author
Rossetter G. (Rossetter Gleason) Cole
1866–1952
A German-trained American composer and teacher, he helped shape musical life in the Midwest before settling in Chicago. His work ranged from organ and piano music to choral, orchestral, and operatic writing, with a gift for large, expressive forms.
1 Audiobook
The art of music, Vol. 06 (of 14) : Choral and church music
by Rossetter G. (Rossetter Gleason) Cole
About the author
Born in Clyde, Michigan, in 1866, he grew up in Ann Arbor and studied at the University of Michigan, where he combined liberal arts work with serious musical training. During those years he wrote an early cantata, The Passing of Summer, and built a foundation as an organist and student of theory and composition.
After graduating, he went to Berlin to study composition with Max Bruch. Back in the United States, he taught and led music programs at Ripon College in Wisconsin and Grinnell College in Iowa, later working in Chicago and at the University of Wisconsin. Sources consistently describe him as both a composer and an influential teacher.
He spent much of his later career in Chicago, where he worked as a composer, writer on music, and composition instructor. His papers, preserved in library archives, suggest a long and active professional life, and his output included music for organ, piano, chorus, orchestra, and the stage. No clearly verifiable portrait image was found from the pages reviewed.