Musical compositions which are about Utah, even if just in the title, but composed by people who were/are not residents.
… Will soon be adjusting selections from other pages to appear here …
The Mormons Quadrille (1860s?) – In the era of Gilbert & Sullivan there were many other composers producing light operetta and similar “music hall” entertainment. One such musician was Londoner Charles Coote, Jr., who wrote dozens of crown-pleasing works. Little is known about this piece except that from the cover art of the sheet music it appears to have been a comic farce lampooning polygamy and American Bravado. More details to come later when the recording is completed. The first version of the audio is done, so click for a listen, if you dare. There will certainly be a video coming for this one someday due to the many musical quotes, references and quirks of the piece. Thanks go out to the Special Collections department of BYU’s Lee Library who supplied a copy of the sheet music from their holdings. (Click below to play.)
Utah March of 1858 by Emanuel Marquis Apart from the title there is nothing particularly connecting either the composer or the music to the region. From a time when composers churned out volumes of sheet music for a music-hungry public, this is what it is – a simple, but unremarkable addition.
The Mormon War – A Grand March by Peter Ricksecker from 1858. The title is striking, but maybe not as dramatic as it teases. There was certainly 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 the way the Mormon (now LDS) leaders in the Utah Territory were running things in ways that the Feds did not approve of. (Particle dangled.) Troops were sent to Utah as a show of force, however despite the tensions cooler heads prevailed, and little happened other than posturing and taunting, and the establishment of several forts and bases, which continued until Utah was finally granted statehood in the 1890s. But the name “Mormon War” was catchy, so composer Peter Ricksecker of the musically minded Moravian Church movement in Pennsylvania wrote this piece to capitalize on the news of the day. While it is clearly tied to Utah by subject and title, the composer himself probably had no serious connection to Utah. While not by a Utah Composer per se, it is welcome here as a relative. Shots fired, but War settled. Another recording by Tim on Fiverr, but for this one he not only played and recorded it, he also solved a musical mystery by extracting a playable score from the original which had several pages of inky notes smudged together due to water damage.
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 rather 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 …)