WF on Music Theory Print

W. Francis McBeth

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Francis McBeth (March 9, 1933 – January 6, 2012) was an American composer, whose wind band works are highly respected. His primary musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. The popularity of his works in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century led to many invitations and appearances as a guest conductor, where he often conducted the premiere performances of some of his compositions, the majority of which were commissioned. His conducting activities took him to forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, and Australia; and for a number of years he was principal conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in the capital of Little Rock. At one time, his “Double Pyramid Balance System” was a widely used pedagogical tool in the concert band world. From 1957 until his retirement in 1996, McBeth taught at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Career McBeth was born in Ropesville, Texas (near Lubbock). His parents were Joseph Phinis McBeth, a Baptist minister, and Lillie May Carpenter McBeth. McBeth had a brother, Harold, and a sister, Laura Fay. He had an early start to his musical training, s

W. Franke Harling

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

William Franke Harling (January 18, 1887 – November 22, 1958) was a composer of film scores, operas, and popular music. Life and career Born William Franke Harling in London, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City. After working as an organist and choir director at the Church of the Resurrection in Brussels, he spent two years at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and composed both its hymn, called “The Corps,” and its official march, “West Point Forever.” In 1918, Harling contributed incidental music to the Broadway production of the 1898 play Pan and the Young Shepherd by Maurice Hewlett. In 1926, he collaborated with Laurence Stallings on Deep River, a voodoo-themed opera set in New Orleans in 1835. It opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on October 4 and ran for 32 performances. Harling began his Hollywood career in 1928. His film credits include The Vagabond King, This Is the Night, So Big!, A Bill of Divorcement, Blonde Venus, A Farewell to Arms, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Monte Carlo, Souls at Sea, and Penny Serenade. Harling won the Academy Award for Best Music Scoring for Stagecoach (1939) and was nominated for Souls at S