Robert Gauldin

Robert Luther Gauldin Jr. (October 30, 1931 – September 14, 2025) was an American composer. He was professor of music theory at the Eastman School of Music.

Robert Gauldin was born in Vernon, Texas, on October 30, 1931, to Robert Luther Gauldin (1905–1959) and Lula Mae Self (1905–1977). He graduated in 1949 from Vernon High School in Vernon. During his senior year, he was Vice President of the Honor Society and, as clarinetist, President of the Band. In the 1949 Vernon High School Yearbook, he was labeled "the BEBOP man."

In 1952, Gauldin earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, with High Honors, from the University of North Texas College of Music. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music where, in 1956, he earned a Master of Music degree in Music Theory, and in 1959, a PhD in Music Theory. From 1959 to 1963 he served as professor of theory at William Carey College. For the next thirty-four years – from 1963 to 1997 – he was a professor at Eastman School of Music.

Gauldin died on September 14, 2025, at the age of 93.

• Movement for Wind Quintet (©1953)
• Music for Quiet Listening (vinyl LP). "Pavane" (Side A: track 4), by Gauldin. Eastman School of Music Orchestra, Howard Hanson (conductor). Mercury SR90053. 1959. OCLC 1052998561 (all editions) (audio via YouTube).

Gauldin was the author of Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music and has authored many articles in publications including Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, Music Theory Spectrum, Journal of the American Liszt Society and Sonus.

• 1988 – Honorary doctorate, William Carey College
• 1988 – In connection with the honorary doctorate, Gauldin was R. T. French Company visiting professor at Oxford University's Worcester College
• 1952 – First Prize, Student Composition, Texas Federation of Music Clubs – Sonatina
• 1952 – BMI Student Composer Award
• 1964 – Winner of the 1954 Music Mountain Contest for works by American composers for string quartet – Partita in Four Movements: Intrada; Scherzo; Passecaille; and Rondo