Leon Kirchner
Encyclopedia
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. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles
with Ernest Bloch
and Arnold Schoenberg
. Kirchner began graduate studies with Bloch at the University of California, Berkeley
and before completing his degree served in the military and studied with Roger Sessions
in New York. He was Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard
from 1961 to 1991.
While Kirchner lived in California, his piano teacher introduced him to the composer Ernst Toch
. Kirchner also took a composition course with Schoenberg at the University of California at Los Angeles. Having won UCLA's highest musical award, the Prix de Paris, he had hoped to study in Europe, but was prevented from doing so by the outbreak of war there, and instead went to New York for private study with Sessions. Kirchner's musical style is generally linear, chromatic, and rhythmically irregular; it is heavily influenced by Schoenberg but does not employ the twelve-tone technique
.
Kirchner married Gertrude Schoenberg, a singer, on July 8, 1949; they had one son and one daughter. He died of congestive heart failure at his home on Central Park West in New York City. He was 90.
Kirchner's notable students include Richard Wernick
, John Adams, Tõnu Kalam
, Lawrence Moss
, Allen Shawn
, Jonathan Kramer
, Faye-Ellen Silverman
, Tison Street
, Richard St. Clair
, Jack Behrens
, David Borden
, Alan Gilbert
, and Curt Cacioppo
.
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
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3.
Kirchner was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
with Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
and Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. Kirchner began graduate studies with Bloch 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...
and before completing his degree served in the military and 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...
in New York. He was Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard
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...
from 1961 to 1991.
While Kirchner lived in California, his piano teacher introduced him to the composer Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch was a composer of classical music and film scores.- Biography :Toch, born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family of a humble Jewish leather dealer when the city was at its 19th-century cultural zenith, sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music...
. Kirchner also took a composition course with Schoenberg at the University of California at Los Angeles. Having won UCLA's highest musical award, the Prix de Paris, he had hoped to study in Europe, but was prevented from doing so by the outbreak of war there, and instead went to New York for private study with Sessions. Kirchner's musical style is generally linear, chromatic, and rhythmically irregular; it is heavily influenced by Schoenberg but does not employ the twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
.
Kirchner married Gertrude Schoenberg, a singer, on July 8, 1949; they had one son and one daughter. He died of congestive heart failure at his home on Central Park West in New York City. He was 90.
Kirchner's notable students include Richard Wernick
Richard Wernick
Richard Wernick in Boston, Massachusetts is a US composer. He is best known for his composition "Visions of Terror and Wonder," which won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music.-Career:...
, John Adams, Tõnu Kalam
Tõnu Kalam
Tõnu Kalam is an American orchestral pianist and conductor. He is best known as the music director of the UNC Symphony Orchestra at The University of North Carolina. He is also the current music director of the Longview Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
, Lawrence Moss
Lawrence Moss
Lawrence Kenneth Moss is an American composer of contemporary classical music.He holds a B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, an M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, and a Ph. D...
, Allen Shawn
Allen Shawn
Allen Shawn is an American composer, pianist, educator, and author who lives in Vermont.-His music:Among Shawn's available recordings are several of chamber music, a collection of piano music, and his Piano Concerto performed by Ursula Oppens with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under the direction...
, Jonathan Kramer
Jonathan Kramer
Jonathan Donald Kramer , was a U.S. composer and music theorist.- Biography :...
, Faye-Ellen Silverman
Faye-Ellen Silverman
Faye-Ellen Silverman is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She is also an author and an educator.-Life and education:...
, Tison Street
Tison Street
Tison C. Street is an American composer of contemporary classical music and violinist.He studied violin with Einar Hansen from 1951 to 1959. He later studied composition at Harvard University with Leon Kirchner and David Del Tredici, receiving B.A. and M.A...
, Richard St. Clair
Richard St. Clair
Richard St. Clair is an American composer, pedagogue, and pianist.-Life History and Musical Career:Richard St. Clair, a noted American musician, is descended from both Franco-Scottish roots on his father's side, and Norwegian-Swedish roots on his mother's side...
, Jack Behrens
Jack Behrens
Jack Behrens is a Canadian composer, music educator, and writer of American birth. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his music has been performed throughout North America and on CBC Radio and radio stations in he United States...
, David Borden
David Borden
David Borden is an American composer of minimalist music.In 1969, with the support of Robert Moog, he founded the synthesizer ensemble, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company in Ithaca New York. Mother Mallard performed pieces by Robert Ashley, John Cage, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and...
, Alan Gilbert
Alan Gilbert
Alan David Gilbert AO, was a historian and academic administrator who was until June 2010 the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester....
, and Curt Cacioppo
Curt Cacioppo
Curtis Cacioppo is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. He is of Sicilian ancestry on his father's side, and Anglo-Saxon ancestry on his mother's side....
.
Further reading
- Ringer, Alexander L. 2001. "Kirchner, Leon". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers. - Swart, Inette. 2007. "Leon Kirchner's For the Left Hand: Effective Styles of Writing with Specific Reference to the Use of the Octatonic Scale". Musicus 35, no. 2:110–15.
External links
- Recordings and videos of Leon Kirchner's compositions from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
- List of compositions from G.Schirmer, Inc.