Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Saturday, January 05, 2008

A life remembered: La Crosse man known as great composer

By TERRY RINDFLEISCH / La Crosse Tribune

His passing almost went unnoticed. There was no formal obituary.

But many people in the classical world will remember La Crosse native Robert Moevs as a composer of a rich body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental music.

Moevs, a 1938 graduate of Central High School who studied and taught at Harvard University, died Dec. 10 at the age of 87. His sister, Marilyn Helminiak, said he had suffered from Parkinson’s disease. He was buried two weeks ago in Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse.

“My brother was a great American composer, and his music lives on,” Helminiak said.

Moevs’ composition, “Brief Mass,” was performed at his funeral in Hillsboro, N.J.

Richard Wilson, who studied under Moevs at Harvard, said his teacher was an accomplished composer and an exceptional teacher.

In a tribute online at NewMusic Box, Wilson said Moevs could hardly bring himself to discuss — much less promote — his greatness as a composer, which was one reason why his career was not bigger.

“Whether as a coach for piano performances, an adviser with orchestration, an encourager during moments of self-doubt, or a cautioner during moments of overconfidence, I have relied on him for most of my adult life,” Wilson said. “He was the ideal mentor.”

In 2003, Moevs was inducted into Central’s Hall of Excellence.

Moevs graduated from Harvard in 1942. He served as a pilot and intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then studied for five years at the Fontainebleau School and at the Paris National Conservatory under Parisian music theory instructor Nadia Boulanger, who also taught Aaron Copland.

Moevs received his master’s degree from Harvard in 1952, and was one of 12 Americans to receive the Prix de Rome. He was composer-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome and a Guggenheim Fellow. In 1978, he received the Stockhausen International Prize in Composition for his concerto grosso for piano and orchestra.

The Boston Symphony, George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, and Leonard Bernstein presented his works.

Wilson, who also studied with Moevs at Rutgers, heard the world premiere of his teacher’s three symphonic pieces with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1958.

“What I remember about that premiere is that the sounds were bold and startling. Their syntax was unlike anything I had heard previously,” he said.

Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at (608) 791-8227 or trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com.