Paul W. Whear


Paul William Whear was an American composer, conductor, music educator, and double-bassist.

Life and career

Whear was born in Auburn, Indiana, and studied at Marquette University, the Catholic Jesuit University in Milwaukee where he received the B.N.S. After service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, he attended DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana, where he received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, and Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received the Ph.D. He received the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Marquette University in 2002.
He taught theory and composition at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, as well as at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, where he was chairman of the music department. He and his wife, violinist Nancy Robinson Voiers, played in the Lincoln Symphony during this time. Later he became a professor at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where he also was composer in residence and conductor of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra. He retired as emeritus composer and conductor and received an honorary doctorate at Marquette University. He also taught theory, composition, and orchestration courses at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.
He appeared as a guest conductor in the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. As a composer he won many prizes and distinctions, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Huntington Hartford Fellow residence, numerous ASCAP Awards, and numerous McDowell Artist Colony Fellowships. He is listed in Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and was named "one of America's Top Ten Composers for Band In Fanfare Magazine. For 60 years he conducted numerous band and orchestra clinics at the annual Midwest Musician Educators' Conference in Chicago. His works have been performed by leading orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Rochester Civic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Charleston Symphony, the U.S. Navy Band, the U.S. Naval Academy Band, the U.S. Military Academy Band, and the Band of the Coldstream Guards, London.
Whear died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 95.

Writings

  • 1960. "Problems of the Small College Band". Music Educators Journal 46, no. 4 : 76–78.

Compositions

Orchestra

A Celtic Set, for string orchestraA Shakespeare Prelude, for orchestraAn Appalachian Folk Tale, for speaker and orchestra 1980
  • Catskill Legend 1963Catharsis Suite, for orchestra 1967Concertino, for string orchestra
  • # Overture
  • # Dirge
  • # ToccataLancaster Overture 1963
  • Decade Overture
  • It's The PizzMallard Cove—Prelude and Rondo, for string orchestraOlympiad, for string orchestraOverture for strings, for string orchestraPastorale Lament, for horn and string orchestraPrelude to the Ten Commandments, for orchestraPreludio, for string orchestra 1966- for the Vivaldi Orchestra of Manachester, U.K.Psalms of Celebration - Part I, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass Psalms of Celebration - Part II, for mixed choir, orchestra and brassPsalms of Celebration - Part III, for mixed choir, orchestra and brassReflections, Scherzo for Strings, for string orchestra
  • Seven
  • Stars in a Field of Blue
  • Symphony No. 2, "The Bridge" : In Memoriam RVW
  • Symphony No. 3, " The Galleries", commissioned by the Huntington Art MuseumThe Chief Justice John Marshall, A Musical Epic for speaker, choir, and orchestra: commissioned by Marshall University
  • Waltz, for stringsWhite River Legend, commissioned by The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Band

  • 1958 Hartshorn, overture - Whear's first published work
  • 1962 Jedermann, overture
  • 1964 Contrapunctus
  • 1964 Czech Suite
  • # Romantic Song
  • # Rippling Waters
  • # Festival Dance
  • 1964 Kensington Overture
  • 1966 Antietam
  • 1968 Bellerophon, overture
  • 1968 Land of Lincoln, concert march
  • 1968 Decade Overture
  • 1969 Wycliffe Variations
  • 1970 Elsinore Overture
  • 1971 Stonehenge Symphony - Symphony no. 1 for Purdue University Centennial
  • # Solstice
  • # Evocations
  • # Sacrifice
  • 1972 Of This Time
  • 1973 Lexington Overture
  • 1979 Celebration XXV
  • 1981 The Enterprise Overture
  • 1982 Symphony No. 4: Commissioned by Harry Pfingsten, Avon Lake High School Band
  • # Overture
  • # Melodrama
  • # FinaleA Lyric Suite
  • # Prelude
  • # Clog Dance
  • # Pastorale
  • # ProcessionAn Appalachian setCanada—A Folksong Set for BandCatskill Legend
  • The Chief JusticeDefenders of the Blue: Parade March for the Strategic Air CommandDown to the Sea in Ships - US Navy Band CommissionEternal FatherIntroduction and Invention
  • Lincoln: 5th Symphony commissioned by the Library of Congress honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthdayModal Miniatures -Proscenium OvertureQuiet Music, based on Hans Leo Hassler’s Passion Chorale
  • Sonata for Band
  • Stars in a Field of BlueYorktown, 1781
  • Symphony 5: Lincoln commission by the Library of Congress in honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday
Ballet
Stage WorkThe Door, opera
  • The Devil's Disciple - unfinished opera

Choir

Old Gold—a Celebration, for mixed choirCrystals, for three-part women’s choir, three flutes, harp and percussion
  • Mass for Today

Vocal music

Sounds of Celebration, for baritone solo, mixed choir and bandThe Seasons, for baritone solo, mixed choir and orchestraSonnets from Shakespeare, for baritone solo and chamber orchestra
  • Gods Grandeur 1974 Commissioned by Jane Hobson for the Dedication of Pearl Buck's Birthplace

Chamber music

  • 1975 Trio Variations, for cello, clarinet and pianoA Separate Piece, for bassoon soloInvocation & Study, for brass quintet Five Haiku, for flute March of the Viols, for contrabass and pianoPrelude and Toccata, for trombone quartet
  • Sonata "The Briefcase", for viola and piano
  • Sonata, for cello solo
  • Sonata, for trombone and piano
  • String Quartet No. 3 "The Phoenix"
  • String Quartet: Four for Four
  • Suite, for violin and cello
  • # Canon
  • # March
  • # Ostinato Aria
  • # ToccataThe Viol Habit, for contrabass and pianoThree Chorales, for brass quartet or brass ensemble
  • # Lass't uns erfreuen by Johann Christian Bach
  • # Chorale for Brasses by Carl Ludwig
  • # Freuet Euch Ihr Christen by Johann Sebastian Bach

Organ

Music For Service With "Truro"
''This article translated from the Dutch Wikipedia''