William Mayer

William Mayer (born November 18, 1925) is an American composer, best known for his prize-winning opera A Death in the Family.[1]

Life and career

Mayer was born in New York City, the son of Dorothy (née Ehrich) and John C. Mayer. He entered Yale University in 1944, but his college years were interrupted by military service (he served as a counter-intelligence agent in US-occupied Japan). Upon his discharge he re-entered Yale and graduated in 1949, then trained at the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music, studying with Roger Sessions and Felix Salzer, and later with Otto Luening, Emanuel Balaban and Izler Solomon.

The composer has written three stage works in addition to his prize-winning A Death in the Family, and a variety of orchestral, chamber, choral and vocal works. John Rockwell of The New York Times points out that Mayer is "especially known for his operas and songs ... his work sings out with real beauty, both in the vocal writing and the instrumental settings."

Distinguished artists have introduced his scores: Robert De Cormier led the New York Choral Society in its Lincoln Center premiere of "Spring Came on Forever"; sopranos Heidi Grant Murphy, Eleanor Steber and Christine Brewer have all premiered vocal-chamber works; and Leopold Stokowski (at eighty-eight) conducted Mayer's piano concerto Octagon at Carnegie Hall with William Masselos as soloist.

Mayer taught composition and orchestration at Boston University; was a guest lecturer at Yale, Columbia, the Pratt Institute and the Juilliard School; fulfilled writing and cultural assignments from the US Information Agency, one of which involved preparing lectures on American chamber opera to be delivered abroad; served on judging panels for the MacDowell Colony, the American Composers Orchestra, Composers Recordings, Inc., the National Opera Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs; and was Composer-in-Residence at the Conductors' Institute and Adirondack New Music Festival.

Mayer is the author of a provocative feature for The New York Times entitled "Live Composers, Dead Audiences".[2]

Awards and honors

About Mayer's work

Mayer's lyricism and humor have frequently been singled out. "His is a lyrical music, favored by an unusual flow of fancy and wit," wrote Joseph Machlis in his Introduction to Contemporary Music. AmeriGrove also touches on his humor: "His style is characterized by a contrasting of transparent textures with humorous, highly rhythmic and densely scored passages."

This humor is seen in the micro-opera Brief Candle (Milton Feist), where a mime is hurdled from infancy to marriage, and then death in six minutes, followed by a ten-second recapitulation. It is also present in an article entitled "Good Friend, Bad Piece" (co-authored with his daughter Jane Mayer), which addresses a not-infrequent dilemma: what to say to a composer friend after having just heard—and disliked—his new piece.

Among Mayer's works for young people are Hello, World!, which was recorded with Eleanor Roosevelt as narrator,[5] the ballet The Snow Queen and the opera One Christmas Long Ago. All three stage works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

His discography encompasses most media. Operatic and orchestral works have been recorded by the Manhattan School of Music, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony and Music Today (Gerard Schwarz, director); choral works by conductors Robert De Cormier, Peter Schubert and Gregg Smith (who recorded the oratorio The Eve of St. Agnes on Vox's "American Sings" Series); and chamber music by St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, North/South Consonance and the New York Brass and Wind Ensemble.

Both Mayer's Piano Sonata and Octagon have been recorded by William Masselos, while pianists Steven Mayer and Şahan Arzruni have recorded Abandoned Bells and Subway in the Sunlight and Other Memories. Most recorded of all are the composer's songs, especially with instrumental accompaniment.

A Death in the Family, Mayer's opera based on the James Agee novel and Tad Mosel play All the Way Home, was named the "best new work" of its type for 1983. The late Robert Jacobson wrote in Opera News:

"William Mayer's three-act opera A Death in the Family should immediately become a candidate for regular airings around the country, so beautiful and meaningful is it, not only in its James Agee story but in the setting the composer-librettist has provided for it."

The St. Louis performance with Dawn Upshaw and Jake Gardner was broadcast on National Public Radio.

In 2012, the Center for Contemporary Opera and the Armel Opera Festival and Szeged National Theatre (Hungary) staged a production of A Death in the Family,[6] and it won the award for "Best Production" in the Armel Opera Competition and Festival.[7] Filmed excerpts from the production have been uploaded to YouTube.com.[8]

Complete list of works

(Note that unless otherwise specified, works are published by the Theodore Presser Co.; selected titles are linked to recorded performances archived at YouTube.com)

Stage

Orchestral

Chamber music

Choral

Vocal

Piano

Songs for music theatre (1951–61)

References

  1. ↑ William Mayer website retrieved October 30, 2015
  2. ↑ "Live Composers, Dead Audiences," Feb. 2, 1975, New York Times
  3. ↑ http://www.presser.com/composer/mayer-william/ Theodore Presser Company, "William Mayer" page
  4. ↑ "Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity" home page
  5. ↑
    • Hello, World!/The Greatest Sound Around, Eleanor Roosevelt, narrator (on Hello World!), words and music by Susan Otto and William R. Mayer, The Little Orchestra Society, Thomas Scherman, conductor, John Langstaff, tenor (on The Greatest Sound Around). RCA Victor Red Seal LM-2332, 1959
  6. ↑ 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera production of A Death in the Family at Armel Festival Szeged
  7. ↑ THE WINNERS OF ARMEL OPERA COMPETITION AND FESTIVAL 2012
  8. ↑ Excerpts from 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera production of A Death in the Family
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