Leo Sowerby


Leo Salkeld Sowerby was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid-20th century. His many students included Florence Price and Ned Rorem.

Biography

Leo Sowerby, son of Florence Gertrude Salkeld and John Sowerby, was born on 1 May 1895, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he began to compose at the age of 10. His interest in the organ began at the age of 15, and he was self-taught at the instrument. He studied composition with Arthur Olaf Andersen at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Early recognition came when his Violin Concerto was premiered in 1913 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He spent time in France during the First World War in the role of bandmaster. In 1921 he was awarded the Rome Prize, the first composer to receive this. He began teaching at the American Conservatory of Music in 1924. He received the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his cantata, the Canticle of the Sun (Sowerby)|Canticle of the Sun], written in 1944.
In 1919, Sowerby became associate organist at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, and in 1927 he became organist and choirmaster at St. James Episcopal Church in Chicago, which was consecrated as a cathedral in 1955 while he was there.
In 1962, after his retirement from St. James, he was called to Washington National Cathedral to become the founding director of the College of Church Musicians, a position he held until his death in 1968. He died in Port Clinton, Ohio, while at Camp Wa-Li-Ro in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, the summer choir camp where he had taught for many years. He is buried in Washington National Cathedral.
His substantial output includes over 500 works in every genre but opera and ballet. His later works, composed while he was at St. James, Chicago, and Washington National Cathedral, are primarily church music for choir and organ.
For Sowerby's notable pupils

Selected works

Choral

Solo voice with accompaniment

Originally published by H. W. Gray, reprinted by the Leo Sowerby Foundation, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Theodore Presser, sole selling agent, 1996.
  • The Edge of Dreams, song cycle, with piano, H. 154
  1. "The Adventurer"
  2. "After-thought"
  3. "Sorrow"
  4. "Pulse of Spring"
  5. "The Forest of Dead Trees"
  6. "O Love that has Come at All"
  • "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes", with organ, H. 147
  • "O God of Light"
  • "O Jesus, Lord of Mercy"
  • " Perfect Love", H. 237
  • "Thou Art My Strength", with organ
  • Three Psalms for bass and organ, H 189
  1. "Hear My Cry, O God"
  2. "The Lord Is My Shepherd"
  3. "How Long Wilt Thou Forget Me?"
  • Three Psalms for baritone or contralto and organ, H. 228
  1. "Whoso Dwelleth"
  2. "O Be Joyful in the Lord"
  3. "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes"

Organ solo

  • Comes Autumn Time
  • Carillon
  • Requiescat in Pace
  • Symphony in G
  • Pageant
  • Toccata for Organ
  • Meditations on Communion Hymns
  • Prelude on "The King's Majesty"
  • “Canon, Chacony, & Fugue””
  • Ten Hymn Preludes
  • Suite for Organ
  • “Sinfonia Brevis”
  • Passacaglia

Organ with other instruments

  • Elevation, for violin and organ
  • Ballade, for English horn and organ
  • Festival Musick for organ, brass and timpani
  • *Toccata on 'A.G.O.'
  • Fantasy, for trumpet and organ

Orchestra

  • Five symphonies
  • *No. 1
  • *No. 2
  • *No. 3
  • *No. 4
  • *No. 5
  • Comes Autumn Time, "program overture"
  • From the Northland, suite for orchestra
  • Synconata, symphonic poem for jazz orchestra
  • Symphony for Jazz Orchestra , suite for jazz orchestra
  • Prairie, symphonic poem for orchestra
  • A Set of Four: A Suite of Ironics, published in 1931

Orchestra with solo instruments

  • Violin Concerto in G major
  • Cello Concerto in A major
  • Piano Concerto no. 1
  • Ballad of King Estmere, for two pianos and orchestra
  • Medieval Poem, for organ and orchestra
  • Cello Concerto in E minor
  • Piano Concerto no. 2
  • Organ Concerto no. 1
  • Classic Concerto, for organ and string orchestra
  • Concerto in C, for organ and orchestra
  • Harp Concerto
  • Concert Piece, for organ and orchestra

Chamber music

Discography

  • "Impressions: Music for Piano" – Malcolm Halliday, pianist :, Albany: Troy Records, 1997 Records
  • ,, Albany: Troy Records, 1996.
  • I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes – The Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale & Roberts Wesleyan Brass Ensemble, Robert Shewan, conductor –, Albany NY: Troy Records, 1997
  • Leo Sowerby: American Master of Sacred Song – Gloriae Dei Cantores, Elizabeth Patterson, conductor; David Chalmers, James E. Jordan, jr., organists – Orleans MA: Paraclete Press,, 1994
  • Organ Music of Leo Sowerby – Catharine Crozier, organ – Chatsworth CA: Delos International,, 1988
  • Leo Sowerby: Works for Organ and Orchestra – David Craighead, David Mulbury, organ; The Fairfield Orchestra, John Welsh, conductor – NAXOS 8.559028
  • Violin & Organ, The Murray/Lohuis Duo – Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, organ – Richmond, VA: Raven Recordings,, 1991
  • Rondo, Works for Violin & Organ, Vo. 2 – Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, organ – Richmond, VA: Raven Recordings,, 1993
  • Leo Sowerby: Music for Violin and Piano – Robert Murray, Violin; Gail Quillman, Piano – New York, NY: Premier Recordings, Inc.,, 1995
  • All American, Works for Violin and Organ, Volume 5 – Robert Murray, Violin, Ardyth Lohuis, organ – Richmond, VA: Raven Recordings,, 2003
  • Leo Sowerby: The Paul Whiteman Commissions & Other Early Works – Andy Baker Orchestra, Avalon String Quartet, Winston Choi, Piano – Chicago, IL: Cedille Records,, 2021
  • Trios from the City of Big Shoulders, Lincoln Trio, Cedille CDR90000203, includes Trio for violin, violoncello and pianoforte, H. 312