CONVERSE, FREDERICK SHEPHERD

born Jan. 5, 1871, Newton, Mass., U.S. died June 8, 1940, Westwood, Mass. composer, prominent in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. His essentially Romantic music is coloured with Impressionistic touches. Converse studied under two members of the conservative, German-influenced group of American composers, John Knowles Paine and George Chadwick. Later he studied in Munich. He taught at Harvard University (190107) and at the New England Conservatory of Music (18991901, 193038). His opera, The Pipe of Desire (1906), was the first opera by an American composer staged by the Metropolitan Opera Company (1910). Although his early works were conservative, he adopted a mildly modern idiom in the symphonic fantasy Flivver Ten Million (1927), written to celebrate the production of the 10,000,000th Ford automobile. He also wrote six symphonies, chamber music, and many songs.