Read, Gardner
Read, Gardner
Read, Gardner , eminent American composer, pedagogue, and writer on music; b. Evanston, 1ll., Jan. 2, 1913. He studied at Northwestern Univ. (1930–32), with Hanson and Rogers at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (B.M., 1936; M.M., 1937), with Pizzetti in Rome on a Cromwell Traveling Fellowship (1938–39), and with Copland at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (summer, 1941). In 1936 he won first prize in the American Composers’ Contest of the N.Y. Phil, for his 1st’ Sym. and in 1943 he won the Paderewski Prize for his 2nd Sym. After teaching at the St. Louis Inst. of Music (1941–3) and the Kansas City Cons. (1943–45), he was head of the Cleveland Inst. of Music (1944–48). He subsequently was prof. of music and composer-in-residence at the Boston Univ. School for the Arts (1948–78). He publ. Thesaurus of Orch.estral Devices (1953), Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice (1964), Contemporary Instrumental Techniques (1976), Modern Rhythmic Notation (1978), Style and Orch.estration (1979), Source Book of Proposed Music Notation Reform (1987), 20th-Century Microtonal Notation (1990), Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques (1993), and Pictographic Score Notation (1995). As a composer, Read has produced a substantial body of Works notable for their mastery of Orch.estration and form.
Works
DRAMATIC : Villon, opera (1965–67); incidental music. ORCH.: The Lotus-Eaters (Interlochen, Mich., Aug. 12, 1932); Sketches of the City (1933; Rochester, N.Y., April 18, 1934); The Painted Desert (Interlochen, Mich., July 28, 1935); Fantasy for Viola and Orch. (1935); 4 syms.: No. 1 (1936; N.Y., Nov. 4, 1937), No. 2 (1942; Boston, Nov. 26, 1943), No. 3 (1948), and No. 4 (1951–59; Cincinnati, Jan. 30, 1970); Prelude and Toccata for Chamber Orch. (1936–37; Rochester, N.Y., April 29, 1937); Suite for Strings (N.Y., Aug. 5, 1937); Passacaglia and Fugue (Chicago, June 30, 1938); Pan e Dafni (1940); American Circle (Evanston, I11., March 15, 1941); Overture No. 1 (Indianapolis, Nov. 6, 1943); Night Flight (Rochester, N.Y., April 27, 1944); Cello Concerto (1945); Threnody for Flute and Strings (Rochester, N.Y., Oct. 21, 1946); Quiet Music for Strings (1946; Washington, D.C., May 9, 1948; arranged for organ, 1950); Partita for Chamber Orch. (1946; Rochester, N.Y., May 4, 1947); Bell Overture (Cleveland, Dec. 22, 1946); Pennsylvaniana (1946–47; Pittsburgh, Nov. 21, 1947); The Temptation of St. Anthony, dance sym. (1947; Chicago, April 9, 1953); Dance of the Locomotives (Boston, June 26, 1948); Arioso elegiaca for Strings (1951); Toccata giocosa (1953; Louisville, March 13, 1954); Vernal Equinox (Brockton, Mass., April 12, 1955); Jeux des timbres (1963); Sonoric Fantasia No. 2 for Violin and Chamber Orch. (1965; also for Violin and Piano) and 3 for Wind and Percussion (1971); Piano Concerto (1977); Astral Nebulae (1983). CHAMBER : 6 Intimate Moods for Violin and Piano (1935–37); Suite for String Quartet (1936); Piano Quintet (1945; also as Music for Piano and Strings, 1946); Sonata brevis for Violin and Piano (1948); Sound Piece for Brass and Percussion (1949); 9 by 6 for 6 Winds (1950); Sonoric Fantasia No. 1 for Celesta, Harp, and Harpsichord (1958) and No. 4 for Organ and Percussion (1975–76); Los dioses aztecas for 6 Percussion (1959); Petite suite for Soprano Recorder, Alto Recorder, Piano, and Harpsichord (1963); Invocation for Trombone and Organ (1977); Galactic Notes for Organ and Percussion (1978); Diabolic Dialogue for Double Bass and 4 Timpani (1978–79); Music for Chamber Winds for Double Wind Quintet and Percussion (1980); Phantasmagoria for Oboe, Oboe d’Amore, English Horn, and Organ (1985–87; rev. 1988); Fantasy-Toccata for Harpsichord (1990); 5 Aphorisms for Violin and Piano (1991). KEYBOARD : Piano : 3 Satirical Sarcasms (1934–35); Driftwood Suite (1942); Sonata da chiesa (1945; also for Organ and Brass Quintet, 1947); 6 Easy Pieces (1947–48); Touch Piece (1949); 5 Polytonal Etudes (1961–64); Motives (1980). Organ : Passacaglia and Fugue (1935–36; also for 2 Pianos, 1938–40); Suite (1949); 14 Preludes on Old Southern Hymns (1950, 1960); Variations on a Chromatic Ground (1964); And There Appeared Unto Them Tongues as of Fire (1977). VOCAL : 4 Nocturnes for Alto and Orch. (1934); A Merry Madrigal for Women’s Voices (1934–35; also for Chorus, 1964); From a Lute of Jade for Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Orch. or Piano (1935–36); The Golden Journey to Samarkand for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1936–39); Songs for a Rainy Night for Baritone and Piano or Orch. (1938–40; also for Chorus and Piano, 1953); Songs to Children for Mezzo-soprano and Piano (1947–49); A Sheaf of Songs for Mezzo-soprano and Piano (1949–50; also for Chorus and Piano, 1954); The Prophet, oratorio (1960; Boston, Feb. 23, 1977); Haiku Seasons for 4 Speakers and 5 Instruments (1970); The Hidden Lute for Soprano, Alto Flute, Percussion, and Harp (1979); other choral pieces and songs.
Bibliography
M. Dodd and J. Engquist, G.R.: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, Conn., 1996).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire