John Thow
Encyclopedia
John Holland Thow was an American music composer
. Thow produced an extensive and diverse body of work comprising solo, chamber, vocal, choral, operatic and orchestral repertoire.
Born in Los Angeles
in 1949, Thow grew up in Ventura, California
. As a child he studied flute
and piano
, and later studied composition with Adolph Weiss
, a pupil of Schoenberg
’s, and conductor Frank Salazar. At University of Southern California
he pursued his Bachelor of Music
, studying composition with Ingolf Dahl
. He continued his studies at Harvard with Earl Kim
and Leon Kirchner
, where he received his Ph.D.
in composition in 1977.
Thow received a Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed him to travel to Rome
for the first time in 1973 to study composition with Luciano Berio
, who would become an important mentor and influence. Thow later returned to Italy as a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize
. During that time he also studied with Luigi Dallapiccola
and Franco Donatoni
.
After teaching at Boston University
, Thow joined the University of California, Berkeley
faculty in 1981, specializing in composition, orchestration
, counterpoint
, theory, in addition to teaching courses on American and European music of the 20th century. Some of his composition students include Keeril Makan, Dwight Banks, Richard Dudas, Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, Hubert Ho, and Dmitri Tymoczko
.
A master of orchestration with a passion for literature and indigenous musical traditions, Thow produced a series of works featuring unusual instrumental combinations and vivid texts. His “Chumash Songs” for clarinet, violin, percussion and piano (2000), commissioned by the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, incorporated melodic and rhythmic elements of the Southern California Chumash Indian tribe. “Musica d’amore” is a trio for oboe d’amore, viola d’amore and harp; “Summer Solstice” (2005) sets contemporary Greek poetry. “Three Echoes” (2001), was written for the five-hole Lakota Sioux flute; “Three Pieces for Carillon,” was performed at the International Carillon Festival at UC Berkeley’s Campanile, and “Six Duets” for baroque
flutes (2006) was premiered in London
.
Thow received commissions from the San Francisco Symphony
, Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
, Boston Musica Viva
, Alea III, Earplay Ensemble, Ventura Chamber Music Festival and Detroit Chamber Winds, among others. His compositions were performed at the Tanglewood and Edinburgh festival
s, and by the L’Orchestra della RAI
in Rome, Speculum Musicae
and the Brooklyn Philharmonic
. His lyrical and richly colored music has been consistently championed by the finest contemporary performers.
Thow’s relationship with the San Francisco Symphony
began with a 1986 performance of his “Resonance.” The Symphony subsequently commissioned the three-movement “Into the Twilight” from Thow in 1988, and “Bellini Sky,” a concerto for English horn inspired by the paintings of the 15th-century artist Giovanni Bellini
, in 2005.
His late work for soprano
and orchestra titled “Eros and Dust” (2003), based on texts by Matthew Arnold
, Edwin Arlington Robinson
, W. H. Auden
and Rumi, was influenced by the September 11, 2001 attacks
on Manhattan
.
Thow received grants from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts
and the American Music Center
, a Guggenheim Fellowship
and the Rome Prize. He was artist-in-residence at the Yaddo, Djerassi, Temecula Arts, and Wurlitzer Foundations.
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...
. Thow produced an extensive and diverse body of work comprising solo, chamber, vocal, choral, operatic and orchestral repertoire.
Born 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...
in 1949, Thow grew up in Ventura, California
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
. As a child he studied flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and later studied composition with Adolph Weiss
Adolph Weiss
Adolph Weiss was an American composer. A modernist, he was a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna; his father was a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni...
, a pupil of Schoenberg
Schoenberg
Schoenberg is the surname of several persons:* Arnold Schoenberg , Austrian-American composer* Claude-Michel Schoenberg , French record producer, actor, singer, popular songwriter, and musical theatre composer...
’s, and conductor Frank Salazar. At 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...
he pursued his Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
, studying composition with Ingolf 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...
