Leroy Anderson

Covering the whole of his unique works, this bio-bibliography is an unparalleled resource on the life and music of Leroy Anderson—composer of over 40 popular orchestral miniatures.

In his compositions, Leroy Anderson defied the nature of typical orchestral music. His artful combination of a light, pop sound and masterful orchestration into short musical pieces has captivated audiences for years. Young and old, non-musicians and musicians alike have gravitated toward his sound. However, because of the unique nature of his work, Anderson is often overlooked in the study of American music. For the first time, an entire volume has been dedicated to the life and works of Leroy Anderson. This bio-bibliography provides a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in Anderson's unique brand of American orchestral music.

A short biography introduces the reader to background information on the composer himself and on his more famous pieces. This is followed by a complete, categorized listing of Anderson's works, a discography, a bibliography of articles written by and about Anderson, and a list of arrangements of his work by Anderson and others. Ten separate appendices at the end of the work ensure ease of navigation and cross-referencing for the reader.

Burgess Speed is a professional educator and musician who has been associated with the Leroy Anderson Estate since 1998. For the past nine years he has taught music privately and in the classroom, and has performed with many notable artists, including legendary clarinetist David Krakauer.

Eleanor Anderson is the wife of the late Leroy Anderson and the head of the Anderson family's publishing business, Woodbury Music Company.

Steve Metcalf is a journalist and classical music advisor to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, CT. For 20 years, he was the staff music critic of the Hartford Courant, and during that time his feature stories, profiles, and reviews appeared regularly in more than 500 newspapers worldwide.