FOWELLS, Robert M. 1921-

PERSONAL: Born November 2, 1921; citizenship, U.S.; married, wife's name Frances B. Education: University of Oregon, B.S., 1947; New York University, M.A., 1953; University of Southern California, D.M.A., 1959. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Paraclete Press, P.O. Box 1568, Orleans, MA 02653. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Choral music teacher at a junior high school in Richmond, CA, 1951-63; California State University, Los Angeles, professor of music, 1963-88; Neighborhood Music School, member of board of directors, 1988—. Military service: U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-43.

MEMBER: American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, Early Music America, Southern California Early Music Society.

WRITINGS:

(Translator) Gregorian Semiology, Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes (France), 1982.

Chant Made Simple, Paraclete Press (Orleans, MA), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert M. Fowells told CA: "I have been interested in early music since doing my master's degree with Gustave Reese at New York University. In 1974 I was able to get Dom Jean Claire, chant master at the Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes in France, to teach for a month at California State University, Los Angeles. That started a hobby in teaching and writing about chant. Since 1979 I have sponsored an annual summer class in chant, alternating between the university in Los Angeles and the abbey in France.

"The Catholic church's concept of chant rhythm, which was used for sixty years after it was developed in the early 1900s by the monks of Solesmes, was revised in the 1970s by the discovery of another of their monks, Dom Eugene Cardine, that the very earliest of western notation which was devised by Charlemagne's monks in order to unify the church service in his empire gave distinct indications about movement and expression, even though it did not denote exact pitch. It is this new concept that is the basis of the book Chant Made Simple."