. He continued his studies at Harvard with Earl Kim
Earl Kim
Earl Kim was a Korean-American composer.Kim was born in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began piano studies at age ten and soon developed an interest in composition, studying in Los Angeles and Berkeley with, among others, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernest Bloch, and Roger Sessions...
and Leon Kirchner
Leon Kirchner
Leon Kirchner was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3.Kirchner was born in Brooklyn, New York...
, where he received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in composition in 1977.
Thow received a Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed him to travel to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
for the first time in 1973 to study composition with Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
, who would become an important mentor and influence. Thow later returned to Italy as a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
. During that time he also studied with Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....
and Franco Donatoni
Franco Donatoni
Franco Donatoni was an Italian composer.Born in Verona, he started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy...
.
After teaching at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, Thow joined 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...
faculty in 1981, specializing in composition, orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
, counterpoint
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,...
, theory, in addition to teaching courses on American and European music of the 20th century. Some of his composition students include Keeril Makan, Dwight Banks, Richard Dudas, Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, Hubert Ho, and Dmitri Tymoczko
Dmitri Tymoczko
Dmitri Tymoczko is a composer and music theorist. His music, which draws on rock, jazz, and romanticism, has been performed by ensembles such as the Ansermet Quartet, the Brentano Quartet, Janus, Newspeak, the San Francisco Contemporary Players, the Pacifica Quartet, and Ursula Opens...
.
A master of orchestration with a passion for literature and indigenous musical traditions, Thow produced a series of works featuring unusual instrumental combinations and vivid texts. His “Chumash Songs” for clarinet, violin, percussion and piano (2000), commissioned by the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, incorporated melodic and rhythmic elements of the Southern California Chumash Indian tribe. “Musica d’amore” is a trio for oboe d’amore, viola d’amore and harp; “Summer Solstice” (2005) sets contemporary Greek poetry. “Three Echoes” (2001), was written for the five-hole Lakota Sioux flute; “Three Pieces for Carillon,” was performed at the International Carillon Festival at UC Berkeley’s Campanile, and “Six Duets” for baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
flutes (2006) was premiered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Thow received commissions from the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
, Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is an ensemble of classically trained instrumentalists that commissions, performs, and records innovative new music, including music that integrates electronic and acoustic sounds.-History:...
, Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva is a Boston, Massachusetts-based music ensemble founded by its Music Director, Richard Pittman, in 1969 and dedicated to contemporary music.-Composers and compositions:...
, Alea III, Earplay Ensemble, Ventura Chamber Music Festival and Detroit Chamber Winds, among others. His compositions were performed at the Tanglewood and Edinburgh festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
s, and by the L’Orchestra della RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
in Rome, Speculum Musicae
Speculum Musicae
Speculum Musicae is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1971 and is particularly noted for its performances of the music of Elliott Carter...
and the Brooklyn Philharmonic
Brooklyn Philharmonic
The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, commonly known as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, is an American orchestra based in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City...
. His lyrical and richly colored music has been consistently championed by the finest contemporary performers.
Thow’s relationship with the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
began with a 1986 performance of his “Resonance.” The Symphony subsequently commissioned the three-movement “Into the Twilight” from Thow in 1988, and “Bellini Sky,” a concerto for English horn inspired by the paintings of the 15th-century artist Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it...
, in 2005.
His late work for soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and orchestra titled “Eros and Dust” (2003), based on texts by Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
, Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson was an American poet who won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.- Biography :Robinson was born in Head Tide, Lincoln County, Maine, but his family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870...
, W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
and Rumi, was influenced by the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Thow received grants from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
and the American Music Center
American Music Center
The American Music Center is a non-profit organization which aims to promote the creating, performing, and enjoying new American music. The organization was founded in 1939 by composers Marion Bauer, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Harrison Kerr, Otto Luening, and Quincy Porter.The organization has a...
, 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...
and the Rome Prize. He was artist-in-residence at the Yaddo, Djerassi, Temecula Arts, and Wurlitzer Foundations.
External links
- Kozinn, Alan. "John Thow, 57, Composer, Dies" New York Times (March 14, 2007) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/arts/music/14thow.html
- Website in memory of John Thow