Parrish, Carl

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Parrish, Carl

Parrish, Carl, American musicologist and composer; b. Plymouth, Pa., Oct. 9, 1904; d. (as a result of injuries incurred in an automobile accident) Valhalla, N.Y., Nov. 27, 1965. He studied at the American Cons. in Fontainebleau (1932), the MacPhail School of Music (B.M., 1933), Cornell Univ. (M.A., 1936), and Harvard Univ. (Ph.D, 1939, with the diss. The Early Piano and Its Influences on Keyboard Technique and Composition in the Eighteenth Century). He taught at Wells Coll. (1929–43), Fisk Univ. (1943–46), Westminster Choir Coll. (1946–49), and Pomona Coll. (1949–53); from 1953 to 1965 he was a prof, at Vassar Coll. He publ. The Notation of Medieval Music (N.Y., 1957; 2nd ed., 1959) and A Treasury of Early Music (N.Y., 1958). With J. Ohi, he publ. Masterpieces of Music before 1750 (N.Y., 1951). He wrote orch. pieces, choral music, a String Quartet, a song cycle, piano pieces, and folk song arrangements for chorus.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire