Robert Theodore Anderson was born October 5, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing piano at 5 years old, even playing by ear before he had his first lesson. As a 13-year-old, Anderson went to hear French virtuoso Marcel Dupré, organist of St. Sulpice in Paris, play at the summer weekly series at Rockefeller Chapel. He started organ lessons at 14 and played for Sunday morning services at Hyde Park Methodist Church in Chicago while at Hyde Park high school and continuing piano with Mary Ruth Craven. He was registered with the American Conservatory of Music, and gave his student recitals in downtown Chicago under its sponsorship.
While Anderson was at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, studying with Lillian Mecherle McCord, he spent summers as the organist of Fourth Presbyterian Church on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. During this time he had a weekly composition lesson with his college mentor, Frank Bohnhorst.
Anderson was organist at Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Illinois from 1952-1955, and organist/choir director at the United Church of Christ in Milford, Connecticut from 1955-1957. He served as organist of the University Chapel and Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas from 1960 until retirement.
Anderson was also the summer organist and choir master at the First Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. He received the American Guild of Organists’ Associate Certificate (AAGO) at First United Methodist Church at Oak Park in 1955. He received his Fellow Certificate (FAGO) in September of 1957. Anderson studied organ with Heinrich Fleischer and Frederick Marriott, composition with Harold Friedell and Seth Bingham, and harpsichord with Maria Jager.
His composition studies continued at Union Theological Seminary, New York with Harold Friedell (Master of Sacred Music, magna cum laude, 1957; Doctor of Sacred Music, 1961). His Fulbright scholarships to Germany (1957-1959) allowed him to study organ with Helmut Walcha during which time he continued perfecting his skills as an improviser. He returned to Union Seminary to continue his study of composition with Seth Bingham. His final project was the composition of a cantata, “Garden of Gethsemane” on a text by Boris Pasternak. His “Triptych” was composed in 1958 and played by Robert Baker, his teacher at Union, at that year’s National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Houston, Texas.
From 1960 to 1996 he served as Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at Southern Methodist University. Thus Dallas was Anderson’s home for almost all of his professional life. His honors include Distinguished Alumnus, Illinois Wesleyan University in 1972; First Meadows Distinguished Teaching Professor, Southern Methodist University, 1981; and Distinguished University Professor, 1996.
It was through Anderson’s insistence on high quality and perfectionism that the Fisk organs came to be built for Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and the Caruth Auditorium at Southern Methodist University. He served as organ consultant for both instruments.
Widely known as “RTA”, Anderson’s reputation as a pedagogue was legendary and he was known as a fantastic and inspiring teacher. He was extremely demanding and knew how to get the very best out of each student. He leaves behind a legacy of brilliant students, the concert artists of today, including Dr. George Baker, Mary Preston, Wolfgang Rubsam, Carole Terry, Bruce Bengtson, Ross Wood, John Chapell Stowe, Stefan Engels, and scores of others. He demanded much from his students, but he gave back all that he had to give to help and nurture them. He freely shared his immense personal library of books, recordings and musical scores.
Anderson died on May 29, 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Source: Obituary written by Dorothy Faller, Scott Cantrell, and Robert Baker. 2009. Box 1, Folder 35.
The Robert T. Anderson papers reflect Anderson’s life as a musician and academic. The collection is divided into ten series that illustrate his love of music, teaching, and travelling. Researchers should note that the Christmas letters at the beginning of series 2 provide annual summaries of Anderson’s life for over twenty years. These letters became shorter as Parkinson’s disease claimed more of his faculties. This collection consists of 42 boxes. 22 shoebox-size cassette boxes house part of his audio collection, one oversize box contains posters, and one box containing student grades is restricted due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The collection is organized into 10 series:
Collection is open for research use except for all student records in the final box. This last box is subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) restrictions of 75 years from the date of creation of the record.
Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the DeGolyer Library.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.
This collection is indexed under the following terms in the Southern Methodist University Libraries' online catalog. Researchers desiring related materials may search the catalog using these terms.
Meadows School of the Arts, Division of Music records (SMU 2000.0347)
Perkins School of Theology records (SMU 1991.0051)
Robert T. Anderson papers, Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.
