(b. 15 March 1926, Macon, Georgia – d. 21 July 2019, DeForest, Wisconsin).
American composer of mostly stage, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed throughout the world.
Prof. Johnston earned his BFA at the College of William & Mary in Virginia in 1949 and his MMus at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music in 1950. He then studied music privately with Harry Partch in Gualala, California and with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he earned his MFA in 1952. He later studied music privately with John Cage in New York, New York in 1959–60.
Among his honours were the Guggenheim Fellowship (1959) and the Orchesterpreis der Donaueschingen Musiktage (2008, for Quintet for Groups).
He was also active in other positions. He organised the première of The Bewitched by Harry Partch in 1957. He wrote more than a dozen articles for the journals Perspectives of New Music and Source, among other publications, which appear in Maximum Clarity and Other Writings on Music (2006, edited by Bob Gilmore, University of Illinois Press).
He taught acoustics, composition and music theory at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1951–83, where he was a professor from 1967–83, later emeritus. He also served as chair of the Music Planning Committee of its Festival of Contemporary Arts from 1962–65.
His primary publisher is Smith Publications.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
The Wooden Bird (incidental music, play by Wilford Leach), 1950 (collaboration with Harry Partch)
Fire (incidental music, play by A. Gregor), 1952
The Zodiac of Memphis Street (incidental music, play by Wilford Leach), 1954
L'Invitation au château (incidental music, play by Jean Anouilh), 1954
St. Joan (ballet), piano, 1955 (also concert version of one section as Passacaglia and Epilogue, orchestra)
Gertrude, or Would She Be Pleased to Receive It? (chamber opera in 2 acts, libretto by Wilford Leach), 1956
Gambit (ballet, choreography by Merce Cunningham), 1959
The Taming of the Shrew (incidental music, play by William Shakespeare), 1961
Carmilla (chamber opera, libretto by Wilford Leach), 1970
Five Do-It-Yourself Pieces (theatre work), any number of players, 1969–81
Calamity Jane to Her Daughter, soprano, violin, synthesizer, drum kit, 1989
ORCHESTRAL:
Ivesburg Revisited, jazz orchestra, 1960
Passacaglia and Epilogue, 1960 (concert version of section of St. Joan)
Quintet for Groups, orchestra in 5 groups, 1966
Diversion, small orchestra (11 players), 1979
Symphony in A, 1988
Chamber Symphony, small orchestra, 1990
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Concerto for Brass, brass ensemble, 1951
Septet, flute (+ piccolo), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, French horn, cello, double bass, 1956–58
Diversions for Four, double bass, piano, vibraphone, percussion, 1959
String Quartet No. 1, 'Nine Variations', 1959
Duo, flute, double bass, 1963
Motet, 3 recorders, 1963
Non più, 3 recorders, 1963
String Quartet No. 2, 1964
String Quartet No. 3, 'Vergings', 1966 (may be performed together with String Quartet No. 4, 'Ascent' or 'Amazing Grace' as Crossings)
One Man, trombone (+ percussion), 1967
String Quartet No. 4, 'Ascent' or 'Amazing Grace', 1973 (may be performed together with String Quartet No. 3, 'Vergings' as Crossings)
Duo, 2 violins, 1978
Twelve Partials, flute, microtonal piano, 1978
String Quartet No. 5, 1979
String Quartet No. 6, 1980
Trio, clarinet, violin, cello, 1981
String Quartet No. 7, 1984
Toccata, cello, 1984
The Demon Lover's Doubles, trumpet, microtonal piano, 1985
String Quartet No. 8, 1984–86
Palindromes, snare drum, 1987
String Quartet No. 9, 1987–88
Ponder Nothing, clarinet/alto saxophone, 1989
Sextet, flute, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1990
Pursuit, bassoon, tuba, 1992
Progression, double bass, 1993
Sleep and Waking, percussion ensemble, 1994 (collaboration with Ronald George)
String Quartet No. 10, 1995
Alap, double bass, 1996
Nightreach, 4 saxophones, 1998–99
O Waly, Waly Variations, 4 saxophones, 1998–99
Octet, flute, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1999–2000
CHORAL:
Night (cantata, text by Robinson Jeffers), tenor, female chorus, small orchestra, 1955
Prayer, 3 female voices, 1966
Ci-Gît Satie, mixed chorus, double bass, drum kit, 1966
Rose (text by Sibyl Johnston), mixed chorus, 1971
Mass, mixed chorus, 8 trombones, percussion, 1972
I'm Goin' Away (text from a folksong from Appalachia), mixed chorus, 1973
Visions and Spels (texts from Amerindian sources [translated by Jerome Rothenberg]), 6 improvisational mixed voices, 1976
Sonnets of Desolation (text by Gerard Manley Hopkins), 8 amplified mixed voices, 1980
Journeys, alto, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1986
On Love (text from the Bible), mixed chorus, 1986
Mantram and Raga, mixed chorus, 1993
Secret (text by Robert Bly), mixed chorus, 1994
VOCAL:
Somewhere I have never traveled (text by e. e. cummings), tenor, piano, 1949
Le Goût de néant (text by Charles Baudelaire), baritone, piano, 1950
A Nocturnal upon St. Lucie's Day (text by John Donne), baritone, piano, 1951
Three Chinese Lyrics (text by Li Bai [translated by Ezra Pound]), soprano, 2 violins, 1955
Five Fragments (text by Henry David Thoreau), alto, oboe, bassoon, cello, 1960
A Sea Dirge (text by William Shakespeare), mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, violin, 1962
Songs of Innocence (text by William Blake), soprano, ensemble, 1975
Two Sonnets of Shakespeare (text by William Shakespeare), countertenor/bass-baritone, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, viola, double bass, 1978
Songs of Loss (text by John Donne), tenor, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1986
Ma Mie qui danse (texts by Mie Cecile Inouye, Emily Dickinson, adapted by the composer), soprano, microtonal piano, 1990
Legacy, soprano, violin, 1991
A man and a woman sit near each other (text by Robert Bly), baritone, clarinet, French horn, 1993
Quietness (text by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī [translated by Coleman Barks]), baritone–speaker, string quartet, 1996
Invocation (text by Attar of Nishapur [translated by Charles Stanley Nott]), soprano, string orchestra, 1997
The Tavern (text by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī [translated by Coleman Barks]), voice, microtonal guitar, 1999
PIANO:
Celebration, 1953
Knocking Piece, piano (2 players), 1962
Sonata for Microtonal Piano, microtonal piano, 1960–64
Suite for Microtonal Piano, microtonal piano, 1978
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Museum Piece, fixed media, 1968 (collaboration with Jaap Spek)
Auto Mobile (exhibition music), fixed media, 1968–69 (collaboration with Jaap Spek)
Kindergartenlieder, fixed media (2 tracks), 1969 (collaboration with Jaap Spek)
Knocking Piece Collage, fixed media, 1969
Strata, fixed media, 1978 (collaboration with Bohdan Mazurek)
ARRANGEMENTS:
Barstow (Harry Partch), voice, string quartet, 1994
Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales (Harry Partch), string quartet, 1994
U. S. Highball (Harry Partch), male voice, string quartet, 1997
Various works (George Gurdjieff–Thomas de Hartmann), 4 saxophones, 1998–99