Berry, Wallace (Taft)
Berry, Wallace (Taft)
Berry, Wallace (Taft), American composer and music theorist; b. La Crosse, Wise, Jan. 10, 1928; d. Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov. 16, 1991. He studied with Stevens at the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles (B.Mus., 1949; Ph.D., 1956) and with Boulanger at the Paris Cons. (1953–54); then taught at the Univ. of Southern Calif. (1956–57), the Univ. of Mich. (1957–77), and (from 1978) the Univ. of British Columbia, where hewas also head of the music dept. (1978–84). He served as president of the Soc. for Music Theory (1982–85). He publ. Form in Music (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966; 2nd ed., rev, 1985), Eighteenth-Century Imitative Counterpoint: Music for Analysis (with E. Chudacoff; N.Y., 1969), Structural Functions in Music (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1975; 2nd ed., 1987), and Musical Structure and Performance (New Haven, Conn., 1989).
Works
DRAMATIC: The Admirable Bashville, chamber opera (1954). ORCH.: 4 Movements for Chamber Orch. (1954); Fantasy (1958); 5 Pieces for Small Orch. (1961); Piano Concerto (1964); Canto Elegiaco (1968); Intonation: Victimis hominum inhu-manitatis, in memoriam (1972); Acadian Images: 2 Movements (1977–78). CHAMBER: Clarinet Sonata (1950); Suite for String Trio (1950); 3 Pieces on Arabic Songs for Flute, Oboe, and Tom-tom (1950); Piano Quintet (1951); Divertimento for Harpsichord, Oboe, English Horn, and Cello (1952); 4 string quartets (1960, 1964, 1966, 1984); Threnody for Violin (1963–64); Divertimento for Wind Quintet, Piano, and Percussion (1964); Composition for Piano and Electronic Sounds (1967); Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1970); 3 Essays in parody for Treble Instrument and Piano (1973); Anachronisms for Violin and Piano (1973); Piano Sonata (1975). VOCAL: Spoon River, 6 songs for Soprano, Bass-baritone, and Orch. (1952); Canticle on a Judaic Text for Soprano or Tenor and Orch. (1953); No Man is an Island for Chorus (1959); 3 Songs of April for Soprano or Tenor and String Quartet (1959); Heaven-haven for Chorus (1960); Spring Pastoral for Chorus (1960); Des visages de France for Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, and Ensemble (1967); Credo in unam vitam for Tenor, Horn, Cello, and Chamber Ensemble (1969); Lover of the Moon Trembling Now at Twilight for Soprano or Tenor and Ensemble (1971); Of the Changeless Night and the Stark Ranges of Nothing for Mezzo- soprano, Cello, and Piano (1978–79); The Moment: Summer’s Night for Mezzo-soprano and Piano (1985).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire