Moore, Douglas (1893-1969)
Dates
- Existence: 1893 - 1969
Biography
Douglas Stuart Moore was CMA’s curator of musical arts and organist in 1921-25. Concurrently he was the organist at Adelbert College and Western Reserve University.
Moore graduated from Yale, A.B. in 1915 and took his degree as Bachelor of Music at Yale in 1917. For the next two years he served in the Navy domestically and in Paris. From 1919 to 1921 he studied composition at the Scholar Cantorum in Paris under Vincent d’Indy. In 1921 he became assistant curator of music at CMA. He was made curator in 1922.
In 1922, while at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, Moore composed Four Museum Pieces for the organ. In 1923 he scored it for orchestra and the work premiered under Moore as conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra. For that work, inspired by artworks at CMA including its fifteenth century armor and Rodin’s Man of the Age of Bronze, Moore was awarded the Pulitzer Travelling Scholarship for excellence in composition to a composer wishing to study abroad. Moore resigned his position at CMA in 1925 for that opportunity. It was noted in a Cleveland publication that Moore would be missed for his involvement in the Cleveland Play House as vice president and actor.
In 1926 Moore accepted a faculty position as associate professor of music at Barnard College. He was promoted to full professor and head of Columbia University’s Department of Music in 1940. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1934 and lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He helped set up an annual festival of contemporary music at Columbia and supported the work of the Columbia Opera Workshop. He was a guest conductor with several American orchestras. Moore authored two books: Listening to Music (1932) and From Madrigal to Modern Music: A Guide to Musical Styles (1942).
Moore composed a number of operas during his career at Columbia, including "The Devil and Daniel Webster" with libretto by Stephen Vincent Benét, 1938; "Giants in the Earth" with libretto by Arnold Sundgaard, 1951 (Pulitzer Prize); "The Ballad of Baby Doe" with libretto by John Latouche, 1956; "Gallantry" with libretto by Arnold Sundgaard, 1958; "The Wings of the Dove" with libretto by Ethan Ayer, 1961, based on the Henry James novel; and "Carry Nation" with libretto by W.N. Jayme, 1966. He also wrote music for orchestra and smaller ensembles.
Douglas Moore retired from Columbia in 1962 after 36 years. CMA invited him to compose a chamber work on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the museum’s founding. However, other commitments and ill health prevented him from completing it. He died in 1969 at the age of 75 in Cutchogue, Long Island in the same house in which he was born.
-Biography by Anne Cuyler Salsich, October 2024