to texts by his wife; another notable work is his setting of the ''

Pervigilium Veneris ''Pervigilium Veneris'' (or ''The Vigil of Venus'') is a Latin poem of uncertain date, variously assigned to the 2nd, 4th or 5th centuries. It is sometimes thought to have been by the poet Tiberianus (poet), Tiberianus, because of strong simil ...

''. Spelman's manuscripts are held at the Peabody Institute Library of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, as is a collection of other family papers. The couple's villa in Florence was also bequeathed to the university, where it was dedicated as the Charles S. Singleton Center for Italian Studies, sometimes known as Villa Spelman.

Compositions

* ''Christ and the Blind Man'', symphonic poem for orchestra * ''Barbaresques'', suite for orchestra * ''Saints' Days'', for orchestra (1925) * ''The Sea-Rovers'', opera (1928) * ''Miles Standish'', opera * Symphony for orchestra * Concerto for oboe and orchestra * Piano sonata * String quartet * ''Litany of the Middle Ages'', cantata * ''Pervigilium Veneris'', for chorus Taken from

References

* 1891 births 1970 deaths American male composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians University of Music and Theatre Munich alumni Harvard University alumni Musicians from Brooklyn Classical musicians from New York (state) American expatriates in Italy {{US-composer-19thC-stub

Compositions

See also

References