Gift, Dorothy Faller, 2009.
Transfer, Larry Palmer, 2010.
Transfer, Hamon Library, 2011.
Materials were boxed by the family and mailed to SMU in 2009. The family sorted most of the collection by format, but did not retain Anderson’s original order. Correspondence seemed to be grouped by person, then chronologically, so this order was maintained. The teaching files were organized by musical periods. All audio, video, photographs were ordered chronologically as they did not appear to be in any order in the boxes in which they were shipped.
All of the slides were wrapped in foil bricks and numbered in black permanent marker on the outside. Slides were organized by reel number and placed in slide sheets. Most of the slides were not individually numbered, so the order in which they were wrapped was preserved. When slides were numbered individually, they were kept in a numbered series. Some foil bricks had double-sided- taped captions, which were transcribed and housed with the slides.
Framed items were unframed and the oversize items placed in an oversize box at the end of the collection. All student folders containing grades were placed in a restricted box, according to FERPA restrictions. Three boxes of musical scores and publications received from Hamon Library in 2011 were distributed throughout the collection.
Collection processed and finding aid written by Cynthia Franco, 2011-2012.
Cynthia Franco, 2012.
This series contains documents regarding the life and career of Robert Anderson. Included are elementary school report cards, correspondence regarding the growth of the Meadows School of the Arts, medical condition information, and memorials. Materials from Anderson’s college studies were added in 2011 and placed at the end of the collection in Box 42. Included is his thesis for Union Theological Seminary.
This series begins with Anderson’s annual Christmas letters, which provide information on his concertizing, students, and family. Notable correspondents include various organists (some are former students) and composers. The SMU section contains correspondence from SMU staff and faculty.
This series contains repertoire lists, syllabi, favorite student papers, and subject files for the various music classes Anderson taught. Folders 20-31 in box 6 contain information on the various trips by Anderson, some of which included recitals, and some were organ tours with colleagues.
Box 6 contains information on the organs in the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU. An Aeolian-Skinner organ op.1438 was installed in Caruth Auditorium in the 1962 and later C.B. Fisk installed a new organ for the Auditorium, op. 101, in 1993. Anderson was very involved in the design and installation process of these organs, as he was with various organs around the country. Box 7 contains Anderson’s files on the C.B. Fisk organ op.100 installed in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1992, as well as his work with the Philadelphia Regional Performing Arts Center.
All published organ and piano works contain Anderson’s handwritten notations. Some of the Bach works are from the period when Anderson studied with Helmut Walcha. Published works by Anderson, his humor files, and miscellaneous newsclippings are included in this series. The random issues of periodicals were transferred from the organ studio in Meadows School of the Arts. Most of the music scores in box 42X are photocopies of handwritten scores by Robert Anderson.
Half of the materials from this series came from Anderson’s family and half were transferred from the organ studio in Meadows School of the Arts. Anderson was the service organist for Perkins Chapel from 1960-1995 and all of the church bulletins from this period are in box 12.
Music on audio reels includes organ recordings by Anderson and other organists, and various musical works. Cassette tapes are housed in smaller cassette tape boxes, with 3 oversize cassette cases in Box 34.
This box contains both amateur and commercially produced videotapes of music performances.
This series is in two parts arranged by format. The blue baby photograph book is notable because it includes a list of Anderson’s early childhood music teachers. Photographs of his time with Helmut Walcha and his fellow students are also included. The first three folders of box 38 include handwritten and typed captions for almost all of Anderson’s slides. Slides are arranged by reel number. Most of the slides are not individually numbered, so they are arranged in the order in which they were wrapped. When slides are numbered individually, they are kept in the same numbered series. Some foil bricks had double-sided- taped captions, which were transcribed and foldered with the slides.
This series contains various personal items connected to Anderson’s career at SMU as well as visual materials of organs and recitals. Included in the box of business cards is a Kuby’s Sausage House Private Club Lifetime Membership card. Box 41 contains foam-backed recital posters for Robert Anderson, which were transferred from the organ studio in Meadows School of the Arts.