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Biographical Note - Charles Seeger
Date | Event |
---|---|
1886 December 14 | Charles Louis Seeger, Jr. born in Mexico City to Charles Seeger and Elsie Adams Seeger |
1908 | Graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude with degree in musical composition Composed overture to an unfinished opera, The Shadowy Women, "Graduation Overture," and Sonata for Violin and Pianoforte |
1909 | Apprenticed to Otto Lohse, conductor of the Cologne Municipal Opera. Seeger's lack of perfect pitch and failing hearing prevented a conducting career |
1911 | Returned to the U.S. Seven Songs for High Voice and Pianoforte published by G. Schirmer Hired as accompianist for concert violinist Constance de Clyver Edson |
1911 December 22-1932 October 2 | Married Constance Edson (1886-1975) with whom he had three sons, Charles III (1912-2002), John (1914-2010), and Peter (1919-2014) |
1912 Fall-1918 October | Joined University of California at Berkeley faculty as a full professor of music. He established a full curriculum for a four-year course of study of theory, harmony, counterpoint, and music history including musicology |
1915 Fall | Registered as a conscientious objector |
1916 December | Gave series of lectures on musicicology including "The Value of Music" at Harvard University |
1918 Fall-1919 Spring | Took a sabbatical year at the Seeger Family home in Paterson, New Jersey |
1919 | Stopped composing |
1920 November-1921 June | Departed with Constance and sons as part of a caravan en route to California with the intent to perform music and raise money to support themselves while in California. The endeavor failed |
1921 June-1933 | Taught musicology, general musicianship, and myths and epics at the Institute of Musical Arts (later Juilliard). Constance taught violin |
1929 November | Met and began providing composition lessons to composer Ruth Porter Crawford |
circa 1931 | Joined the Composers' Collective in New York |
1931-1935 | Professor of music at the New School of Social Research |
1932 October 2 | Divorced Constance and married Ruth Crawford |
1935 November | Began work in the Special Skills Division of the Resettlement Administration (later known as the Farm Security Administration) |
1937-1941 | Joined the WPA's Federal Music Project as assistant director |
1941-1953 | Appointed Director of the Inter-American Music Center and served as Chief of the Division of Music and Visual Arts at the Pan American Union |
1949-1950 | Visiting lecturer at Yale University School of Music |
1953 February 28 | Retired from the Pan American Union |
1955 March 10-1962 June | Married Margaret Adams Taylor and became step-father to Edith, Margaret, Martha (Maxi), Rufus, and William |
1961 | Named consultant at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Institute of Ethnomusicology |
1968 March 23 | Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Carlifornia at Berkley |
1971 | Retired from UCLA |
1972 February-June | Lecturer on music at Harvard University |
1973 | Named fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
1979 February 7 | Died in Bridgewater, Connecticut |