Smith, Hale

Smith, Hale , black American composer; b. Cleveland, June 29, 1925. He studied piano with Dorothy Price and composition with Marcel Dick at the Cleveland Inst. of Music (B.Mus., 1950; M.Mus., 1952); went to N.Y. in 1958 and was active as a music ed. for publishers, as a jazz arranger, and as a teacher; later was a prof. at the Univ. of Conn, in Storrs (1970–84). His output is remarkable for its utilization of serial procedures with jazz infusions; wrote musical scores for Dizzy Gillespie, Ahmad Jamal, Eric Dolphy, and Abby Lincoln, and worked in various capacities for Quincy Jones, Clark Terry, Oliver Nelson, Miriam Makeba, and Hugh Masekela.

Works

DRAMATIC: Chamber Opera: Blood Wedding (1953). ORCH.: Orchestral Set (1952; rev. 1968); Contours (Louisville, Oct. 17, 1961); By Yearning and By Beautiful for Strings (1964); Music for Harp and Orch. (1972); Ritual and Incantations (1974); Innerflexions (N.Y., Sept. 2, 1977). CHAMBER: Duo for Violin and Piano (1953); Cello Sonata (1955); Epicedial Variations for Violin and Piano (1956); 3 Brevities for Flute (1960); Introductions, Cadenzas and Interludes for 8 Players (1974); Variations for 6 Players (1975); Variations a due for Cello, Alto Saxophone, and Flute or Saxophone, or Clarinet ad libitum (1984). Piano: Evocation (1966); Anticipations, Introspections and Reflections (1971). VOCAL: 5 Songs for Voice and Violin (1956); 2 Love Songs of John Donne for Soprano and 9 Instruments (1958); Comes Tomorrow, jazz cantata for Chorus and Accompaniment (1972; rev. 1977); Toussaint L’Ouverture 1803 for Chorus and Piano (1977); Symphonic Spirituals for Soprano and Orch. (1979); Meditations in Passage for Soprano, Baritone, and Piano or Orch. (1980).

Bibliography

M. Breda, H. S.: Biographical and Analytical Study of the Man and His Music (diss., Univ. of Southern Miss., Harrisburg, 1975).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire