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Del Tredici, David (b. March 16, 1937,
Cloverdale, California). American composer known especially for his many vocal
works that have been performed across the world, though he has also composed
orchestral, choral and piano music; he is regarded as the father of
neo-Romanticism.
Prof. Del Tredici studied piano privately with Bernhard Abramowitsch in Berkeley from 1953-59, and subsequently, studied composition with Arnold Elston and Seymour Shifrin at UC Berkeley from 1955-59. He was encouraged by Darius Milhaud at Aspen in 1958 to focus on composition, and then studied with Earl Kim and Roger Sessions at Princeton from 1959-60 and 1963-64. In between his composition studies, he had further private piano studies with Robert Helps in New York from 1962-64.
He was a Fromm pianist
at Tanglewood in 1964-65, an associate professor of music at Harvard from
1966-72 and on the music faculty of Boston University from 1973-84. He has
taught at the City College of New York since 1984, where he is now
Distinguished Professor of Music. From 1988-90, he served as composer
in-residence with the New York Philharmonic.
His music has been
commissioned or performed by nearly every major American and European
orchestra. It has also been the inspiration for numerous ballets, including
ones choreographed by Oscar Araiz in Switzerland and Glen Tetley in Canada. A
90-minute profile of the composer called Video
Alice was filmed in 1985 for British television.
The most notable of his many
awards is the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for In
Memory of a Summer Day (part one of Child
Alice), though he has also received Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson
fellowships and the Brandeis and Friedheim Awards. He is also a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: DDTXIII@aol.com
Street address: Prof. David Del Tredici, 463 West Street, G121, New
York City, NY 10014, USA
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: Dum Dee Tweedle (opera, libretto by the
composer, after Lewis Carroll), 1992-95
ORCHESTRAL: The Lobster Quadrille, amplified
soprano/tenor ad libitum, folk ensemble (2 soprano saxophones, mandolin, tenor
banjo, accordion), orchestra, 1969, revised 1974 (section from An Alice Symphony; may be performed
separately); Happy Voices, large
orchestra, 1977-80 (section from Child
Alice; may be performed separately); March
to Tonality, large orchestra (97 players), 1983-85; Tattoo, large orchestra, 1986; Steps,
large orchestra, 1990; Triumphant Alice
CHORAL: The Last Gospel, amplified soprano,
mixed chorus, rock ensemble (2 soprano saxophones [2nd + tenor
saxophone], electric guitar, bass guitar), small orchestra (17 players), 1967,
revised 1984 (revision scored for large orchestra); Pop-Pourri, amplified
soprano, countertenor ad libitum, mixed chorus, rock ensemble (2 soprano
saxophones [2nd + tenor saxophone], electric guitar, bass guitar),
orchestra, 1968, revised 1973; Acrostic
Song (text by Lewis Carroll), soprano, mixed chorus, harp/piano, 1979
(arrangement of section from Final Alice;
may be performed separately); Cabbages
and Kings, soprano, mixed chorus, clarinet, 4 violins, orchestra, 1996
VOCAL: Six Songs on Poems of James Joyce,
voice, piano, 1959; I Hear an Army
(text by James Joyce), soprano, string quartet, 1964; Night Conjure-Verse (text
by James Joyce), soprano, mezzo-soprano/countertenor, flute, piccolo, oboe,
clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, French horn, string quartet, 1965; Syzygy, amplified soprano, French horn,
small orchestra (19 players), 1966; An
Alice Symphony (text by Lewis Carroll), amplified soprano, folk ensemble (2
soprano saxophones, mandolin, tenor banjo, accordion), large orchestra, 1969,
revised 1975 (sections may be performed separately as The Lobster Quadrille, amplified soprano/tenor ad libitum, folk
ensemble, orchestra, 1969, revised 1974; In
Wonderland, amplified soprano, large orchestra, 1969, revised 1975; Illustrated Alice, 1969, revised 1975); Adventures Underground (text by Lewis
Carroll), amplified soprano, folk ensemble (2 soprano saxophones, mandolin,
tenor banjo, accordion), orchestra, 1971, revised 1977; Vintage Alice (text by Lewis Carroll), amplified soprano, folk
ensemble (2 soprano saxophones, mandolin, tenor banjo, accordion), small
orchestra, 1972; Final Alice (text by
Lewis Carroll), amplified soprano-speaker, folk ensemble (2 soprano saxophones,
mandolin, tenor banjo, accordion), large orchestra, 1973-74 (one section, Acrostic Song, may be performed
separately, including arrangement for medium/high voice, piano, 1979; entire
work arranged as Brass Symphony,
1992); Annotated Alice (text by Lewis
Carroll), amplified soprano, folk ensemble (2 soprano saxophones, mandolin,
tenor banjo, accordion), orchestra, 1976; Child
Alice (text by Lewis Carroll), amplified soprano, large orchestra, 1977-81
(all four sections, In Memory of a Summer
Day, 1977-80; Happy Voices,
orchestra, 1977-80; Quaint Events,
1977-81; All in the Golden Afternoon,
1977-81, may be performed separately); Haddocks’ Eyes, amplified soprano, piccolo (+
flute), clarinet, French horn, trumpet, string quartet, double bass, piano,
1985; Chana’s Story (text by Chana Bloch), mezzo-soprano, piano, 1996, revised
1998; The Spider and the Fly, high
soprano, high baritone, large orchestra, 1997; Brother (text by John Kelly), male voice, piano, 1997; Dracula (text by Alfred Corn), amplified
soprano-speaker, small orchestra, 1996-98; Miz
Inez Sez (text by Colette Inez), high soprano (+ tambourine), piano,
1996-98; 3 Baritone Songs (texts by
Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi, Michael Klein, Jaime Manrique), baritone, piano, 1999; Gay Life (texts by Michael D. Calhoun,
Wilson Hand Kidde, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Monette, Thom Gunn), amplified
baritone, orchestra, 2000; Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (text by
Joshua Beckman), soprano, piano, 2001; Wondrous the
Merge, amplified baritone-speaker, string quartet, 2001; My Favorite Penis Poems
(texts by Marilyn Kallet, Edward Field, Alfred Corn, Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi, Antler,
Allen Ginsberg), soprano, baritone, piano, 2002;
Interlude and Ecstatic Alice, soprano, orchestra
PIANO: Soliloquy, 1958; Fantasy Pieces, 1960; Scherzo,
piano 4 hands, 1960; Virtuoso Alice,
1984; Ballad in Yellow, 1998; Wildwood Étude, 1999; Wedding Song, 2000
(Last updated September, 2002)
