Henry Kimball Hadley

Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and conductor.

Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, to a musical family. His father, from whom he received his first musical instruction in violin and piano, was a secondary school music teacher, his mother was active in church music, and his brother Arthur went on to a successful career as a professional cellist. In the Hadley home, the two brothers played string quartets with their father on viola and the composer Henry F. Gilbert on second violin.

Hadley also studied harmony with his father and with Stephen A. Emery, and, from the age of fourteen, he studied composition with the prominent American composer George Whitefield Chadwick. Under Chadwick's tutelage, Hadley composed many works, including songs, chamber music, a musical, and an orchestral overture.

In 1893, Hadley toured with the Laura Schirmer-Mapleson Opera Company as a violinist. But he left the tour when the company encountered financial difficulties and was unable to pay his salary.

In 1894, he travelled to Vienna to further his studies with Eusebius Mandyczewski. During this period Hadley also befriended the German-American conductor Adolf Neuendorff, who gave him advice regarding his compositions.

Professional life He returned to the United States in 1896 and took a position as the musical instructor at St. Paul's Episcopal School for Boys in Garden City, New York, where he worked until 1902. He produced a violin sonata, two string quartets, and two piano trios. According to Tawa, his most noteworthy chamber effort was the quintet in a minor for piano and strings, Op. 50, written in 1919. She praises their "supple vocal lines" that are "sensitive to poetic concerns" and accompaniments that "can be inventive and provocative."

Hadley's cancer surgery was initially successful, and he continued his career as a composer and guest conductor. However, his popularity as a composer began to wane, as popular and especially critical opinion turned against the robust romanticism which Hadley's music embodied. The quick success of the Berkshire Philharmonic Festival's first three seasons was a dream fulfilled at the end of his life. Hadley's cancer recurred, and he died in New York City on 6 September 1937. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Awards During his lifetime he was awarded several honors: an honorary doctorate from Tufts University in 1925, membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Order of Merit from the French government.

Compositions

Operas Safié Op. 63, 1909 Bianca Op. 79, composed c. 1913, produced 1918 Azora, the Daughter of Montezuma Op. 80, c. 1914, produced 1917 Cleopatra's Night Op. 90, 1920 A Night in Old Paris 1924

Symphonies Symphony No. 1 in D minor Op. 25 Youth and Life, 1897 Symphony No. 2 in F minor Op. 30 The Four Seasons, 1899 Symphony No. 3 in B minor Op. 60, 1907 Symphony No. 4 in D minor Op. 64 North, East, South, West, 1910 Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 140 Connecticut, 1935

Symphonic poems Salome Op. 55, 1905 The Culprit Fay Op. 62, 1909 Lucifer Op. 66, 1914 Othello Op. 96, 1919 The Ocean Op. 99, 1921

Musical theatre Nancy Brown 1903, Broadway musical The Atonement of Pan, A Music-Drama 1912, a Grove Play Semper Virens 1923, a Grove Play The Legend of Hani 1933, a Grove Play

Other orchestral works In Bohemia: Concert Overture, Op. 28 Herod Overture, Op. 31 Konzertstuck for violoncello and orchestra, Op. 61 (1909) "Aurora Borealis": Overture Otello overture, Op. 96 (1919) Streets of Pekin (1930) The Enchanted Castle, Op. 117 San Francisco, Op. 121 (1931) Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 131 Scherzo Diabolique, Op. 135 (1934)

Cantatas and oratorios Lelawala, A Legend of Niagara Op. 13 In Music's Praise Op. 21 The Princess of Ys Op. 34 The Legend of Granada Op. 45 The Nightingale and The Rose Op. 54 The Fate of Princess Kiyo Op. 58 The Golden Prince Op. 69 Music: An Ode Op. 75 The Fairy Thorn Op. 76 The New Earth Op. 85 Prophesy and Fulfillment Op. 91 Resurgam Op. 98 Mirtil in Arcadia Op. 100 Belshazzar Op. 112 Divine Tragedy Op. 139

Art songs Evening Song (Sidney Lanier), G. Schirmer, 1915 I Heard a Maid with her Guitar, Op. 44, No. 3 (Clinton Scollard), Church, 1909 (Albert Samain), G. Schirmer, 1909 If You Would Have it So, Op. 84, No. 3 (Rabindranath Tagore), Carl Fischer, 1921 The Lute Player of Casa Blanca, Op. 84, No. 1 (Laurence Hope), Fischer, 1921 , Op. 42, No. 1 (Otto Julius Bierbaum), G. Schirmer, 1911 The Time of Parting, Op. 84, No. 2 (Tagore), Fischer, 1921

Chamber works String Quartet No. 1 in A major, Op. 24 Piano Trio No. 1 in C major, Op. 26 Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 50 Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor (1932) String Quartet No. 2, Op. 132

Selected recordings The Culprit Fay. National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. conductor John McLaughlin Williams. Label: Naxos American The Ocean. National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. conductor John Mclaughlin Williams. Label: Naxos American Afterglow: The Forgotten Works for Cello and Piano by Henry Hadley. Theodore Buchholz and Paula Fan. Label: Centaur Elegie. Arthur Hadley, cello; Henry Hadley, piano. Label: Rishell (vertical cut 78 RPM) Piano Quintet in A minor. Kohon String Quartet with Isabelle Byman. Label: Vox Piano Trio in G minor (1932). Rawlins Piano Trio. Label: Albany Records Salome. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. conductor Karl Krueger. Label: Bridge Scherzo Diabolique. Albany Symphony Orchestra. conductor Julius Hegyi Label: New World Records Symphony No. 2 The Four Seasons. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. conductor Karl Krueger. Label: Bridge Symphony No. 4 North, East, South, West. National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. conductor John Mclaughlin Williams. Label: Naxos American