Edward Danforth Hale


Edward Danforth Hale was a music school pedagogue in piano, music harmony, and composition and a collegiate music school dean. Hale was well known during his tenure at Colorado College as a proponent of standardized music education in public schools. He argued that curricular music in primary and secondary schools enhanced students' performance in classic core academics and made the classical core more comprehensive.

Education

Williams College

Hale graduated from Williams College in 1880 with an AB and 1883 with an MA. He was a Phi Beta Kappa.

New England Conservatory

Hale studied at the New England Conservatory 1881 to 1884, 1886, and 1888. For all except one of the semesters, Hale studied piano with Alfred Dudley Turner. With the exception of 4 semesters, Hale was enrolled in piano studies only. During two of the semesters, Hale also took voice lessons with John O'Neill; two semesters of harmony with Stephen Albert Emery and one semester of counterpoint with Stephen Albert Emery. Hale did not receive a diploma per se; most students did not at that time.

Career

New England Conservatory

Hale taught at the New England Conservatory from 1886 to 1896, and again from 1901 to 1904. While on the faculty, Hale wrote a regular column called "Musical Pedagogy" for The New England Conservatory Magazine during the first few years of the 20th century.

Hartford Theological Seminary

In 1891, while a professor at New England Conservatory, Hale taught piano at the School for Church Musicians at the Hartford Seminary.

Colorado College School of Music

Hale served as the Dean of the School of Music at Colorado College in Colorado Springs from 1905 to 1906. In 1906, his title changed to Dean of the Department of Music, Professor of the Theory and Literature of Music and Pianoforte, in which he was chair until 1936 when he was made Dean Emeritus. Colorado College conferred on Hale an Honorary MusD degree June 16, 1926.

Publications

His parents were Eusebius and Lucy Dinsmore Hale, his wife Bertha Charlotte Bartlett Hale. His children were Danforth Rawson Hale, Donald Emerson Hale, and Helen Bartlett Hale