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Lowell M. Durham sheet music, 1945-1990

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 8150 Series 1

Scope and Contents

Contains loose sheet music for compositions by Durham and others. Includes several copies of Durham's piece "Lyric Folk-Scape, Op. 19," as well as the works like "Once in Royal David's City," and "Calm as a Summer's Morn." Also contains copies of music composed by Crawford Gates, such as "Promised Valley," and "O Lord, Do Not Despise Me." There are a few pieces arranged by Durham which were composed by his father, George H. Durham, like the composition "A New England Pastoral Sketch." Materials date from between 1945 and 1990.

Dates

  • 1945-1990

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to use material from this collection must be obtained from Reference Services at specialcollections@byu.edu.

Biographical History

Lowell M. Durham (1917-1992) was an Mormon composer and author in Utah, and professor at the University of Utah.

Lowell Marsden Durham was born on March 4, 1917 to George H. Durham and Nellie Marsden in Utah. In 1941, he received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Utah. He also married Betty Dee Divers that year, on April 26, 1941. He then received a Master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1942, and a Ph.D. from there in 1945. His post-doctoral work was completed at Columbia University and New York University. He returned to the University of Utah in 1946 as a faculty member. He served in executive positions on the Music Critics Association and the American Musicological Society, was a music critic for the Salt Lake Tribune, the musical director of KSL, and then Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah in 1955. He retired in 1964. He and his wife Betty had three children: Lowell M., Jr., Susan, and Thomas L. Durham died on November 10, 1992 in Salt Lake City.

Biographical History

George H. Durham (1883-1974) was a conductor, composer, and studious arranger.

George Henry Durham was born in Parowan, Utah on September 12, 1883, the son of pioneer musician Thomas Durham and Caroline Pedersen. Receiving his early education from the Murdock Academy in Beaver, Utah, his musical talent led him to further study in Salt Lake City, Utah under the direction of John J. McClellan, Hugh Dougall, and Tracy Y. Cannon. In 1909 he married Mary Ellen Marsden, and together they would have seven children.

In 1913, his small family moved to Boston where he pursued advanced musical studies for the next five years with Charles W. Chadwick, dean of American composers, at the New England Conservatory of Music. He also studied at Boston University and completed summer courses with Archibald Davison and other Harvard University faculty members.

After he returned to Utah in 1918, Durham served as Music Supervisor of the Beaver County Schools. Later he served as Head of the Music Department of the L.D.S. High School and Junior College, directed Men's and Ladies Glee Clubs, large mixed choruses at General Conference, and produced/ conducted annual school operettas with C. Lowell Lees. Durham later studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg at the University of Southern California from 1935-36. He died on February 18, 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

15 folders

Language of Materials

English