Mildred Weston Rogers (May 1892 - February 6, 1975) was an American composer[1] best known for a number of children's pedagogical piano suites.

Mildred Weston

Not to be confused with American poet Mildred Weston (1905-1998)

Biography

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Weston was born in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, to William and Anna Weston. She graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in Pittsburgh in 1913,[2] studying under T. Carl Whitmer.[3] She pursued further studies at the New England Conservatory of Music.[4]

After college, Weston taught music to kindergardeners at Miss Simonson's School in Pittsburgh. This experience informed the composition of a number of programmatic and pedagogical suites for piano, many of which were published by the Arthur P. Schmidt company (now Summy Birchard).[5][3]

Weston married William G. Rogers, an author and newspaper editor, on Oct 5, 1934 in Springfield.[6]

Selected works

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Her works include:

Piano

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  • Ten Fingers At the Zoo (1919)[7]
  • Under the Christmas Tree (1920, Theodore Presser Co)[8]
  • About Fairies (1922, Arthur P. Schmidt)[3]
  • In an Apple Orchard (seven piece suite)[9]
  • Slumber Song: Pyrenees Folk Tune (1923, published by Carl Fischer)[10]
  • Sandman (1925)[11]
  • Toys: A Suite for the Piano (1923, published by John Church)[12] This suite was in the first grade of the New England Conservatory's piano teaching curriculum in 1929.[13]
  • Red Riding Hood (published by John Church)
  • Under an April Sky (seven piece suite)[14]
  • Under the Christmas Tree (1922)[8] The eleven pieces are: Hobby Horse, A Doll That Goes to Sleep,The Tinkle-Tinkle Box, In a Little White Cradle, The Big Red Drum, Wooden Soldiers, Taps, The Little Pop-Gun, Jumping Jack, Candle Lighting Time, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Tree.
  • Goldilocks (1927, published by Arthur P. Schmidt)[15]
  • The Village Green (1930, Arthur P. Schmidt)[16]
  • Cinderella: A Fairy Tale (1931, Carl Fischer)
  • Swaying Willows: Novelty Dance on Black Keys (1934, Carl Fischer)

Prose

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  • Carnival Crossroads: The Story of Times Square (with her husband William G. Rogers)[17]
  • music criticism for New Yorker magazine (1945)[18]

Vocal

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  • Carol to the Child (1971)[19]
  • Holy Family Carol (SATB; 1941)[20]

References

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  1. ^ 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)
  2. ^ Jeffery, Ruth; Kim, Carrie E.; Coburn, Elvira Estep; Paul, Josephine B., eds. (June 1920). Pennsylvania College for Women Alumnae Recorder. Pennsylvania College for Women. p. 50.
  3. ^ a b c Kempf, Paul, ed. (February 1925). "Worth-While American Composers (No. 15 in a Series of Biographical Sketches) - Mildred Weston". The Musician. Vol. XXX, no. 2. 34.
  4. ^ "Obituary: Mildred Weston". Altoona Mirror Newspaper. February 8, 1975. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  5. ^ "Special Collections in Music:Music Division". memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  6. ^ "Mildred Weston a Bride". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  7. ^ The Musician. Hatch Music Company. 1921.
  8. ^ a b The Etude Music Magazine. T. Presser Company. 1922.
  9. ^ "27 Apr 1929, Page 15 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  10. ^ "Slumber song : Pyrenees folk tune : for piano | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  11. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1952). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series.
  12. ^ Music Trades. Music Trades Corporation. 1923.
  13. ^ New England Conservatory of Music (1929). New England Conservatory of Music concert programs. New England Conservatory Library. New England Conservatory of Music. p. 280.
  14. ^ "7 Mar 1926, Page 65 - Pittsburgh Daily Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  15. ^ Earhart, Will (1928). "Review of The Witmark Classic Chorales". Music Supervisors' Journal. 15 (2): 93–94. doi:10.2307/3382545. ISSN 1559-2472. JSTOR 3382545. S2CID 145794177.
  16. ^ Lockhart, Lee M. (1931). "Review of The Moore Band Course". Music Supervisors' Journal. 17 (3): 72. doi:10.2307/3383521. ISSN 1559-2472. JSTOR 3383521. S2CID 221046398.
  17. ^ Rogers, William Garland; Weston, Mildred (1960). Carnival Crossroads: The Story of Times Square. Doubleday.
  18. ^ The New Yorker. F-R Publishing Corporation. 1945.
  19. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1971). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series.
  20. ^ Orchestra, Boston Symphony (1941). Programme. The Orchestra.