Life

After military service as a bandsman with the United States Marines during the Second World War, Beadell enrolled in the music program at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in Evanston, Illinois

Evanston, Illinois

Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

, where his clarinet teacher, Dominick DiCaprio, encouraged him to study composition. At Northwestern his composition teachers were Robert Delaney and Anthony Donato, and he later studied with Leo Sowerby

Leo Sowerby

Leo Sowerby , American composer and church musician, was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946, and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century.-Biography:...

 at the American Conservatory in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, and with Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

 at Mills College

Mills College

Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...

. He first taught music theory and woodwinds at the Swinney Conservatory of Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri

Fayette, Missouri

Fayette is a city in Howard County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,793 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Howard County. It is in the Columbia, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 from 1950 to 1952, then joined the music faculty at the University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...

 in Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska

The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

 where he taught from 1954 to 1991 (Smith 2006, 10).

Works

Beadell is best known for his choral compositions and arrangements, and music for jazz ensemble. He also wrote two symphonies, five film scores, song cycles, piano pieces, chamber music, and five stage works: an operetta, The Kingdom of Caraway (1957), a musical, Out to the Wind (1979, based on Willa Cather

Willa Cather

Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...

's short story "Eric Hermannson's Soul

Eric Hermannson's Soul

"Eric Hermannson's Soul" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Cosmopolitan in April 1900.-Plot summary:In rural Nebraska, Eric Hermannson gives up on girls after seeing a rattlesnake whilst on a date with Lena, and stops playing the violin shortly after; he becomes a good...

"), and three operas, The Sweetwater Affair (1960, produced 1961), The Number of Fools (1965–66, rev. 1976), and Napoleon (1972, produced 1973) (Smith 2006, 12).

Sources

• Feldman, Mary Ann. 1973. "Reports: US: Lincoln (Neb.)" [Review of the world premiere of Napoleon, 2 February 1973]. Opera News 37, no. 20 (24 March): 33–34.
• Kennedy, Margaret. 1995. "Vocal and Stage Works by Robert Beadell (1925–1994): Great Plains Composer". Paper presented at the 1995 Annual Conference of the Great Plains Regional Chapter of the College Music Society.
• Root, Scott L. 2004. An Examination of Robert Beadell’s (1925–1994) Four Major Works for the Lyric Stage. Studies in Theatre Arts 25. Ceredigion (UK) and Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-6531-6
• Smith, Charles M. 2006. "'Eric Hermannson's Soul': Comparing and Contrasting Two Musical Adaptations of the Willa Cather Short Story (Robert Beadell, Libby Larsen)". Ph.D. Thesis. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.