Bruce Saylor
Encyclopedia
Bruce Saylor is an American composer
.
and Roger Sessions
. He studied with Goffredo Petrassi
at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome under a Fulbright fellowship (1969–1970). He received his Ph. D. in 1978 from the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he studied composition with Weisgall and George Perle, and theory with Felix Salzer.
Saylor won numerous prizes and scholarships during his years at Juilliard, and was a teaching fellow there. In 1970 he began teaching at Queens College. He is now professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens and at the City University of New York Graduate Center in Manhattan. From 1976 to 1979 he taught at New York University, then was appointed a Mellon Foundation professor at Queens. He has won fellowships and awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Charles E. Ives Scholarship and Music Award), the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation
.
was premiered in 1994 at end of his stint as composer-in-residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago. J. D. McClatchy fashioned the libretto from the Tennessee Williams
play. He has also written two one-act operas, My Kinsman, Major Molineux after Hawthorne, and The Scrimshaw Violin after the story of Jonathan Levi. The poetry of James Merrill
has inspired Songs from Water Street and Five Old Favorites, incidental music for live readings of Voices From Sandover, and instrumental music as well. His vocal chamber music has most often been performed and recorded by his wife the mezzo soprano Constance Beavon. who created his monodrama It Had Wings-a story by Allan Gurganus
. He has written ten substantial pieces for chorus and orchestra, among them The Idea of Us and The Book in Your Hearts, (both to texts by J. D. McClatchy,) The Star Song (Robert Herrick,) Dreams (slave narratives and spirituals), and Proud Music of the Storm (Whitman and Emily Dickinson.). He has written several elaborate scores for Nine Circles Chamber Theater, among them The Inferno of Dante and Falling Bodies, and has many times been composer in residence at The Yard, an artists’ colony for dancers and choreographers on Martha’s Vineyard.
Another part of his output is music for religious or ceremonial occasions in a tonal idiom: O Freedom! for President Clinton’s Second Inaugural, Grand Central for the rededication of Grand Central Terminal, Fanfares and Echoes for the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, In Praise of Jerusalem (Psalm 122) for Pope John Paul II
’s visit to New York City, two Christmas recordings for soprano Jessye Norman
, and concert arrangements of sacred music by Duke Ellington
for Miss Norman’s Honor! festival for Carnegie Hall
in 2009. He has written dozens of anthems, hymn tunes, and service music for church and concert use.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Saylor was born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In 1952 his family moved to Springfield Township, just outside the city, where he attended suburban public schools. Active as a musician in high school, he played, sang, and conducted, and also functioned as the organist and choirmaster of a small Anglo-Catholic parish in the city. He attended the Juilliard School of Music from 1964 to 1969, where he studied composition with Hugo WeisgallHugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
and Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
. He studied with Goffredo Petrassi
Goffredo Petrassi
Goffredo Petrassi was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.-Life:...
at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome under a Fulbright fellowship (1969–1970). He received his Ph. D. in 1978 from the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he studied composition with Weisgall and George Perle, and theory with Felix Salzer.
Saylor won numerous prizes and scholarships during his years at Juilliard, and was a teaching fellow there. In 1970 he began teaching at Queens College. He is now professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens and at the City University of New York Graduate Center in Manhattan. From 1976 to 1979 he taught at New York University, then was appointed a Mellon Foundation professor at Queens. He has won fellowships and awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Charles E. Ives Scholarship and Music Award), the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
.
Works
Saylor’s musical idiom evolved from highly dissonant neo-classicism, though dense chromaticism, to a more streamlined harmonic language. Though he has written a symphony, Turns and Mordents for flute and orchestra, Notturno for piano and orchestra, Archangel for large orchestra, Cantilena for strings, and much chamber music, Saylor’s vocal music dominates his output. His two-act opera Orpheus DescendingOrpheus Descending
Orpheus Descending is a play by Tennessee Williams. It was first presented on Broadway in 1957 where it enjoyed a brief run with only modest success. The play is basically a rewrite of an earlier play by Williams called Battle of Angels, which was written in 1940, but had been closed on its opening...
was premiered in 1994 at end of his stint as composer-in-residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago. J. D. McClatchy fashioned the libretto from the Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
play. He has also written two one-act operas, My Kinsman, Major Molineux after Hawthorne, and The Scrimshaw Violin after the story of Jonathan Levi. The poetry of James Merrill
James Merrill
James Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...
has inspired Songs from Water Street and Five Old Favorites, incidental music for live readings of Voices From Sandover, and instrumental music as well. His vocal chamber music has most often been performed and recorded by his wife the mezzo soprano Constance Beavon. who created his monodrama It Had Wings-a story by Allan Gurganus
Allan Gurganus
Allan Gurganus is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose work is often influenced by and set in his native North Carolina. His writing has been compared to the work of William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, who also were identified with the American South.-Biography: Gurganus was...
. He has written ten substantial pieces for chorus and orchestra, among them The Idea of Us and The Book in Your Hearts, (both to texts by J. D. McClatchy,) The Star Song (Robert Herrick,) Dreams (slave narratives and spirituals), and Proud Music of the Storm (Whitman and Emily Dickinson.). He has written several elaborate scores for Nine Circles Chamber Theater, among them The Inferno of Dante and Falling Bodies, and has many times been composer in residence at The Yard, an artists’ colony for dancers and choreographers on Martha’s Vineyard.
Another part of his output is music for religious or ceremonial occasions in a tonal idiom: O Freedom! for President Clinton’s Second Inaugural, Grand Central for the rededication of Grand Central Terminal, Fanfares and Echoes for the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, In Praise of Jerusalem (Psalm 122) for Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
’s visit to New York City, two Christmas recordings for soprano Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
, and concert arrangements of sacred music by Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
for Miss Norman’s Honor! festival for Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 2009. He has written dozens of anthems, hymn tunes, and service music for church and concert use.
Discography
- Songs from Water Street
- Four Psalms
- See You in the Morning
- Quattro Passi
- Cantos from The Inferno
- Five Old Favorites
- Carillon Te Deum
- Jessye Norman “In The Spirit : Sacred Music for Christmas
- Jessye Norman at Notre-Dame
Links
- http://qcpages.qc.edu/music/index.php?L=0&M=33
- http://web.gc.cuny.edu/music/faculty/saylor.html
- http://www.gdaf.org/gloriae_dei_arts_directors.php?name=saylor
- http://www.paracletepress.com/bruce-saylor-c.html