JAVS Spring 2023

In Memoriam

David Johnson Dalton

Dalton’s professorial career was associated for 35 years with Brigham Young University. He greatly enlarged the viola program and was a founder and longtime member of the Deseret Quartet. He performed as well as a soloist and often in duo with his wife, Donna, a soprano. Among his conducting activities, he was music director for 12 years of the Salt Lake Symphony and inaugurated under its sponsorship over 35 years ago the annual Valentine Vienna Ball which continues to be held to this day. On a wider scene, Dr. Dalton was elected President of the American Viola Society, for which he was Editor of its professional journal for 15 years and was later elected President of the International Viola Society (IVS), which bestowed on him its highest honor, the “Golden Viola Clef.” That was only the second time in its 50-year history that the IVS had given such an award. He traveled the world as a performer, lecturer, and amateur photographer, who loved the earth’s beauty and diversity of cultures. Throughout most of his life, Dalton was a member of a number of conservation organizations and a supporter of environmental causes. A devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served in numerous volunteer capacities including as bishop of his local congregation (ward) and numerous times as a high councilor in the regional faith community (stake). He also taught, including in the children’s Sunday School. He served twice as a full-time volunteer for his faith, first from 1954-1957 in West Germany; second, together with his wife from 2003-2004 in the Bern, Switzerland Temple David married an intelligent, multi-talented, and beautiful BYU coed, Donna Glazier, in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple, August 28, 1957. She was a faithful equal and gracious hostess to many friends and associates who were frequent guests in the Dalton home. Together they raised four children: Alison Dalton (Charles), Chicago, IL; Melissa Dalton (Randall) Bradford, Frankfurt, Germany;

David Johnson Dalton

David Johnson Dalton passed away December 23rd, 2022, from natural causes. He was born January 18th,1934, in Springville, Utah, the son of Oliver H. Dalton, a cattleman and farmer, and Jessie J. Dalton, a woman of the arts. His dichotomous upbringing had him both working herding cows and playing the violin (placed under a Christmas tree as an unwelcomed surprise in lieu of a bike). His developing musical interests eventually took him to the Akademie der Musik in Vienna and the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. At the Eastman School of Music, he earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Violin Performance, but his allegiance to the violin changed under the inspiration and tutelage of the great violist, William Primrose, and Dalton was ultimately awarded a Doctorate in Viola Performance from Indiana University. At Primrose’s invitation, Dalton collaborated with him in producing two books on the distinguished violist’s career and the technique of the viola, plus two film documentaries. Dalton’s own editions for the viola have been distributed by several international publishing houses. Together with Primrose, Dalton co founded the Primrose International Viola Archive at Brigham Young University, the largest and most significant repository of materials related to the viola in the world.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring 2023

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