Ellis Kohs
Encyclopedia
Ellis B. Kohs was an American composer, theory textbook author, and Professor at the University of Southern California
.
, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar
. He also studied composition with Walter Piston and musicology with Willi Apel and Hugo Leichtentritt at Harvard University. During World War II
, Kohs conducted the Army and Air Force bands at Fort Benning
, Ga.; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Nashville. After the war he joined the faculty of Wesleyan University
, where he taught composition from 1946 to 1948, and the Kansas City Conservatory, where he taught during the summers of 1946 and 1947.
He moved to California
in 1948 and undertook teaching positions at the College of the Pacific and at Stanford University
. He began teaching at USC in 1950 where he remained on the faculty for 38 years, serving as chairman of the music theory department for several years.
Kohs' stage works include "Amerika" (1969), an opera based on Kafka's novel, "Lohiau and Hiiaka," a choreographed setting of a Hawaiian legend, and incidental music for Shakespeare's "Macbeth
" (1947). His orchestral works include a Concerto for Orchestra (1942), a Cello Concerto (1947), a Violin Concerto (1980) and two Symphonies (1950 and 1957). His vocal works included settings of Navajo songs and "The Lord Ascendant," based on "The Epic of Gilgamesh
." He also composed solo and chamber music. A recording of Kohs' music, including the Chamber Concerto, Passacaglia
for Organ and Strings, Toccata
for Harpsichord or Piano, a Short Concert for String Quartet, and a Sonatina
for Violin and Piano was released on Composers Recordings, Inc. In addition to composing, Kohs wrote several music theory
textbooks, including "Music Theory, a Syllabus for Teacher and Student" (1961), "Musical Form: Studies in Analysis and Synthesis" (1976), and "Musical Composition: Projects in Ways and Means" (1980). He died at a nursing home in Los Angeles
on May 17, 2000.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Biography
Born in Chicago on May 12, 1916 to Pauline Bonoff, a school teacher of Russian Jewish extraction, and Samuel C. Kohs, Kohs grew up in San Francisco, where he undertook his early musical studies at the San Francisco Conservatory. In 1928 his family moved to New York where he entered the Institute of Musical Art. He continued his studies at the University of Chicago, studying composition with Carl Bricken. After he completed his master's degree there in 1938, he returned to New York and enrolled at the Juilliard SchoolJuilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar
Bernard Wagenaar
Bernard Wagenaar was a Dutch/American composer, conductor and violinist.Wagenaar, not related to the Dutch composer Johan Wagenaar, was born in Arnhem. He studied at Utrecht University before starting his career as a teacher and conductor in 1914. He moved to the USA in 1920, where he became a...
. He also studied composition with Walter Piston and musicology with Willi Apel and Hugo Leichtentritt at Harvard University. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Kohs conducted the Army and Air Force bands at Fort Benning
Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...
, Ga.; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Nashville. After the war he joined the faculty of Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, where he taught composition from 1946 to 1948, and the Kansas City Conservatory, where he taught during the summers of 1946 and 1947.
He moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1948 and undertook teaching positions at the College of the Pacific and at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He began teaching at USC in 1950 where he remained on the faculty for 38 years, serving as chairman of the music theory department for several years.
Kohs' stage works include "Amerika" (1969), an opera based on Kafka's novel, "Lohiau and Hiiaka," a choreographed setting of a Hawaiian legend, and incidental music for Shakespeare's "Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
" (1947). His orchestral works include a Concerto for Orchestra (1942), a Cello Concerto (1947), a Violin Concerto (1980) and two Symphonies (1950 and 1957). His vocal works included settings of Navajo songs and "The Lord Ascendant," based on "The Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the protagonist of the story, Gilgamesh king of Uruk, which were fashioned into a longer Akkadian epic much...
." He also composed solo and chamber music. A recording of Kohs' music, including the Chamber Concerto, Passacaglia
Passacaglia
The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
for Organ and Strings, Toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
for Harpsichord or Piano, a Short Concert for String Quartet, and a Sonatina
Sonatina
A sonatina is literally a small sonata. As a musical term, sonatina has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic sonata form, but is shorter, lighter in character, or more elementary technically than a typical sonata...
for Violin and Piano was released on Composers Recordings, Inc. In addition to composing, Kohs wrote several music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
textbooks, including "Music Theory, a Syllabus for Teacher and Student" (1961), "Musical Form: Studies in Analysis and Synthesis" (1976), and "Musical Composition: Projects in Ways and Means" (1980). He died at a nursing home in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on May 17, 2000.