Mizelle, (Dary) John

Mizelle, (Dary) John, American composer and teacher; b. Stillwater, Okla., June 14, 1940. He studied trombone at Calif. State Univ. in Sacramento (B.A., 1965) and composition at the Univ. of Calif, at Davis (M.A., 1967) and at the Univ. of Calif, at San Diego (Ph.D., 1977); also studied computer music at Columbia Univ. (1979–83). He taught at the Univ. of South Fla. in Tampa (1973–75) and at the Oberlin (Ohio) Coll. Cons, of Music (1975–79) and in 1990 he joined the faculty of the State Univ. of N.Y. at Purchase. He served as assoc. ed. of Source magazine (1966–69). Interest in Mizelle’s music increased greatly when a 25-year retrospective concert was given in N.Y. in 1988. His compositions, which number over 200, have been lauded for their stylistic assimilation of such disparate Western composers as Bartók, Messiaen, and Xenakis, their admixtures of ancient, traditional acoustic, and electronic instruments, the mathematical exactitude of their construction, their generous reliance upon the improvisational skills of performers, and their varied use of extended vocal techniques.

Works

3 string quartets (1964, 1975, 1983); Green and Red, quartet for 9 Instruments (1965); Straight Ahead for Violin, Flute, Trumpet, Trombone, Percussion, and Tape (1965); Radial Energy I for Unspecified Instruments (1967) and II for Orch. (1968); Mass for Chorus and Live Electronics (1968); Quanta I & Hymn to Matter for 8 Multiphonic Volcalists, Chorus, and Orch. (1972–76); Contrabass Concerto (1974–85); Parameters for Solo Percussion and Orch. (1974–87); Polyphonies I for Quadraphonic Tape, Shakuhachi, and Electronics (1975), II for Tape and Dance (1976), and III for Quadraphonic Tape and Theater (1978); Transforms I-XIII for Piano (1975–94); SoundScape for Percussion Ensemble (1976); Polytempus I for Trumpet and Tape (1976) and II for Marimba and Tape (1979); Primavera- Heterophony for 24 Cellos (1977); Samadhi for Quadraphonic Tape (1978); Quanta II & Hymn of the Word for Wind Ensemble, Percussion, Organ, and 2 Choruses (1979); Lake Mountain Thunder for English Horn and Percussion Ensemble (1981); The Thunderclap of Time I (1981) and II (1982), music for a planetarium; Requiem Mass for Chorus and Orch. (1982); Sonic Adventures, 15 process pieces for Various Multiple Instrumental Ensembles (1982); Quintet for Woodwinds (1983); Contrabass Quartet (1983); Indian Summer for String Quartet and Oboe (1983); Sounds for Orch. (1984); Genesis for Orch. (1985); Blue for Orch. (1985–86); Percussion Concerto (1985–87); Earth Mountain Fire, 80 minutes of music for Compact Disc (1987); Fossy: A Passion Play, music theater (1987); Chance Gives Me What I Want, dance piece (1988); I Was Standing Quite Close to Process for Piano (1991–92); Sun/The Gentle (The Penetrating Wind) for Violin and Dance (1992); SPAMDA, “macrocomposition” of 198 pieces (1995 et seq.).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire