Horst, Louis

Louis Horst was born to Conrad and Leva Horst on the twelfth of January, 1884, in Kansas City, Missouri. Horst began to study piano at an early age. He became a professional accompanist, playing for silent films, stock theater companies, Broadway rehearsals, and later for many of the modern dance personalities of the thirties and forties.

In 1915, Horst joined the Denishawn Company as accompanist; his wife, Betty, was a member of the company. He remained with Denishawn until 1925. There he met, among others, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Martha Graham. Horst later collaborated with these second generation modern dance pioneers as accompanist, composer and teacher of choreography.

Leaving Denishawn with Martha Graham, Horst composed several of Graham's early group works: Primitive Mysteries (1931), Frontier (1935), and El Penitente (1940). He also wrote scores for other dance artists, for dance classes and for publication. He taught the art of choreography at the Neighborhood Playhouse, several colleges such as the Juilliard School of Music and Connecticut College, and in workshops around the country.

In 1934, Horst founded a major dance periodical, The Dance Observer. This magazine was a voice through which modern dance spoke. He and the other writers volunteered their knowledge, experience, and time to the critical review of modern dance concerts and recitals. Horst also published two books, Pre-Classic Dance Forms (1937) and Modern Dance Forms (1960). Aside from Horst's musical, literary, and aesthetic criticism of modern dance performances, he “managed to train at least half of the choreographers now producing.” His students include Anna Sokolow, Meredith Monk, Yvonne Rainer, and Lucinda Childs.

Louis Horst was granted many awards, including the Capezio Award and an honorary degree from Wayne State University in 1964.

From the guide to the Louis Horst papers, 1935-1964, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Louis Horst was born to Conrad and Leva Horst on the twelfth of January, 1884, in Kansas City, Missouri. Horst began to study piano at an early age. He became a professional accompanist, playing for silent films, stock theater companies, Broadway rehearsals, and later for many of the modern dance personalities of the thirties and forties.

In 1915, Horst joined the Denishawn Company as accompanist; his wife, Betty, was a member of the company. He remained with Denishawn until 1925. There he met, among others, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Martha Graham. Horst later collaborated with these second generation modern dance pioneers as accompanist, composer and teacher of choreography.

Leaving Denishawn with Martha Graham, Horst composed several of Graham's early group works: Primitive Mysteries (1931), Frontier (1935), and El Penitente (1940). He also wrote scores for other dance artists, for dance classes and for publication. He taught the art of choreography at the Neighborhood Playhouse, several colleges such as the Juilliard School of Music and Connecticut College, and in workshops around the country.

In 1934, Horst founded a major dance periodical, The Dance Observer. This magazine was a voice through which modern dance spoke. He and the other writers volunteered their knowledge, experience, and time to the critical review of modern dance concerts and recitals. Horst also published two books, Pre-Classic Dance Forms (1937) and Modern Dance Forms (1960). Aside from Horst's musical, literary, and aesthetic criticism of modern dance performances, he “managed to train at least half of the choreographers now producing.” His students include Anna Sokolow, Meredith Monk, Yvonne Rainer, and Lucinda Childs.

Louis Horst was granted many awards, including the Capezio Award and an honorary degree from Wayne State University in 1964.

From the guide to the Louis Horst collection, 1928-1964, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Louis Horst (1884-1964) was a composer, choreographer and pianist who pioneered the use of contemporary music for dance scores. He was born and educated in Kansas City, Missouri. He studied piano from an early age and became a professional accompanist; playing for silent films, stock theater companies, Broadway rehearsals, and later for many of the emerging modern dance personalities of the time. After moving to New York City, he began working as musical director and composer for many dance companies and individuals.

From 1916 to 1925 he was the musical director of the Denishawn Dance Company, before moving on to be the music director and dance composition teacher for Martha Graham's dance school and company. Horst wrote and arranged scores for many prominent choreographers including Agnes DeMille, Martha Hill, Helen Tamiris, Pearl Lang and Ruth St. Denis.

Horst taught the art of choreography at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater (1928-1964), Bennington College (1934-1945), Mills College, Connecticut College (1948-1963), Barnard College, Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, and The Juilliard School (1951-1964). He also delivered lectures at many other institutions across the country.

Horst remained in New York City until his death in 1964.

Janet Mansfield Soares is a dancer, choreographer, and author of Louis Horst: A Musician in a Dancer's World . She was a student, colleague, and teacher of dance composition with Louis Horst in the Juilliard School Dance Division. She is a professor emerita of dance at Barnard College, Columbia University, and lives in Tucson, Arizona, and Lyme, Connecticut.

From the guide to the Louis Horst Course Materials and Research, 1929-1992, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Louis Horst, American pianist, composer, musical director, author, and editor, was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 12, 1884. His parents, who had immigrated from Germany in 1882, were Conrad Horst, a trumpet player, and Carolina Nickell.

In 1892, the family moved to San Francisco where Horst attended the Adams Cosmopolitan School. He studied violin with John Josephs and John Marquand and piano with Samuel Fleischman.

Beginning in 1902, Horst played piano in dance halls and gambling houses, and was a pit musician at the Columbia Theater. He also played in a concert trio and accompanied violinists and singers.

In 1915, the Denishawn dance company visited San Francisco, and Horst was asked to be accompanist. Within months he became the company's music director, bringing him into contact with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman. In 1925, Horst resigned from Denishawn and went to Vienna to study with Richard Stöhr in order to increase his compositional skills. He found the experience too rigidly classical and returned to New York where he continued his studies with Max Persin and Wallingford Riegger.

In 1926, Horst was hired by Martha Graham. In time, he functioned as her accompanist, music director, composer, and mentor. Among the works he composed for Graham were Primitive Mysteries (1931), Frontier (1935), and El penitente (1940). During his tenure with Graham, Horst also served as accompanist and musical director for Helen Tamiris (1927-30), Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman (1927-1932), as well as Agnes de Mille, Ruth Page, Hans Wiener, Michio Ito, Adolph Bolm, Harald Kreutzberg, and others. Horst left the Graham company in 1948.

Throughout his career Horst taught at various institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College (1932-40), Bennington College (1934-45), Teachers College, Columbia University (1938-41), Mills College (1939), Barnard College (1943, 1950-51), Connecticut College (1948-64), and The Juilliard School of Music (1951-64). He also lectured at the New School for Social Research (1931), and at the 92nd Street YM/YWHA (1939-42).

In addition to his activities related to dance, Horst composed scores to five films (titles surmised from the scores): Chile (1943), Atacama Desert (North Chile) (1945), Pacific Island (1949), Rural Women (1950), and Flower Arrangements of Colonial Williamsburg (1953). He also founded the journal Dance Observer in 1934.

Horst defined the forms and structural principles of modern dance. While he recommended than choreography be shaped according to the pre-existent musical architecture, he also composed in such a manner as to have the music follow the needs of the dance, giving the choreography primacy. Robert Sabin wrote that Horst's main principles were "economy of instrumentation, functional relationship to the dance, harmonic appropriateness to the emotional scheme of the work, [and] rhythmic integration."

Louis Horst died in New York City on January 12, 1964.

From the guide to the Louis Horst collection of music, c1910-1953, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)