Fred Lerdahl
Encyclopedia
Alfred Whitford Lerdahl (Fred Lerdahl) (born March 10, 1943, in Madison, Wisconsin
) is the Fritz Reiner
Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University
, and a composer
and music theorist
best known for his work on pitch space
and cognitive
constraints on compositional systems or "musical grammar
[s]." He has written many orchestral and chamber works, three of which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music
: Time after Time in 2001, String Quartet No. 3 in 2010, and Arches in 2011.
, where he earned his BMus in 1965, and with Milton Babbitt
, Edward Cone, Roger Sessions
, and Earl Kim
at Princeton University
, where he earned his MFA in 1967. He then studied with Wolfgang Fortner at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg/Breisgau in 1968-69, on a Fulbright Scholarship. Lerdahl was awarded an honorary doctorate from Lawrence University in 1999, and previously taught at the University of Michigan
, Harvard University
, and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Lerdahl's maternal uncle was the noted astronomer Albert Whitford
.
Notable students of Fred Lerdahl include composers R. Luke DuBois
, Jason Freeman, Mark Gustavson
, Huck Hodge
, Paul Phillips
, and Dalit Warshaw
.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
) is the Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and a composer
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...
and music theorist
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...
best known for his work on pitch space
Pitch space
In music theory, pitch spaces model relationships between pitches. These models typically use distance to model the degree of relatedness, with closely related pitches placed near one another, and less closely related pitches placed farther apart. Depending on the complexity of the relationships...
and cognitive
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
constraints on compositional systems or "musical grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
[s]." He has written many orchestral and chamber works, three of which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
: Time after Time in 2001, String Quartet No. 3 in 2010, and Arches in 2011.
Life
Lerdahl studied with James Ming at Lawrence UniversityLawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
, where he earned his BMus in 1965, and with Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Edward Cone, 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...
, and Earl Kim
Earl Kim
Earl Kim was a Korean-American composer.Kim was born in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began piano studies at age ten and soon developed an interest in composition, studying in Los Angeles and Berkeley with, among others, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernest Bloch, and Roger Sessions...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he earned his MFA in 1967. He then studied with Wolfgang Fortner at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg/Breisgau in 1968-69, on a Fulbright Scholarship. Lerdahl was awarded an honorary doctorate from Lawrence University in 1999, and previously taught at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Lerdahl's maternal uncle was the noted astronomer Albert Whitford
Albert Whitford
Albert Edward Whitford was an American astronomer.Whitford was born in Milton, Wisconsin and attended Milton College. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the director of Washburn Observatory from 1948 to 1958. From 1958 to 1968 he was the director of Lick...
.
Notable students of Fred Lerdahl include composers R. Luke DuBois
R. Luke DuBois
Roger Luke DuBois is an American composer, performer, conceptual new media artist, programmer, record producer and pedagogue based in New York City.-Biography:...
, Jason Freeman, Mark Gustavson
Mark Gustavson
Mark Gustavson is an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Biography:Gustavson lives in Mastic Beach, New York, and teaches at various universities in the New York City area, including Adelphi University and Nassau Community College. He graduated from the University of Illinois in...
, Huck Hodge
Huck Hodge
Huck Hodge is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Hodge's music "is influenced by the fields of Psychoacoustics and Cognition, eastern and western philosophical inquiry and music of the early Renaissance"...
, Paul Phillips
Paul Phillips (conductor)
Paul Schuyler Phillips is an American conductor, composer and music scholar. He is Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music, with the rank of Senior Lecturer in Music, at Brown University. He is also Music Director and Conductor of the Pioneer Valley Symphony and Chorus, and maintains an...
, and Dalit Warshaw
Dalit Warshaw
Dalit Warshaw is a composer, pianist, and professor at Boston Conservatory. Warshaw was born in New York on August 6, 1974. Her works have been performed by dozens of orchestral ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras , the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland...
.
Awards
- 1966, Koussevitzky Composition Prize
- 1971, 1988 Composer Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 1974, Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim 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...
- 1977, Naumburg Recording Award
- 1982, Martha Baird Rockefeller Recording Award
- 1988, Rome PrizeRome PrizeThe Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
- 1991, National Endowment for the HumanitiesNational Endowment for the HumanitiesThe National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
Fellowship