Harold L. Walters

Harold Laurence Walters (September 29, 1918 in Gurdon, Arkansas — October 22, 1984 in Hollywood, California) was a American composer. He also used the pseudonym Fred L. Frank.

He began playing cornet at the age of eight and began taking music lessons. During his five years with the US Navy Band as a tuba player and arranger, he completed his undergraduate studies at the College Conservatory of Music (CCM) of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, under Nadia Boulanger among others. He also studied at the American University in Washington D.C. and at the Washington College of Music in Chestertown, Maryland, where he received his doctorate in 1943.

He then worked as a conductor and composer in theaters, film and various orchestras, including the well-known orchestra of Sigmund Romberg in Washington DC and in New York City. After 1947 he was associated with the music publisher Rubank, Inc. as a composer, arranger and editor.

His oeuvre includes around 1,500 compositions and arrangements as well as educational works. He was versatile and composed in many musical styles.

Walters was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). In 1956 he was elected president of the American Bandmasters Association, and a few years later he received an honorary doctorate in composition from the Washington College of Music.

He has conducted wind bands and orchestras all over the world. When you asked him what kind of orchestras they were, he would answer: "The smallest orchestra was a circus band with 9 musicians and the largest orchestra consisted of 12,800 musicians at the University of Michigan."

Works

Works for concert band

• 1947 Badinage for Brasses
• 1949 Copa Cabana
• 1950 Deep River Rhapsody
• 1951 Dixieland Revel, March
• 1951Latin American March
• 1952 A Hot Time in the Brasses Tonight!
• 1952 TV Suite
• 1953 The Christmas Suite
• 1953 King size
• 1954 La Mascarada
• 1955 American Folk Suite
• 1955 Viva Paulo!
• 1957 Leetonia Overture for Band
• 1957 Three Scenes
• 1961 Civil War Suite
• 1962 Spiritual Contrasts
• 1962 He's got the hole world
• 1962 I'm on my Way
• 1963 Hootenanny Folk Festival for Band
• 1964 Trumpet Filigree for Trumpet and band
• 1966 Jamaican Folk Suite
• 1967 Duty Honor, Country for Narrator and band
• 1970 Instant Concert
• 1971 Japanese Folk Suite
• 1972 Bands around the World
• 1975 Country and Western
• 1980 Suite Americana
• Brasses to the Fore, March

Educational works

• Forty Fathoms Solo for Eb Tuba
• Concertante Solo for BBb Tuba

References

• Wolfgang Suppan, Armin Suppan (2010). Das Blasmusik-Lexikon. Vol. 5. Kraichtal: HeBu-Musikverlag. pp. 792 f. ISBN 978-3-9806925-9-5.
• William H. Rehrig (1991). Paul E. Bierley (ed.). The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. Composers and Their Music. Vol. 2: O–Z. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press. pp. 801 f. ISBN 0-918048-08-7.