Preston Ware Orem

He studied organ and music theory with Hugh Archibald Clarke, and was instructed in piano by Charles H. Jarvis.

From 1889 until 1895 he served as the organist of St. Paul's Procathedral in Los Angeles; after this he returned home, teaching for one year at the Philadelphia Conservatory.

Originally written for piano, but later scored for full orchestra, it contains reference to the music of the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Sioux, Chippewa, Pueblo, and Cree tribes, and is based on themes recorded and suggested by Thurlow Lieurance.

The Rhapsody has been described as very much a period piece, stylistically conventional and eclectic, post-Romantic and neo-Lisztian in its mannerisms and pretentiousness, its plethora of trills, arpeggios, broken chords, and repeated octaves (often thunderous), and its bravura display of virtuosity, with indications ranging from molto maestoso to allegretto scherzando, from andante affetuoso to allegro con brio, from amabile to feroce (the savage!).

[3] Orem composed other works as well, including a piano quartet, a quintet, large numbers of songs, some works for piano, and numerous transcriptions and arrangements; among the latter is a movement from one of Johann Sebastian Bach's solo cello suites, arranged for organ.