Andrew Imbrie
Encyclopedia
Andrew Welsh Imbrie was an American
composer
of contemporary classical music.
. He returned to the United States the next year to attend Princeton University
where he studied with Roger Sessions
, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1942. His senior thesis there, a string quartet
, was recorded by the Juilliard Quartet. He then went to the University of California, Berkeley
, where he received an M.A.
in Music in 1947; there he continued to study with Sessions, who had taken a position at Berkeley. Imbrie taught composition, theory, and analysis at Berkeley from 1949 until his retirement in 1991. In addition to his principal teaching job at Berkeley, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago
, Brandeis University
, Northwestern University
, New York University
, the University of Alabama
, and Harvard University
, and had a regular teaching post at the San Francisco Conservatory. He died at his home in Berkeley, California at the age of 86. His notable students included Larry Austin
, Neil Rolnick
and Leslie Wildman
.
, and then by his undergraduate teacher, Roger Sessions
: the influence of Sessions was to prove long-lasting. Imbrie prefers harmonies that are non-triadic, or if triadic, non-functional, and he wrote a tightly organized, often atonal
contrapuntal
texture with attention to careful motivic development; he avoided the serial techniques which dominated art music composition after the Second World War. Imbrie was also attentive to melodic line and shape, as one of the ways to make a free atonal language accessible.
Imbrie wrote both vocal and instrumental music; he wrote two operas (Three Against Christmas, 1960, and Angle of Repose, 1976), as well as numerous orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo vocal compositions. The Requiem was a memorial to his son John, who died young.
"Andrew Imbrie". New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1973. Rereleased, New World Records, 2007.
"New Music for Virtuosos". New York: New World Records, 1977.
"New Music Series Vol. 3". Neuma Records, 1993
"Collage New Music". Boston: GM Recordings, 1989.
"Andrew Imbrie". Boston: GM Recordings, 1993.
"Music of Andrew Imbrie". New York: CRI, 1994.
"Dream Sequence - Chamber Music of Andrew Imbrie". New York: New World Records, 1995.
"Andrew Imbrie, Requiem". New Rochelle, NY: Bridge Records, 2000.
"Andrew Imbrie". Albany, NY: Albany Records, 2002.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of contemporary classical music.
Career
Imbrie was born in New York on April 6, 1921, and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study briefly with Nadia BoulangerNadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
. He returned to the United States the next year to attend Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
where he studied with Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1942. His senior thesis there, a string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, was recorded by the Juilliard Quartet. He then went to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he received an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Music in 1947; there he continued to study with Sessions, who had taken a position at Berkeley. Imbrie taught composition, theory, and analysis at Berkeley from 1949 until his retirement in 1991. In addition to his principal teaching job at Berkeley, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and had a regular teaching post at the San Francisco Conservatory. He died at his home in Berkeley, California at the age of 86. His notable students included Larry Austin
Larry Austin
Larry Austin is a United States composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde...
, Neil Rolnick
Neil Rolnick
Neil B. Rolnick is an American composer and educator living in New York City.Rolnick's compositions have appeared on 16 records and CDs...
and Leslie Wildman
Leslie Wildman
Leslie Wildman is an U.S. American composer, who grew up in Lake Bluff, Illinois.-Biography:Leslie Wildman grew up outside Chicago in Lake Bluff, Illinois She studied piano with Ellen Graff Mehegan. Her first composition teacher was William O. Smith at the University of Washington, Seattle,...
.
Style
Imbrie's style was influenced early by Béla BartókBéla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, and then by his undergraduate teacher, Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
: the influence of Sessions was to prove long-lasting. Imbrie prefers harmonies that are non-triadic, or if triadic, non-functional, and he wrote a tightly organized, often atonal
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
texture with attention to careful motivic development; he avoided the serial techniques which dominated art music composition after the Second World War. Imbrie was also attentive to melodic line and shape, as one of the ways to make a free atonal language accessible.
Imbrie wrote both vocal and instrumental music; he wrote two operas (Three Against Christmas, 1960, and Angle of Repose, 1976), as well as numerous orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo vocal compositions. The Requiem was a memorial to his son John, who died young.
Recordings
"First Recordings of two Naumburg Award Compositions". Columbia Records, AMS 6597- Violin Concerto
"Andrew Imbrie". New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1973. Rereleased, New World Records, 2007.
- Symphony No. 3
- Serenade for flute, viola and piano
- Sonata for cello and piano
"New Music for Virtuosos". New York: New World Records, 1977.
- Three Sketches
"New Music Series Vol. 3". Neuma Records, 1993
- Short Story
"Collage New Music". Boston: GM Recordings, 1989.
- Pilgrimage
"Andrew Imbrie". Boston: GM Recordings, 1993.
- String Quartets 4 & 5
- Impromptu for Violin and Piano
"Music of Andrew Imbrie". New York: CRI, 1994.
- Symphony No. 3
- Serenade for Flute, Viola and Piano
- Sonata for Cello and Piano
"Dream Sequence - Chamber Music of Andrew Imbrie". New York: New World Records, 1995.
- Dream Sequence
- Roethke Songs
- Three Piece Suite
- Campion Songs
- To a Traveler
"Andrew Imbrie, Requiem". New Rochelle, NY: Bridge Records, 2000.
- Requiem
- Piano Concerto No. 3
"Andrew Imbrie". Albany, NY: Albany Records, 2002.
- Spring Fever
- Chicago Bells
- Songs of Then and Now
External links
- Imbrie's San Francisco Conservatory Of Music faculty page
- Collage page about Andrew Imbrie and his music
- Art of the States: Andrew Imbrie three works by the composer
Interviews
- Andrew Imbrie interview by Bruce Duffie, April 26, 1986