Leroy Robertson
Leroy Robertson (December 21, 1896 – July 25, 1971) was an American composer and music educator.
Robertson was born in Fountain Green, Utah. One of his earliest instructors was Anthony C. Lund.[1] He studied violin, composition, and public school music at the New England Conservatory and in Europe. He received an MA degree from the University of Utah and a Ph.D from the University of Southern California. He was chairman of the music department at Brigham Young University from 1925 to 1948 and at the University of Utah from 1948 to 1962.
Robertson was instrumental in the promotion of the Utah Symphony and of classical music in Salt Lake City.
He is best known for his Oratorio from the Book of Mormon. The setting of the Lord's Prayer from that oratorio was recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and released as a 45 single on the flip side of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which hit the top 50 charts.
Amongst Robertson's works in the 1948 LDS hymnal was the music for "Up! Arose Thee, O Beautiful Zion", with words by Emily H. Woodmansee.[2]
In the 1985 edition of the LDS hymnal there is one hymn with words by Robertson and eight hymns for which he wrote the music. "On This Day of Joy and Gladness" (hymn #64) has both words and music by Robertson, while "Let Earth's Inhabitants Rejoice" (hymn #53), ""Great King of Heaven" (hymn #63), "God of Our Fathers, Know of Old" (hymn #80), "I'm A Pilgrim, I'm A Stranger" (hymn #121), "Upon The Cross Of Calvary" (hymn #184), "We Love Thy House, Oh God" (hymn #247) and "Go Ye Messengers of Glory" (hymn #262) have music by Robertson.
[edit] Selected works
- 1923 Endicott Overture
- 1938 Piano Quintet
- 1940 Prelude, Scherzo and Ricercare for orchestra
- 1940 String Quartet
- 1944 Rhapsody for piano and orchestra
- 1944 American Seranade, for string quartet
- 1945 Punch and Judy Overture
- 1947 Trilogy, for orchestra
- 1948 Violin Concerto
- 1953 The Book Of Mormon, oratorio
- 1966 Piano Concerto
also
- Cello Concerto
- Fantasia for organ
- Come, Come, Ye Saints, for chorus
- Hatikva, for chorus
- From The Crossroads, for chorus
- The Lord's Prayer, for chorus
- Passacaglia for orchestra
[edit] References
- ^ Berghout, Daneil Frederick. Alexander Schreiner: Tabernacle Organist. (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2001) p. 123. ISBN 0-8425-2492-4
- ^ Cornwall, J. Spencer. Stories of Our Mormon Hymns. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1975) p. 276 [ISBN missing]
- ^ Dictionary Of Composers and their music - Eric Gilder Sphere 1985 [ISBN missing]
[edit] External links
- Robertson on Classpedia at Musicweb UK
- Maxwell Institute entry
- Robertson on Musicweb International
- Free scores by Leroy Robertson in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
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