Harry Hewitt's Birthday

Harry Hewitt

Tomorrow, March 4th, we celebrate the birthday of Harry Donald Hewitt (1921-2003), Philadelphia composer.  Harry was a dear friend and we remember him tomorrow with great fondness.  In 2001 I (Jenny) had the distinct honor of playing the world premier of his piano work, the Shinryuku Suite and we now consider it our special joy to consider Betty Hewitt one of our dearest of friends, our Aunt Betty.  Harry Hewitt's music continues to be enjoyed and performed all over the world.  The Harry Donald Hewitt Archives can be found at the Masland Library of the Philadelphia Biblical University and are available for performance.  Happy Birthday Harry!

Click here to listen to Harry Hewitt's Prelude to Spoon River

Harry Donald Hewitt was born March 4, 1921 in Detroit, Michigan.  He was one of the most prolific composers in the history of American Music, composing over twenty symphonies and twenty string quartets, several hundred orchestral works, operas, chamber music, songs and keyboard works.   Although his musical style underwent many changes throughout his lifetime, his idiom always remained direct and straightforward.  Harry's musical stages are prime examples of the musical climate of America and Europe in the Twentieth Century. He was by nature a musical collector, gathering the musical fads that erupted in American universities, fads such as serialism, exoticism, neo-romanticism, and electronic music.  Actively composing during the birth of a musical consciousness in America, Hewitt was a willing participant in the compositional experimentation that occurred during this time. As such, the life and works of Philadelphia composer Harry Hewitt provide a microcosmic lens through which one can glimpse the various influential forces of the 1940s and 1950s, 1960s.  He is known for his friendly personality evidenced by friendships with great artists of the 20^th century such as W.H. Auden, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Egerinski, Joseph Barone, Vincint Persichetti, George Rochberg and others.  

            In the 1930's he was best known for his radio-drama Spoon River, and his Dickenson song cycle Chartless. Typical works from the forties are the Third Symphony and the anti-war Seven-Satiric Songs which received ovations in their New York performances during the bitterest days of World War II.  His works in the late forties are dominated by pieces inspired by his friendship with the poet, Kenneth Patchen.  These include Albion Moonlight and the Ode for String Orchestra, a work performed by his long-standing champion, the distinguished conductor, Dr. Joseph Barone.  After 1950, Harry's interest in chamber music began to dominate his orchestral writing. Most notable were his Preludes for Flute and Marimba, premiered at Carnegie Hall, NY.  From that time on, Harry's work consisted largely of song cycles, set primarily to his own texts.  According to Baker's Biographical Dictionary, "He wrote in almost every conceivable manner, using every speculative idiom, couched in every available tonal, atonal polytonal and incommensurate oriental scale.  Harry Began composing at age 12 and wrote his first symphony at 16.  His works have been performed at many locations, including Carnegie Recital Hall, and Town Hall, Philadelphia.  They are occasionally broadcast throughout Europe and the U.S. In 1997 a CD "Mileto Plays Hewitt" was released featuring Italian virtuoso Stefano Mileto.  Harry was a member of ASCAP, NACUSA, President of Delaware Valley Composer and President of Composer Services until his death in 2003.