William
Gillock, noted music educator and composer of piano music, was born
in LaRussell, Missouri, where he learned to play the piano at an early age. He
attended Central Missouri Methodist College, in Fayette, Missouri, where he studied
both piano and composition with N. Louise Wright, who recognized his remarkable
talent and encouraged him to make music his career. Even the earliest of his
compositions show a rare inventiveness and originality of harmony and texture,
as well as the Gillock trademark, melodic beauty. Called "the Schubert of children’s
composers" in tribute to his melodic gift, Gillock composed numerous solos for
students of all levels and ensemble music for students and their teachers to
play together. He summed up his guiding compositional principle by saying that "melody
and rhythmic vitality are essential to compositions that students want to learn." This
and others of his thoughts were transmitted to thousands of teachers and students
through the hundreds of workshops he conducted over the years throughout the
U.S.
Gillock
lived for the first part of his career in New Orleans, where for twenty
years he maintained a large teaching studio and was active in musical
organizations. He reluctantly gave up private teaching to devote himself
completely to composing, conducting workshops, and adjudicating. After
moving to the Dallas area, he was the first and only judge for the
first twenty-one years of the Junior Pianists’ Guild, which involved over
fourteen hundred students.
Gillock
was honored on five occasions by the National Federation of Music Clubs
with the Award of Merit for Service to American Music, and his biography
appears in the Dictionary of International Biography-Men of Achievement
and in the International Who’s Who of Musicians.
Perhaps
his greatest honor, though, is the continued and frequent appearance
of his pieces on repertoire lists for piano festivals everywhere. His
music has recently achieved great popularity in Japan, Germany, and
elsewhere abroad.
Gillock
died in Dallas in September of 1993 after a long illness. - H.D.
(Adapted
from an article that appeared in the November/December, 1993 issue
of Piano Guild Notes. Copyright 1993, Piano Guild Notes and Henry Doskey)
William
Gillock, noted music educator and composer of piano music, was born
in LaRussell, Missouri, where he learned to play the piano at an early age. He
attended Central Missouri Methodist College, in Fayette, Missouri, where he studied
both piano and composition with N. Louise Wright, who recognized his remarkable
talent and encouraged him to make music his career. Even the earliest of his
compositions show a rare inventiveness and originality of harmony and texture,
as well as the Gillock trademark, melodic beauty. Called "the Schubert of children’s
composers" in tribute to his melodic gift, Gillock composed numerous solos for
students of all levels and ensemble music for students and their teachers to
play together. He summed up his guiding compositional principle by saying that "melody
and rhythmic vitality are essential to compositions that students want to learn." This
and others of his thoughts were transmitted to thousands of teachers and students
through the hundreds of workshops he conducted over the years throughout the
U.S.