Horatio Parker

Horatio Parker was one of the more popular composers of his generation, but his works have mostly not stood the test of time; critics have found them bland and lacking in individualism. His first opera, Mona, won a $10,000 prize in a competition set by the Metropolitan Opera; the lighter Fairyland also won a prize, this time from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Parker also had a strong influence on American musical development as an educator and the founder of the Yale University music department.

• Mona, opera in three acts
  Libretto by Brian Hooker.
  March 14, 1912, Metropolitan Opera, New York, New York, Louise Homer, Rita Fornia, Riccardo Martin, Herbert Witherspoon, Putnam Griswold, cond. Alfred Hertz (4 performances)
• Fairyland, opera in one act
  Libretto by Brian Hooker.
  July 1, 1915, Los Angeles, California (6 performances)

Discography

Search for recordings of the music of Horatio Parker at Amazon.com

"The golden heart wide open" from Mona (Arlene Saunders, Enrico di Giuseppe) on Souvenirs from American Opera CD / IRCC 818 (1998)

Last update: January 1, 2009