Mark Wessel was an American pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Wessel was born in Coldwater, Michigan

Coldwater, Michigan

Coldwater is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County....

, and graduated from Northwestern School of Music, now known as Bienen School of Music; he later taught piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and theory there. When Wessel left Northwestern, he became a professor of piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and composition at the University of Colorado

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 in Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

.

Wessel was a former pupil of Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...

. He was twice awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

s, in 1930 and 1932. He was also the recipient in 1930 of a Pulitzer Scholarship to further his education in Europe (Anon. 1930). In the 1938 contest of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society

New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

 his choral

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

-orchestral

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 work The King of Babylon won honorable mention, while his former student David Van Vactor

David Van Vactor

David Van Vactor was an American composer of contemporary classical music.He was born in Plymouth, Indiana, and received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University...

 won the competition with his Symphony in D (Anon. 1938a & 1938b).

He died on May 9, 1973 in Orchard Lake

Orchard Lake Village, Michigan

Orchard Lake Village is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a small, exclusive suburb on the outskirts of Metro Detroit. The population was 2,375 at the 2010 census....

, Oakland County, Michigan

Oakland County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...

.

Selected compositions

• Adagio, for orchestra
• Allegro pomposo, for two pianos (pub. 1982)
• The Amorous Peacock, for piano
• Ballade, for solo violin, solo oboe, string orchestra (1931)
• Ballade, for violin and piano (1937)
• Concertino, for flute or violin and chamber orchestra (1928)
• Concerto, for piano and orchestra (1941)
• The Day Is No More (words by Rabindranath Tagore), for voice and piano (1919)
• The Departure, for orchestra (1922)
• Etude in G Minor, for piano (before 1947)
• Feminine Conversations and Promenade of Respectable People, for piano (pub. 1931)
• The King of Babylon, for mixed chorus and orchestra (1933)
• Holiday, overture for orchestra (1932)
• The Hour Comes When One May Question Fate, for orchestra (1922)
• Lento Fantasia, for horn and piano (pub. 1941)
• Meerestille (words by Nicolaus Lenau), for voice, viola, violoncello (or horn in C), and piano
• 1945, for orchestra
• Nocturne, for piano
• Original Theme and Four Fantasies, for horn (1979)
• Plains and Mountains, for violin, cello, and piano
• Poem, for orchestra and piano solo (1924)
• Prelude and Fugue, for string quartet (1931)
• Prisms, for two pianos
• Quintet
• Sacred Dances, for piano
• Scherzo, for horn and piano (pub. 1941)
• Scherzo burlesque, for piano and orchestra (ca. 1931)
• Seven Ages of Man, for orchestra
• Sextet, for woodwind and piano (ca. 1931)
• Sonata, for four horns
• Sonata, for violin and piano
• Sonata, for cello and piano (before 1947)
• Sonatine, for piano (before 1937)
• Song and Dance, for orchestra (1933)
• Southern Tour, for piano (pub. 1982)
• String Quartet no. 1 (1931)
• String Quartet no. 2 (ca. 1938)
• String Serenade, for solo violin and string orchestra
• Suite, for large orchestra (and baritone voice in second movement) (1928)
• Symphony (1932)
• Symphony Concertante, for piano and horn with orchestra (1929)
• Theme and Variations on "I've Got a Gal in Summer School", for two pianos, organ, and orchestra
• Two Concert Pieces for the Piano, "Green River" (Symmetrical Toccata) and "Isle Of Death" (pub. 1926)

Discography

• Leonardo De Lorenzo, flautista e compositore: registrazioni storiche 1928–1935 (includes Mark Wessel, Concertino for flute and orchestra, together with works by Ary van Leeuwen, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, and Gian-Luca Petrucci). 1 CD. [n.p.]: Valdom, 2000.