Robert Boury
Encyclopedia
Robert Boury is an American composer and pianist, and one of the most creative living composers of our time. Boury was part of the revival of Ragtime
led by William Albright
and William Bolcom
in the late sixties. Boury has composed many types of instrumental works and in a variety of medias and genres, such as solo/duet piano works, art songs, both comic opera/opera seria, choral works, ragtime works, orchestral works and elect acoustic pieces.
As a Professor of Music and resident composer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
, he is an active musician and a devoted teacher, who hosts a “Songwriters Showcase” for his students each semester. Boury’s commissioned work, “To Dream Again”, which contains four songs from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest
”, was given its first performance in the summer of 2003 at the 100th Anniversary Convention of Sigma Alpha Iota
, in Dearborn
, Michigan
. In 2004, his university commissioned him to create a work in honor of the opening of the Clinton Library in Little Rock and he continues to volunteer in schools and churches to share his music. Boury has composed music for his university’s alma mater
, as well as for opera and theater events, produced at University of Arkansas at Little Rock
. His many art songs and chamber music pieces have been performed regionally, nationally and internationally as well. Robert Boury is known for his beautiful art songs and cycles. His renowned songs are well thought of and are sung by students and professionals nationwide. Boury also composed many solo piano pieces along with piano ensemble works such as two pianos, four hands pieces (Two Beguines, op. 4, Duelin' Pianos, op. 10d) and one piano, eight hands piece (The Mice Will Play, op. 19). Even though his piano works are not performed as often as his vocal repertoires, they are delightful and a rewarding challenge for pianistic growth.
Like many composers before him, Boury was influenced by different eras and musical styles. Having been born in the middle of the 20th century, he was exposed to a variety of compositional styles. His works combine elements of tonal and non-tonal classical music with a touch of American music and non-Western music. For instance, some of his piano works exhibit a Romantic style while others consist of Rag style influences. His recent piano works show his interest in a Medieval compositional technique called soggetto cavato (Italian: Carved-out subject), which is an innovation that Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez
used. In this technique, the vowels of words are transformed into a musical theme by matching them to the corresponding pitches. The details of his compositional styles will be discussed later in this document, along with his piano solo pieces. His solo piano pieces are also listed in chronological order.
Despite the fact that Boury is a well-established composer, it appears that no written analyses of his piano works exist. His piano works indicate that Boury has absorbed a number of influences, for instance J. S. Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Ross Lee Finney
. The variety of styles in Boury’s piano pieces reveal music history itself in that they connect to the music of an earlier age, such as Renaissance
and Baroque
eras to Romantic
, and Contemporary eras. This characteristic is crucial to the understanding and appreciation of Boury’s style/compositions, and is in need of research and analysis for those who desire to explore Boury’s piano works.
in 1946. His father, Michael Boury, and his brothers ran the commissary for their restaurants, while Boury’s mother, Pearl Mickey, was a stay at home mother. He describes his father as the master of “money and business” and narrates that his father was always bringing home new food recipes to try out on Boury, mother, and sister. He remembers his mother as “a good pianist with wonderful touch in her piano playing”. However, she turned down a full scholarship to the Cincinnati Conservatory to get married. Even though she chose to be a wife and mother, she kept playing the piano for Boury and his sister every day. He describes her sound in the following:
“My mother had the most beautiful touch of anyone I've ever heard up close. She only taught me by example. I've been trying to recreate it ever since.”
Boury was influenced by his mother’s beautiful piano playing and later began his piano study at age ten with Dorothy Ackerman Zoeckler. She was a student of Robert Goldsand
at the Manhattan School of Music
, who was also an author, a published composer, and a member of The National League of American Pen Women. She recognized Boury’s talent in music and encouraged him to explore not just music, but also poetry
and art
. Boury took piano lessons and composition lessons from Ackerman for seven years. He talks about memories of his early musical study with her:
“…she had books on Art and Literature that we, her students could take home. I would go to her house every day after school and sight-read downstairs where parents and students waited for their lesson--hoping for a cancellation so I could have an extra lesson.”
“She sensed that my brain was growing faster than my technique so she gave me a set of Rossini Overtures conducted on 78s by Arturo Toscanni…I had no idea there was such beauty in the world. The music was poignant and funny, traits I would continue to cherish in music. I determined that day, not to become a performer of such music but rather to compose music like that.”
where he studied with David Diamond
in the junior level composition class. Boury still remembers what Diamond said in the class:
“…you can write anything you want, so long as it’s a fugue
”
David Diamond
(born 1915 - died 2005) studied composition with Bernard Rogers
and Roger Sessions
. He met Maurice Ravel
in 1928, and took Ravel’s suggestion to study with Nadia Boulanger
who taught Diamond counterpoint
predominantly. In 1937, Diamond had an opportunity to receive tutorial instruction from Stravinsky in Paris
. Diamond’s works are characterized as a complex polyphonic approach with strong rhythmic pattern and seemingly innate formal logic. Boury followed Diamond’s instructions during his study with him and wrote a song cycle which contains three movements in fugal style. Diamond believed that counterpoint study would make music pour out of his students after that work was done.
When Boury was in his senior year at Manhattan School of Music
, he enrolled in private lessons with Mario Davidovsky
. Mario Davidovsky came originally from Argentina
, and immigrated to the United States
. Davidovsky’s composition study began at age thirteen under Guillermo Graetzer, and later with Aaron Copland
, who was not interested in electronic music
. Despite Copland’s preference to the contrary, Davidovsky continued composing electronic music. With Milton Babbitt
’s encouragement, Davidovsky specialized in live-electronic mixtures in which he explored the possibilities of dialogues between taped music and various performing forces, ranging from a single instrument to full orchestra and chorus. Boury respected Davidovsky musical style and him as a great pedagogue, as a result Boury took Davidovsky’s advice to apply to the University of Michigan
for graduate school.
Born in Minnesota
State, Ross Lee Finney
(born 1906 - died 1997) was another teacher who also influenced Boury while he was at the University of Michigan. Finney was exposed to piano and cello at young age, and by age twelve he was performing in small communities in the Midwest. He studied with Nadia Boulanger
, Edward Burlingame Hill
, Alban Berg
and Roger Sessions
. His style has a wide range from Romantic style, twelve tone, American/Midwestern roots to complex serial techniques. In the fall of 1968, Boury enrolled in the School of Music at the University of Michigan for his graduate degree. He mentions that he was influenced a great deal by just being around Finney and his Second Viennese School
works. The inspiration led Boury to compose an orchestra piece “Summer Music 1968”, which amazed his Music Theory teacher, Richmond Browne, who asked Boury how he could know so much about Vienna in 1935.
While Boury was a graduate student at the University of Michigan
, he also received instruction from Leslie Bassett
, who studied with Arthur Honegger
, a member of Les Six
. Bassett also studied Roberto Gerhard
, Mario Davidovsky
, Ross Lee Finney
and Nadia Boulanger
. Many of Bassett’s works are very short, ranging from two minutes to twenty-eight minutes. They are clearly constructed and convey a strong spiritual content. Bassett used conventional pitch materials within his unique manner.
Bassett taught Composition Seminar and Private Composition courses at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. Boury describes the time studying with Bassett in the following:
“…Mr. Bassett was and is a master orchestral thinker. My lessons with him were largely quiet affairs, him looking for about a half an hour at a page of 30 line full score, then saying, "Aren't the trombones a little high?" Seemed like nothing was happening—yet I look at my own instrumental music and have to say, it looks like Bassett. Very clean, not many doublings. ..”
Bassett remembers Boury as “…a good man and an interesting composer, dedicated to music and working hard…”
while he was pursing his Doctor of Musical Arts
degree (D.M.A.). After Boury graduated from the University of Michigan he took a break from teaching and moved to Indianapolis. There, he worked in a sixteen track studio called “Tape Masters” as a jingle writer as well as a documentary film scores writer. He later held a job at Capitol Records
in Los Angeles to produce lead sheets, song transcriptions before returning to his hometown in Wheeling, West Virginia
to open a piano/composition studio.
In 1977, Boury moved to Lansing, Michigan
after Lansing Community College invited him to create a new music program for an Associate degree. This new degree program consisted of Pop Rock Bands, Pop Rock Voice, Pop Rock Keyboard and Pop Rock Guitar, Business in Music along with Boury’s courses, three levels of Pop Rock Theory and Songwriting courses. This new degree program attracted nationwide attention and enhanced enrollment at Lansing Community College. Boury mentioned that the experience at Lansing Community College changed his life tremendously as well as the career opportunity that led him to be at the current position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Boury joined University of Arkansas
in 1981 as a resident composer and a professor of music theory and composition. He teaches courses such as; Analyses, Songwriting, as well as private sessions, which he enjoys. Boury also hosts a Songwriters Showcase for his students every semester. He believes that this event is a great opportunity for his students to present their works as composers. Students are asked to find other musicians to perform in the event rather than playing their own composition projects. When Boury was asked for the reason, he said that those students are all composers and should attend as a composer, not as a performer. Later when the author requested to know about his philosophy of teaching, Boury told that;
“A friend of mine challenged me to create a philosophy of Teaching in six words. Mine is, "I'm a composer--so are you.’’
Boury’s devotion toward teaching and being a resident composer can be seen just by talking to him. Boury says that he loves to teach and explains;
“The teaching philosophy is my message whether children, adults, hospital patients, university students bother general education students and music majors and minors….”
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
led by William Albright
William Albright
William Albright may refer to:*William F. Albright , evangelical Methodist archaeologist, biblical authority, linguist and expert on ceramics*William Albright , American composer, pianist, and organist...
and William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
in the late sixties. Boury has composed many types of instrumental works and in a variety of medias and genres, such as solo/duet piano works, art songs, both comic opera/opera seria, choral works, ragtime works, orchestral works and elect acoustic pieces.
As a Professor of Music and resident composer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
, he is an active musician and a devoted teacher, who hosts a “Songwriters Showcase” for his students each semester. Boury’s commissioned work, “To Dream Again”, which contains four songs from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
”, was given its first performance in the summer of 2003 at the 100th Anniversary Convention of Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
, in Dearborn
Dearborn
-Places:In the United States, all named after Henry Dearborn :* Dearborn, Michigan* Dearborn, Missouri* Dearborn County, Indiana* Fort Dearborn * Fort Dearborn , in present-day Odiorne State Park...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. In 2004, his university commissioned him to create a work in honor of the opening of the Clinton Library in Little Rock and he continues to volunteer in schools and churches to share his music. Boury has composed music for his university’s alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, as well as for opera and theater events, produced at University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
. His many art songs and chamber music pieces have been performed regionally, nationally and internationally as well. Robert Boury is known for his beautiful art songs and cycles. His renowned songs are well thought of and are sung by students and professionals nationwide. Boury also composed many solo piano pieces along with piano ensemble works such as two pianos, four hands pieces (Two Beguines, op. 4, Duelin' Pianos, op. 10d) and one piano, eight hands piece (The Mice Will Play, op. 19). Even though his piano works are not performed as often as his vocal repertoires, they are delightful and a rewarding challenge for pianistic growth.
Like many composers before him, Boury was influenced by different eras and musical styles. Having been born in the middle of the 20th century, he was exposed to a variety of compositional styles. His works combine elements of tonal and non-tonal classical music with a touch of American music and non-Western music. For instance, some of his piano works exhibit a Romantic style while others consist of Rag style influences. His recent piano works show his interest in a Medieval compositional technique called soggetto cavato (Italian: Carved-out subject), which is an innovation that Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez
Josquin Des Prez
Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...
used. In this technique, the vowels of words are transformed into a musical theme by matching them to the corresponding pitches. The details of his compositional styles will be discussed later in this document, along with his piano solo pieces. His solo piano pieces are also listed in chronological order.
Despite the fact that Boury is a well-established composer, it appears that no written analyses of his piano works exist. His piano works indicate that Boury has absorbed a number of influences, for instance J. S. Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg and Roger Sessions...
. The variety of styles in Boury’s piano pieces reveal music history itself in that they connect to the music of an earlier age, such as Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and 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...
eras to Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
, and Contemporary eras. This characteristic is crucial to the understanding and appreciation of Boury’s style/compositions, and is in need of research and analysis for those who desire to explore Boury’s piano works.
Biographical Background
Robert Wade Boury was born in Wheeling, West VirginiaWheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in 1946. His father, Michael Boury, and his brothers ran the commissary for their restaurants, while Boury’s mother, Pearl Mickey, was a stay at home mother. He describes his father as the master of “money and business” and narrates that his father was always bringing home new food recipes to try out on Boury, mother, and sister. He remembers his mother as “a good pianist with wonderful touch in her piano playing”. However, she turned down a full scholarship to the Cincinnati Conservatory to get married. Even though she chose to be a wife and mother, she kept playing the piano for Boury and his sister every day. He describes her sound in the following:
“My mother had the most beautiful touch of anyone I've ever heard up close. She only taught me by example. I've been trying to recreate it ever since.”
Boury was influenced by his mother’s beautiful piano playing and later began his piano study at age ten with Dorothy Ackerman Zoeckler. She was a student of Robert Goldsand
Robert Goldsand
Robert Goldsand was an Austrian-American classical pianist.- Life :Goldsand was born in Vienna, Austria in 1911. He began musical studies at age four on the violin, but discovery of his talent for the piano, and consequent concentration on that instrument, began within a year...
at 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...
, who was also an author, a published composer, and a member of The National League of American Pen Women. She recognized Boury’s talent in music and encouraged him to explore not just music, but also poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. Boury took piano lessons and composition lessons from Ackerman for seven years. He talks about memories of his early musical study with her:
“…she had books on Art and Literature that we, her students could take home. I would go to her house every day after school and sight-read downstairs where parents and students waited for their lesson--hoping for a cancellation so I could have an extra lesson.”
“She sensed that my brain was growing faster than my technique so she gave me a set of Rossini Overtures conducted on 78s by Arturo Toscanni…I had no idea there was such beauty in the world. The music was poignant and funny, traits I would continue to cherish in music. I determined that day, not to become a performer of such music but rather to compose music like that.”
Teachers and Influences
In 1964, Boury continued further music education at Manhattan School of MusicManhattan 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...
where he studied with David Diamond
David Diamond
David Diamond is the name of:* David Diamond , American composer* David Diamond * David Diamond , American screenwriter* David Diamond, frontman and songwriter with Canadian band The Kings...
in the junior level composition class. Boury still remembers what Diamond said in the class:
“…you can write anything you want, so long as it’s a fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
”
David Diamond
David Diamond
David Diamond is the name of:* David Diamond , American composer* David Diamond * David Diamond , American screenwriter* David Diamond, frontman and songwriter with Canadian band The Kings...
(born 1915 - died 2005) studied composition with Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers was an American composer.Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloch, Percy Goetschius, and Nadia Boulanger. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Hartt School, and the Eastman School of Music...
and 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...
. He met Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
in 1928, and took Ravel’s suggestion to study with Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
who taught Diamond 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,...
predominantly. In 1937, Diamond had an opportunity to receive tutorial instruction from Stravinsky in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Diamond’s works are characterized as a complex polyphonic approach with strong rhythmic pattern and seemingly innate formal logic. Boury followed Diamond’s instructions during his study with him and wrote a song cycle which contains three movements in fugal style. Diamond believed that counterpoint study would make music pour out of his students after that work was done.
When Boury was in his senior year at 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...
, he enrolled in private lessons with Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky is an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the US, where he lives today...
. Mario Davidovsky came originally from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Davidovsky’s composition study began at age thirteen under Guillermo Graetzer, and later with 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"...
, who was not interested in electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. Despite Copland’s preference to the contrary, Davidovsky continued composing electronic music. With Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
’s encouragement, Davidovsky specialized in live-electronic mixtures in which he explored the possibilities of dialogues between taped music and various performing forces, ranging from a single instrument to full orchestra and chorus. Boury respected Davidovsky musical style and him as a great pedagogue, as a result Boury took Davidovsky’s advice to apply to the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
for graduate school.
Born in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
State, Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg and Roger Sessions...
(born 1906 - died 1997) was another teacher who also influenced Boury while he was at the University of Michigan. Finney was exposed to piano and cello at young age, and by age twelve he was performing in small communities in the Midwest. He studied with Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
, Edward Burlingame Hill
Edward Burlingame Hill
Edward Burlingame Hill was an American composer.After graduating from Harvard University in 1894, Hill studied music in Boston with John Knowles Paine, Frederick Field Bullard, Margaret Ruthven Lang, and George Elbridge Whiting, and in Paris with Charles Marie Widor...
, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
and 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...
. His style has a wide range from Romantic style, twelve tone, American/Midwestern roots to complex serial techniques. In the fall of 1968, Boury enrolled in the School of Music at the University of Michigan for his graduate degree. He mentions that he was influenced a great deal by just being around Finney and his Second Viennese School
Second Viennese School
The Second Viennese School is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where he lived and taught, sporadically, between 1903 and 1925...
works. The inspiration led Boury to compose an orchestra piece “Summer Music 1968”, which amazed his Music Theory teacher, Richmond Browne, who asked Boury how he could know so much about Vienna in 1935.
While Boury was a graduate student at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, he also received instruction from Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
, who studied with Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
, a member of Les Six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
. Bassett also studied Roberto Gerhard
Roberto Gerhard
Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder was a Catalan Spanish composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Robert Gerhard.-Life:...
, Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky is an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the US, where he lives today...
, Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg and Roger Sessions...
and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
. Many of Bassett’s works are very short, ranging from two minutes to twenty-eight minutes. They are clearly constructed and convey a strong spiritual content. Bassett used conventional pitch materials within his unique manner.
Bassett taught Composition Seminar and Private Composition courses at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. Boury describes the time studying with Bassett in the following:
“…Mr. Bassett was and is a master orchestral thinker. My lessons with him were largely quiet affairs, him looking for about a half an hour at a page of 30 line full score, then saying, "Aren't the trombones a little high?" Seemed like nothing was happening—yet I look at my own instrumental music and have to say, it looks like Bassett. Very clean, not many doublings. ..”
Bassett remembers Boury as “…a good man and an interesting composer, dedicated to music and working hard…”
Musical career
Boury served as a teaching fellow at University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
while he was pursing his Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
degree (D.M.A.). After Boury graduated from the University of Michigan he took a break from teaching and moved to Indianapolis. There, he worked in a sixteen track studio called “Tape Masters” as a jingle writer as well as a documentary film scores writer. He later held a job at Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in Los Angeles to produce lead sheets, song transcriptions before returning to his hometown in Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
to open a piano/composition studio.
In 1977, Boury moved to Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
after Lansing Community College invited him to create a new music program for an Associate degree. This new degree program consisted of Pop Rock Bands, Pop Rock Voice, Pop Rock Keyboard and Pop Rock Guitar, Business in Music along with Boury’s courses, three levels of Pop Rock Theory and Songwriting courses. This new degree program attracted nationwide attention and enhanced enrollment at Lansing Community College. Boury mentioned that the experience at Lansing Community College changed his life tremendously as well as the career opportunity that led him to be at the current position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Boury joined University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in 1981 as a resident composer and a professor of music theory and composition. He teaches courses such as; Analyses, Songwriting, as well as private sessions, which he enjoys. Boury also hosts a Songwriters Showcase for his students every semester. He believes that this event is a great opportunity for his students to present their works as composers. Students are asked to find other musicians to perform in the event rather than playing their own composition projects. When Boury was asked for the reason, he said that those students are all composers and should attend as a composer, not as a performer. Later when the author requested to know about his philosophy of teaching, Boury told that;
“A friend of mine challenged me to create a philosophy of Teaching in six words. Mine is, "I'm a composer--so are you.’’
Boury’s devotion toward teaching and being a resident composer can be seen just by talking to him. Boury says that he loves to teach and explains;
“The teaching philosophy is my message whether children, adults, hospital patients, university students bother general education students and music majors and minors….”
