Benjamin Lees
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Lees was a contemporary U.S.
composer
of Art music, born in Harbin
, China
, raised in San Francisco and lived in Palm Springs
, California
.
descent. Lees began piano lessons at 5 with K. I. Rodetsky and started composing as a teenager. After serving in the United States military, Lees studied composition under Halsey Stevens
, as well as with Kalitz and Dahl
, at the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles
, California
. Composer George Antheil
, impressed by Lees' compositions, offered further tutelage; this period lasted four years, at the end of which Lees won a Fromm Foundation Award. In 1954 the receipt of a Guggenheim Fellowship
allowed Lees to live in Europe, realizing his goal of developing his individual style away from current fashions in the American Art music scene and resulting in a number of mature and impressive works. Returning to the United States in 1961, he divided his time between composition and teaching at several institutions. These included the Peabody Conservatory (1962-64, 1966-68), Queens College (1964-66), the Manhattan School of Music
(1972-74), and the Juilliard School
(1976-77).
in favor of classical structures. Niall O'Loughlin writes in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition, "From an early interest in the bittersweet melodic style of Prokofiev
and the bizarre and surrealist aspects of Bartok
's music, he progressed naturally under the unconventional guidance of Antheil." Lees' music is rhythmically active, with frequently changing accents and meter even in his early works, and is known for its semitonal inflections in melody and harmony.
In 1954, the NBC Symphony Orchestra
performed his Profiles for Orchestra on a national radio
broadcast. Notable works include Symphony No. 4: Memorial Candles, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
in 1985 to commemorate the Holocaust, and Symphony No. 5: Kalmar Nyckel, written in 1986 to honor the founding of Wilmington, Delaware
. (Kalmar Nyckel
was the name of the ship that first carried the original settlers from Sweden
to what would become Wilmington.)
Lees received a Grammy nomination for Kalmar Nyckel in 2003, following release of a recording by the German orchestra Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under Stephen Gunzenhauser. Honored, Lees attended that year's awards ceremony but lost to Dominick Argento
, who received the Grammy for best classical contemporary composition for his song cycle Casa Guidi
.
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 Art music, born in Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, raised in San Francisco and lived in Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Early life
Benjamin is of RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
descent. Lees began piano lessons at 5 with K. I. Rodetsky and started composing as a teenager. After serving in the United States military, Lees studied composition under Halsey Stevens
Halsey Stevens
-Life:Halsey Stevens was born in Scott, New York and educated at Syracuse University and the University of California, Berkeley. He studied with William Berwald at Syracuse and with the composer Ernest Bloch at Berkeley....
, as well as with Kalitz and Dahl
Ingolf Dahl
Ingolf Dahl was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator.-Biography:Born in Hamburg, Germany to a German father and a Swedish mother, his birth name was Walter Ingolf Marcus. He studied with Philipp Jarnach at the Hochschule für Musik Köln...
, at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Composer George Antheil
George Antheil
George Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
, impressed by Lees' compositions, offered further tutelage; this period lasted four years, at the end of which Lees won a Fromm Foundation Award. In 1954 the receipt of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
allowed Lees to live in Europe, realizing his goal of developing his individual style away from current fashions in the American Art music scene and resulting in a number of mature and impressive works. Returning to the United States in 1961, he divided his time between composition and teaching at several institutions. These included the Peabody Conservatory (1962-64, 1966-68), Queens College (1964-66), the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
(1972-74), and the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
(1976-77).
Compositions
Lees rejected atonalism and AmericanaAmericana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
in favor of classical structures. Niall O'Loughlin writes in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition, "From an early interest in the bittersweet melodic style of Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
and the bizarre and surrealist aspects of Bartok
Béla 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...
's music, he progressed naturally under the unconventional guidance of Antheil." Lees' music is rhythmically active, with frequently changing accents and meter even in his early works, and is known for its semitonal inflections in melody and harmony.
In 1954, the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
performed his Profiles for Orchestra on a national radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcast. Notable works include Symphony No. 4: Memorial Candles, commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
in 1985 to commemorate the Holocaust, and Symphony No. 5: Kalmar Nyckel, written in 1986 to honor the founding of Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
. (Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
was the name of the ship that first carried the original settlers from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to what would become Wilmington.)
Lees received a Grammy nomination for Kalmar Nyckel in 2003, following release of a recording by the German orchestra Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under Stephen Gunzenhauser. Honored, Lees attended that year's awards ceremony but lost to Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento
Dominick Argento is an American composer, best known as a leading composer of lyric opera and choral music...
, who received the Grammy for best classical contemporary composition for his song cycle Casa Guidi
Casa Guidi
Casa Guidi is the fifteenth-century patrician house in Piazza San Felice, 8, near the south end of the Pitti Palace in Florence, in which the piano nobile apartment was inhabited by Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning between 1847 and Mrs Browning's death in 1861. After their son Pen's death in...
.
Awards and honors
- 1953: Fromm Foundation Award
- 1954: Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- 1955: Copley MedalCopley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
- 1956: Fulbright Fellowship
- 1958: UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Award, Sir Arnold Bax Society Medal - 1966: Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1985: Lancaster Symphony OrchestraLancaster Symphony OrchestraThe Lancaster Symphony Orchestra is a local orchestra nestled in the heart of Amish country in the All-America city of Lancaster, PA. They perform year-round at the city's historical Fulton Opera House and is consisted of many highly talented musicians from around the area.It is a member of the...
's Composer's Award - 2003: Grammy Nomination
- National Patron of Delta OmicronDelta OmicronDelta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international professional music fraternity.
Discography
- String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 and 6 (Naxos)
- Complete Violin Works of Benjamin Lees (Albany)
- Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra (New World)
- Violin Sonata No. 2 (Polystone)
- Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (VoxBox, EPR)
- Prologue, Capriccio and Epilog (CRI)
- Symphonies No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5, Etudes for Piano & Orchestra (Albany)
- Symphony No. 4: Memorial Candles (Naxos)
- Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Orchestra (Albany)
- Concerto No. 1 for Piano & Orchestra (Pierian)
- Piano Trio No. 2: Silent Voices (Albany)
- Passacaglia for Orchestra (Delos)
- Piano Sonata No. 4, Mirrors, Fantasy Variations (Albany)
- Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (conducted by Igor BuketoffIgor BuketoffIgor Buketoff was an American conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted British contemporary music, and new music in general.- Biography :Buketoff was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son...
)
External links
- Personal Page
- Magazine Article
- Benjamin Lees @ Boosey & Hawkes
- Interview with Benjamin Lees by Bruce Duffie, June 13, 1987