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Howard Boatwright

1918 – 1999

American composer, violinist and musicologist

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About Howard Boatwright

Lived 1918 – 1999 (aged 80). Howard Boatwright was an American composer, university teacher, violinist and musicologist.

Howard Leake Boatwright Jr. (March 16, 1918 – February 20, 1999) was an American composer, violinist and musicologist.

Biography Born in Newport News, Virginia, Boatwright studied the violin with Israel Feldman in Norfolk, Virginia, and made his début at New York Town Hall in 1942. He was assistant professor of violin at the University of Texas, Austin from 1943 to 1945. He then studied music theory and composition at Yale University (BM 1947, MM 1948), where he met Paul Hindemith, with whom he studied the viola d'amore. Hindemith urged him to stay at Yale to teach as assistant professor in music theory. Helen Boatwright continued to have a distinguished career as a teacher and performer, sometimes in collaboration with her husband and sometimes independently. The couple had three children: a daughter Alice and two sons, Howard III and David Alexander. "Though his refined, intelligent, atonal songs require advanced musicianship, the natural declamation and pliant, expressive vocal lines make them gratifying to sing." Canticle of the Sun (St. Francis of Assisi), soprano solo, SATB, orchestra, 1963 Music for Temple Service, baritone solo, SATB, organ, 1969 A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, soprano solo, SATB, orchestra, 1981 Nunc Dimittis and Magnificat, SATB, organ, 1997 other choral works, including four masses, many partsongs

Church anthems Ah, holy Jesus, how has thou offended (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) All praise to thee (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Alone thou goest forth, O Lord (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Creator of the Stars (Advent Hymn) For sins of heedless word and deed (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) God is our Refuge (Psalm 46) Go to dark Gethsemane (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Hear my cry, O God (Psalm 61) Jesus, all thy labor vast (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Morning Hymn Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) O sacred head, sore wounded (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) The Royal banners forward go (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Star in the East (Christmas) We sing of God the mighty source (Christopher Smart) When I survey the wondrous cross (from The Passion According to St. Matthew) Who was the guilty? (from The Passion According to St. Matthew)

Voice Five Early Songs (various poets), soprano and piano, 1946–1954, published 1993 Requiescat (Oscar Wilde) On Hearing the Birds Sing (Irish) o by the by (e.e. cummings) At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners (John Donne) Revelation (B. T. Coler) Grant us Peace, medium voice and organ, published by the Sacred Music Press of the Hebrew Union College, 1961 The Ship of Death (D.H. Lawrence), SATB solo quartet, string quartet, 1966 The Lament of Mary Stuart (text from a Carissimi cantata), soprano, harpsichord/piano, optional 'cello, 1968 Six Prayers of Kierkegaard (trans. P. LeFevre), soprano and piano, 1978, published 1985 Grant that our prayer And when at times It is from thy Hand When the thought of thee Thou has commanded us to forgive Be near to us with thy power Three Morning Hymns, soprano and violin, published 1985 Dover Beach (Matthew Arnold), soprano and string quartet, published 1985 Five Songs (Victoria Hill), soprano and piano, published 1985 Flowing Sheets of Rain The Armadillo and the Acorn A Painful Sweetness Rain Melodies Thought Patterns Prologue, Narrative and Lament (Walt Whitman), tenor and string quartet, published 1987 From Joy to Fire (Ursula Vaughan Williams), mezzo-soprano and piano, published 1989 He Followed Me, He Courted Me Here's Solitude in Which My Life Must Grow Little Fruits, Wild-Herb Leaves of Summer So Long, So Long Since Any Hand Has Touched Me Now I Know All Adoration and Longing (Biblical Song of Solomon), soprano and string quartet, published 1991 Three Songs of Eternity (Emily Dickinson), soprano and clarinet, published 1991 Three Song (e.e. cummings), soprano, flute, and bassoon, published 1994 In Illo Tempore: Three Biblical Narratives, medium voice and piano, published 1994 Five Poems of Sylvia Plath, soprano and piano, published 1995 Three French Songs (various poets), voice and piano Three Love Songs (Emily Dickinson), soprano and piano Folksong arrangements, published by Oxford University Press other unpublished solo songs

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Yale University, Yale School of Music
Employers
Yale University, Syracuse University

People in Howard Boatwright's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Howard Boatwright's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Howard Boatwright?

American composer, violinist and musicologist (1918–1999)

When was Howard Boatwright born?

Howard Boatwright was born on 16 March 1918 in Newport News.

When did Howard Boatwright die?

Howard Boatwright died on 20 February 1999 in Syracuse.

What was Howard Boatwright's occupation?

Howard Boatwright was a composer, university teacher, violinist and musicologist.

What nationality was Howard Boatwright?

Howard Boatwright was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Howard Boatwright

· Wikidata: Q1631733

· DBpedia: Howard Boatwright

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Howard Boatwright. https://biography.guide/howard-boatwright/

MLA: "Howard Boatwright." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/howard-boatwright/.

Chicago: "Howard Boatwright." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/howard-boatwright/.

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