Wesley LaViolette
Wallace Wesley LaViolette (4 Jan 1894 Saint James, Minnesota - 29 Jul 1978 Escondido, California) was an American musician who composed, conducted, lectured, and wrote about music. He was also a poet and music theorist. Laviolette was an important figure on the West coast jazz scene of the 1950s.
Also recorded as Wesley La Violette
Wesley LaViolette
- Born
- 1894 · St. James.
- Died
- 1978 · Escondido.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · music educator · conductor · musicographer
- Education
- Northwestern University
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Documentary summary
Wallace Wesley LaViolette (4 Jan 1894 Saint James, Minnesota - 29 Jul 1978 Escondido, California) was an American musician who composed, conducted, lectured, and wrote about music. He was also a poet and music theorist. Laviolette was an important figure on the West coast jazz scene of the 1950s.
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Wesley LaViolette (1894–1978) was an American composer, conductor and music educator, among other activities. The composer died in Escondido.
Wesley LaViolette studied at Northwestern University. The composer worked for DePaul University, Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and University of Southern California.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q738316 · wikipedia · Wesley LaViolette
In this article
Career
Career
LaViolette received his undergraduate degree in music from Northwestern University in 1917. He earned three graduate degrees. From 1923 to 1933, LaViolette was dean of the Chicago Musical College. He served as director for DePaul University School of Music from 1933 until 1938. In 1930 he received the David Bispham Medal Award for his opera Falstaff (or possibly Shylock.) In the 1950s LaViolette was the teacher for many writers and players associated with the West Coast jazz scene. LaViolette supported their work, calling them "America's musical contribution to tomorrow... I don't always LIKE what they do - but I respect it."
Career positions
Career positions
• Professor of Music Composition, DePaul University, Chicago • Professor of Music Composition, American Conservatory of Music, Chicago • Professor of Music Composition, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
St. James.
Birth place
Escondido.
Death place
Selected compositions
• Largo Lyrico, string quartet (1941) • Prelude and Aria, symphonic work (1941); premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra November 14 and 15, 1941 • Autumn, from Songs of love, a song cycle based on Chopin compositions, for high voice, piano, and orchestra; music: Alexander Laszlo, words: Wesley LaViolette (1954) • Irridescence, from Songs of love, a song cycle based on Chopin compositions, for high voice, piano, and orchestra; music: Alexander Laszlo, words: Wesley LaViolette (1954) • Lilac time, from Songs of love, a song cycle based on Chopin compositions, for high voice, piano, and orchestra; music: Alexander Laszlo, words: Wesley LaViolette (1954) • Love laughed, from Songs of love, a song cycle based on Chopin compositions, for high voice, piano, and orchestra; music: Alexander Laszlo, words: Wesley LaViolette (1954) • The Wayfarer: An Interpretation of the Dhammapada, published by DeVores & Co. (1956) • Charade, for four flutes (1946) • Sonata, for flute and piano (1946)
Collections
Collections
• The LaViolette Collection — which included his own recordings, books, scores, photographs and personal papers — is archived at The Los Angeles Jazz Institute, California State University, Long Beach. • The original manuscript of LaViolette's First Symphony (1935) is housed at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Wesley LaViolette”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q738316: Wesley LaViolette
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Julie Anne Sadie, Rhian Samuel, The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, pg. 374, MacMillan Press (1995)
- 2.Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz pg. 114 (Bob Carter), Oxford University Press (1999)
- 3.Anonymous. Forum Unit Will Hear Analysis Of Art. Newspapers.com. 3. 6 Dec 1947.
- 4.Kosovsky, Bob. Re: David Bispham Memorial Medal. OPERA-L Archives. 5 Oct 2000.
- 5.Hipsher, Edward Ellsworth. American Opera and Its Composers. The Internet Archive. 296. 1934.
- 6.Membership Handbook for the American Opera Society of Chicago, "David Bispham Medal Awardees." The archives of the American Opera Society of Chicago, Inc. are on file in the Newberry Library, Chicago, as part of their permanent records.
- 7.Savoy, Maggie. Bach And Jazz Are Much Alike. Newspapers.com. 18. 15 April 1959.
- 8.New LaViolette Works, The Dallas Morning News , Nov. 2, 1941
- 9.The Los Angeles Jazz Institute official website
- 10.Report of the Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress, pg. 134 (1936)
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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