Constance Cochnower Virtue

Constance Cochnower Virtue (6 January 1905 – 21 February 1992) was an American composer and organist[1] who developed a musical notation system called the Virtue Notagraph.

Life and career

Virtue was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Robert and Edith Rankin Cochnower. She married Navy doctor Clark W. Virtue[2] and they had two children, Christie and Robert.[3]

Virtue received a B.M. from the University of Cincinnati in 1927,[4] and a master's degree in sacred music from the Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1945. She gave private piano and organ lessons and taught at Grossmont College from 1961 to 1963. She also served as the organist/music director at several churches in New York and California. In 1968, she toured as the pianist with an opera program for Alaska Music Trails.[5]

Virtue developed the Notagraph, which has a seven-line staff,[6] in 1933 as a new system of musical notation. She trademarked the Notagraph and published two books about it: Design for a Modern Notation (1945)[7][8] and Music without Accidents (1975).[5]

Virtue was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon[9] and the American Guild of Organists.[10] Her papers are archived at the University of California San Diego Center for Research in Computing and the Arts.[11] Her music was published by H.W. Gray and G. Schirmer, Inc.

Works

Virtue's compositions include:[5]

Chamber
  • Fairy Tale for a Sleepy Child (cello)
  • For Spring Returning (violin)[12]
  • Romanza (violin, cello and piano)
  • String Quartet in G

Orchestra
  • Mystic Sonnet: To a Tree in Bloom (also arranged for piano[13])

Theater
  • Queen of Camelot (musical)
  • What Gift to the King? (Christmas music drama)

Vocal

References
  1. Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  2. Armstrong, Alice Catt; Vitale, Sarah Alice (1979). Who's who in California. Who's Who Historical Society. ISBN 9780960316601.
  3. Virtue, Constance Cochnower. "ancestry.com". ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 1999-11-27. Retrieved 27 Feb 2021.
  4. Who's Who of American Women. Marquis Who's Who. 1973. ISBN 978-0-8379-0409-2.
  5. Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Bent, Ian D.; Hughes, David W.; Provine, Robert C.; Rastall, Richard; Kilmer, Anne; Hiley, David; Szendrei, Janka; Payne, Thomas B.; Bent, Margaret; Chew, Geoffrey (2001). "Notation". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20114. ISBN 9781561592630. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  7. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1972). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1970: January-June. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
  8. Library, Union Theological Seminary (New York, N. Y. ) (1960). Alphabetical Arrangement of Main Entries from the Shelf List. G. K. Hall.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Composers & Authors". Mu Phi Epsilon Library & Archives. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  10. Organists, American Guild of (1936). Yearbook and Directory.
  11. "Register of UC San Diego. Center for Research in Computing and the Arts Collection - RSS 1225". library.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  12. Edlund, Harry (1989). Music for solo violin unaccompanied : a catalogue of published and unpublished works from the seventeenth century to 1989. Peter Marcan. High Wycombe, Bucks, England: Peter Marcan Publications. ISBN 1-871811-02-3. OCLC 26317206.
  13. Organ and Harpsichord Music by Women Composers: An Annotated Catalog. ABC-CLIO. 1991. ISBN 978-0-313-26802-1.
  14. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1943.
  15. "Constance Virtue - Vocal Texts and Translations at the LiederNet Archive". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
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