Roosevelt, J(oseph) Willard

Roosevelt, J(oseph) Willard , American composer, pianist, and teacher; b. Madrid, Jan. 16, 1918. He was the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. He studied at Harvard Coll. (1936–38), at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass. (1936–38; 1940–41), with Boulanger in Paris and Gargenville (1938–39), at the N.Y. Coll. of Music (composition and piano diplomas, 1947), and at the Hartt Coll. of Music in Hartford, Conn. (B.Mus., 1959; M.Mus., 1960). In addition to his appearances as a pianist, he lectured on music at Columbia Univ. (1961), Fairleigh-Dickinson Univ. (1964–67), and the N.Y. Coll. of Music (1967–68).

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1974–76). ORCH.: Piano Concerto (1948; rev. 1983); Cello Concerto (1963); Amistad, homenaje al gran Morel-Campos, overture (1965). Band: The Twinkle in His Eye, in memory of the composer’s father, Kermit Roosevelt (1979; rev. 1993). chamber:Song and Dance Suite for Oboe, Clarinet, and Viola (1991); Suite for Viola (1992); Fanfare for Sagamore Hill for Brass Quintet (Oyster Bay, N.Y., July 4, 1993); Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1993). Piano: Theme and Variations (1948; rev. version, Long Island, N.Y., March 28, 1995, composer pianist). VOCAL: War is Kind for Soloists and Small Orch. (1976; rev. for Soprano, Narrator, Oboe, String Quartet, and Piano, 1992; N.Y., Jan. 1993); Hopkins Suite for Baritone, Speaker, and Piano, after Gerard Manley Hopkins (1991); solo songs

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire