A gallery of examples of classical music from Utah’s past.
The music in this section was not written by me, but rather is largely from old sheet music by various early Utah composers spanning from the 1860s up to about 1930, plus a very few other works which are more recent. Selections listed here are in roughly chronological order from earliest to latest dates of composition. Click on any of the titles/links to hear that music as part of short informational videos made for most of the selections shared here.
There are two sections, based on the instruments used. First is a section for solo piano, because that type was quite popular a century ago, and because that is a type that lends itself to d.i.y. recording. A second, shorter list has duets and larger works, such as compositions for ensembles, bands or orchestras. For any works with vocal parts, I elected to have those voices be played as instrumental parts to at least make them available for listening. Of course, any of these would be more impressive in live recordings, but until that happens, at least we have these as reference recordings.
Newest additions? Around a dozen new videos or mentions were added in September and October of 2025, bringing the total of works on this page to over 25 selections. Another dozen may appear soon, as they are in various stages of preparation. Other possible upgrades might be to: 1) Add a “Wikipedia” link or comparable link to share deeper info about some of these composers, 2) list the sources of some of the sheet music used here. 3) Will also be considering other ways to structure the list, as it is getting long enough to make it hard to navigate for a quick look at the material. Maybe change to listing all items strictly in chronological order without regard to instrumentation?
Two piano solos by Orson Pratt, Jr. which were printed in an 1869 magazine on Utah Arts & Culture. Pratt was active as a musician in local concerts & theatres, and as a composer & teacher. Probably some of the earliest classical sheet music published in Utah.
~ The Grasshopper – a fun little piece with lots of motion. The cover art was cartoonish, indicating that this one was aimed at young players. But one commenter around the time of publication suggested that it was connected with the “Miracle of the Seagulls” incident in Pioneer era history. Hear it on my YouTube page.
~ Gertrude Mazurka – an elegant “parlor music” or concert selection, from an era when many homes had a piano for entertainment.
Deseret Schottische, Geraldine Warden – Composed by a touring Australian opera singer who visited Salt Lake City for a short series of concerts in 1868. She was considered a “star” as a singer, but was also a versatile and talented pianist who sometimes accompanied her fellow singers in recitals. A synthesized piano track is used in this recording on YouTube.
ZCMI March by Joseph J. Daynes, estimated to be from the 1870s or 1880s. A rather routine march, titled after Utah’s first major department store. Daynes was a celebrated musician of the day, with roles as organist at the Mormon Tabernacle, as a composer of many hymns that still have places in Mormon sacred music, and as a thriving music store merchant, who had multiple shops in the territory, including a large one near the ZCMI store in downtown Salt Lake City. Sorry for the clunky sound quality in this version rendered by synthesized piano. If you want to re-record it with more personality and phrasing, let me know and I’ll be happy to share the sheet music.
Brigham Young Funeral March by Joseph J. Daynes. A somber selection from the 1870s – coming soon, depending on clearing permissions…
Peerless Waltz and Pearls of Melody – Piano solos by John M. Chamberlain, from the 1880s to the 1920s. Born in England but relocated to Salt Lake City as his family were Mormon converts in the 1860s. He also had a music publishing company, which made it easier for him to publish his many songs and piano selections. See also his “Thelma March” from 1924 a bit lower in this timeline.
For Edna, Charles Frederick Stayner – One example from a set of a dozen short piano solos from 1899, each named for a specific young lady of his acquaintance. Hear “For Edna” in a video on my YouTube page. Of related interest, Stayner also composed several ambitious piano solos such as “Barcarolle: The Great Salt Lake” and another “Barcarolle Pacifico” which is quite a showpiece. Those will each take time and/or money to capture and eventually be shared here.
On the Beautiful Salt Lake Waltzes, Anton Pederson – Another piano solo celebrating recreation at the resorts on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. You can hear an audio only recording by clicking this link. The piece was composed in the late 1800s, and at nearly 7 minutes playing time it is currently the longest selection on this page. Pederson was also one of the key figures in organizing a local orchestra which evolved, decades later, into the Utah Symphony. Sheet music for this was located online in the Library of Congress collections.
Laughing Waves – Ragtime adjacent (?) piano solo from 1904 by Herbert W. Lawrence. He was a music student during his college days in Utah, but later concentrated on a career in mining. Hear it in a short video on YouTube.
Saltair March by Godfrey Buglione, 1910 – There is a solo piano version available for this piece, but it is not yet recorded. For background notes, please see the listing lower on this page for the “band” version.
Wizard of the Wasatch March by Gustav Schuster – Composed around 1913 for a short-lived festival in Salt Lake City that included Mardi Gras style parades and many other features, but with local and pseudo Native American themes. The festivities were designed both for fun and funds, with the stated goals of stimulating local tourism & shopping. Until the onset of WWI put a damper on this and many other non-essential events. But while it lasted, the festival was heavily promoted, and the sheet music for this frisky “circus band” style march was even printed in local newspapers. Here is a recording from my YouTube channel.
Thelma – March from 1924 by John M. Chamberlain when he was a respected veteran composer, performer, teacher and music publisher. This short piece for young players was composed late in his life for his young student who was being cared for in a convalescent hospital in Salt Lake City. The score was then shared in an LDS (Mormon) magazine for kids to encourage musical development in others.
Along the Navajo Trail, Seldon Heaps – Impressionistic piano solo from the 1930s by a versatile composer who worked in classical, popular and religious music. Hear it in a YouTube video. There was likely an orchestral version as well, since the composer used the same title for one movement of his “Bryce Canyon Suite” for orchestra. (This piece also shares a name with an unrelated classic “Western Swing” song, but this local one is in a very different style.)
... plus a few “Utah related” pieces by non-local composers …
Utah March by Emanuel Marquis, 1850s. A short, basic march piece. The title screams “Utah”, but there is nothing particularly connected to the region beyond that. From a time when composers churned out volumes of sheet music for a hungry public, this is what it is – a simple, but unremarkable addition.
The Mormon War – A Grand March by Peter Ricksecker from 1858. While it is clearly tied to Utah by subject and title, the composer himself probably had no serious connection to Utah. The title is striking, but maybe not as dramatic as it teases. There was a series of troublesome conflicts around 1858 which became widely known as the “Mormon War.” Actually, it was more of a diplomatic power struggle, as the leaders in Washington DC did not like that the Mormon (now LDS) leaders in the Utah Territory were running it in ways that the Feds did not approve of. Troops were sent as a show of force, but cooler heads prevailed, and little happened other than posturing and taunting, which continued until Utah was finally granted statehood in the 1890s. But the name “Mormon War” was catchy, so American composer Peter Ricksecker of the Moravian Church movement in Pennsylvania wrote this piece to capitalize on the news of the day. While not by a Utah Composer per se, it is welcome here as a relative. Shots fired, but War settled.
Brigham Young – Grand March – from 1873 by Edward Mack. Again, not a Utah composer, but shared here because of the subject. Tuneful rather than “Grand”, but still a pleasant if repetitive march. The composer is lesser known now, but was quite prolific in his day, publishing more than 100 pieces as sheet music in the late 1800s despite having lost his eyesight as a Young adult. (Get it? Young? … oh, nevermind …)
… there are more music selections after the photos …
Music for ensembles ~
The Trumpeters, Joseph J. Daynes – The original version from the 1880s was for men’s voices and keyboard, but due to the title and style of music, and the lack of a Men’s Chorus at my disposal, I decided to adjust this arrangement to be played by a synthesized brass ensemble and organ/piano. Daynes was a central figure in the Utah music community of the day, both as a composer and as a merchant with several popular music stores. Hear my arrangement on YouTube.
Saltair March, Godfrey Buglione – This 1910 piece was composed by the bandmaster of a regimental band stationed at Fort Douglas near the University of Utah in SLC. The title of the piece refers to a once popular beach resort on the shores of the Great Salt Lake which featured frequent concerts by local bands, including Buglione’s own military band. Hear it in a recording by a modern military band on YouTube. (This recording is not a project of mine, but is part of a very ambitious series of band music recordings.) Utah composer and film maker Marden Pond also used a band version of this piece in his documentary film “Great Salt Lake – Utah’s Sanctuary.” There is also a reduction to a solo piano version, with a recording coming here someday…
Saltair March, Wasatch March, Fort Douglas March, and Deseret News March are all selections by Godfrey Buglione, but not yet recorded for this gallery. Each has a specific local inspiration. The Deseret News was (and still is) a major newspaper in the state, so using that title was sure to get a mention published. The Wasatch Mountain range which towers over the east side of the Salt Lake Valley is the obvious inspiration for another, although the title might also refer to a company or organization which shared that name. (Composers of marches in that time period, including Sousa, often wrote original music titled after companies or organizations that commissioned a new piece, or after newsworthy events that inspired the music.) The third march is titled after the US Military’s Fort Douglas where Buglione was the official bandmaster for a decade and routinely gave public band concerts at the Fort and around the Salt Lake City area. The geography of these three compositions with local place names all lines up. Fort Douglas is on the east side of Salt Lake City, at the foot of the Wasatch mountains, overlooking the city, and from the Fort one can even see Saltair beach resort a dozen miles away, so all three titles/references are linked by geography. Sheet music has been located for the Wasatch March, but it is a rather tedious job to convert all the various instrumental parts in a band piece to computer notation for recording. Still looking for an archive with the Fort Douglas March and/or the Deseret News March available.
Lullaby Land & Irish Love Song – Originally offered as songs for young women’s voices in an LDS (Mormon) Church magazine of the early 1900s, but they also sound rather nice as adapted to be played as instrumentals for violin & piano or flute & piano. Lyrics were by a Utah poet, Kate Kendall Thomas, daughter of a prominent SLC family, who was living a Bohemian lifestyle in NYC. Her collaborator in this composing partnership was Laura Sedgwick Collins of New York, who may have been the only female composer in the pool of American students taught by Dvorak during his time in the USA. There is also a 3rd song available by these collaborators, but it is rather longer and more complex than these two, so it will take quite a while to get around to posting that one. Both “Lullaby Land” and “Irish Love Song” are now being shared in imperfect recordings on my YouTube channel.
Handcarts West! Snippets from a 1950s musical theatre production written to be performed by teens. This sheet music was included in the printed script that performers worked from. ( I know, I know … FROM WHICH performers worked…) The “Book” (story/script) was by Ruth Hale, a major figure in LDS/Mormon community theatre circles, and a co-founder of the popular Hale Center Theater. Music was composed and/or arranged by Samuel O. Pratt, who was probably related to the family central to the Lyon & Healy Harp Company. My personal opinion is that some of the piano music here requires abilities beyond that of an average teen performer, which may have limited the reach of this production. Hear a few excerpts at my YouTube page.
Liahona – Two instrumental selections from the 1936 cantata composed by William King Driggs, a strong composer and musician, but probably better known as father of the “King Sisters” singing group. This is just a piano reduction taken from the vocal score version. The original work was for orchestra, chorus, vocal soloists, etc. The two selections in this video are the Introduction/Prelude, and one of several “Barcarolle” sections which depicted travels to the new world, as related in the LDS scripture the Book of Mormon. Hear these two selections of “Liahona” in a 6.5 minute video on my YouTube page.
Palmyra 1820 by composer James Prigmore, who had a rich history in local (Utah) professional music circles, from orchestral to vocal to theatre, dance, film and TV score music and beyond. “Palmyra 1820“, based on LDS Church history, was a major work for chorus and orchestra, and was given a premier in the Mormon Tabernacle in the 1960s.
…. to be continued …