Utah Classical Music of the Past
Gallery of new recordings of old music - for the curious or the studious
Utah Classical Music of the Past
Gallery of new recordings of old music - for the curious or the studious
The Grasshopper is a clever little etude with attitude from the 1860s, composed by Orson Pratt, Jr. One of 50 piano solos in the collection. A live recording. (Click the title.)
The Wizard of the Wasatch is a fun march composed by Gustave Schuster as the theme for a festival in SLC around 1915. (Click the title.)
“Melody in A for violin and piano”, a sentimental 1905 selection by William C. Clive. One of a dozen ensemble works on this site. A live recording, produced specifically for this outlet. (Audio only so far – click below to hear it.)
“Four Seasons in Utah” arranged for string quartet from four songs (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) by Evan Stephens, from 1905 or earlier. An unusual version, to be sure, but until this site comes up with a way to record vocals, we’ll sprinkle in a few of these instrumental adaptations to let people hear some good old stuff that might otherwise be missed. (Audio only so far – click below to hear it.)
Most music recordings here are unique to this site, and they represent a variety of Utah’s historic classical styles. Our emphasis is on concert and stage works, but with a few educational or church music offerings. Plus links to a handful of recordings by others that fit nicely into the subject presented here. The music is organized into several lists by type, so use the “buttons” in the menu at the top of each page help you jump to other sections of themed lists.
The musical recordings and historical notes we have made for this site took a lot of work, so please don’t copy them or claim ownership of our work. We don’t own the original music, but we do have the right to claim the productions we labored to make for our recordings of that old music. These are not made by AI – each one was notated by hand. We are fine with having other sites link to these pages to share the recordings we have created.
The examples posted here have been prepared and recorded from works found in various sheet music archives, and the gallery will continue to grow as additional offerings are found and recorded. We welcome input and (legal) music sharing from others with an interest in this subject. More music files will be added to pages here later in 2026, divided by category as the site structure grows. Each of these pieces was once “new music”, and we hope this collection also helps inspire continued creativity in making new music in the future.
Note that this site is not specifically an LDS/Mormon music site, but due to the time and place being featured, many but not all of the composers presented here will be of that background. However, most of the music selections on these lists will be secular in nature. For those seeking LDS music specifically, please check out www.SingPraises.net which has exhaustive lists of such works, most with links to sheet music.
Instrumental music is currently the featured offering on this site, with historic vocal music recordings probably coming sometime in the future. This collection includes many piano solos, but also some chamber music, stage music, and even a few excerpts from large scale pieces for orchestra. If you are a performer with an interest in recording some music to share on this site, or already have music that is on topic on your own YouTube we might link to, please send us a note.
(For the curious, some of the examples of recorded music which are posted here started on a web site at www.yandro.com )
