Gleason, Harold
Gleason, Harold
Gleason, Harold, American organist, musicologist, and teacher; b. Jefferson, Ohio, April 26, 1892; d. La Jolla, Calif., June 28, 1980. He studied music privately and took courses in civil engineering at the Calif. Inst. of Technology (1910-12), and then studied organ with Farnam in Boston (1917-18) and Bonnet in Paris (1922-23), and composition with Inch at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. After serving as a church organist in Calif. (1910-17), he was director of Boston’s Music School Settlement (1917-18) and organist and choirmaster of N.Y.’s Fifth Ave. Presbyterian Church (1918-19). He then went to Rochester, N.Y., as George Eastman’s personal organist and music director; he also was founder-director of the David Hochstein Memorial Music School (1919-29). From 1921 to 1953 he was head of the organ dept. at the Eastman School of Music, where he also was prof. of musicology (1932-50) and of music literature (1939-55), and director of graduate studies (1953-55). His wife was Catharine Crozier. He publ. Method of Organ Playing (1937; 7th ed., 1987), Examples of Music before 1400 (1942; rev. ed., 1945), Music Literature Outlines (1949-55; rev. with W. Becker, 1979-81), and, with W. Marrocco, Music in America (1964).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire