Richard Wernick
Encyclopedia
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
.
, who was teaching composition at Brandeis University
. Wernick went on to complete his undergraduate studies at Brandeis, where he studied composition with Fine, Harold Shapero
and Arthur Berger
. He also studied at Tanglewood
with Ernst Toch
, Aaron Copland
, and Boris Blacher and at Mills College
with Leon Kirchner
. Wernick studied conducting with Leonard Bernstein
and Seymour Lipkin.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wernick worked as a film and television composer. His output during this time includes the film score for the short comedy A Bowl of Cherries.
Wernick spent much of his career as a composition professor, teaching at SUNY Buffalo and the University of Chicago
. However, his longest tenure was at the University of Pennsylvania
, from 1968 to 1996. His notable students include Daniel Dorff
, Gerald Levinson
, Philip Maneval
, Ingrid Arauco, and Stephen Jaffe
. David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer considered Wernick's time at University of Pennsylvania, especially during the 1970s, to represent the height of his compositional influence.
In 1983, Riccardo Muti
selected Wernick to be the contemporary music advisor to the Philadelphia Orchestra
. His role as advisor was to assist Muti in identifying new works for the Philadelphia Orchestra to perform, with a stated emphasis on American composers. He held this position until 1989, though he continued to advise Muti as a special consultant until the end of Muti's tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1993.
Wernick won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music
for his composition Visions of Terror and Wonder. He won Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards in 1986 (first place, tie with Bernard Rands
), 1991 (first place), and 1992 (second place). He has also received awards from the Ford, Guggenheim and Naumburg foundations. (also see List of Awards)
Wernick currently lives outside of Philadelphia with his wife, bassoonist Bea Wernick.
"My expectation is that I’m not writing down to an audience, but I’m not trying to write above their heads. I’m not writing to an audience which is illiterate and I’m not writing to an audience which is technically educated in music, but I do write for an audience that I assume has experience in listening to music and is willing to at least meet me halfway. So I’ll go halfway to meet them."
As such, critics have sometimes identified his style as more audience-accessible, particularly when compared to more strictly serialist
composers of the 20th century. More recently, however, some critics have emphasized the modernist characteristics of his style, calling him a "modernist holdout against prevailing trends toward music that falls easier on the ears."
Harmonic analysis of Wernick's work suggests that his style makes reference to tonal harmony, but is usually based on fixed cells of intervals. He occasionally makes use of twelve-tone sequences and their permutations, but this technique is not necessarily a defining feature of his output. Wernick also makes extensive use of baroque-style counterpoint
, especially in his string quartets.
In vocal and programmatic works, Wernick's choice of texts often reflect an ideological message. Kaddish Requiem mourns the victims of the Vietnam War, while the final movement of his Duo for Cello and Piano is a memorial for the attacks on September 11, 2001. Several of his works, most notably Kaddish Requiem and Visions of Terror and Wonder, combine religious texts from multiple traditions.
Performers with whom Wernick has frequently worked include the Juilliard String Quartet
, David Starobin
, Mstislav Rostropovich
, Jan de Gaetani, Lambert Orkis, and Gregory Fulkerson. Wernick's works were represented on some of the earliest releases by Bridge Records, a label founded by Starobin.
Many of Wernick's manuscripts are held by the Special Collections of the Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania.
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
is a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer. He is best known for his composition "Visions of Terror and Wonder," which won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
.
Career
Wernick began his musical studies playing the piano at age 11. His high school music theory teacher took notice of his abilities, and introduced him to Irving FineIrving Fine
Irving Gifford Fine was an American composer. Fine's work assimilated neo-classical, romantic and, later, serial elements...
, who was teaching composition at 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...
. Wernick went on to complete his undergraduate studies at Brandeis, where he studied composition with Fine, Harold Shapero
Harold Shapero
Harold Samuel Shapero is an American composer.-Early years:Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Shapero and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a child, and for some years was a pianist in dance orchestras. With a friend, he founded the Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing-era...
and Arthur Berger
Arthur Berger
Arthur Victor Berger was an American composer who has been described as a New Mannerist.-Biography:Born in New York City, of Jewish descent, Berger studied as an undergraduate at New York University, during which time he joined the Young Composer's Group, as a graduate student under Walter Piston...
. He also studied at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
with 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...
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, and Boris Blacher and at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
with 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...
. Wernick studied conducting with Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
and Seymour Lipkin.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wernick worked as a film and television composer. His output during this time includes the film score for the short comedy A Bowl of Cherries.
Wernick spent much of his career as a composition professor, teaching at SUNY Buffalo and 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...
. However, his longest tenure was at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, from 1968 to 1996. His notable students include Daniel Dorff
Daniel Dorff
Daniel Dorff is an American composer, and is regarded as one of the most influential of his generation...
, Gerald Levinson
Gerald Levinson
Gerald Levinson is an American composer of contemporary classical music.-Life:At university, he studied with George Crumb, Richard Wernick, and George Rochberg. After college, Levinson went to study composition with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory...
, Philip Maneval
Philip Maneval
Philip Maneval is an American composer and arts administrator.As a composer, Maneval has written more than 35 solo, chamber music and orchestral works which have been played by groups including the Chicago String Quartet and Miami String Quartet, and performed at the Marlboro Music Festival and...
, Ingrid Arauco, and Stephen Jaffe
Stephen Jaffe
Stephen Jaffe is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, USA, and serves on the music faculty of Duke University, where he holds the post of Mary and James H. Semans Professor of Music Composition; his colleagues there include composers Scott...
. David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer considered Wernick's time at University of Pennsylvania, especially during the 1970s, to represent the height of his compositional influence.
In 1983, Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
selected Wernick to be the contemporary music advisor to the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
. His role as advisor was to assist Muti in identifying new works for the Philadelphia Orchestra to perform, with a stated emphasis on American composers. He held this position until 1989, though he continued to advise Muti as a special consultant until the end of Muti's tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1993.
Wernick won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
for his composition Visions of Terror and Wonder. He won Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards in 1986 (first place, tie with Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands is a composer of contemporary classical music.Rands studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna in Darmstadt, Germany, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan, Italy.He held residencies...
), 1991 (first place), and 1992 (second place). He has also received awards from the Ford, Guggenheim and Naumburg foundations. (also see List of Awards)
Wernick currently lives outside of Philadelphia with his wife, bassoonist Bea Wernick.
Compositional Style
Wernick has described his style as one that attempts to find common ground with an audience:"My expectation is that I’m not writing down to an audience, but I’m not trying to write above their heads. I’m not writing to an audience which is illiterate and I’m not writing to an audience which is technically educated in music, but I do write for an audience that I assume has experience in listening to music and is willing to at least meet me halfway. So I’ll go halfway to meet them."
As such, critics have sometimes identified his style as more audience-accessible, particularly when compared to more strictly serialist
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
composers of the 20th century. More recently, however, some critics have emphasized the modernist characteristics of his style, calling him a "modernist holdout against prevailing trends toward music that falls easier on the ears."
Harmonic analysis of Wernick's work suggests that his style makes reference to tonal harmony, but is usually based on fixed cells of intervals. He occasionally makes use of twelve-tone sequences and their permutations, but this technique is not necessarily a defining feature of his output. Wernick also makes extensive use of baroque-style 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,...
, especially in his string quartets.
In vocal and programmatic works, Wernick's choice of texts often reflect an ideological message. Kaddish Requiem mourns the victims of the Vietnam War, while the final movement of his Duo for Cello and Piano is a memorial for the attacks on September 11, 2001. Several of his works, most notably Kaddish Requiem and Visions of Terror and Wonder, combine religious texts from multiple traditions.
Performers with whom Wernick has frequently worked include the Juilliard String Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
, David Starobin
David Starobin
David Starobin is an American classical guitarist, record producer, and film director. He is married to Rebecca Askew Starobin , and is the father of Robert Joseph Starobin III , and Allegra Rose Starobin David Starobin (born September 27, 1951 in New York City) is an American classical...
, Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, Jan de Gaetani, Lambert Orkis, and Gregory Fulkerson. Wernick's works were represented on some of the earliest releases by Bridge Records, a label founded by Starobin.
Works
List of works from Theodore Presser Company (includes both works published by Presser and unpublished works)http://www.presser.com/Composers/info.cfm?Name=RICHARDWERNICK#WorksMany of Wernick's manuscripts are held by the Special Collections of the Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania.
Awards
- 2006: Composer of the Year Award (Classical Recording Foundation)
- 2000: Alfred I Dupont Award
- 1992: Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, 2nd Place
- 1991: Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, 1st Place
- 1986: Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, 1st Place
- 1982: National Endowment for the Arts Composition Grant
- 1979: National Endowment for the Arts Composition Grant
- 1977: Pulitzer Prize in Music
- 1976: Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1976: National Institute of Arts and Letters Music Award
- 1976: Naumberg Recording Award
- 1975: National Endowment for the Arts Composition Grant
- 1962-64: Ford Foundation Composition Grants
External links
- Richard Wernick page
- Interview by Bruce Duffie, December 27, 1993