Paul W. Whear

Biography

Paul William Whear (November 13, 1925 – March 25, 2021) was an American composer, conductor, music educator, and double-bassist.

Life and career

Whear (full name Paul William Whear) was born in Auburn, Indiana, and studied at Marquette University, the Catholic Jesuit University in Milwaukee where he received the B.N.S. After service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, he attended DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana, where he received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, and Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received the Ph.D. He received the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Marquette University in 2002.
He taught theory and composition at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, (1952–1960) as well as at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, where he was chairman of the music department (1960–1969). He and his wife, violinist Nancy Robinson Voiers, played in the Lincoln Symphony during this time. Later he became a professor at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where he also was composer in residence and conductor of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra. He retired as emeritus composer and conductor and received an honorary doctorate at Marquette University. He also taught theory, composition, and orchestration courses at the National Music Camp (now Interlochen Center for the Arts) in Interlochen, Michigan (1969–1988).
He appeared as a guest conductor in the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. As a composer he won many prizes and distinctions, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Huntington Hartford Fellow residence, numerous ASCAP Awards, and numerous McDowell Artist Colony Fellowships. He is listed in Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and was named "one of America's Top Ten Composers for Band In Fanfare Magazine (1963). For 60 years he conducted numerous band and orchestra clinics at the annual Midwest Musician Educators' Conference in Chicago. His musical epic, The Chief Justice, was performed live at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1976 by the Marshal Department of Music. His works have been performed by leading orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Rochester Civic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Charleston Symphony, the U.S. Navy Band, the U.S. Naval Academy Band, the U.S. Military Academy Band (West Point), and the Band of the Coldstream Guards, London.
Whear died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 95.

Writings

1960. "Problems of the Small College Band". Music Educators Journal 46, no. 4 (Feb.–Mar.): 76–78.

Orchestra

A Celtic Set, for string orchestra
A Shakespeare Prelude, for orchestra
An Appalachian Folk Tale, for speaker and orchestra 1980
Catskill Legend 1963
Catharsis Suite, for orchestra 1967
Concertino, for string orchestra
Overture
Dirge
Toccata
Lancaster Overture 1963
Decade Overture
It's The Pizz
Mallard Cove—Prelude and Rondo, for string orchestra
Olympiad, for string orchestra
Overture for strings, for string orchestra
Pastorale Lament, for horn and string orchestra
Prelude to the Ten Commandments, for orchestra
Preludio, for string orchestra 1966- for the Vivaldi Orchestra of Manachester, U.K.
Psalms of Celebration - Part I, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
Psalms of Celebration - Part II, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
Psalms of Celebration - Part III, for mixed choir, orchestra and brass
Reflections, Scherzo for Strings, for string orchestra
Seven
Stars in a Field of Blue
Symphony No. 2, "The Bridge" : In Memoriam RVW (2nd Movement)
Symphony No. 3, " The Galleries", commissioned by the Huntington Art Museum
The Chief Justice John Marshall, A Musical Epic for speaker, choir, and orchestra: commissioned by Marshall University
Waltz, for strings
White River Legend (Overture), commissioned by The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Band

1958 Hartshorn, overture - Whear's first published work
1962 Jedermann, overture
1964 Contrapunctus
1964 Czech Suite
Romantic Song
Rippling Waters
Festival Dance
1964 Kensington Overture
1966 Antietam
1968 Bellerophon, overture
1968 Land of Lincoln, concert march
1968 Decade Overture
1969 Wycliffe Variations
1970 Elsinore Overture
1971 Stonehenge Symphony - Symphony no. 1 for Purdue University Centennial
Solstice
Evocations
Sacrifice
1972 Of This Time
1973 Lexington Overture
1979 Celebration XXV
1981 The Enterprise Overture
1982 Symphony No. 4: Commissioned by Harry Pfingsten, Avon Lake High School Band
Overture
Melodrama
Finale
A Lyric Suite
Prelude
Clog Dance
Pastorale
Procession
An Appalachian set
Canada—A Folksong Set for Band
Catskill Legend
The Chief Justice
Defenders of the Blue: Parade March for the Strategic Air Command
Down to the Sea in Ships - US Navy Band Commission
Eternal Father
Introduction and Invention
Lincoln: 5th Symphony commissioned by the Library of Congress honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday
Modal Miniatures -
Proscenium Overture
Quiet Music, based on Hans Leo Hassler’s Passion Chorale
Sonata for Band
Stars in a Field of Blue
Yorktown, 1781
Symphony 5: Lincoln commission by the Library of Congress in honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday
Ballet

High Flight - based on John Gillespie Magee 's poem
Stage Work

The Door, opera
The Devil's Disciple - unfinished opera

Choir

Old Gold—a Celebration, for mixed choir
Crystals, for three-part women’s choir, three flutes, harp and percussion
Mass for Today

Vocal music

Sounds of Celebration, for baritone solo, mixed choir and band
The Seasons, for baritone solo, mixed choir and orchestra
Sonnets from Shakespeare, for baritone solo and chamber orchestra
Gods Grandeur 1974 Commissioned by Jane Hobson for the Dedication of Pearl Buck's Birthplace

Chamber music

1975 Trio Variations, for cello, clarinet and piano
A Separate Piece, for bassoon solo
Invocation & Study, for brass quintet (1960)
Five Haiku, for flute (or piccolo)
March of the Viols, for contrabass and piano
Prelude and Toccata, for trombone quartet
Sonata "The Briefcase", for viola and piano
Sonata, for cello solo (1979)
Sonata, for trombone (or baritone) and piano (©1963)
String Quartet No. 3 "The Phoenix"
String Quartet: Four for Four
Suite, for violin and cello (1984)
Canon
March
Ostinato Aria
Toccata
The Viol Habit, for contrabass and piano
Three Chorales, for brass quartet or brass ensemble
Lass't uns erfreuen by Johann Christian Bach
Chorale for Brasses by Carl Ludwig
Freuet Euch Ihr Christen by Johann Sebastian Bach

Organ

Music For Service With "Truro" (together with David Craighead)
This article translated from the Dutch Wikipedia