Remembering Dr. Philip Lewis Steen

Minnesota lost a very humble but extremely influential musical icon with the passing of Dr. Philip Lewis Steen on Jan. 21, 2015, at the age of 81.

A Michigan native, Steen received his doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Music. After achieving the rank of captain in the military, he was head of music education at Albion High School, in Albion, Mich., where he also coached football, basketball and golf.

In 1968, Steen was appointed Director of Undergraduate Choral Music at the University of Minnesota, where he proceeded to reorganize and modernize the program, adding many talented choral conductor graduates to the ranks of Minnesota educators. He was also Director of Choral Activities at Hamline University. From 1970 to 1972, he served as President of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), strengthening that organization by increasing its outreach and sponsorship of concerts and festivals around the state.

Later in his career, Steen taught at Breck School, was a member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), and also was director of music at St. Paul's on-the-Hill Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minn., and at Fridley United Methodist Church in Fridley, Minn.

In the Classical Music Archive at Minnesota Public Radio, we have located a concert recording of the Hamline University A Cappella Choir, conducted by Dr. Steen, from April 3, 1974. MPR's Michael Barone recorded the session on quarter-inch tape. From that performance, we have chosen three representative works as a tribute to the wonderful musical legacy of Dr. Philip Steen. We hope you enjoy these selections.

1. William Byrd: Haec Dies {% fetch file="http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media_player/get_player.php?audio=minnesota/classical/performances/2015/01/27/20150127_byrd_haec_dies_1974_20150127_128&type=EMBEDDED" %} William Byrd was a late Renaissance English composer and a master of English polyphony. A translation of the Latin text of Haec Dies is: "This is the day the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein. Alleluia."

2. Dominick Argento: The Devon Maid {% fetch file="http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media_player/get_player.php?audio=minnesota/classical/performances/2015/01/27/20150127_argento_devon_maid_1974_20150127_128&type=EMBEDDED" %} Dominick Argento is considered the "dean of American Opera composers," and Pulitzer prize winner. A Pennsylvania native, he taught composition and orchestration at the University of Minnesota from 1958 until his retirement. His setting of Keats' "The Devon Maid" is a tour-de-force for a chorus.

3. Richard Felciano: The Eyes of All Hope in Thee, O Lord {% fetch file="http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media_player/get_player.php?audio=minnesota/classical/performances/2015/01/27/20150127_felciano_eyes_of_all_hope_74_20150127_128&type=EMBEDDED" %} A California native, Richard Felciano set the text taken from Psalm 145 with rich and beautiful harmonies.

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