Thomas Beversdorf,
a Composer,
Biographical Material*

Thomas Beversdorf was born at Yoakum, Texas on August 8, 1924 and died early at age 57 on February 15, 1981. He began studying piano at age six, and at seven baritone horn with his father, a band director in Yoakum. He started playing trombone in high school, also under the guidance of his father. Beversdorf graduated high school when he was sixteen. Between age 6 and 16 he also studied horn, saxophone, cello, and clarinet. In 1941, Beversdorf went to Baylor University on a full scholarship. In 1942, he transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied composition with Kent Kennan, Eric DeLemarter, and Anthony Donato. He finished his BM degree (cum laude) in Theory and Composition in August 1945. Beversdorf went to the Eastman School of Music that fall, studying composition with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson, and trombone with Emory Remington. He received his MM in theory and composition in Spring 1946.

In the summer of 1947, Beversdorf studied composition with Aaron Copland and Arthur Honegger at Tanglewood, and privately with Anis Fuleihan. Fuleihan was teaching at IU in the fall of 1950 and until 1952; Beversdorf apparently got his doctorate in near zero time from IU under Fuleihan. Beversdorf played trombone with the Rochester Philharmonic from 1945 to 1946 and the Houston Symphony from 1946 to 1948, and bass trombone in the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1948 to 1949. He was an instructor at the University of Houston from 1946 to 1948. In 1951, he joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Music as a professor of trombone and composition. Amongst other things, he wrote Three Epitaphs for Brass Quartet, which appears larger than life painted on the west outside wall of Smith-Holden Music Store at 222 W. Kirkwood Avenue, in downtown Bloomington, Indiana. The mural was created in 1976. George Holden now owns and manages the store with his son, Mark Holden. He was a much respected professor of the Holden's as he was of Julian Livingston who also studied composition and orchestration with Beversdorf.

Website manager, Livingston's, experience with Beversdorf was primarily as a student of orchestration, calligraphy, and with one semester spent in composition studies. Fortunately, Livingston, who wrote the orchestration for the songs and ballets of the winning Jordan River Review in 1954, had the opportunity to have Beversdorf's extensive advice and teaching in those matters. As for orchestration, Beversdorf's contacts in the WFIU radio station and the early Television Station at IU made it possible for his classes to write music for those outlets as well, an unusual facet in those early days of television.

Livingston notes that Beversdorf wrote a piece Serenade to My Wife in 1956 so it must have been about the time of Livingston's graduation in 1955 that Thomas Beversdorf and Norma were married. This is strongly reminiscent of Wagner's work "Siegried's Rhine Journey" abstracted from Ring Music, dedicated and performed outside their apartment. Other notable connections to the lives of famous composers may be found such as Beversdorf's premature death at 57 resonating with Beethoven.

According to a review by Daniel K. Schneider,'57 Beversdorf had a major work, his Symphony No. 3 for Winds and Percussion played November 18, 1955 in the Kresge Auditorium by the MIT Concert Band which is quoted in part. "Due to their improved status, they tackled the Symphony for Winds and Percssiont, an extremely difficult work because of the intense personal concentration which it requires of the performers. This was the hardest piece which the band has ever tried, and therefore required more preparation than it was given. As a result,- the performance was not wholly convincing. Mr. Beversdorf's work is a very fine composition which is masterfully constructed, and which displays the wind sound as well as, if not better than, any other number in the repertory. The piece reminds one of a Mahler symphony, where the instruments are treated individually rather than in choirs. This reviewer sincerely hopes that the MIT audience will soon hear another, more secure, presentation of the symphony." This may have well been the premier as it was completed at Bloomington, IN, May 9, 1954. Beversdorf apparently decided to broaden the work's outlet by presenting it for full orchestra in Bloomington, IN, October 10, 1958.

Searching the Internet reveals that there is material stored at the University of Pittsburg Archives under Collection No.: AIS64:24 Title: Papers of Jennie Bradley Roessing with limited access. Material relating to that file is currently found at: http://www.library.pitt.edu/guides/archives/finding-aids/ais6424.htm . They state that Thomas and Norma Beversdorf, Thomas's wife, were close friends of Mrs. Jennie Bradley Roessing. Jennie Bradley Roessing was an active participant in the women's suffrage movement and various Pittsburgh-area organizations, principally for the period, 1904-1920's. The archives note that Thomas gained recognition as a composer and member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. His work was performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony on several occassions. The material relating to Thomas and Norma Beversdorf includes correspondence, photographs, and music sheets. All of the correspondence in folder 9 was written by Norma Beversdorf.

Beversdorf continued at IU in the capacity of tenured Professor of Music with special areas of trombone, composition, orchestration, calligraphy until 1977. In 1977, he lectured at the University of Guadalajara. The Thomas Beversdorf Memorial Scholarship has been established, and is awarded annually to a worthy student studying in the School of Music. Bob Burnham reports that although a highly intellectual person, "Dr. B." encouraged you to keep it simple, not sabotaging the musical goal by focusing on the physical means of producing it. During performance, "Analysis IS paralysis" was his claim according to Burnham.

Works

Dramatic: Threnody: The Funeral of Youth. Ballet (Bloomington, IN, March 6, 1963). Also known as Variations for orchestra.
The Hooligan. Opera (1964-1969)
Metamorphosis. Opera (1968)
Vision of Christ. Mystery Play (Lewisburg, PA, May 1, 1971)

Choral:
The Rock, an Oratorio for Solo Bass, Chorus (SSAATTTTBBBB), Organ, Brass, and Strings (© 1959)
3 Fold Amen; 4 Fold Amen for Unison Chorus and Organ (1969?)
Mini-Motet from Micah for SATB, Coloratura Soprano, and Baritone with Organ [or Harpsichord and Double Bass] (© 1972)

Orchestral:
Essay on Mass Production (1946)
Symphony No. 1 (1946)
Reflections (1947)
Mexican Portrait (1948, rev. 1952)
Concerto Grosso for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra (1948; Pittsburgh, April 28, 1950)
Symphony No. 2 (1950)
Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra (1951; Bloomington, IN, March 17, 1967)
New Frontiers (Houston, March 31, 1953)
Symphony No. 3 for Winds and Percussion (Bloomington, IN, May 9, 1954; also for Full Orchestra, Bloomington, IN, October 10, 1958)
Serenade to My Wife (1956)
Symphony No. 4 (1958)
Violin Concerto: Danforth (1959)
Generation with the Torch: An Overture for Youth (1965)
Murals, Tapestries, and Icons for Symphonic Band, Electric Bass, and Electric Piano (1975)
Concerto for Tuba and Wind Orchestra (Bloomington, IN, Feb. 11, 1976)
Ode for Orchestra (Date Unknown)

Chamber:
Horn Sonata: Christmas (1945)
Suite for Clarinet, Violoncello, and Piano (1947)
2 String Quartets (1951, 1955)
3 Poems of E.E. Cummings for Soprano and Piano (1955)
Tuba Sonata (1956)
Theme and Variations, "A Pretty Maid," for Piano (1959)
Trumpet Sonata (1962)
Violin Sonata (1964-65)
Flute Sonata (1965-66)
Cathedral Music for Brass Choir (© 1966)
Three Epitaphs for Brass Quartet (© 1966)
Cello Sonata (1967-1969)
Music for Flute (Piccolo), Oboe (English Horn), Doublebass, and Harpsichord (1968)
Divertimento da camera for Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, English Horn, Double Bass, and Harpsichord (© 1970)
Of Walruses, Cheesecake, and Morse Code for Tuba and Piano (1972)
La Petite Exposition for Violin or Clarinet and 11 Strings (Dallas, Feb. 28, 1976)
Sonata for Violin and Harp (1976-77)
Corelliana Variations for 2 Flutes and Cello (1980)

*Note: This material was gleaned from many sources, notably the Cook Music Library web page and the University of Pittsburg, quoted with interspersions from recollections of Julian Livingston and conversations with Norma Beversdorf.