Avery Claflin

Avery Claflin (January 21, 1898 - January 9, 1979) was an American composer, although he studied law and business, later pursuing a career in banking. He served as president for the French American Banking Corp.[1][2]

Life and career

He was born in New Hampshire and graduated from Harvard University where he was a member of the Harvard Glee Club.[3][4] Claflin was originally a pianist but he pivoted after sustaining an injury while serving during World War I which resulted in the loss of one of his fingers. Among Claflin's connections in France after the war ended, were the French composer Erik Satie and French writer Jean Cocteau.[5]

Claflin married Dorothea Carroll in 1922.[6] He went into banking after marrying his wife who came from a banking family.[7] Claflin was a business associate of Charles Ives. Although he worked in business, Claflin found time to compose music and be active in various musical organizations, including the Society of Friends of Music[8] and The New School for Social Research.[9] He retired in 1954, and he composed many of his works after this date.[1]

Among his works is a madrigal, Lament for April 15, which uses as its text instructions for an Internal Revenue Service tax form.[1] This choral work received its premiere in 1955 at Tanglewood, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Every year on April 15, Karl Haas, musician, conductor, and radio host, played a recording of this composition on his public radio program, Adventures in Good Music.

He was a member and at one time treasurer of the American Composers Alliance.[10][11]

Musical works

  • "Lament for April 15" (1955)[4][1]
  • "La Grande Bretèche," (1956)[12][13][14]
  • "Design for the Atomic Age" (1956)[15][16]
  • "Fish-house Punch" (1957)[17]
  • "Teen Scenes" (1958)[18]
  • "The Quangle Wangle's Hat"[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Taxing Work". TIME Magazine. 66 (8): 54. 22 August 1955 – via Academic Search Complete.
  2. ^ "Andrew L. Gromory Named to Head Standstill Committee". Bankers' Monthly. 67 (12): 46. 1950 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Miss Dorothea Carroll Betrothed". New York Times. 22 August 1922. p. 13. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Front Matter". Music Educators Journal. 42 (4): 6. 1956 – via JSTOR.
  5. ^ Copland, Aaron (1960). Copland on Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. pp. 147–148. Retrieved 12 March 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Miss Carroll Wed to Avery Claflin". New York Times. 3 December 1922. p. 30. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  7. ^ Grosser, Maurice (1987). "Art and Opium". The Threepenny Review. 29 (Spring): 3–4 – via JSTOR.
  8. ^ "LETS WHITEMAN BAND PLAY; British Official Changes mind, as London Musicians Won't Suffer". New York Times. 2 April 1926. p. 22. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Music Notes". New York Times. 15 April 1927. p. 27. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  10. ^ "'Mr. Outside' Gets Disk 'In'". Variety. 210 (10): 55–56. 1958 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ "Music Licensing Groups". Broadcasting. 59: 25. 1960 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ "Music". TIME Magazine. 70 (1): 66–68. 1 July 1957 – via Academic Search Complete.
  13. ^ "Theater of the Mind". TV Radio Mirror. 47 (6): 16. 1957 – via Library of Congress.
  14. ^ "Boom on Balzac". Variety. 201 (12): 68. 1956 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ a b "Lament for April 15 and Other Modern Madrigals". New World Records. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Americana Index to the Musical Quarterly 1915-1957". Journal of Research in Music Education. 6 (2): 36. 1958 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ "Orchestra". The New Records. 25: 4–9. 1957 – via Internet Archive.
  18. ^ "American Cross-section". HiFi & Music Review. 1 (7): 60–61. 1958 – via Internet Archive.
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