Burnet C. Tuthill

From Wind Repertory Project
Burnet C. Tuthill

Biography

Burnet Corwin Tuthill (16 November 1888, New York, N.Y. – 18 January 1982, Knoxville, Tenn.) was an American clarinetist, composer, composer and businessman.

Known to many as "Papa Tut," Tuthill graduated from Columbia University in 1909 and began a career in business. During this period, he led the Columbia University Orchestra and the People's Choral Union, was librarian for the New York Oratorio Society, and played in the Young Men's Symphony.

Between 1922 and1930, Tuthill was business manager of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and attended the Cincinnati College of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree in 1935.

In 1919, Tuthill founded the Society for the Publication of American Music, which specialized in the printing of chamber music. He was later director of music at Southwestern College (Memphis, Tenn.), and then director of music at the Memphis College of Music. He was also instrumental in the organization of the National Association of Schools of Music in 1924 and was secretary of that organization from 1924 to1959. In 1938, he organized and became the first conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Tuthill did not begin to compose until he was 39 years of age, writing an intermezzo for two clarinets in 1927. His first band work was the march Dr. Joe, and he also composed many sacred choral pieces.


Works for Winds


Resources