Daniels, Mabel Wheeler
Daniels, Mabel Wheeler
Daniels, Mabel Wheeler , American composer;b. Swampscott, Mass., Nov. 27, 1878; d. Boston, March 10, 1971. She studied at Radcliffe Coll. (B.A., 1900), with Chadwick in Boston, and with Thuille in Munich (1904–05). She was director of the Radcliffe Glee Club (1911–13) and head of music at Simmons Coll. in Boston (1913–18). In 1931 she held a MacDowell fellowship, and was awarded honorary doctorates from Boston Univ. (1939), Wheaton Coll. (1957), and the New England Cons, of Music (1958). Daniels became best known as a composer of choral music. Her experiences abroad were captured in her An American Girl in Munich: Impressions of a Music Student (Boston, 1905).
Works
DRAMATIC O p e r e t t a s : A Copper Complication (1900); The Court of Hearts (1900; Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 2, 1901); The Show Girl (1902; in collaboration with D. Stevens). Opera S k e t c h : Alice in Wonderland Continued (Brookline, Mass., May 20, 1904). ORCH.: Suite for Strings (1910); Deep Forest for Small Orch. (N.Y, June 3, 1931; arranged for Full Orch., 1934; Boston, April 16, 1937); Pirates’ Island (1934; Harrisburg, Pa., Feb. 19, 1935); Im memoriam (1945); Digressions, ballet for Strings (1947); Overture (1951). CHAMBER: Pastoral Ode for Flute and Strings (1940); 3 Observations for 3 Woodwinds (1943); 4 Observations for 4 Strings (1945); Violin Sonata (n.d.). VOCAL: C h o r a l w i t h O r c h . : TTtt? Desolate City, with baritone solo (1913); Peace with a Sword (1917); Songs of Elfland (St. Louis, Feb. 2, 1924); The Holy Star (1928); A Holiday Fantasy (1928); Exultate Deo (Boston, May 31, 1929); The Song of jael, with soprano solo (1937; Worcester, Oct. 5, 1940); A Psalm of Praise (Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 3, 1954). O t h e r C h o r a l : In Springtime, cycle for Women’s Voices (1910); Eastern Song and The Voice of My Beloved for Women’s Voices, Piano, and 2 Violins (both 1911); Flowerwagon for Women’s Chorus and Piano (1914); The Girl Scouts MarchingSong (1918); Oh God of all our Glorious Past (1930); Through the Dark the Dreamers Came for Women’s or Mixed Chorus (c. 1930; rev. 1961); The Christ Child for Chorus and Piano (1931); A Night in Bethlehem (1954). Also numerous songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire