Alec Wilder

Alexander Lafayette Chew Wilder (February 16, 1907 – December 24, 1980) was an American composer, author, and radio host. Considered one of the most inventive and lyrical American composers, he wrote thousands of pieces of music across various genres, including American popular song and classical music. Though his musical compositions were not always widely known during his lifetime, he became a notable figure in musical history for his 1972 book, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950, which is widely regarded as a definitive work on the subject. He also hosted a Peabody Award-winning radio series, American Popular Song with Alec Wilder and Friends, on National Public Radio (NPR) in the mid-1970s.

Biography Wilder was born in Rochester, New York, United States, While there, he edited a humor magazine and scored music for short films directed by James Sibley Watson. Wilder was eventually awarded an honorary degree in 1973.

He was good friends with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett and others who helped develop the American popular music canon. Among the popular songs he wrote or co-wrote were "I'll Be Around" (a hit for the Mills Brothers), "While We're Young" (recorded by Peggy Lee and many others), "Blackberry Winter", "Where Do You Go?" (recorded by Sinatra) and "It's So Peaceful in the Country". Wilder occasionally wrote his own lyrics, including for his most famous song "I'll Be Around".

In addition to writing popular songs, Wilder also composed classical pieces for unique combinations of orchestral instruments.

Sinatra conducted the Columbia String Orchestra on Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder, an album of Wilder's classical music (1946). Wilder also contributed two tone poems, "Grey" and "Blue", to the 1956 album, Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color.

Wilder wrote the definitive book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950 (1972). With lyricist Loonis McGlohon (his co-host on the radio series) he composed songs for the Land of Oz theme park in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Wilder loved puzzles: he created his own cryptic crosswords, and could spend hours with a jigsaw puzzle. He also loved to talk (he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the world) and most of all, laugh. Displeased with how Peggy Lee improvised the ending of "While We're Young", he wrote her a note: "The next time you come to the bridge [of the song], jump!" Pianist Marian McPartland told the story of this "alleged" comment to Tony Bennett, on her "Piano Jazz" radio show in 2004.

Personal life and death Wilder was known for his unconventional and nomadic lifestyle. He loved trains, kept no real home, and was in a constant state of travel. Despite his constant movement, he maintained a permanent room at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, where they kept his clothes and often had a drink waiting for him.

In letters to writer Whitney Balliett, who profiled him for The New Yorker in 1973, Wilder reflected on his personal philosophy. He wrote that his life was "divided between travel and music and my friends and solitude," and that he needed to be alone to "refill my cup." He also expressed a desire to be a "better person and a better creator," and stated, "I hate to see people I love unless I have enough to give them."

Wilder died in Gainesville, Florida, from lung cancer in December 1980, The Lowland Sea (1952) Miss Chicken Little (1953) Sunday Excursion (1953) Kittiwake Island (1954) The Long Way (1955) The Impossible Forest (1958) The Truth about Windmills (1973) The Tattooed Countess (1974) The Opening (1975) Musical Pinocchio (1957) Hansel and Gretel (1958) Miss Chicken Little (1953). Nobody’s Earnest (1978).

Film music The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) Lot in Sodom (1933) Make Mine Music (1946) Albert Schweitzer (1957), documentary by Jerome Hill The Sand Castle (1961), directed by Jerome Hill Open the Door and See All the People (1964), directed by Jerome Hill

Large ensemble A Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra (1954). Text by Marshall Barer. A musical primer. Eighteen movements featuring individual instruments of the orchestra. [Ludlow] Names from the War (1961), for narrator, chorus, brass quintet, and woodwind quintet Children’s Plea for Peace (1968). Children's SSAA chorus, narrator and wind ensemble. Text by Wilder, adapted from writings of Avon, New York schoolchildren. Dedicated to Rev. Henry Atwell. [Margun]

Songs (selected list) "A Child Is Born" (lyrics only) "A Long Night" "Be a Child" "Blackberry Winter" "Ellen" "Give Me Time" "I'll Be Around" "It's So Peaceful in the Country" "Lovers and Losers" "Mimosa and Me" "Moon and Sand" "Rain Rain" "That's My Girl" "The April Age" "The Rose on the Wind" "The Starlighter" "The Winter of My Discontent" "Trouble Is a Man" "Walk Pretty" "Where Do You Go" "While We're Young" "Who Can I Turn To"

