- Robert Graettinger
Robert Frederick Graettinger (31 October 1923 - 12 March 1957) was an American composer, best known for his work with
Stan Kenton .Early life and work
Graettinger grew up in
Ontario, California , learning to play thesaxophone in high school. While at school he also began arranging music. In the 1940s he played alto sax withBenny Carter among others. Around this time he focused more on composing.tan Kenton period
In 1947 he offered a short composition, "Thermopylae", to Stan Kenton, who decided to record it. Graettinger then came up with "City of Glass", a four-part
tone poem . At this time he was studying composition under Russell Garcia.Graettinger's radical polystylistic soundworld, with its polyphonic density and bracing atonality, while drawing on ideas previously explored by the likes of
Charles Ives ,Igor Stravinsky ,Aaron Copland and evenArnold Schoenberg , still remains truly distinctive. He died aged only 34, of lung cancer.Discography
Capitol Recordings by Stan Kenton:
* "Thermopylae" (78) 1947
* "Everything Happens To Me" (78) 1947
* "A Concert in Progressive Jazz " (includes "Thermopylae")
* "Innovations in Modern Music " (includes "Incident in Jazz") 1950
* "Kenton Presents " (includes "House of Strings") 1950
* "City of Glass " (10") 1951
* "The Kenton Era " (includes "Modern Opus" and "You Go to My Head") 1952
* "City of Glass/This Modern World " 1953The Ebony Big Band:
* "City of Glass: Robert Graettinger" 1994
* "The Ebony Big Band: Live at the Paradiso - Robert Graettinger" 1998Further reading
Robert Badgett Morgan: "The Music and Life of Robert Graettinge"r, University of Illinois, 1974.
Irwin Chusid: "Songs in the Key of Z" (ISBN 1-901447-11-1), chapter 18
W.F. Lee: "Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm", Los Angeles, 1980.
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