David Wendell Guion, 1892-1981
Collection, ca. 1902-1937
1 box (.42 linear feet)
Acquisition: Gift, 1960
Access: Open for research
Processed by: Sarah Norris, 2002; Richard Workman, 2003
RLIN Record ID: TXRC03-A9
Table of Contents
David Wendell Guion was born in Ballinger, Texas, on 15 December 1892 to
John I. and Armour Fentress Guion. His earliest musical influences included
the cowboy culture of his rancher father and the songs of his family's
African-American household servants. Piano studies took Guion to Vienna,
Austria, in 1912 to study with Leopold Godowski at the Royal Conservatory
of Music, but he was forced to return to Texas in 1914 by the onset of
World War I.
Guion supported himself by teaching and composing and moved to New York in
1929. There an association with publishers G. Schirmer, Inc. brought new
popularity for his arrangements of cowboy songs and spirituals. His biggest
hit, "Home on the Range," emerged from his New York production Prairie
Echoes. Guion hosted a weekly radio program entitled "Hearing America
with David Guion" and later, "David Guion and his Orchestra" with an NBC
studio orchestra. His larger work, Ballet Primitive, "Shingandi,"
was originally intended to be film music for Cecil B. DeMille's Madam
Satan. When "talkies" changed the film landscape, however, Guion
instead premiered Shingandi in 1931 in a different orchestration
with the prominent jazz group, the Paul Whiteman Band. The work eventually
toured as a ballet production with Dallas's Kosloff Ballet Company. In 1950
Guion was commissioned to write the suite Texas for the Houston
Symphony Orchestra, and he completed the piece in 1952.
In addition to "Home on the Range," Guion is best known for his arrangements
of "Turkey in the Straw," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and "The Arkansas
Traveler," and for his piano pieces, "The Harmonica Player," and "The
Scissors Grinder." He captured Texas cowboy culture in tunes such as "Ride,
Cowboy, Ride," "Ol' Paint," "The Bold Vaquero," and "Lonesome Song of the
Plains." His piano arrangements caught the interest of pianist and composer
Percy Grainger, who included Guion's work in his own concerts to great
acclaim. Guion's affinity for African-American spirituals appears in both
his own songwriting and in collaboration with lyricist Marie Wardall in the
opera Suzanne. He also worked with lyricist Jessie B. Rittenhouse,
a poet and anthologist in New York.
Guion lived on a Pennsylvania estate he called "Home on the Range" from 1937
until moving to Dallas in 1965. He taught at Howard Payne University, Fort
Worth Polytechnic College, Fairmont Conservatory, Chicago Musical College,
Daniel Baker College, and Southern Methodist University. Guion died in
Dallas on 17 October 1981 and was buried in his hometown of Ballinger. In
1987 he was honored by a permanent exhibit of his personal items and
recordings at the International Festival Institute in Round Top, Texas.
Other Guion materials are held in the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech
University, the Crouch Music Library at Baylor University, and the Dallas
Public Library.
Sources:
Buchanan, Steven Erle. "The Piano Music of David W. Guion and the
Intersection of Musical Traditions in America after World War I." Ph.D.
diss., University of Texas, 1978.
Dick, James. "Guion, David Wendel." The Handbook of Texas Online.
Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook.online/articles/view/GG/fgu16.html
The David Wendell Guion Collection consists of handwritten manuscripts of
Guion's music from about 1902 to 1937, primarily influenced by cowboy songs
and African-American spirituals. The pieces are arranged in a single series
, Compositions, ca. 1902-1937. All pieces are written for piano, and some
have lyrics. Individual titles include "Home on the Range," "The Yellow
Rose of Texas," "Turkey in the Straw," and others. Also included are
scores for two larger works,
Ballet Primitive, "Shingandi" and
selections from the opera
Suzanne. The music is often marked with
handwritten notes and publication dates.
This collection reveals Guion alternately functioning as composer, arranger,
and collector of folk tunes. Collaborations with lyricists include
extensive work with Marie Wardall and Jessie B. Rittenhouse. Most
compositions were written either in Texas or New York and are often marked
accordingly.
