Robert Morris (composer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Morris is an American
composer and music theorist.
(M.M. and D.M.A. in composition and ethnomusicology
), where he studied composition with John La Montaine
, Leslie Bassett
, Ross Lee Finney
(Swift 2001)), and Eugene Kurtz
. At Tanglewood, as a Margret Lee Crofts Fellow, he worked with Gunther Schuller
. Morris has taught composition, electronic music, and music theory at the University of Hawaii and at Yale University
, where he was Chairman of the Composition Department and Director of the Yale Electronic Music Studio. He was also Director of the Computer and Electronic Studio, Director of Graduate (music) Studies, and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh (Swift 2001). In 1980 Morris joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music
where he presently teaches as Professor of Composition. (He was chair of the Composition Department from 1999–2005 and before that a member of both the composition and music theory departments.) Other teaching posts have included positions at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, the Governor's School for the Arts held at Bucknell University
, the University of Pittsburgh Computer Music Workshop, and the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer and music theorist.
Work in music theory
As a music theorist, Morris' work has bridged an important gap between the rigorously academic and the highly experimental. Born in Cheltenham, England in 1943, Morris received his musical education at the Eastman School of Music (B.M. in composition with distinction) and the University of MichiganUniversity 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...
(M.M. and D.M.A. in composition and ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
), where he studied composition with John La Montaine
John La Montaine
John La Montaine is an American composer, born in Oak Park, Illinois, who won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Piano Concerto no. 1, Op. 9, "In Time of War" , which was premiered by Jorge Bolet....
, Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
, Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg and Roger Sessions...
(Swift 2001)), and Eugene Kurtz
Eugene Kurtz
Eugene Allen Kurtz was an American composer of contemporary classical music.He received an M.A. in music from the Eastman School of Music in 1949. His instructors included Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Max Deutsch...
. At Tanglewood, as a Margret Lee Crofts Fellow, he worked with Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
. Morris has taught composition, electronic music, and music theory at the University of Hawaii and at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was Chairman of the Composition Department and Director of the Yale Electronic Music Studio. He was also Director of the Computer and Electronic Studio, Director of Graduate (music) Studies, and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh (Swift 2001). In 1980 Morris joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
where he presently teaches as Professor of Composition. (He was chair of the Composition Department from 1999–2005 and before that a member of both the composition and music theory departments.) Other teaching posts have included positions at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, the Governor's School for the Arts held at Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
, the University of Pittsburgh Computer Music Workshop, and the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
.
Musical compositions
Morris has written music for a wide diversity of musical forms and media. He has composed over 160 works including computer and improvisational music. Much of his output from the 1970s is influenced by non-Western music and uses structural principles from Arabic, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, and early Western musics. While such influences are less noticeable in his more recent works, the temporal and ornamental qualities of Eastern music have permanently affected Morris's style. Moreover, Morris has found much resonance among his musical aesthetics, his experiences in hiking (especially in the Southwestern United States), his study and appreciation of Carnatic Music of South India, and his reading of ancient Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Buddhist texts. Among his present compositional projects is a series of the works to be played outdoors in a natural setting. Four of these works are complete and have been performed: Playing Outside (2000), Coming Down to Earth (2002), Oracle (2005), and Sound/Path/Field (2006).Books
In addition to his music, Morris has written three books and over 50 articles and reviews which have appeared in the Journal of Music Theory, In Theory Only, Music Theory Spectrum, Journal of the American Musicology Society, and Perspectives of New Music, contributing to theories of musical analysis and aesthetics, compositional design, and electronic and computer music. Morris was the recipient of the "Outstanding Publication Award" of the Society for Music Theory in 1988 for his book, Composition with Pitch-Classes: A Theory of Compositional Design, published by Yale University Press, and in 2001 for his article "Voice Leading Spaces" in Music Theory Spectrum 20/2. His most recent book, Advanced Class Notes for Atonal Theory, is available from Frog Peak Music. Morris is presently Co-editor of Perspectives of New Music and Contributing Editor of The Open Space Magazine.Further reading
- Brody, Martin. 2006. "Down to Earth: Robert Morris's Restaging of the Sublime". The Open Space Magazine, nos. 8–9 (Fall-Spring): 74–81.
- Dembski, Stephen. 1989. "The Context of Composition: The Reception of Robert Morris's Theory of Compositional Design". Theory and Practice 14–15:187–202.
- Forshee, Jon. 2004. "Reflex-Ions of Robert Morris' Four or Five Mirrors". The Open Space Magazine, no. 6 (Fall): 144–50.
- Lofthouse, Marcus, and Brian Alegant. 2002. "Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: The Property of Reflection in Twelve-Tone Rows, or, Further Extensions on the Mallalieu Complex". Perspectives of New Music 40, no. 2 (Summer): 233–72.