Smith, David Stanley, 1877-1949

Composed 1921; revised 1930. First performance New Haven, 22 February 1931, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the composer conducting, Georges Barrère soloist.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

Composed 1928. First performance Cleveland, 8 January, 1931, Cleveland Orchestra, the composer conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

American composer.

David Stanley Smith was born in Toledo, Ohio, on July 6, 1877. He grew up in a musical household, and by the age of fifteen he had found employment as a church organist. In 1895 he went to Yale, where Charles Ives (Class of 1898) was numbered among his friends; he would later serve as the organist at Center Church in New Haven, a position formerly held by Ives. Smith was an outstanding student, and he became the protégé of Professor Horatio Parker. Smith's graduation ceremony in 1900 featured a performance of his Ode for Commencement Day, conducted by Parker. After college, Smith traveled throughout Europe, where he took lessons with Ludwig Thuille and Charles-Marie Widor.

In 1903 Smith returned to Yale as an instructor in music theory. He would remain a member the Yale faculty until his retirement in 1946. Horatio Parker died in 1919, and the next year Smith succeeded him as Dean of the School of Music, a post he would hold until 1940. Again following in Parker's footsteps, he also became the conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Despite his duties as a teacher, administrator, and conductor, Smith was able to compose a substantial amount of music, including one opera, Merrymount, five symphonies, ten string quartets, many sacred works, and a variety of other compositions.

Smith married Cora Deming Welch in 1913. They had one son, Christopher Stanley Smith.

David Stanley Smith died in New Haven on December 17, 1949.