Burleigh: Music For Violin And Piano

History has precious little to say about Cecil Burleigh. He was a composer and violinist, American born, but studied abroad at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin. His violin teacher was Anton Witek, and his composition teacher was Hugo Leichtentritt. Before going to Europe, he toyed with theory and violin during high school, playing in local chamber music groups, writing incidental music and improvising at the piano. In Berlin he experienced the rigours of a proper musical training, and returned to America and enrolled in the Chicago Musical College. There, he pursued violin studies with Emile Sauret and composition with Felix Borowski. He was in demand as a soloist, performing concertos with major orchestras and touring in duo recitals, but abandoned this life when he was engaged as a teacher of violin at the Western Institute of Music and Drama in Denver, Colorado. He stayed there for two years, before he accepted a post as professor of violin and theory at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and again moved on to Montana State University. The lure of composition and the big city, however, got to him, so he abandoned his teaching career altogether, moved to New York City, and resumed his studies. His composition teacher was Ernest Bloch and his violin teacher was Leopold Auer. He supported his composition career in the city with his efforts as a violinist, but eventually accepted a position as a professor of violin, theory and composition at the University of Wisconsin. He was there from 1921 until 1955.