William Arms Fisher
Encyclopedia
William Arms Fisher was an American
composer, music historian
and writer
.
on April 27, 1861. He studied under Antonín Dvořák
and Horatio Parker
at the National Conservatory of Music of America
in New York City
.
He was president of both the Music Teachers National Association
and the Music Publishers' National Association. He also worked for the music publisher Oliver Ditson Company
which was later taken over by the Theodore Presser Company
. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts
on December 18, 1948.
Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony was played at Carnegie Hall
on December 16, 1893. Williams Arms Fisher, Maurice Arnold Strothotte
, and Harvey Worthington Loomis
, who sat in Dvořák's box, enjoyed an English horn
's music during the second movement so much that they later adapted the tune themselves. All three composers adapted the slow melody into a Negro spiritual. Arnold wrote "Mother Mine", Loomis wrote "Massa Dear", and Fisher wrote "Goin' Home". "Goin' Home" became a well known Negro spiritual.
In response to the challenge and the symphony, William Arms Fisher published an arrangement of Seventy Negro Spirituals in 1926.
William Arms Fisher wrote an article for Music Educators' Journal in 1933 titled "Music in a Changing World." Patrick Freer of Music Educators' Journal said that "Fisher’s article was one of the first to interrogate the role of popular music within music education". In his article, Fisher said that music is important in every community. A quote from his article is "Blessed are the music-makers, for they shall uplift and unite the Earth." which was mentioned by the MENC: The National Association for Music Education
.
published in February 1927 called William Arms Fisher "a worthy pupil and disciple of Dvořák" and asked if he "would waste his time over futile music". The article quoted an anonymous reviewer saying, "If we must have Negro spirituals, by all means let us have Fisher to arrange them."
One of his compositions appeared in the 1947 film Buck Privates Come Home
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer, music historian
Music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Personal life
Fisher was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on April 27, 1861. He studied under Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
and Horatio Parker
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the teacher of Charles Ives....
at the National Conservatory of Music of America
National Conservatory of Music of America
The National Conservatory of Music of America was an institution for higher education in music founded in 1885 in New York City by Jeannette Meyers Thurber...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
He was president of both the Music Teachers National Association
Music Teachers National Association
-Membership:Its membership consists of approximately 22,000 independent and collegiate music teachers. MTNA headquarters are in downtown Cincinnati on the 31st floor of the Carew Tower.- MTNA structure :...
and the Music Publishers' National Association. He also worked for the music publisher Oliver Ditson Company
Oliver Ditson
Oliver Ditson was an American businessman and founder of Oliver Ditson and Company, one of the major music publishing houses of the late 19th century. Ditson began his business with Samuel H...
which was later taken over by the Theodore Presser Company
Theodore Presser Company
The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and formerly based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States.-Theodore Presser:...
. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
on December 18, 1948.
Career
In a 1893 interview, Antonín Dvořák challenged American composers to make better use of the "negro melodies of America", feeling that they were needed as the basis for "any serious and original school of composition" in America.Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony was played at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on December 16, 1893. Williams Arms Fisher, Maurice Arnold Strothotte
Maurice Arnold Strothotte
Maurice Arnold Strothotte was an African American composer and performer.-History:Maurice Arnold Strothotte was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1865. He later shortened his name to Maurice Arnold. Arnold’s father was a physician and his mother a prominent pianist and his first teacher...
, and Harvey Worthington Loomis
Harvey Worthington Loomis
Harvey Worthington Loomis was an American composer. He is remembered today for his associations with the Indianist movement and the Wa-Wan Press....
, who sat in Dvořák's box, enjoyed an English horn
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
's music during the second movement so much that they later adapted the tune themselves. All three composers adapted the slow melody into a Negro spiritual. Arnold wrote "Mother Mine", Loomis wrote "Massa Dear", and Fisher wrote "Goin' Home". "Goin' Home" became a well known Negro spiritual.
In response to the challenge and the symphony, William Arms Fisher published an arrangement of Seventy Negro Spirituals in 1926.
William Arms Fisher wrote an article for Music Educators' Journal in 1933 titled "Music in a Changing World." Patrick Freer of Music Educators' Journal said that "Fisher’s article was one of the first to interrogate the role of popular music within music education". In his article, Fisher said that music is important in every community. A quote from his article is "Blessed are the music-makers, for they shall uplift and unite the Earth." which was mentioned by the MENC: The National Association for Music Education
MENC: The National Association for Music Education
MENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
.
Recognition
An article in The CrisisThe Crisis
The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , and was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois , Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, W.S. Braithwaite, M. D. Maclean.The original title of the journal was...
published in February 1927 called William Arms Fisher "a worthy pupil and disciple of Dvořák" and asked if he "would waste his time over futile music". The article quoted an anonymous reviewer saying, "If we must have Negro spirituals, by all means let us have Fisher to arrange them."
Media
William's compositions have been featured in several albums.One of his compositions appeared in the 1947 film Buck Privates Come Home
Buck Privates Come Home
Buck Privates Come Home is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a sequel to their 1941 hit, Buck Privates....
.
Publications
- Sixty Irish Songs - (1915)
- Notes on Music in Old Boston - (1918)
- Goin' Home (sheet music, 1922)
- One Hundred and Fifty Years of Music Publishing in the United States - (1934)
- Ye Olde New-England Psalm-tunes 1620-1820 - (1930)
- The Music that Washington Knew - (1931)
External links
- Sheet Music for "Goin' Home"; Oliver Ditson Company publisher, 1922
- Songs by William Arms Fisher at the National Jukebox