Composer, educator, and student of folk music who contributed substantively to support
for folkloristics in New Mexico. Born in Minneapolis in 1892, Robb attended Yale
University, graduating in 1915. After teaching in China and serving in the armed forces
during World War I, he attended Harvard Law School. While practicing law in New York
firom 1922 to 1941, he continued his studies in musical composition. Robb left the law to
become professor of music and chair of the music department at the University of New
Mexico in 1941. He was named acting dean of the College of Fine Arts in 1942 and dean
in 1946, a position he held until his retirement in 1957. His musical mentors included
Roy Harris, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud, and Horatio Parker. His more than 200
compositions include solo instrumental, vocal, chamber, and symphonic works in
addition to operas, musicals, dances, and electronic recordings. A number of his
compositions are based on folk music. Robb received numerous awards for his
compositions and scholarship.
Upon his arrival in New Mexico, Robb was fascinated by Native American, Hispanic,
and Anglo American folk music. Moved by romantic notions of the “disappearance” of
such traditions, he conducted extensive fieldwork throughout the state, initially using
wire recorders. He also recorded folk music during his travels to Latin America, Nepal,
Japan, and elsewhere. His collection, which contains more than 3,000 items, is housed in
the John Donald Robb Archive of Southwestern Music in the Fine Arts Library at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; it has been used extensively by scholars.
While his writings include articles that focus on a wide range of New Mexican music and
dance forms, his two books are centered on Hispanic folksong. While Hispanic Folk
Songs of New Mexico (1954) is a short collection of songs with commentary, his
Hispanic Folk Music of New Mexico and the Southwest: A Self Portrait of a People
(1980) is a monumental work that provides systematic documentation and analysis of a
wide range of musical genres.
Robb was an early and tireless promoter of the study of folklore in New Mexico. In
addition to his efforts to secure institutional support for folklore research and teaching at
the University of New Mexico, he was founding member and president of the New
Mexico Folklore Society, and he played a key role in organizing annual meetings and in
the publication of the New Mexico Folklore Record.
Charles L.Briggs