- David Del Tredici
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David Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is an American composer. According to Del Tredici's website, Aaron Copland said David Del Tredici "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift. I venture to say that his music is certain to make a lasting impression on the American musical scene."
After making his piano debut with the San Francisco Symphony at 17, he went on to receive a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.F.A. in 1964 from Princeton University, studying with composers Earl Kim, Seymour Shifrin, and Roger Sessions.
Much of his early work consisted of elaborate vocal settings of James Joyce: I Hear an Army; Night Conjure-Verse; Syzygy; and a decade long obsession with the work of Lewis Carroll (Pop-Pourri, An Alice Symphony, Vintage Alice and Adventures Underground, and Final Alice, to name just a few of these works). He was awarded a Pulitzer prize in 1980 for In Memory of a Summer Day, the first part of Child Alice, recorded by Phyllis Bryn-Julson and the Saint Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin for the Nonesuch label. Sir Georg Solti made the first recording of his epic Final Alice"[1]" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His later works have included many vocal settings of contemporary poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Thom Gunn, Paul Monette, James Broughton, Colette Inez, and Alfred Corn -- often celebrating a gay sensibility (three examples: Gay Life, Love Addiction and Wondrous the Merge "[2]" ). OUT Magazine has twice named Del Tredici one of its people of the year. While trained in serial technique, Del Tredici now writes in a tonal style; he is one of the clearest exemplars of neoromanticism.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, he has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship and Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, a Brandeis Creative Arts Award, a Friedheim Award, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and election to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His works are regularly commissioned by major orchestras in America and abroad. His On Wings of Song was premiered in New York City in 2004 as part of the Riverside Opera Ensemble's 20th Anniversary Concert.
Distinguished Professor of Music at The City College of New York, Del Tredici makes his home in Greenwich Village.
Contents
Notable Students
- John Adams
- Richard St. Clair
- Tison Street
- Randall Woolf
Notable works
- Soliloquy for piano solo (1958)
- Six Songs for voice and piano (text by James Joyce) (1959)
- Scherzo for piano, four hands (1960)
- I Hear An Army (text by James Joyce) (1964)
- Pot-Pourri for amplified soprano, rock group, chorus, and orchestra (1968)
- Syzygy for soprano, horn, and orchestra (1966)
- An Alice Symphony for amplified soprano, folk group, and orchestra. Texts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; Speak Gently attributed to David Bates (1969)
- Adventures Underground soprano and orchestra. Texts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1971)
- Final Alice, an opera in concert form for soprano, folk ensemble, and orchestra (1976)
- Child Alice ("In Memory of a Summer Day", "Happy Voices", "In the Golden Afternoon", "Quaint Events") for soprano and orchestra (1980–81)
- Haddock's Eyes for soprano and 10 instruments (1985)
- Tattoo for orchestra (1986)
- Steps for orchestra (1990)
- Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter for soprano and piano - poems of Joshua Beckman (1998)
- My Favorite Penis Poems (1998)
- Dracula (1999) - on a poem of Alfred Corn
- Three Baritone Songs (1999)
- Miz Inez Sez for soprano and piano - poems of Colette Inez (1998)
- Gay Life (1996–2000)
- The Spider and The Fly for high soprano, high baritone, and orchestra (1998)
- Wonderous The Merge (2001)
- Grand Trio (2001)
- Paul Revere's Ride for Amplified Soprano Solo, SATB Chorus, and Orchestra (2004)
- In Wartime for Wind Ensemble (2003)
- String Quartet No. 1 (2003)
- Gotham Glory for solo piano (2004)
- Rip Van Winkle for narrator and orchestra (2005)
- S/M Ballade for piano (2006)
- Magyar Madness for clarinet and string quartet (2006)
- Aeolian Ballad for harp (2008)
- A Field Manual Overture and Five Songs on the poetry of Edward Field (poet) (2008)
- Facts of Life for guitar (2010)
- String Quartet No. 2 (2010)
- Belgian Bliss for wind quintet (2010)
Footnotes
- ^ Freed, Richard. "Final Alice, about the composition" The Kennedy Center.
- ^ Dalton, Joseph. "Del Tredici’s Wondrous the Merge" MyBigGayEars blog
External links
- Official Website
- Boosey & Hawkes biography
- American Mavericks interview
- NewMusicBox: David Del Tredici in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 2003
- Final Alice program notes, from The Kennedy Center
- All Music Del Tredici page
- Interview with David Del Tredici by Bruce Duffie, January 8, 1990
Pulitzer Prize for Music (1976–2000) - Ned Rorem (1976)
- Richard Wernick (1977)
- Michael Colgrass (1978)
- Joseph Schwantner (1979)
- David Del Tredici (1980)
- Roger Sessions (1982)
- Ellen Zwilich (1983)
- Bernard Rands (1984)
- Stephen Albert (1985)
- George Perle (1986)
- John Harbison (1987)
- William Bolcom (1988)
- Roger Reynolds (1989)
- Mel D. Powell (1990)
- Shulamit Ran (1991)
- Wayne Peterson (1992)
- Christopher Rouse (1993)
- Gunther Schuller (1994)
- Morton Gould (1995)
- George Walker (1996)
- Wynton Marsalis (1997)
- Aaron Jay Kernis (1998)
- Melinda Wagner (1999)
- Lewis Spratlan (2000)
- Complete list
- (1943–1950)
- (1951–1975)
- (1976–2000)
- (2001–2025)
Categories:- 1937 births
- Living people
- 20th-century classical composers
- 21st-century classical composers
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- American composers
- Guggenheim Fellows
- Pulitzer Prize for Music winners
- Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- LGBT musicians from the United States
- American musicians of Italian descent
- LGBT composers
- Rome Prize winners
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