Roger Wagner
Encyclopedia
Roger Wagner, KCSG
(January 16, 1914 - September 17, 1992) was an American
choral musician, administrator and educator.
, France
. His younger brother was actor and voiceover artist Jack Wagner
. Roger Wagner was immersed in music from his youngest years. His father was an organist of the cathedral in Dijon
, France and subsequently in Los Angeles
, after emigrating to the United States in 1921. At the age of 12 he assumed his first musical position in his own right, serving as organist at St. Ambrose Church in West Hollywood.
. He then served in the French army, during which time he qualified as a member of the French decathlon
team for the 1936 Summer Olympics
.
. In 1945, Roger Wagner became the supervisor of young choruses for the City of Los Angeles, most notably the "Los Angeles Concert Youth Chorus." It was from a madrigal
group of twelve of these singers that the Roger Wagner Chorale was born in 1946.
The Roger Wagner Chorale became recognized the world over through its numerous radio, concert, and television appearances, motion picture soundtracks, and more than eighty recordings (they were also famous for singing the theme song and "score" for I Married Joan
).
The Virtuoso recording won a Grammy Award
and the popular carol
recording Joy to the World was a Gold Record Album, selling more than a half million copies. The Chorale toured all over the world and included such outstanding singers as Marilyn Horne
, Marni Nixon
, Claudine Carlson, Harve Presnell (on several recordings), Salli Terri
(on several recordings as well as researching for several of the LP liner notes), Earl Wrightson and Carol Neblett
.
In 1964, on completion of the Los Angeles Music Center
, Wagner and representatives of the Junior Chamber of Commerce formed a resident choral ensemble, the Los Angeles Master Chorale
, which has since become the resident choir of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
. Credits include performance with Eugene Ormandy
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
in the Presidential Inaugural at the Kennedy Center in 1973 and a tour of the Soviet Union
as a United States State Department "cultural ambassador" in 1974. Wagner served as the Chorale's Music Director for 23 years until he was named Music Director Laureate.
The Chorale's 1951 recording of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
's "Pope Marcellus Mass" was selected by the Library of Congress
as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry
, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
. In addition to his renowned choral work at St. Joseph's Church, Wagner served as Music Director at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood from 1942-49 (succeeded by his protege, Paul Salamunovich
).
degree from the University of Montreal on the masses of Josquin des Prez
and honorary doctorates from Westminster Choir College
in Princeton, New Jersey
, and St. Norbert's College in dePere, Wisconsin. For his contribution to sacred music, Pope Paul VI
honored Wagner with the title Knight Commander in the Order of St. Gregory, and the Archbishop of Naples presented him with the Order of St. Bridgette. The 1990 Western Division American Choral Directors Association
Convention in Fresno, California
, was dedicated to Roger Wagner for his outstanding contribution to choral art.
The world's leading conductors and musicians, among them Eugene Ormandy
, Leopold Stokowski
, Bruno Walter
, Otto Klemperer
, Serge Koussevitsky, hailed Wagner's incomparable genius in the field of choral music. His vocal arrangements are published by Lawson-Gould and released by Warner Bros.
.
A large, painted portrait of Wagner hangs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
.
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
(January 16, 1914 - September 17, 1992) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
choral musician, administrator and educator.
Early life
Wagner was born in Le PuyLe Puy
Le Puy is the name, or part of the name, of several communes in France:* Le Puy, Doubs, in the département of Doubs* Le Puy, Gironde, in the département of Gironde* Le Puy-en-Velay, in the département of Haute-Loire...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His younger brother was actor and voiceover artist Jack Wagner
Jack Wagner (announcer)
Jack Francis Wagner was the official park announcer for Disneyland until 1993. He is famous for the various announcements over the park PA, for parades, special events, etc. He also did a lot of voice work for the Walt Disney World Resort and for the attractions themselves, including instructions,...
. Roger Wagner was immersed in music from his youngest years. His father was an organist of the cathedral in Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, France and subsequently in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, after emigrating to the United States in 1921. At the age of 12 he assumed his first musical position in his own right, serving as organist at St. Ambrose Church in West Hollywood.
Education
Wagner returned to France in 1931 to complete his musical studies, earning his degree from the College of Montmorency while studying with Marcel DupréMarcel Dupré
Marcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
. He then served in the French army, during which time he qualified as a member of the French decathlon
Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...
team for the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
.
Roger Wagner Chorale
In 1937, Wagner joined the MGM chorus in Hollywood and was subsequently appointed Music Director of St. Joseph's Church in Los Angeles where he established an outstanding choir of men and boys, including a young Paul SalamunovichPaul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich KCSG is an American choral conductor and educator.He is the Music Director Emeritus of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, after having served as Music Director from 1991 to 2001. He served as Director of Music at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, California, for 60...
. In 1945, Roger Wagner became the supervisor of young choruses for the City of Los Angeles, most notably the "Los Angeles Concert Youth Chorus." It was from a madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
group of twelve of these singers that the Roger Wagner Chorale was born in 1946.
The Roger Wagner Chorale became recognized the world over through its numerous radio, concert, and television appearances, motion picture soundtracks, and more than eighty recordings (they were also famous for singing the theme song and "score" for I Married Joan
I Married Joan
I Married Joan is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred veteran vaudeville, film, and radio comedienne Joan Davis as the manic wife of a mild-mannered community judge, Bradley Stevens .-Synopsis:...
).
The Virtuoso recording won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
and the popular carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
recording Joy to the World was a Gold Record Album, selling more than a half million copies. The Chorale toured all over the world and included such outstanding singers as Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
, Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She has also spent much of her career performing in concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world and in operas and musicals throughout the United States.-Biography:Born Margaret Nixon...
, Claudine Carlson, Harve Presnell (on several recordings), Salli Terri
Salli Terri
Salli C. Terri was a singer, arranger, recording artist, and songwriter.-Biography:...
(on several recordings as well as researching for several of the LP liner notes), Earl Wrightson and Carol Neblett
Carol Neblett
Carol Neblett is an American operatic soprano.-Life and career:Neblett studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1969, made her operatic debut with the New York City Opera, playing the part of Musetta in Puccini's La bohème...
.
In 1964, on completion of the Los Angeles Music Center
Los Angeles Music Center
The Music Center is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall...
, Wagner and representatives of the Junior Chamber of Commerce formed a resident choral ensemble, the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Los Angeles Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
, which has since become the resident choir of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
. Credits include performance with Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
in the Presidential Inaugural at the Kennedy Center in 1973 and a tour of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as a United States State Department "cultural ambassador" in 1974. Wagner served as the Chorale's Music Director for 23 years until he was named Music Director Laureate.
The Chorale's 1951 recording of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition...
's "Pope Marcellus Mass" was selected by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Services to education
Roger Wagner also made a significant contribution to education and church music serving 32 years on the faculty of UCLA where he continued as Professor Emeritus until his death. He was also Distinguished Professor of Choral Music at Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
. In addition to his renowned choral work at St. Joseph's Church, Wagner served as Music Director at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood from 1942-49 (succeeded by his protege, Paul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich KCSG is an American choral conductor and educator.He is the Music Director Emeritus of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, after having served as Music Director from 1991 to 2001. He served as Director of Music at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, California, for 60...
).
Awards
Numerous honors and awards were earned by Roger Wagner during his lifetime including a Doctor of MusicDoctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
degree from the University of Montreal on the masses of Josquin des Prez
Josquin Des Prez
Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...
and honorary doctorates from Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...
in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, and St. Norbert's College in dePere, Wisconsin. For his contribution to sacred music, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
honored Wagner with the title Knight Commander in the Order of St. Gregory, and the Archbishop of Naples presented him with the Order of St. Bridgette. The 1990 Western Division American Choral Directors Association
American Choral Directors Association
The American Choral Directors Association , headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music...
Convention in Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, was dedicated to Roger Wagner for his outstanding contribution to choral art.
The world's leading conductors and musicians, among them Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
, Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, Serge Koussevitsky, hailed Wagner's incomparable genius in the field of choral music. His vocal arrangements are published by Lawson-Gould and released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
.
A large, painted portrait of Wagner hangs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...
.
Wagner's view
"Following one of our performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a well-known local critic asked me, "What is this hypnotic power you wield over your singers? And why did you form the Chorale?" The first question is indeed flattering; however, just the opposite is true. Singers hypnotize me, especially when they are good. The second question can best be answered, I think, by telling something about the Chorale. Every Monday evening 200 singers converge on the Chorale studios to do one thing...sing.
They sing choral masterworks, large and small, and find the experience good. School teachers, salesmen, housewives, executives, factory workers, students, professional musicians and others from all walks of life and from distances up to a hundred miles, come with one aim of trying to produce fine choral singing. Each has had some musical training, can read music and loves to sing. To them the Chorale is an ideal, as it is to me, and they dedicate themselves to it with an almost unbelievable devotion. Several have changed or even left jobs that continually interfered with rehearsals. This sort of thing naturally calls for whatever best I have to offer. It would be presumptuous of me to assume that these intelligent people make such sacrifices out of deference to me alone. The main attraction I have stated above. But aside from the quality of the music we perform and unceasing drive toward perfection, we work hard, accomplish a good deal but manage to have a little fun along the way. We have many beliefs in common. We believe music should become a living expression of human emotions and creeds. When we rehearse great works we feel we are truly living through a great experience. We are not concerned with political affiliations or social questions; our interests are purely musical. The Chorale is a heterogeneous mixture of races, colors and creeds whose members lose sight of any differences in a common endeavor. And one thing in which we unanimously concur is the right of self-expression and of the dignity of individuals who make sincere efforts to raise choral art to the highest possible level."