Mills, Charles, 1914-1982

Charles (Borromeo) Mills, 1914-1982, was an American composer of chamber music, orchestral works including movie music and ballets, and vocal music including sacred choral works. He became a Roman Catholic in 1944. Morris Hochberg was a conductor and violinist, and his wife Sylvia was a noted pianist. Their daughter Rena was born in 1944. Mills lived in New York City, and the Hochbergs in Detroit throughout the correspondence.

From the description of Letters to Morris Hochberg, ca. 1940-1977. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 144652453

From the guide to the Letters to Morris Hochberg, ca. 1940-1977, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)

Charles Mills (1914-1975) was born in 1914 in Griffin, Ga. He married his wife Marguerite around 1935. In 1936, the Millses traveled to Italy where Charles studied singing and began his first book "The Choice," which he completed in 1943. Mills's next book, "The Alexandrians" (1952), was written while he and his family were living Chapel Hill, N.C., where Mills studied languages at the University of North Carolina. This book was a panorama of life in the small Georgia town of Alexandria from the time of its settlement in 1839 until its centennial. Both of Mills's books were bestsellers.

From the description of Charles Mills papers, 1937-1981. WorldCat record id: 14472371

Composed 1940.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of First symphony / Charles Mills. [1940] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 52955890

Composed 1941.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Second symphony in C major / Charles Mills. 1941. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 52955895

Charles Mills was born in 1914 in Griffin, Ga. He studied at the University of Virginia, the University of Florence (Italy), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He married his wife Marguerite around 1935. In 1936, the Millses traveled to Italy where Charles studied singing and began his first book, The Choice. The Millses left Italy in 1945 (just before the invasion of Munich, Germany) to return to the United States. In 1943 Charles Mills completed The Choice which was on the New York Times bestseller list for a time. Perhaps paralleling Mills's own life to an extent, the book depicts a young Southern man rebelling against the narrowness of his small-town Georgia life by traveling to Italy where he becomes more aware of his independence, passion, love of tradition and culture, and creative writing abilities.

Mills immediately began work on another novel, The Alexandrians . During this time he and his wife, young son, and two baby daughters lived in Chapel Hill, and he studied languages at the University of North Carolina. He served briefly in the military during World War II. By 1952 Mills had completed The Alexandrians, a novel on the South, also on bestseller lists. It is a panorama of life in the small Georgia town of Alexandria from the time of its settlement in 1839 until its centennial. Following the life of a central character, the book develops such themes as the struggle over slavery, religious intolerance, changing social customs, and the decline of the plantation economy. After Charles Mills's death in 1975, his wife lived in Penfield, N.Y.

From the guide to the Charles Mills Papers (#4270), 1937-1981, (Southern Historical Collection)