Arnold Elston
Encyclopedia
Arnold Elston was an American composer and educator. Though he studied with Anton Webern
, he did not himself use the twelve-tone technique
.
in 1928, and continued to study with him until 1930, in which year he received his A.B.
from the College of the City of New York
. He went on to take an M.A.
from Columbia University
in 1932, in which year he also won a Joseph H. Bearns Prize
and the Mosenthal Traveling Fellowship. Using the funds from these prizes Elston was able to study with Anton Webern
in Vienna. Though the experience was important for Elston, his music was never imitative of Webern in technique or style. He did not employ the twelve-tone technique
, but his colleague Andrew Imbrie
later observed that the influence of Webern could be heard in his "flexible use of motif as a unifying force, in a certain sprightliness of texture, and in a forward-pushing upbeat quality of phrase". Elston himself was later to write,
Elston returned to the US in 1935 and began a teaching career, working first at Vassar College
and later at the College of the City of New York. In 1939 he studied conducting with Arthur Fiedler
. His Harvard doctoral thesis, presented in 1939, was entitled On Musical Dynamics. He then taught at Cambridge Junior College and gave instruction in composition at Longy School of Music
, before securing a position at the University of Oregon
in 1941.
. Elston had composed the music between 1948 and 1950, using the second of the two fragments which comprise T. S. Eliot
's Sweeney Agonistes as its libretto. In this performance the chamber orchestra of Elston's original score was replaced by a reduction for two pianos.
In 1958 Elston was appointed Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley
. His next opera, The Love of Don Perlimplin, based on Federico Garcia Lorca
's The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden
, was completed in 1958 and premiered in the Dedication Festival of the Alfred Hertz Memorial Hall of Music at the university later in that year.
Elston composed two works that were important contributions to American chamber music. The String Quartet completed in 1961 was the only one of Elston's works to be published during his lifetime, and was recorded by the Pro Arte Quartet
. His Piano Trio was completed in 1967.
Elston's cantata Great Age, Behold Us, completed in 1966, is a setting of words from Saint-John Perse
's Chronique. It was premiered in 1968 at Hertz Hall by the Oakland Symphony under Gerhard Samuel, alongside new works by
Henri Lazarof
, Richard Swift, Karl Kohn
, and Douglas Allanbrook
. He completed an orchestral work in three movements, Prelude, Paean, and Furioso, in 1970.
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, he did not himself use the twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
.
Early life and career
Elston was born in New York on September 30, 1907. He became a private pupil of Rubin GoldmarkRubin Goldmark
Rubin Goldmark was an American composer, pianist, and educator. Although in his time he was an often performed American nationalist composer, his works are seldom played – instead he is known as the teacher of Aaron Copland and George Gershwin...
in 1928, and continued to study with him until 1930, in which year he received his A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the College of the City of New York
College of the City of New York
The College of the City of New York is the former name of New York University's undergraduate college when the university was named "University of the City of New York"....
. He went on to take 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...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1932, in which year he also won a Joseph H. Bearns Prize
Joseph H. Bearns Prize
The Joseph H. Bearns Prize in Music was established on February 3, 1921 by Lillia M. Bearns, in memory of her father. It was her desire to encourage talented young composers in the United States...
and the Mosenthal Traveling Fellowship. Using the funds from these prizes Elston was able to study with Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
in Vienna. Though the experience was important for Elston, his music was never imitative of Webern in technique or style. He did not employ the twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, but his colleague Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Welsh Imbrie was an American composer 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 Boulanger...
later observed that the influence of Webern could be heard in his "flexible use of motif as a unifying force, in a certain sprightliness of texture, and in a forward-pushing upbeat quality of phrase". Elston himself was later to write,
I am clearly in the tradition of the SchoenbergArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
school, probably closer to Schoenberg than to Webern or BergAlban BergAlban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
. But I have never espoused the 12-tone technique. The early works of the Viennese school, such as Schoenberg's Five Orchestra PiecesFive Pieces for OrchestraThe Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 was composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1909. The titles of the pieces, reluctantly added by the composer after the work's completion upon the request of his publisher, are as follows:...
, or Webern's Op. 6, or Op. 10, have always given me more pleasure than Webern's Symphony or Schoenberg's 3rd and 4th String Quartets.
Elston returned to the US in 1935 and began a teaching career, working first at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
and later at the College of the City of New York. In 1939 he studied conducting with Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
. His Harvard doctoral thesis, presented in 1939, was entitled On Musical Dynamics. He then taught at Cambridge Junior College and gave instruction in composition at Longy School of Music
Longy School of Music
The Longy School of Music of Bard College is a conservatory located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston...
, before securing a position at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
in 1941.
Berkeley
In 1957 Elston's chamber opera Sweeney Agonistes was premiered at the University of California Studio Theatre in BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Elston had composed the music between 1948 and 1950, using the second of the two fragments which comprise T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's Sweeney Agonistes as its libretto. In this performance the chamber orchestra of Elston's original score was replaced by a reduction for two pianos.
In 1958 Elston was appointed Professor of Music at 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...
. His next opera, The Love of Don Perlimplin, based on Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
's The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden
The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden
The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden is a play by the twentieth-century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1928 and first performed in 1933...
, was completed in 1958 and premiered in the Dedication Festival of the Alfred Hertz Memorial Hall of Music at the university later in that year.
Elston composed two works that were important contributions to American chamber music. The String Quartet completed in 1961 was the only one of Elston's works to be published during his lifetime, and was recorded by the Pro Arte Quartet
Pro Arte Quartet
The Pro Arte String Quartet was founded in Belgium in 1912, and transferred permanently to Madison, Wisconsin in 1941. After becoming the Court Quartet to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Pro Arte began the first of many international tours in 1919. Bartok, Milhaud and Honegger entrusted the...
. His Piano Trio was completed in 1967.
Elston's cantata Great Age, Behold Us, completed in 1966, is a setting of words from Saint-John Perse
Saint-John Perse
Saint-John Perse was a French poet, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry." He was also a major French diplomat from 1914 to 1940, after which he lived primarily in the USA until 1967.-Biography:Alexis Leger was...
's Chronique. It was premiered in 1968 at Hertz Hall by the Oakland Symphony under Gerhard Samuel, alongside new works by
Henri Lazarof
Henri Lazarof
Henri Lazarof is a Bulgarian composer.Born in Sofia, Bulgaria his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a short stint in Rome, Lazarof settled in the United States, studying with Harold Shapero and Arthur Berger at Brandeis University...
, Richard Swift, Karl Kohn
Karl Kohn
Karl Georg Kohn is an American composer, teacher and pianist.- Biography :Kohn began playing the piano as a child in Vienna and, after he, at the age of 13, immigrated to the United States, continued his education in New York City and at Harvard where he studied composition with Walter Piston,...
, and Douglas Allanbrook
Douglas Allanbrook
Douglas Allanbrook was an American composer, concert pianist and harpsichordist. He was associated with a group of mid-twentieth century Boston composers who were students of Nadia Boulanger.-Life and work:Allanbrook was born on April 1, 1921 and raised in Melrose, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston...
. He completed an orchestral work in three movements, Prelude, Paean, and Furioso, in 1970.