Charles Naginski was born in Cairo, Egypt on May 29, 1909. His premature death by drowning in Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 4, 1940, cut short a remarkably promising career as a composer. The marked talent for composition that Naginski evidenced at a very early age was recognized by his father, his first piano teacher. From 1928 to 1933 Naginski held a fellowship at the Juilliard Graduate School as a pupil of Rubin Goldmark. Later he studied at the American Academy in Rome, winning the American Prix de Rome in 1938.

The catalogue of his works includes an orchestra suite (1931); two string quartets (1933); an orchestra poem (1936); Sinfonietta (1937); Three Movements for chamber orchestra (1937); The Minotaur, ballet for orchestra (1938); Nocturne and Pantomime (1938); Five Pieces from a Children’s Suite (Boston, 1940); and songs.

The songs, although limited in number, are of high quality and deserve a wide public.

–Class Voice and the American Art Song: A Source Book and Anthology by Helen Lightner