Carter "Toby" Hall led a musical life, primarily as an accompanist and vocal coach in New York, but flowered into a composer during his last years in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hall briefly studied music at the University of Hartford before dropping out and moving to Boston where he got his start as a lounge performer. He moved to New York in the early 1970s and became a coach at the Metropolitan Opera Studio, then advanced to playing final piano-rehearsal for the main-house productions, accompanying major singers. He also performed at the Public Theater.

In 1989, already aware of his diagnosis with HIV/AIDS, Hall moved back to Hartford. He quickly took a teaching post at the Hartford Camerata Conservatory but later joined the faculty of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where he taught piano and voice. He also became involved in the music program of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, first as a choir member, later as the de facto composer-in-residence. For the church he wrote a series of seven church anthems, several written for feast days and other occasions, and also the full-length liturgical drama The Eighth Day. Hall also co-founded the Connecticut Concert Opera as a vehicle to showcase local vocal talent — serving "formally as the company's artistic director and pianist and informally as its tireless publicist and promoter," according to the obituary by Steve Metcalf in the Hartford Courant.

In addition to his compositions in the early 1990s, Hall made arrangements of folk songs and standards throughout his career. Many of these were never notated, and many of those that do exist in his archive only have the vocal lines — his accompaniment was improvised. With his friends and collaborators, especially tenor Wayne Rivera, tenor Peter Harvey and mezzo-soprano Mary Fox, he frequently performed at fundraising events in Hartford, including for AIDS causes and for the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen.

In 1993 Hall wrote a letter to composer John Corigliano, after having been moved by hearing his Symphony No. 1. Hall wrote of his newfound joy in life and enthusiasm in composing music for the Asylum Hill Church:

"When I composed my very first piece of music (the Psalms 125), the response was overwhelming and deeply moving. Every step of the way — I've been very candid about myself and my ‘situation.' Rather than going on and on: suffice it to say that I am the luckiest and happiest man I know."

Hall is vividly remembered by friends for his fiery personality as well as his musical talent. Metcalf wrote: "A wiry, intense man with a biting wit, Mr. Hall made no secret of his lack of formal training. Indeed, he spoke with pride about having learned his craft as a performer by simply going out and doing it, in a string of supper clubs and nightspots, not all of them, by his own account, genteel."

Toby Hall died of complications from AIDS in Hartford at the age of 43 on November 2, 1993.

—Joseph Dalton

WORKS:

VOCAL (SECULAR)

All The King's Horses
for: voice (lead sheet only)
date: 1993
note: written for Hall to perform

Love So Alike
for: two voices and piano
date: unknown
text: poem by John Donne

One Life
    I — Sometimes
    II — One Life
    III — I Carry You
for: voice and piano
date: 1993
text: poetry by Nancy Evans Bush
note: dedicated to Wayne Rivera

VOCAL (SACRED)

Aurora Borealis
date: unknown
for: soprano, alto and tenor soloists, SATB chorus, piano, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, timpani
text: poetry by Nancy Busch
note: written for soloists Iva Petersen, Nancy Kirchmyer and Wayne Rivera

4-Fold Amen
for: SATB chorus
date: unknown
note: liturgical work, seven measures long

Seven Anthems
note: written for Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT

    1. The Upward Call
    for: SATBchorus, trumpet, organ
    date: 1990
    text: Philippians 4:8-9, 11-13; 3:3, 12
    note: "To Alessandro"

    2. The Word
    for: SATB chorus and organ
    date: 1990
    text: "In the beginning" (John)

    3. The Dawn
    for: SATB chorus, trumpet, organ
    date: 1991
    text: poem by Grace Nell

    4. The Greatest of These
    for: tenor, baritone, bass, organ
    date: 1990
    text: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
    note: "for performance on June 17, 1990 Father's Day"

    5. The Dwelling of God
    for: bass soloist, SATB chorus, brass ensemble, timpani, organ
    date: unknown
    text: Revelations 21:1-5
    note: Composed for the installation of Rev. Dr. David Y. Hirano as Minister
    of the Connecticut Conference of United Church of Christ. "With genuine
    respect and affection I give this anthem to the AHCC, its ministers, its
    choir and Richard Einsel."

    6. Psalm 150
    for: SATB chorus, handbells, 2 trumpets, timpani, piano
    date: 1991
    note: Includes a setting of the hymn All Praise To Thee for Though,
    O Lord Divine
    (music: C. Stanford, text: F. Bland Tucker).

    7. Psalms 125
    for: soprano, alto and tenor soloists, SATB chorus, organ, with congregation
    on the hymn finale
    date: 1990
    note: "The dedication may be longer than the anthem — but: This was
    composed in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Asylum Hill
    Congregational Church; for Richard Einsel and the wonderful choir of
    AHCC — with great affection and respect; and, finally, in loving
    memory of Dory Hall and Dori Rivera — T.H. 2/7/90"

This is the Day the Lord Has Made
for: mezzo-soprano, tenor, organ, clarinet, trumpet, flute
date: 1993
note: for the wedding of Allison Hild; non-traditional text

THEATRE

The Eighth Day: A Mystery Play in Music
Book and lyrics by Nancy Evans Bush
date: 1992
note: "A Christian drama to be performed in a church sanctuary." Commissoned for the 25th anniversary of the music series at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT.

    Prologue
    Special Effects
    One Step At A Time
    Looking In The Mirror
    Isn't It Nice For The Children
    Miracles:
        Something Is Happening
        How Can You Tell A Miracle
    Who Am I
    Promises
    The Eighth Day
    Changes
    The Temptations
    Whose Baby Are You?
    Final Sequence

ARRANGEMENTS

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands (medley on traditional spirituals)
    My Lord What A Morning
    Swing Low Sweet Chariot
    Ride On King Jesus
    There Is A Balm In Gilead
    Oh When I Come To Die Give Me Jesus
    He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
for: SSATB soloists and piano
note: written for 9/14/90 performance for the benefit concert "Opera for AIDS Project Hartford"

Trio (Irving Berlin songs)
What'll I Do / They Say It's Wonderful / Always
for: alto, tenor and bass (piano accompaniment presumed but not notated)
date: unknown

They Were You
Music by Tom Jones, lyrics by Harvey Schmidt (from the musical The Fantasticks)
for: three-part voices (piano accompaniment presumed but not notated)

Home! Sweet Home!
Music by Sir Henry Bishop, words by John Howard Payne
for: voice and piano
date: 1987
note: "for Wayne Rivera"

Home on the Range
Music by Daniel Kelley, lyrics by Brewster Higley
for: voice and piano
date: 1992
note: "for Jim Murray"

How Deep Is The Ocean / Always (Irving Berlin)
for: voice and piano
date: 1988
note: for Wayne Rivera

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Just As I Am...Toby Hall & Living & Dying & Grace, ed. Candace Hall. Collection of excerpts from Hall's diary, with comments from colleagues and friends. Andrew Mountain Press (1992). ISBN: 0916897184
Handwritten letter to composer John Corigliano, dated June 24, 1993.

DISCOGRAPHY:
no professionally released recordings

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "Toby Hall, Area Composer, Dies At 43" by Steve Metcalf, Hartford Courant, November 8, 1993.
• "Director Of Concert Opera Carves A Niche In City: Toby Hall Breathes Life Into Music Community" by Steve Metcalf, Hartford Courant, January 19, 1992.
• "Conservatory Honors A Friend Of The City's Arts: Camerata Honors A Friend Of The Arts" by Constance Neyer, Hartford Courant, May 3, 1993.

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
ASCAP

RESOURCES:
Mildred P. Allen Memorial Library
The Hartt School
University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT 06117
Linda Blotner, Head Librarian
(860) 768-4491

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Wayne Rivera
58 Goodrich Lane
Portland, CT 06480
(860) 342-1169
WayneSRivera@aol.com

OTHER CONTACTS:
Candace Hall (sister)
140 Bassett Street Apt. 304
New Britain, CT 06051-3045