Hadley, Henry K.

1871-

American composer; born in Somerville, Mass., where his father was a teacher of music. He went to Boston, studying harmony there with Stephen A. Emery, counterpoint with G. W. Chadwick and violin with Henry Heindl and Charles N. Allen. Before coming of age he had composed a dramatic overture, a string quartet, a trio and many songs and choruses. In 1894 he went to Vienna to study composition under Mandyczewski. Returning to America, he was appointed instructor of music at St. Paul's School, Garden City, L. I. His concert overture, Hector and Andromache, had already been performed by Damrosch's Orchestra, and, in 1897, his first symphony, Youth and Life, was performed by the New York Philharmonic Society, under the leadership of Anton Seidl. This work is one of the few American symphonies of first rank. Hadley's second symphony, The Four Seasons, received a prize from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Paderewski Fund, and was played by the New York Philharmonic Society in 1901. His cantata, Lelewala, a legend of Niagara, is not so successful, the subject being too heavy. He has produced over one hundred and fifty excellent songs and piano compositions, orchestral suites, trios, quartets, etc. His setting of Heine's Wenn ich in deine Augen seh; his Sapphire sind die Augen dein; and Der Schmetterling ist in die Rose verliebt, are especially good. One of his most popular songs is I Plucked a Quill from Cupid's Wing.

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