Frederic Woodman Root

Frederic Woodman Root (13 June 1846, Boston[1] – 8 November 1916, Chicago) was an American composer,[2][3] choir conductor,[4] organist, adjudicator[5] and music teacher.[6]

Early life and education

Root was the son of George Frederick Root,[7] who was known for composing Civil War songs.[8] He studied music under BC Blodgett, William Mason, James Flint and Robert Goldbeck, and studied singing in New York City with Carlo Bassini and Luigi Vannuccini from Florence. From 1869 to 1870 he undertook a study tour of Europe.

Career

Root composed songs, cantatas, an operetta,[9] and other works, including many for use in singing and piano lessons. He wrote articles and essays for a number of music related publications. Root was the editor of the periodical Song Messenger for several years.[10]

Root became a singing teacher,[11][12] and published several textbooks for singing lessons, including The Pacific Glee Book with James R. Murray,[13] The School of Singing,[14] and Root's New Course in Voice Culture and Singing.

Root gave lectures to promote his teaching methods and opinions about music in general.[15] In one of his speeches he characterized African American gospel songs as "developed from the formless and untutored sounds of savage people... being hardly developed to the point at which they might be called music".[16][17]

References
  1. The Voice. Edgar S. Werner. 1887. pp. 149–.
  2. Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht (5 June 2009). Sound Diplomacy: Music and Emotions in Transatlantic Relations, 1850-1920. University of Chicago Press. pp. 54–. ISBN 978-0-226-29217-5.
  3. Dennis McNally (22 September 2014). On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom. Counterpoint Press. pp. 79–. ISBN 978-1-61902-412-0.
  4. Harry Prescott Hanaford; Dixie Hines (1914). Who's who in Music and Drama: An Encyclopedia of Biography of Notable Men and Women in Music and the Drama. H.P. Hanaford.
  5. “The Hutchison Jubilee”. Salina Daily Republican-Journal Salina, Kansas , May 19, 1897 - Page 1 (adjudicates a contest - reported in several papers in several cities) (via Newspapers.com)
  6. “Notes and News”. Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago, Illinois Sunday, June 14, 1885 - Page 6 (report of Root demonstrating a method of teaching intonation to untrained adults) (via Newspapers.com)
  7. “War Songs Inspire the People to Much Enthusiasm”. The Inter Ocean Chicago, Illinois Monday, July 6, 1896 - Page 7 (conducts a choir of 1200) (via Newspapers.com)
  8. "Our Birthdays". The Inter Ocean, Chicago, Illinois. June 13, 1913, Page 6. (via Newspapers.com)
  9. "Vocal Music for Concert Performance". Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1870-1885, Library of Congress website, USA.
  10. William Smythe Babcock Mathews (1889). A Hundred Years of Music in America: An Account of Musical Effort in America : During the Past Century ... G.L. Howe. pp. 580–.
  11. James Stark (28 March 2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-1-4426-9092-9.
  12. "August Marginer". Northern Echo, Durham, England, 11 August 1894, p. 4 (small report of an article in the Musical Herald; editor says his views on voice training are worth studying) (via British Newspaper Archive - subscription required)
  13. Irwin Silber (1967). Songs of the Great American West. Courier Corporation. pp. 324–. ISBN 978-0-486-28704-1.
  14. William Osborne (1 January 2004). Music in Ohio. Kent State University Press. pp. 514–. ISBN 978-0-87338-775-0.
  15. “A Rainmaker to be Depended Upon”. Southwest Sentinel Silver City, New Mexico Tuesday, February 7, 1893 - Page 1 (a humorous piece about his lecture tour, which seemed to attract bad weather) (via Newspapers.com)
  16. Jeffrey H. Jackson; Stanley C. Pelkey (2005). Music and History: Bridging the Disciplines. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-57806-762-6.
  17. Lawrence W LEVINE; Lawrence W Levine (30 June 2009). Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. Harvard University Press. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-674-04013-7.
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