Leon Stein

Biography

(September 18, 1910, Chicago - May 9, 2002, Laguna Hills, California) was an American composer and music analyst.

Stein attended DePaul University, where he achieved his MM in 1935 and his Ph.D. in 1949; he studied under Leo Sowerby, Eric DeLamarter, Frederick Stock, and Hans Lange.
He taught at DePaul from 1931 to 1978; he was dean of the School of
Music there between 1966 and 1976. Stein was also Director of the
Graduate Division at De Paul University of Music. College of Jewish Studies, Chicago. He directed a number of Chicago ensembles, including the City Symphony of Chicago.

Stein's compositions were modernist in character; his works for
saxophone are his most popular pieces. He also wrote on music,
particularly Jewish music. His manuscripts are held in the Richardson
Library at DePaul.

Leon Stein was associated with the musical life of Chicago for half a century. A native of the city, he was born in 1910, and studied at DePaul University, where he taught for 47 years, ultimately serving as Professor of Music and Dean of the School of Music. He was also the conductor of the DePaul University Orchestra (1965-77), Director of the Community Symphony of Chicago (1945-65), Director of the City Symphony of Chicago (1964-84), and Music Director of Niles Township Jewish Congregation in Skokie (1956-66), having studied conducting with Frederick Stock and Hans Lange.

He was the composer of more than one hundred published works, including four symphonies, two one-act operas, five string quartets, and numerous solo and chamber works. His music has been performed by the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, Detroit, and Cincinnati, among the more than 90 orchestras that have played his compositions, and his quartets were recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra String Quartet. Dr. Stein was the winner of the American Composers' Commission Award Contest in 1950 for his Symphony No. 2, a work described by composer and critic Peggy Glanville-Hicks as music of "considerable power."

Among his numerous awards and prizes Dr. Stein received both the Distinguished Alumni Award (1976) and the highest faculty award, the Via Sapientiae Award (1979), from DePaul University, and was inducted into the City of Chicago's Hall of Fame in 1982. He was also the author of The Racial Thinking of Richard Wagner, a book based on his doctoral dissertation, and the books Structure and Style and Anthology of Musical Forms, and a member of the American Composers Alliance and the Society of Composers, Inc.

Dr. Stein is survived by his wife, Anne Helman Stein of Laguna Woods, California; two sons, Robert of Grand Rapids, Minn., and Kenneth of Berkeley; and four grandchildren.

  • solo instrumental (non-keyboard)
  • ACE Publications

    62 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Leon Stein PRELUDE no 3 in E Flat
    Piano
    Leon Stein QUINTET FOR BRASS
    Brass quintet: horn (2), trumpet, trombone, tuba
    Leon Stein QUINTETTE FOR WOODWINDS
    Woodwind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn
    Leon Stein RHAPSODY FOR FLUTE,HARP & STR ORCH
    Flute, harp, string orchestra: 2-1-1-1
    Leon Stein RHAPSODY FOR SOLO CELLO
    Cello
    Leon Stein SAILOR'S HORNPIPE, for Orch
    Flute (3)/piccolo, oboe (2), clarinet (3), bassoon (2), horn (4), trumpet (3), trombone (3), tuba, timpani, harp, celesta, percussion (2), strings
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Solo Bass Contrabass
    Leon Stein Sonata for Solo Bassoon Bassoon
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Solo Cello
    Cello
    Leon Stein Sonata for Solo Flute Flute
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Solo French Horn
    French horn
    Leon Stein SONATA for Solo Oboe Oboe
    Leon Stein SONATA for Solo Trombone Trombone
    Leon Stein SONATA for Solo Trumpet Trumpet
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Solo Viola
    Viola
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Solo Violin
    Violin
    Leon Stein SONATA, for Vln & Pf
    Violin, piano
    Leon Stein SONATINA for 2 Violins
    2 violins
    Leon Stein SONG & DANCE
    Violin, cello, piano
    Leon Stein SONGS OF THE NIGHT satb, pf
    Leon Stein STRING QUARTET No. 1 string quartet
    Leon Stein STRING QUARTET No. 2 string quartet
    Leon Stein STRING QUARTET No. 3 string quartet
    Leon Stein STRING QUARTET No. 4 string quartet
    Leon Stein STRING QUARTET No. 5, WITH SOP
    Soprano solo, string quartet: 2-1-1

    Additional Works