Claflin, Avery

American composer, served on the boards of the Contemporary Music Society and the American Symphony Orchestra.

From the description of Interview conducted by Oliver Daniel, Apr. 10, 1978 [sound recording]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155861476

American composer; served on the boards of the Contemporary Music Society and the American Symphony Orchestra.

From the description of Interview conducted by Oliver Daniel, Dec. 17, 1977 [sound recording]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155861523

Composed 1936-40. First performance (of 3rd movement only) by the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Sioux City, Iowa, January 17, 1944, Henri Pensis conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Chapter III : a symphony / Avery Claflin. [1940] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 51451682

Avery Claflin (1898-1979) was an American composer who wrote and studied music while pursuing a long career in banking.

Claflin spent thirty-five years working for the New York-based French-American Banking Corporation. He retired from the bank in 1954 after having risen from its ranks to serve as its president. Claflin began music studies at Harvard, but volunteered to serve as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, returning to Harvard after the war to complete his degree in 1921. While in France, he encountered the composers, Georges Auric, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, and Erik Satie, each of whom would influence Claflin's compositional style. Although Claflin composed many different types of works, he is perhaps best remembered for a madrigal set to the text of the tax code, Lament for April 15 (1955). He also received some attention for his four operas drawn from literary sources, The Fall of Usher (1920-1921), Hester Prynne (1934), La grande Bretèche (1946-1948), and Uncle Tom's Cabin (1964). Only one complete opera, La grande Bretèche, based on a short story by Honoré de Balzac, and excerpts from another opera, Hester Prynne (with a libretto adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, written by Claflin's wife, Dorothea Claflin), were performed during Claflin's lifetime.

From the description of Avery Claflin scores, 1929-1979. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 79413007

Avery Claflin (1898-1979) was an American composer who studied law and business and pursued a career in banking.

He took music courses at Harvand University. He was a business associae of Charles Ives. Claflin found time to be active in various musical organizations and to compose. Many of his works date from after his retirement in 1954.

From the description of Avery Claflin collection of non-commercial recordings [sound recording]. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122431792