Gregory Short

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Gregory Short (August 14, 1938 - April 1, 1999), was an American pianist and composer, the first Northwest pianist to extensively feature music by American and Northwest composers[1] and possibly was the most frequently performed Northwest composer in the Pacific Northwest.

The structures are harmonic in conception rather than contrapuntal or mathematical. His vernacular themes derive from a multi-cultural environment across the United States and the globe. A tonal painter,[2] Short composed with color and emotional intentions, including tone clusters, through a very wide range of classical music forms. Dissonance in Short's music is not directed "to explore spiritual dimensions" as with Dane Rudhyar,[3] rather as a good ear cleaning.[4]


Gregory Short
Gregory Short

Contents

[edit] Life

Gregory Short was born in Toppenish, Washington (Yakima County), where he joined in traditional dances of the Yakima Nation and learned an appreciation of Native American culture that would profoundly affect his later composing. His mother (Norma Marie Short) taught Gregory and his sister (Tonya) to sing the American popular songbook. His father (Ralph Orlen Short), a piano teacher who championed Frédéric Chopin, instilled in Gregory commanding technique and lyric tone. He attended the Juilliard School, where he discovered the vernacular, modernistic works of Charles Ives, the University of Washington, and the University of Oregon, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition and Theory.

In 1968, he created the American Composers Series on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) performing works by 20th century European, American, and regional composers. Gregory Short's performance of "Washington Centennial" Sonata No. 9 (1989) was included in the time capsule as the Washington State Centennial Artist.[5]

[edit] Works

Additional information: List of compositions by Gregory Short.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albany Records

"The Raven Speaks" (based on Northwest Coast Indian Songs and Dances (Troy 184, 1995) played by Northwest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Spain[1]

[edit] Dialekt Recordings

"Pahto" for large orchestra, (2000) played by Northwest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Spain[2]

[edit] Koch International Classics

"Mount Takhoma" (3-7399-2 HI, 2001) played by Northwest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Spain[3]

[edit] Random Touch Records, Inc.

"Blue Dawn" (1994) played by Kendall Feeney (piano), James Schoepflin (clarinet), and Charlotte Bickford (violin)

[edit] Soli Deo Gloria

"Mass" played by Richard Clark (cantor); Jeremy Friedman, Matt Masie, Zhanna Maysyuk (percussion); Paul Chudigian (electronics setup), conducted by John Zielinski

[edit] Writings

More About Music Book 1 - 24 essays on the musical experience concentrating on abstract forms
More About Music Book 2 - 24 essays on the musical experience concentrating on descriptive forms
A Composer's Book of Musical Lists: Color and keys, Compositional techniques, Descriptive subjects, Forms, Orchestration, Religion

[edit] World View

"The bottom line here is that music is intrinsic to the human species as much as it is to the nightingale and humpback whale, and the vast majority of humans enjoy some kind of music and secretly or openly wishes they could be involved in creating or recreating it in some form.

I am amazed at how many doctors can find the time to play a musical instrument, and how many rock groups are spawned in neighborhood garages. Our collective need and love of music is no longer arguable, if it ever was."

Gregory Short, "Why Music" in More About Music Book 2

[edit] Links to Northwest Classical Composers

  • Alan Hovhaness[4]
  • Carol Sams[5]
  • David Kechley[6]
  • Diane Thome[7]
  • Gloria Swisher[8]
  • Kenneth Benshoof[9]
  • Robert Kechley[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Greg Short's list of Northwest composers included Michael E. Young, Alan Hovhaness, Robert Kyr, Thomas Svoboda, Diane Thome, Carol Sams, Janice Gedeckt, Gloria Swisher, Huntley Beyer, George Frederic McKay, John Verrell, Kenneth Benshoof, Gerald Kechley (and his composer sons David Kechley and Robert Kechley), James Beale, and himself. Gregory Short, "Northwest Composers," More About Music Book 2.
  2. ^ "Primary colors and emotional/psychological intentions ... unique things lost when composers stopped writing in keys." Gregory Short, "Tonal Painters," More About Music Book 2
  3. ^ Carol Oja, "Dane Rudhyar's Vision of American Dissonance," American Music, Vol. 17, No. 2. (Summer, 1999), p. 142
  4. ^ Conversation with author.
  5. ^ Conversation with author.
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