Robert Black (conductor)
Encyclopedia
Note: Not to be confused with the saxophonist or the double-bass player named Robert Black.
Robert Carlisle Black (April 28, 1950 – November 14, 1993) was an American
conductor, pianist and composer. He was most particularly associated with the promotion, performance and recording of contemporary classical music
, but he also played and conducted the standard repertoire.
Robert Black was born in Dallas, Texas
in 1950. The pianist William Black
(1952-2003) was his brother. He started his piano studies at age 5, presenting his first public recital at 13. He studied at Oberlin College
and the Juilliard School
in New York
, where his teachers included Beveridge Webster
, Roger Sessions
and David Diamond
. He taught at Oberlin, Stanford University
, Long Island University (C. W. Post Campus)
, Princeton University
and the University of California, Santa Barbara
.
His early recording of works by Franz Liszt
was nominated by the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
in Budapest
for a Grand Prix du Disque
.
He founded the New York New Music Ensemble
in 1975, was a member of Speculum Musicae
from 1978, and founded the Prism Chamber Orchestra in 1983. He was music director of the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 1993. In 1992 he was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra in Kuopio
, Finland
. Other orchestras he conducted or recorded with included the Warsaw Philharmonic
, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
, and the Silesian Philharmonic
.
As a conductor, he was as much involved with the standard orchestral repertory as with new music. He conducted performance of Beethoven
's Ninth Symphony
at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a cycle of symphonies by Mahler
, and conducted Mozart
piano concertos from the keyboard.
Among the hundreds of works his new music groups premiered were Ralph Shapey
's Three for Six, Joseph Schwantner
's Music of Amber, Dane Rudhyar
's Epic Poem, and works by Elliott Carter
, Jacob Druckman
, Jean Barraqué
and Harrison Birtwistle
.
He appeared at the Bang on a Can
Festival in New York
, the New York Philharmonic
's Horizons Festival, the Warsaw Autumn
Festival, the ISCM
's World Music Days in Athens
, the New England Conservatory Jazz Festival, the Grand Teton
Festival, and the LSU Contemporary Music Festival.
His recordings include: Elliott Carter's In Sleep, in Thunder, Ralph Shapey's Radical Traditionalism, Schoenberg
's Pierrot Lunaire
with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Stravinsky
's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto
, Tod Machover
's Nature's Breath and Towards the Centre, Miriam Gideon
's Five Sonnets From Shakespeare and Symphonica brevis Louise Talma
's Full Circle, Charles Wuorinen
's New York Notes, William Thomas McKinley
's Boston Overture, Stephen Jaffe
's The Rhythm of the Running Plough, Stephen Dembski's Spectra, Joseph Koykkar's Composite, Maxine Warshauer's Revelation, Mitch Hampton's Three Minute Waltz, Paul Renz's Symphonic Poem, David Macbride's Nocturnos de la ventana and works by Beethoven, Roger Sessions and John Cage
.
Robert Black came to serious composition very late in his life. His works were particularly influenced by Charles Wuorinen
and Ralph Shapey
, and include Underground Judges, Three Pieces for Violin and Piano, later reworked as the orchestral work Capriccio (Blown Apart), and Earth Fire, for viola and piano. His sole piece for solo piano was Foramen Habet!, dedicated to Beveridge Webster. A recording titled "The Art of Robert Black" includes a number of his works.
Robert Black died of melanoma
in Palo Alto, California
, on November 14, 1993, aged 43, survived by his wife, parents and two siblings.
Robert Carlisle Black (April 28, 1950 – November 14, 1993) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conductor, pianist and composer. He was most particularly associated with the promotion, performance and recording 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:...
, but he also played and conducted the standard repertoire.
Robert Black was born in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in 1950. The pianist William Black
William Black (pianist)
William David Black was an American pianist and teacher.-Biography:He was born in Dallas, Texas. He had a sister, Beverley, and a brother, the pianist, conductor and composer Robert Black...
(1952-2003) was his brother. He started his piano studies at age 5, presenting his first public recital at 13. He studied at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
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...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where his teachers included Beveridge Webster
Beveridge Webster
Beveridge Webster was an American pianist and educator.Beveridge Webster studied with his father, initially, and in 1921, at age 14, he began five years of study in Europe, first at the American Academy at Fontainebleau, then at the Paris Conservatory with Isidor Philipp and Nadia Boulanger...
, 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...
and David Diamond
David Diamond (composer)
David Leo Diamond was an American composer of classical music.-Life and career:He was born in Rochester, New York and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music under Bernard Rogers, also receiving lessons from Roger Sessions in New York City and Nadia Boulanger in...
. He taught at Oberlin, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Long Island University (C. W. Post Campus)
Long Island University C.W. Post Campus
The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University is a private institution of higher education located in Brookville in Nassau County, New York, United States...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
.
His early recording of works by Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
was nominated by the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
for a Grand Prix du Disque
Grand Prix du Disque
The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...
.
