Johnson, Lockrem
Johnson, Lockrem
Johnson, Lockrem, American pianist, music publisher, and composer; b. Davenport, Iowa, March 15, 1924; d. Seattle, March 5, 1977. He studied at the Cornish School of Music in Seattle (1931–38) and at the Univ. of Wash. (1938–42); subsequently was a member of its faculty (1947–49); concurrently served as music director of the Eleanor King Dance Co. (1947–50) and pianist in the Seattle Sym. Orch. (1948–51). In 1952 he held a Guggenheim fellowship; lived in N.Y, where he served as education director for Mercury Music (1951–54), head of the orch. dept. of C. F. Peters (1954–58), and president of Dow Publishers (1957–62); subsequently returned to Seattle as head of the music dept. at the Cornish School of Music (1962–69); also founded Puget Music Publications (1970), which was devoted to publishing works by composers of the Northwest. His works reveal a fine lyrical gift of expression.
Works
dramatic:She, ballet (1948; rev. 1950); A Letter to Emily, chamber opera (1951; N.Y., Jan. 25, 1955). ORCH.: Lyric Prelude (1948; rev. 1949); Sym. (Seattle, Dec. 2, 1966). CHAMBER: 3 violin sonatas (1942; 1948, rev. 1949; 1953); 2 cello sonatas (1949, 1953); Trumpet Sonatina (1950). Piano: 3 sonatas (1947, rev. 1983; 1949; 1954); 24 Preludes; many other pieces. VOCAL: Suite of Noels, cantata for Chorus and Keyboard (1954); songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire