Richard Danielpour

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Richard Danielpour (born 28 January 1956 in New York) is an American composer.

Early life

Danielpour is born of Persian/Jewish descent. He studied at Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory of Music, and later at the Juilliard School of Music, where he received a DMA in composition in 1986. His primary composition professors at Juilliard were Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin. Danielpour currently teaches at the Manhattan School of Music (since 1993) and the Curtis Institute of Music (since 1997).[1]

Career

Early on as a student—first at the New England Conservatory, then at The Juilliard School—Danielpour established his reputation as a pianist (studying under Hollander, Jochum, and Chodus) and composer (under Persichetti and Mennin). His first Piano Concerto, completed in 1981 (but later withdrawn), was commissioned and received its first performances while Danielpour was still a Juilliard student. He initially employed serial methods in his works in the early 1980s, but works from the end of that decade, such as First Light (1988) and The Awakened Heart (1990), adopt a broader and more expressive style. He emerged in the 1990s as one of a handful of composers, alongside Adams, Rouse, Schwantner, Corigliano, and Kernis, who embraced triadic harmony alongside experimental innovations of the previous century — the familiar sound of the traditional orchestra as well as elements of pop, rock, and jazz. 1996's Concerto for Orchestra ("Zoarastrian Riddles"), for example, contains musical allusions to Broadway scores, movies, and television. In the late 1990s, Danielpour became one of only three composers (the others being Stravinsky and Copland) to be signed to an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical. He has fulfilled commissions for numerous orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, received several awards (including MacDowell, Rockefeller, and Guggenheim fellowships), completed numerous residencies, and served on the faculties of the Curtis Institute and the Manhattan School of Music. In 2005 he completed his first opera, Margaret Garner, in collaboration with Toni Morrison.

Music

In common with many other American composers of the post-war generation, Danielpour began his career in a serialist milieu, but rejected it in the late 1980s in favor of a more ecumenical and "accessible" idiom. He cites the Beatles—along with John Adams, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner—as influences on his more recent musical style. He also makes frequent references to Hemingway and Whitman, saying the emotion in prose and verse can be translated to music.[citation needed] Danielpour's notable works include First Light (1988) for chamber orchestra, three symphonies (1985, 1986, and 1990), four piano concerti (1981, 1993, 2002 and 2009), the ballet Anima mundi (1995), and the opera Margaret Garner (2005).

Select list of works

Operas

Ballets

Orchestral

  • Oratio Pauli (1982), for S.A.T.B. choir & string orchestra
  • Symphony No. 1 - Dona Nobis Pacem (1984)
  • Symphony No. 2 - Visions (1986), for soprano, tenor & orchestra
  • First Light (1988)
  • Cello Concerto No. 1 (1990), for cello & orchestra
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 - Metamorphosis (1990), for piano & orchestra
  • The Awakened Heart (1990)
  • Symphony No. 3 - Journey Without Distance (1990), for soprano, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra
  • Song of Remembrance (1991)
  • Toward the Splendid City (1992)
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 (1993), for piano & orchestra
  • Anima Mundi (1995)
  • Canticle of Peace (1995), for baritone, S.A.T.B. choir & chamber orchestra
  • Concerto for Orchestra - Zoroastrian Riddles (1996)
  • Urban Dances (Dance Suite in Five Movements (1996)
  • Celestial Night (1997)
  • Elegies (1997), song-cycle for mezzo-soprano, baritone & orchestra
  • Vox Populi (1998)
  • A Fool's Paradise (1999), concerto for violin & orchestra
  • The Night Rainbow (1999)
  • A Child's Reliquary (2000), double concerto for violin, cello & orchestra
  • Nocturne (2000), for string orchestra
  • An American Requiem (2001), for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra
  • Cello Concerto No. 2 - Through the Ancient Valley (2001), for cello solo, kamancheh soloists & orchestra
  • In the Arms of the Beloved (2001), double concerto for violin, cello & orchestra
    • commissioned to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of Jaime Laredo (violinist) and Sharon Robinson (cellist), who premièred the work with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra under Michael Stern in Germantown, TN on 20 April 2002.
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 - Zodiac Variations (2002), for piano left-hand & orchestra
  • Apparitions (2003), for chamber orchestra
  • Swan Song (2003), for string orchestra
    • an arrangement of the third movement of Danielpour's String Quartet No. 4 - Apparitions
  • Songs of Solitude (2004), song-cycle for baritone & orchestra
  • Adagietto (2005), for string orchestra
  • Voice of the City (2005), for concert band
  • Washington Speaks (2005), for narrator & orchestra
  • Pastime (2006), song-cycle for baritone & orchestra
  • Triptych (2006), for soprano & orchestra
    • three arias from Danielpour's 2005 opera Margaret Garner; commissioned by the Wheeling Symphony, who premièred the work with soprano soloist Tracie Luck and André Raphael Smith conducting in Wheeling, WV on 19 May 2006.
  • Voices of Remembrance (2006), concerto for string quartet & orchestra
  • A Woman's Life (2007), for soprano & orchestra
  • Rocking the Cradle (2007)
    • commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony, who premièred the work under Juanjo Mena on 22 March 2007 in Baltimore, MD.
  • Three Prayers (2007), for soprano & orchestra
  • Souvenirs (2008), for chamber orchestra
  • Vox Terrae (2008)
  • Lacrimae Beati (2009), for string orchestra
  • Piano Concerto No. 4 - A Hero's Journey (2009), for piano & orchestra
  • Icarus (2009), for large brass ensemble, seven percussion & two pianos
    • commissioned by a consortium of eighteen US universities, premièred by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania "Keystone Brass Ensemble" at the WASBE International Conference in July 2010. A further performance was given by the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2010. The score is dedicated to Jack Stamp.
  • Kaddish (2008), rewritten for violin solo and orchestra
  • Vox Humana (May 2013) World premiere in Mannheim, Germany (conductor: Dan Ettinger, NTO Mannheim)

Chamber

  • "String Quartet No. 1 - Requiem" (1983), for two violins, viola & cello
  • Piano Quintet (1988), for string quartet & piano
  • Urban Dances (Book 1) (1988), for brass quintet
  • Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 1 (1992), for soprano solo, flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussion & string quintet
  • Songs of the Night (1993), for tenor & piano trio
  • String Quartet No. 2 - Shadow Dances (1993), for two violins, viola & cello
  • Urban Dances, Book 2 (1993), for brass quintet
  • Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2 (1994), for baritone solo, flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussion & string quintet
  • String Quartet No. 3 - Psalms of Sorrow (1994), for baritone solo, two violins, viola & cello
  • Fantasy Variations (1997), for cello & piano
  • Sweet Talk (1997), for mezzo-soprano, cello, double bass & piano
  • Feast of Fools - Concertino (1998), for bassoon & string quartet
  • A Child's Reliquary (2000), for piano trio
  • As Night Falls on Barjeantane (2000), for violin & piano
  • String Quartet No. 4 - Apparitions (2000), two violins, viola & cello
  • Portraits (2001), for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, cello & piano
  • String Quartet No. 5 - In Search of "La Vita Nuova" (2004), for two violins, viola & cello
  • Troubadour's Feast (2005), for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello & piano
  • The Book of Hours (2006), for piano quartet
  • Benediction (2007), for two horns, two trumpets, three trombones & chimes
  • River of Light (2007), for violin & piano
  • Kaddish (2008), for violin solo & string septet
    • written for Concertante, who premièred the work in Harrisburg, PA on 15 May 2010.
  • Remembering Neda (2009), for flute, cello & piano
    • written for the Dolce Suono Trio, who premièred the work on 22 October 2010 at the Trinity Center for Urban Life in Philadelphia, PA.
  • String Quartet No. 6 - Addio (2009), for two violins, viola & cello
  • The Faces of Guernica (2009), for piano trio

Choral

  • Oratio Pauli (1982), for S.A.T.B. choir & string orchestra
  • Symphony No. 3 - Journey Without Distance (1990), for soprano solo, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra
  • Canticle of Peace (1995), for baritone solo, S.A.T.B. choir & chamber orchestra
  • An American Requiem (2001), for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra

Vocal

  • Symphony No. 2 - Visions (1986), for soprano, tenor soli & orchestra
  • Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 1 (1992), for soprano solo & ensemble
  • Songs of the Night (1993), for tenor solo & piano trio
  • Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2 (1994), for baritone solo & ensemble
  • String Quartet No. 3 - Psalms of Sorrow (1994), for baritone solo & string quartet
  • I Am Not Prey (1996), for soprano & piano duet
  • Elegies (1997), for mezzo-soprano, baritone soli & orchestra
  • Sweet Talk (1997), for mezzo-soprano solo & small ensemble
  • Spirits in the Well (1998), for treble solo & piano
  • Portraits (2001), for soprano solo & small ensemble
  • Songs of Solitude (2004), for baritone solo & orchestra
  • Four Arias, from "Margaret Garner" (2005), for baritone & piano
  • He Is By, from "Margaret Garner" (2005), for soprano & piano
  • Three Arias, from "Margaret Garner" (2005), for mezzo-soprano & piano
  • Pastime (2006), for baritone solo & orchestra
  • Triptych (2006), for mezzo-soprano & orchestra
  • A Woman's Life (2007), for soprano & orchestra
  • Three Prayers (2007), for soprano solo & orchestra
  • Come Up from the Fields Father (2008) for baritone, viola and piano; words by Walt Whitman
    • commissioned by the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia; premièred by Adrian Kramer (baritone), Roberto Díaz (viola) and Mikael Eliasen (piano) at the Curtis Institute on 15 May 2009.
  • Songs from an Old War (2009), for baritone & piano

Solo instrumental

  • Psalms (1985), for piano
  • Sonata (1986), for piano
  • The Enchanted Garden (Preludes, Book 1) (1992), for piano
  • Mardi Gras (1992), for piano
  • Elegy (2003), for piano
  • Three Preludes (2003), for piano
  • Piano Fantasy: "Wenn Ich Einmal Soll Schneiden" (2008), for piano
  • The Enchanted Garden (Preludes, Book 2) (2009), for piano

Current/recent projects

Danielpour's current and forthcoming projects includes works for Yo-Yo Ma, the Iris Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Guarneri Quartet, Atlanta Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Music from Copland House, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Singapore Symhony, Orchestre National de Lyon and the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne.[2]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Richard Danielpour - Composition, Curtis Institute of Music, accessed July 2, 2013
  2. ↑ http://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/pghsymph.nsf/bios/Richard+Danielpour

External links

Authority control
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