Harl McDonald (July 27, 1899 – March 30, 1955) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and teacher.
[2] In addition to his administrative duties with the University, McDonald composed numerous musical works and served on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association.
[1] He died in Princeton, New Jersey due to a stroke at the age of 55 while helping to direct the production of a motion picture film on orchestral music.
His four symphonies are subtitled "The Santa Fe Trail" (#1 - 1933), "The Rhumba" (#2 - 1934), "Lamentations of Fu Hsuan" (#3 - 1935) and "Festival of the Workers" (#4 - 1937).
3 was given its premiere performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the chorus of the University of Pennsylvania, and soprano Selma Amansky under conductor Eugene Ormandy in 1938.