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Dorothy Priesing

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Dorothy Jean McLemore Priesing (31 July 1910 - 28 June 1999)[1] was an American composer,[2] pianist and music educator who studied with Nadia Boulanger. In additional to composing musical works, she co-authored two textbooks about piano pedagogy.[3]

Priesing was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts,[4] to Elizabeth Baxter and William D. McLemore. She held B.S. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University, and also studied at the Juilliard School of Music and in Fontainebleu, France. Her teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Howard Brockway, James Friskin, and Rubin Goldmark. She married Elwood R. Priesing in 1941 and they had one son.[3][5]

Priesing received the Coolidge Prize for Composition at Juilliard. She was a lecturer at Columbia University and Juilliard, then became an associate professor at Montclair State College (today Montclair State University) in 1953.[3] In 1957, her composition Now is the Caroling Season was recorded commercially by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians on Capitol Records.[6] In 1973, Priesing and cellist David Finckel performed a reduction of Patsy Rogers' Concerto for Tenor Violin and Symphony Orchestra for the composer and some friends.[7]

A member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP),[8] Priesing's works were published by Carl Fischer Inc.,[9] Shawnee Press,[10] and William C. Brown Publishing Company.[11] They include:

Band

Books

  • Basic Piano for the College Student (with Russel Hayton and Alex Zimmerman)[11]
  • Language of the Piano: A Workbook in Theory and Keyboard Harmony (with Libbie Tecklin)[9]

Chamber

  • Violin Sonata[3]

Piano

  • Three Piano Preludes[3]

Vocal

  • "April Swim" (soprano)[3]
  • Carol of the Children (women's chorus)[3]
  • Now is the Caroling Season (mixed chorus)[3]
  • Sister Awake (women's chorus)[3]
  • Three Elizabethan Songs (mixed chorus)[3]
  • Wild Swans (women's chorus)[3]

References

  1. Priesing, Dorothy (1 Jul 1999). "Obituaries". The Montclair Times. pp. A15.
  2. Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers: a checklist of works for the solo voice. A Reference publication in women's studies. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8161-8498-9.
  3. Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music USA. p. 563. ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
  4. Stern, Susan (1978). Women composers: a handbook. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-8108-1138-6.
  5. Priesing (1941-06-22). "Marriage of McLemore". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 20. Retrieved 2026-03-21.
  6. Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians - Now Is The Caroling Season, 1957, retrieved 2026-03-21
  7. Society, Catgut Acoustical (1973). The Catgut Acoustical Society Newsletter. Catgut Acoustical Society.
  8. Claghorn, Charles Eugene (1996). Women composers and songwriters: a concise biographical dictionary. Lanham, Md London: Scarecrow. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-8108-3130-8.
  9. The School Musician. 1959.
  10. HalLeonard.com. "Now Is the Caroling Season Hal Leonard Online". Hal Leonard Online. Retrieved 2026-03-21.
  11. Bastien, James W. (1977). How to Teach Piano Successfully. General Words and Music Company. ISBN 978-0-8497-6109-6.
  12. Anderson, E. Ruth; Anderson, E. Ruth (1976). Contemporary American composers: a biographical dictionary. Boston, Mass: Hall. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-8161-1117-6.