Wolfe, Stanley
Wolfe, Stanley
Wolfe, Stanley, American composer and music educator; b. N.Y., Feb. 7, 1924. He was a student of Bergsma, Persichetti, and Mennin at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (B.S., 1952; M.S., 1955). In 1955 he joined its faculty and taught theory, contemporary music, and composition. From 1956 until his retirement in 1989 he served as director of the Juilliard Extension Division. In 1957 he held a Guggenheim fellowship. He received the Alice M. Ditson/American Sym. Orch. prize in 1961. In 1969, 1970, and 1977 he held NEA grants. In 1990 he received a citation and recording award from the American Academy and Inst. of Arts and Letters. In his music, Wolfe has eschewed avant-garde experimentation and has opted to infuse his well-crafted scores with welcome lyricism and melody.
Works
dramatic: King’s Heart, dance piece (1956). ORCH.: 7 syms.: No. 1 (1952), No. 2 (1955), No. 3 (Albuquerque, Nov. 18,1959), No. 4 (1965; Albuquerque, Dec. 7,1966), No. 5 (N.Y., April 2,1971), No. 6 (1981), and No. 7 (1995); Canticle for Strings (1957); Lincoln Square Overture (1958); Variations (1967); Violin Concerto (1989). CHAMBER: Adagio for Woodwind Quintet (1948); String Quartet (1961).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire