(Le-le’ Boo-lan-zha’) 1893–1918 French composer Despite being an invalid for most of her short life, Lili Boulanger composed some outstanding works, in particular her gripping setting of Psalm 130, Du fond de l’abïme (‘Out of the Depths’, 1910–17) for soloists, choir and orchestra. Her talent was widely acknowledged, especially when, in 1913, she became ...
The story of classical music is not bound up simply with the traditions of any one country: it is tied up with the cultural development of Europe as a whole. This section attempts to pick out the composers from each successive age who, looked at from one point of view, exerted the greatest influence on their contemporaries and subsequent ...
1880–1959 Swiss-American composer Bloch studied in Belgium and Germany, and his early works are in a rich late-Romantic style that owes much to Richard Strauss; this stage culminated in his powerful opera Macbeth (1909). In the following years, he sought a language that would reflect his Jewish faith in music of fervent solemnity with Eastern colouring: the symphony with ...
During the twentieth century, increasing numbers of women worked as composers, and there is little that links them together other than the varying degrees of resistance that they encountered as they forged their careers. But while there are the disheartening stories of women such as Alma Mahler (1879–1964), agreeing to the demand of her husband Gustav Mahler that she ...
1900–90 American composer Born in Brooklyn of Russian Jewish parents (his surname is an immigration officer’s mishearing of the family name, Kaplan), Copland became the archetypal composer of the American West, his style much imitated by the writers of Hollywood film scores. Trained in Paris by Nadia Boulanger, he was strongly influenced by Stravinsky and began using jazz ...
b. 1942 Israeli conductor and pianist Barenboim studied in Salzburg and Rome, and under Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He made his UK debut as a pianist in 1956, but turned to conducting in the 1960s with the English Chamber Orchestra. He was music director of the Orchestre de Paris 1975–89 and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 1991–2006, in both ...
1908–2012 American composer An early relationship with Charles Ives (1874–1954) and a period of study with Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) led to a synthesis of European modernism and American ultra-modernism, which can be heard in the String Quartet No. 1 (1950–51). By the second quartet (1959), Carter was following an entirely different style: the four string players are instructed to sit ...
1863–1938, French D’Annunzio’s most famous influence on music was Debussy’s elaborate incidental music for his extraordinarily long play The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (1911). In fact, his connections with music were far wider. He was an extravagant eccentric and continually sought the company of musicians. The French pianist Raoul Pugno and the composer Nadia Boulanger collaborated on a setting ...
(Gra-zhe’-na Bat-sa’-vech) 1909–69 Polish composer Bacewicz was a pupil of Nadia Boulanger. She became one of Poland’s leading composers as well as being an accomplished violinist. Her music is characterized by an individual neo-classicism and a clear sense of structure. She wrote a great deal for her own instrument (including seven violin concertos and five violin sonatas) as well as a ...
(Pâr Ner´-gôr) b. 1932 Danish composer The most significant Danish symphonist since Nielsen, Nørgård studied at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen and privately in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, also corresponding with Sibelius, whose organically evolving textures strongly influenced his later output. In the 1970s he began experimenting with the natural harmonics of the overtone series, sometimes ...
b. 1937 American composer Glass studied with Nadia Boulanger and Alla Rakha, Ravi Shankar’s tabla player, but the influence of Indian traditions on his music is not overt; rather they are evident in the additive, repetitive rhythmic processes (Music in Similar Motion, 1969). Parallel lines, simple diatonic harmony and unspecified instrumentation are characteristic of Glass’s early ...
1898–1979 American composer Born in a log cabin, Harris paid for his musical studies by driving a truck. He studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, but his rugged style owes as much to American folksong and hymn tunes as to his love of J. S. Bach. Of his 16 symphonies only the Third (1937), a work of epic striving ...
1896–1989 American composer Thomson was trained in Paris (where he lived for many years) by Nadia Boulanger, and was friendly with several of ‘Les Six’, but his own music is more influenced by Satie and is deeply rooted in American folk music and hymns. It is melodically fresh, harmonically plain and of great simplicity; he was an influence on ...
1896–1989, American A composer of both originality and substance, Thomson produced what was arguably America’s first major opera, Four Saints in Three Acts (composed 1927–28). Hailing from a Southern Baptist background where church music, marching bands and popular American tunes were a large part of his cultural heritage, Thomson attended Harvard and studied under Nadia Boulanger ...
1894–1976 American composer Piston studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Dukas, then taught at Harvard University (Leonard Bernstein and Elliott Carter, 1908–2012, were among his pupils), publishing several composition textbooks. His music, including eight symphonies, is neo-classical, athletically energetic and graceful. Recommended Recording: The Incredible Flutist, New York PO (cond) Leonard Bernstein (Sony) ...
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