Chamber music and solo instruments Air for Bassoon and Strings (1945). For Harold Goltzer Air for Flute and Strings (1945). For Julius Baker Air for Oboe and Strings (1945). For Mitch Miller Brass Quintets: No 1 (1959) For the New York Brass Quintet No 2 (1961) No. 3 (1970) No. 4 (1973) For Harvey Phillips No. 5 (1975) For the Tidewater Brass Quintet No. 6 (1977) For the Tidewater Brass Quintet No. 7 (1978) For Frances Miller No. 8 (1980) For Frances Miller Concerto No. 1 for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble (1967). For Doc Severinson Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Orchestra (1981; written in 1971). For Barry Kilpatrick Effie Suite (1960) for Tuba, Vibraphone, Piano and Drums. For Harvey Phillips Fantasy for Piano and Wind Ensemble (1974). For Marian McPartland Hardy Suite for Piano Jazz Suite for Four Horns (1951). Four horns with harpsichord, guitar, bass, drums. Octets (1939–41) Flute/Clarinet 2, oboe/English horn/, clarinet 1, bass clarinet, bassoon, harpsichord, bass, drums: Bull Fiddle in a China Shop The Children Met the Train Concerning Etchings Dance Man Buys a Farm A Debutante's Diary Her Old Man Was Suspicious His First Long Pants House Detective Registers It's Silk, Feel It! Jack, This Is My Husband Kindergarten Flower Pageant Little Girl Grows Up Little White Samba Neurotic Goldfish She'll Be Seven in May Such a Tender Night Walking Home in Spring Seven Duets for Horn and Bassoon Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1960). For Donald Sinta Sonata for Bassoon No. 1 (1968) No. 2 (1968) No. 3 (1982) Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano (1969). For George Roberts Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1963). For Glenn Bowen Sonata for Euphonium and Piano (1968) Sonata for Trumpet and Piano (1963). For Joe Wilder Sonata for Viola and Piano (1965) Sonata-Fantasy for Piano Suite for Flute and Marimba (1977) Suite for String Bass and Guitar (1980) Suite for Unaccompanied Flute (1975). For Virginia Nanzetta Suites for Piano, Nos. 1 to 4 Suite No. 2 for Tenor Saxophone and Strings (1966). For Zoot Sims. [Margun] Suites for Tuba and Piano: Suite No. 1 (1960) for Harvey Phillips Suite No. 2 (Jesse Suite) Suite No. 3 (Suite for Little Harvey) Suite No. 4 (Thomas Suite) Three Ballads for Stan [also exists in Wilder's piano reduction as Suite No. 1 for Tenor Saxophone and Piano] (1963). For Stan Getz. [Margun] Twelve Duets for Horn and Bassoon Twelve Mosaics for Piano Un deuxième essai for Piano Woodwind Quintets: No. 1 (1954) For the New York Woodwind Quintet No. 2 (1956) No. 3 (1958) No. 4 (1959) For Bernard Garfield; No. 5 (1959) No. 6 (1960) No. 7 (1964) No. 8 (1966) [also known as 'Suite For Non-Voting Quintet'] No. 9 (1969) No. 10 (ca. 1968) No. 11 (1971) For John Barrows No. 12 (1975) For the Wingra Quintet No. 13

Discography Alec Wilder Octet (Columbia, 1951)

Albums as composer By Bob Brookmeyer 7 x Wilder (Verve, 1961) By Jackie Cain and Roy Kral An Alec Wilder Collection (Audiophile, 1990) By Emilie Conway Dear World: Emilie Conway Sings Alec Wilder (2016) By Meredith D’Ambrosio Another Time (Palo Alto, 1981) By Valerie Errante and Robert Wason Songs of Alec Wilder (Troy) By Eileen Farrell Eileen Farrell Sings Alec Wilder (Reference) By Ghost Train Orchestra Book of Rhapsodies (Accurate, 2013) Book of Rhapsodies Vol. II (Accurate, 2017) By Roland Hanna Roland Hanna Plays the Music of Alec Wilder (Tokuma [Japan], 1978) By Vic Juris Music of Alec Wilder (Double Time, 1996) By Bob Levy Blackberry Winter: Songs by Alec Wilder (Mark) By Dave Liebman Lieb Plays Wilder (Daybreak, 2003) By Mundell Lowe New Music of Alec Wilder (Riverside, 1956) By Marian McPartland Marian McPartland Plays the Music of Alec Wilder (Jazz Alliance) By John Noel Roberts Alec Wilder: Music for Piano (Albany TROY1294, 2024) By Diana Robinson Music of Alec Wilder (Multi Media Library) By Bob Rockwell Bob’s Wilder (Stunt, 2003) By Ben Sidran Walk Pretty: The Songs of Alec Wilder (Go Jazz, 2002) By Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder (Columbia, 1946) By Marlene VerPlanck Marlene VerPlanck Sings Alec Wilder (Audiophile)