Wilder, Alec

Wilder, Alec (actually, Alexander Lafayette Chew), remarkably gifted American composer, distinguished in both popular and serious music; b. Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 16, 1907; d. Gainesville, Fia., Dec. 22, 1980. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester with Herbert Inch and Edward Royce, then moved to N.Y., where he entered the world of popular music; he also wrote excellent prose. His popular songs were performed by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and other celebrated singers; his band pieces were in the repertoire of Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey He excelled in the genre of short operas scored for a limited ensemble of singers and instruments and suitable for performance in schools, while most of his serious compositions, especially his chamber music, are set in an affably melodious, hedonistic, and altogether ingratiating manner. He publ. a useful critical compilation, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators (N.Y., 1972), which included analyses of the songs of Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others. He also publ. the vol. Letters I Never Mailed (1975).

Works

dramatic: Juke Box, ballet (1942); The Lowland Sea, folk drama (Montclair, N.J., May 8, 1952); Cumberland Fair, a jamboree (Montclair, May 22, 1953); Sunday Excursion, musical comedy (Interlochen, Mich., July 18, 1953); Miss Chicken Little (CBS-TV, Dec. 27, 1953; stage production, Piermont, N.Y., Aug. 29, 1958); 3 operas: Kittiwake Island (Interlochen, Aug. 7, 1954), The Long Way (Nyack, N.Y., June 3, 1955), and The Impossible Forest (Westport, Conn., July 13,1958); The Truth about Windmills, chamber opera (Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 14, 1973); The Tattooed Countess, chamber opera (1974); The Opening, comic opera (1975); 3 children’s operas: The Churkendoose, Rachetty Pachetty House, and Herman Ermine in Rabbit Town. ORCH.: Symphonic Piece (Rochester, N.Y., June 3,1929); Suite for Clarinet and Strings (1947); Concerto for Oboe and Strings (1950); Beginner’s Luck for Wind Ensemble (1953); 2 concertos for Horn and Chamber Orch. (1954,1960); 4 works entitled An Entertainment (1961-71): No. 1 for Wind Ensemble, No. 2 for Orch., No. 3 for Wind Ensemble, and No. 4 for Horn and Chamber Orch.; 2 concertos for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble; Concerto for Tuba and Wind Ensemble; Suite for Horn and Strings (1965); Suite for Saxophone and Strings (1965); Concerto for Saxophone and Chamber Orch. (1967); Air for Horn and Wind Ensemble (1968); Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble (1971). CHAMBER: 10 wind quintets (1953-72); 3 horn sonatas (1954, 1957, 1965); 2 flute sonatas (1958, 1962); Saxophone Sonata (1960); Clarinet Sonata (1963); 3 bassoon sonatas (1964, 1968, 1973); Nonet for Brass (1969); many other sonatas; numerous pieces for wind and brass instruments; piano music, including a sonata. VOCAL: 8 Songs for Voice and Orch. (Rochester, N.Y., June 8,1928); Children’s Plea for Peace for Narrator, Chorus, and Orch. (1969); many other songs.

Bibliography

A. W. and His Friends (Boston, 1974); A. W. (1907-1980): An Introduction to the Man and His Music (Newton Centre, Mass., 1991); D. Demsey and R. Prather, A. W.: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, Conn., 1993); D. Stone, A. W. in Spite of Himself: A Ufe of the Composer (N.Y., 1996).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire