Don Gillis
Don Gillis was born in Cameron, Missouri, on June 17, 1912. He was graduated from Christian University at Fort Worth, Texas in 1936, after having engaged in various musical activities including the direction of a band and a symphony orchestra, and the writing of two musical comedies produced at the University. Following the completion of his education he became a member of the faculty of Christian University and Southwest Baptist Seminary; served as a trombonist and arranger for a Fort Worth radio station; and played the trombone in the Fort Worth Symphony. In 1944 he became a producer for the National Broadcasting Company in New York, taking charge of many important programs including those of the NBC Symphony.
As a composer of symphonies and other orchestral compositions Gillis reveals a refreshing sense of humor as well as a delightful bent for whimsy, qualities which make some of his works ideal for programs of light music. He has often drawn inspiration and materials from American folk music and jazz, consistently producing music that combines sound musical values with sound entertainment. “My feeling,” he has said, “is that music is for the people and the composer’s final aim should be to reach them. And since the people whistle and sing, I should like them to whistle and sing my music.” Thus Gillis aims for simplicity, sincere emotions, and sheer fun. “I have tried to write so that there will be a feeling of enjoyment in the fun of the thing.”
Portrait of a Frontier Town, a suite for orchestra (1940), is a tuneful composition consisting of five short movements. The title of each of these provides the clue to the programmatic content of the music. The first, “Chamber of Commerce,” portrays the activities of such an organization in a typical American town. “Where the West Begins” tells of the opening of the West through two significant musical subjects, the first for strings, and the second for oboe, flute, and clarinet. “Ranch House Party” is described in the score as “brightly—in a gay manner.” A jovial melody first given by the full orchestra gives prominent attention to percussion instruments. This is followed by a mood picture, “Prairie Sunset” in which the English horn, answered by the clarinet, presents the main melody. The suite concludes with “Main Street Saturday Night,” in which gaiety and abandon alternate with suggestions of nostalgia.
Symphony No. 5½ (1947), is one of the composer’s wittiest works which he himself subtitled as “a symphony for fun.” It consists almost entirely of jazz melodies, some treated in burlesque fashion; the work also quotes some famous melodies in a facetious manner. The four movements have whimsical titles: “Perpetual Emotion,” “Spiritual?”, “Scherzophrenia” and “Conclusion.”