Helen Camille Stanley facts for kids

Helen Camille Stanley Hartmeyer Gatlin, born on April 6, 1930, is a talented American musician. She is a composer, a pianist, and plays the viola. In the 1960s, she began creating music using electronic sounds and special scales called microtones.

Her Early Life and Education

Helen Stanley was born in Tampa, Florida. She later married John P. Hartmeyer and had a daughter named Helen Marjorie. After some years, she married Richard Denby Gatlin.

She studied music at several colleges. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Cincinnati Conservatory in 1951. She then received a fellowship and her Master of Music degree from Florida State University in 1954. Later, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Muskingum College in 1961. Some of her important music teachers included Hans Barth and Ernst von Dohnányi.

Her Musical Career

Helen Stanley has had a busy career in music. She played the viola with the El Paso Symphony orchestra. She also worked as a music director at the El Paso Ballet Center, helping dancers with their music.

She has taught music at Jones College and Jacksonville University. In 1986, she was a special composer for the Florida Contemporary Ensemble.

Awards and Groups

Helen Stanley has received several awards for her music. These include:

• The C. Hugo Grimm Prize for Ensemble Composition
• The Louis Pogner Chamber Music Award
• The 1972 Florida State Music Teachers Association Award
• The Jacksonville Community Foundation Award

She is also a member of important music organizations. These include the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Composers Forum, and the Southeastern Composers League. Her music has been released on commercial recordings in 1997 and 2006.

Her Unique Music Style

Helen Stanley is known for her electronic music. This type of music uses electronic devices and computers to create sounds. She also experimented with microtonal music. Microtonal music uses notes that are "in between" the notes we usually hear on a piano.

She sometimes used sounds from nature in her compositions. For example, in her piece Rhapsody for Electronic Tape and Orchestra, she included recordings of live bird songs.

What She Wrote

Helen Stanley has composed many different types of musical pieces.

Ballet

• Birthday of the Infants

Chamber Music

Chamber music is written for a small group of instruments.

• Brass Quartet
• Fantasy and Fugue (brass)
• Overture for Timpani and Brass
• Piece (for horn, percussion, and piano)
• Sonata (for trombone and piano)
• String Quartet No. 1 1951
• String Quartet 1980
• Suite for Tuba
• Woodwind Quintet

Electronic Tape Music

These pieces are made using electronic sounds recorded on tape.

• Electronic Prelude
• Study

Orchestra Music

These are pieces written for a large orchestra.

• Concerto Romatico (for viola and orchestra)
• Fanfare for Orchestra
• Night Piece (for women’s chorus and orchestra)
• Passacaglia
• Rhapsody for Electronic Tape and Orchestra
• Symphony No. 1

Piano Music

• Duo Sonata (for tape and piano)
• Etudes
• Meditation (for tape and piano)
• Modal Suite
• Sonatina

Vocal Music

These are songs for singers.

• “Tear Drops” (with Roy Calhoun, Edwin Charles, and Garry Goldner)
• “The Isle”