| Abstract |
The American composer and teacher, George Lynn, was born in 1915 to Swedish immigrant parents in Pennsylvania. Musically precocious as a child, Lynn began his professional career as an organist at age twelve and continued the study of music through high school, college, and graduate school. He was awarded degrees from Westminster Choir School (1938), Princeton University (1947), and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Harding College (1959). From 1964 through 1969 Lynn was Music Director of Westminster Choir College, and, except for those years, lived in Colorado where he taught, composed, and published music. He conducted workshops or taught courses at twelve colleges and universities throughout the United States. George Lynn died March 16, 1989 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The purposes of this paper were to provide a brief biography of George Lynn, with particular attention to the years since 1978, and to stat his precepts of choral sound and choral composition. Influences on Lynn's ideas were also investigated. The author interviewed Dr. Lynn as a primary source of both biographic and philosophic information. He also catalogued Lynn's extensive body of choral compositions, both published and in manuscript. The first chapter is a brief biography of George Lynn. Chapter two contains information about the influences on his life and his beliefs concerning choral sound and choral composition. The influences in his personal life and on his musical endeavors include his family, his teachers (notably Roy Harris, Carl Weinrich, and Randall Thompson), and primarily, John Finley Williamson. Lynn's precepts concerning choral sound are stated and interpreted in chapter three. His beliefs are examined in the areas of vocal tone, choral blend, choral balance, posture, diction and the use of vibrato. Chapter four includes statements of Lynn's precepts with regard to composition, arranging, and editing choral music. Text, harmony and melody, dynamics and tempo, editing and arranging, and publishing are areas in which Lynn states clearly his beliefs. It was discovered that Lynn was committed to an approach founded in the voice in his teaching, conducting, and composing efforts. Catalogues of Lynn's choral works date are included among the appendices. |