He founded the New York New Music Ensemble
New York New Music Ensemble
The New York New Music Ensemble is a contemporary "Pierrot ensemble" chamber music group. The group formed in 1975 by Robert Block.Current members include: flutist Jayn Rosenfeld, clarinetist Jean Kopperud, violinist Linda Quan, cellist Chris Finckel, pianist Stephen Gosling and percussionist...
in 1975, was a member of 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...
from 1978, and founded the Prism Chamber Orchestra in 1983. He was music director of the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 1993. In 1992 he was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra in Kuopio
Kuopio
Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Other orchestras he conducted or recorded with included the Warsaw Philharmonic
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra , one of Poland's premier musical institutions, was established in 1901 on the initiative of an assembly of Polish aristocrats and financiers, as well as musicians...
, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Slovenský rozhlas
Slovenský rozhlas is Slovakia's national public-service radio broadcaster. The publicly funded company has its headquarters in Bratislava, capital of the Slovak Republic, housed in a building shaped like an inverted pyramid...
, and the Silesian Philharmonic
Silesian Philharmonic
The Filharmonia Śląska w Katowicach is a music institution in Katowice, Silesia, Poland. The Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice was founded in 1945. The first concert of the orchestra took place on 26 of May 1945. A mixed choir was added in 1973....
.
As a conductor, he was as much involved with the standard orchestral repertory as with new music. He conducted performance of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a cycle of symphonies by Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, and conducted Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
piano concertos from the keyboard.
Among the hundreds of works his new music groups premiered were Ralph Shapey
Ralph Shapey
Ralph Shapey was an American composer and conductor. He is well-known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he founded and directed the Contemporary Chamber Players...
's Three for Six, Joseph Schwantner
Joseph Schwantner
Joseph C. Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer and educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize....
's Music of Amber, Dane Rudhyar
Dane Rudhyar
Dane Rudhyar , born Daniel Chennevière, was an author, modernist composer and humanistic astrologer. He was the pioneer of modern transpersonal astrology.-Biography:...
's Epic Poem, and works by Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman was an American composer born in Philadelphia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1950 he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the École Normale de...
, Jean Barraqué
Jean Barraqué
Jean-Henri-Alphonse Barraqué was a French composer and writer on music who developed an individual form of serialism which is displayed in a small output of highly complex but passionate works.-Life:...
and Harrison Birtwistle
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Paul Birtwistle CH is a British contemporary composer.-Life:Birtwistle was born in Accrington, a mill town in Lancashire some 20 miles north of Manchester. His interest in music was encouraged by his mother, who bought him a clarinet when he was seven, and arranged for him to have...
.
He appeared at the Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon...
Festival in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
's Horizons Festival, the Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. Indeed, for many years, it was the only festival of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board...
Festival, the ISCM
International Society for Contemporary Music
The International Society for Contemporary Music is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music.ISCM was established in 1922, in Salzburg. Its core activity is the World Music Days Festival, held every year at a different location. The festival includes cutting edge productions...
's World Music Days in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, the New England Conservatory Jazz Festival, the Grand Teton
Grand Teton
Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, and a classic destination in American mountaineering.- Geography :...
Festival, and the LSU Contemporary Music Festival.
His recordings include: Elliott Carter's In Sleep, in Thunder, Ralph Shapey's Radical Traditionalism, 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...
's Pierrot Lunaire
Pierrot Lunaire
Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds 'Pierrot lunaire' , commonly known simply as Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 , is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg...
with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto
Concerto in E-flat (Dumbarton Oaks)
Concerto in E-flat , subtitled “Dumbarton Oaks 8-v-1938,” is a chamber concerto by Igor Stravinsky, named for the Dumbarton Oaks estate of Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss in Washington, DC, who commissioned it for their thirtieth wedding anniversary...
, Tod Machover
Tod Machover
Tod Machover , is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist....
's Nature's Breath and Towards the Centre, Miriam Gideon
Miriam Gideon
Miriam Gideon was an American composer.-Life:She studied organ with her uncle Henry Gideon and piano with Felix Fox. She also studied with Martin Bernstein, Marion Bauer, Charles Haubiel, and Jacques Pillois...
's Five Sonnets From Shakespeare and Symphonica brevis Louise Talma
Louise Talma
Louise Talma was a composer. She was raised in New York City and studied at the Institute of Musical Arts , 1922–1930, and received her bachelor of music degree from New York University and masters of arts degree from Columbia University...
's Full Circle, Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
's New York Notes, William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley is an American composer and jazz pianist. He has written more than 300 musical compositions, many of which have been recorded by such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony...
's Boston Overture, 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...
's The Rhythm of the Running Plough, Stephen Dembski's Spectra, Joseph Koykkar's Composite, Maxine Warshauer's Revelation, Mitch Hampton's Three Minute Waltz, Paul Renz's Symphonic Poem, David Macbride's Nocturnos de la ventana and works by Beethoven, Roger Sessions and John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
.
Robert Black came to serious composition very late in his life. His works were particularly influenced by Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
and Ralph Shapey
Ralph Shapey
Ralph Shapey was an American composer and conductor. He is well-known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he founded and directed the Contemporary Chamber Players...
, and include Underground Judges, Three Pieces for Violin and Piano, later reworked as the orchestral work Capriccio (Blown Apart), and Earth Fire, for viola and piano. His sole piece for solo piano was Foramen Habet!, dedicated to Beveridge Webster. A recording titled "The Art of Robert Black" includes a number of his works.
Robert Black died of melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, on November 14, 1993, aged 43, survived by his wife, parents and two siblings.
Sources
- NYT, November 16, 1993
- [ allmusic]
- Bridge Records
- Classical Archives