Bipeds of Brookland : Maurice Saylor

Bipeds of Brookland : Maurice Saylor

Some composers are satisfied with just trumpets and violins. Not Maurice Saylor. Instead, this Brookland-based composer champions theremins, bass accordions, toy pianos, washtubs – instruments, in his words, “reviled by society at large and ejected by people of good taste and common sense.”

Born in Neptune, New Jersey, Maurice moved with his family to Washington, D.C. at age 6. A music major at The Catholic University of America, he worked at the university’s music library after graduation, eventually holding every position there.

Two years ago, after 35 years in The Catholic University Music Library and coasting toward retirement, Maurice took a plunge. He chose to dedicate himself full-time to music.

When he’s not receiving commissions for original compositions (such as his magnum opus, “The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits”), Maurice arranges, orchestrates, edits, and engraves music. He also prints music using traditional methods, something he sees as a dying art.

In 2005, Maurice and Andrew Earle Simpson formed The Snark Ensemble to connect his love of silent film with his love of ebullient music. Something of a composer collective, The Snark Ensemble has performed live musical accompaniments to films at venues such as the National Gallery of Art and the AFI Silver Theatre. Their compositions have also been featured on DVD collections of silent film stars Charley Chase and Harry Langdon.

“It’s natural that I’d want to end up writing film scores,” Maurice says. “A lot of the music I loved most when I was young were by composers from the late silent era who composed in the early sound era. I’d watch these silent films and often the music I was hearing was not the music I wanted to be hearing. I had my own ideas as to what that music should be.”

Bipeds of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time. Article and photo by Zak Salih