Butler, Bartlett
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Email:
- butlerba@luther.edu
- Degree:
- Ph.D., University of Illinois
Dr. Bartlett R. Butler, Professor Emeritus, was raised in the Twin Cities, where he was an active church musician for ten years before joining the Luther faculty. He holds the B.A. in Classics and Humanities, the M.A. in Music History and Literature, and the Ph.D. in Historical Musicology. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (1949), Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Kappa Phi (1961). He came to Luther as a sabbatical replacement to teach organ, theory, and German, and to direct the Chapel Choir. He was then appointed instructor to teach music literature, music history, and courses in Christian worship and church music, two syllabi he designed at the request of the Religion faculty. In this second year he continued directing the choir, but at the urging of Weston Noble (dept. head), he also established the Luther College Community Orchestra, which began the continuous history of what was to become Luther’s Symphony Orchestra. An extended pre-doctoral leave included study at the University of Illinois, supported by several fellowships, a full-time appointment as visiting lecturer in music history, and year’s residency in Germany under a grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music.
The interest of several talented frosh in early music led to the formation of the Collegium Musicum, which he directed for seventeen years and for which he assembled a varied repertory of vocal, choral, instrumental, and mixed ensemble music, and a representative collection of period instruments. Shortly before retirement, he produced, with enthusiastic student involvement, four annual Madrigal Dinners for the holidays.
Since retirement in 1989, Dr. Butler and his wife, Barbara, chose to remain in Decorah and stay active in the Luther community. Butler studied with William Kuhlman, the college organist, read papers at scholarly conferes in the United States, Canada, and England, and has continued his research in archives and libraries abroad (1974, 1995, and 1998).