Box Folder Description
Compositions, ca. 1902-1937
1 1 "Home on the Range," original manuscript, 1908
2 Ballet Primitive, "Shingandi," 1929
3 Suzanne, nd. Lyrics, Marie Wardall
4 Cowboy/Texas songs, 1906-1935
5 African-American spirituals, 1918-1929
6 Songs with other lyricists, ca. 1903-1937
7 Other compositions, ca. 1902-1936
"All Day on the Prairie"--1.4
"Ally [
sic for "Alley"] Tunes"--1.7
"Arkansas Traveler (Old Fiddlers' Breakdown)"--1.7
Ballet Primitive, "Shingandi"--1.2
"Barcarolle Espanol"--1.7
"The Bell-Buoy"--1.6
"The Bold Vaquero"--1.4
"Brudder Sinkiller and his Flock of Sheep" ("Alley Tunes: I")--1.7
"Chloe (Negro Wail)"--1.5
"The Cowboy's Dream"--1.4
"Cowboy's Meditation (Texas Range Song)"--1.4
"Country Jig"--1.7
"Creole-Creola"--1.6
"The Crucifixion (or) At the Cry of the First Bird"--1.7
"Darkey Spirituals"--1.5
"Embers"--1.6
"The Ghostly Galley"--1.6
"The Harmonica Player" ("Alley Tunes: III")--1.7
"A Heartbreak"--1.7
"Holy Bible" ("Darkey Spirituals")--1.5
"Home on the Range"--1.1
"In Galam" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"I Sees Lawd Jesus a Comin"--1.5
"Jubilee"--1.5
"Lef' Away (Negro Wail)"--1.5
"Life and Love"--1.6
"Lil' Black Rose"--1.6
"Little Joe the Wrangler"--1.4
"Little Pickaninny Kid"--1.5
"Lonesome Song of the Plains" (Anonymous ink drawing on cover)--1.6
"The Lonesome Whistler" ("Alley Tunes: II")--1.7
"Loss"--1.6
"Love Is Lord of All"--1.7
"Mam'selle Marie" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"Mary Alone"--1.6
"De Massus an' de Missus" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"My Own Laddie"--1.7
"Negro Wail (Lef' Away)"--1.5
"O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (The Dying Cowboy)"--1.4
"O Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie (In Remembrance
of Will Rogers),"--1.4
"De Ol' Ark's a-Movin'"--1.5
"Old Maid Blues"--1.6
"Ol' Paint"--1.4
"O' My Lawd, What Shall I Do? (Darkey Song)"--1.5
"One Day"--1.6
"Praise God and I'm Satisfied"--1.5
"Prayer during Battle"--1.7
"Rabbit's Foot (Gettin' Over the Blues)"--1.6
"Rag Crazy (Jazz Scherzo)"--1.7
"Resurrection"--1.6
"Return"--1.6
"Roll Along, Little Dogies"--1.4
"Run, Mary, Run!"--1.5
"Sail Away for the Rio Grande"--1.4
"Satan's a Liar an' a Conjur Too" ("Darkey Spirituals")--1.5
"Sinner, Don't Let dis Harvest Pass"--1.5
Suzanne--1.3
"Texas Cowboy's Meditation"--1.4
"This Night Can Never Come Again!"--1.6
"To the Sun" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"Turkey in the Straw"--1.7
"Valse Arabesque"--1.7
"Voodo [
sic]" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"De Voodo [
sic] Man" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"Voodoo Gal" (
Suzanne)--1.3
"What to Do with a Drunken Sailor (Sea Chanty)"--1.7
"When the Work's All Done this Fall"--1.4
"When You Go"--1.6
"Wrong Livin' (A Slow Drag)"--1.5
"The Yellow Rose of Texas"--1.4
"You Jes' Will Get Ready, You Gwine a Die" ("Darkey Spirituals")--1.5
David Wendell Guion Collection Finding Aid
(Last modified:
26 August 2003
)
Reference queries to: reference@hrc.utexas.edu
Return to Finding Aids