Piano
Boury comments that he was in love with his first instrument, piano by age thirteen. Although his piano solo works constitute a substantially few number within his overall output, his piano pieces illustrate an interesting diversity of style tendencies in his music.- WoO 1 Sonata for Piano (1965)
- WoO 4 Fantasy, Ostinato and Fugue for Piano (1968)
- Op. 1 Blues, Rags and Stomps (1970–1973), Book I & II
- Op. 2a Suite for Piano (1974)
- Op. 3 Hats'n Horns (1974)
- Op. 4 Two Beguines (1975) for two pianos, four hands
- Op. 10d Duelin' Pianos (1973) for two pianos, four hands
- Op. 15 Beautiful Ohio (1980)
- Op. 19 The Mice Will Play (1981) for one piano, eight hands
- Op. 20 Portrait of Chopin (1985)
- Op. 53 Sonatina (2000)
- Op. 60 12 Secret Designs for Piano (2006)
- Op. 61 Three Poetics (2006)
- Op. 62 Cherokee Months (2007)
- Op. 63 Three Lost Waltzes (2008)
- Op. 64 From Dictionary of Angels (2009)
Vocal
- WoO 2 Four Songs on Death (1966) for mezzo-soprano and piano
- WoO 3 Three Serious Songs (1967) for soprano and piano
- Op. 5 American Names (1979) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 6 Trying to Pray (1980) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 7 Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (1980) for voice, narrator, wood wind and piano, Song cycle.
- Op. 8 The Branch Will Not Break (1981) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 9 Nonsense Songs (1983) for voice and piano
- Op. 11 A Field Guide to the Birds (1983) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 12 Flower Songs (1983) for voice and piano
- Op. 17 Five Love Songs (1984) for voice and piano
- Op. 18 Two Prayers (1984) for voice
- Op. 23 Just Before Dawn (1985) for voice, cello and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 24 Two Peace Songs (1985) for voice and piano
- Op. 25 Spring Songs (1985) for voice and piano/guitar
- Op. 26 Song of the Silver Pine (1986) for voice and piano
- Op. 26a Song of the Silver Pine (1986) for voice, clarinet, strings and piano
- Op. 27 A Bowlful of Rhinos (1985) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 28 Two Love Songs (1985) for voice, flute, clarinet and piano
- Op. 29 The American Sublime (1987) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 30 Sleeping in the Forest (1987) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 31 The Region November (1987) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 32 Carnations (1988) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 33 In the Midst of Winter (1988) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 34 Elegies (1980–90) for voice and piano
- Op. 40 November by the Sea (1991) for voice and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 44 Three Love Songs (1996) for baritone and piano
- Op. 46 New Folk Songs (1998) for soprano and piano/guitar, Collection of songs
- Op. 47 The Tree of Night (1998) for voice and piano, Two songs
- Op. 49 Chinese Songs (1998) for mezzo-soprano and piano, Three songs
- Op. 50 Three Wishes (1999) for soprano and piano, Three songs
- Op. 56 To Dream Again (2002) for soprano and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 57 Domination of Black (2003) for mezzo-soprano and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 58 Of History and Hope (2004) for mezzo-soprano, choir and piano, Song cycle
- Op. 59 Nativity Songs (2009) for soprano and piano, Song cycle
Choral
- Op. 3a The Mathematician (1986) for children choir and narrator
- Op. 13 Good Friday Cantata (1984) for SATB, soprano and tenor solos with piano/organ accompaniment
- Op. 13a Three Sacred Pieces (1984) for SATB with piano/organ accompaniment
- Op. 14 American Madrigals (1980-4) for women's chorus, guitar, oboe with piano/harp accompaniment
- Op. 38 Motets (1990) for unaccompanied SATB chorus
- Op. 43 For the Governor (1992) for unaccompanied chorus, Three hymns
Opera
- Op. 35 Bowl, Cat, Broomstick (1988), 1 act
- Op. 37 Cedar Tree and River-water (1990), 1 act
- Op. 42 Maggie (1991), Ragtime musical
Orchestral
- WoO 5 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1967)
- WoO 7 Summer Music (1968)
- WoO 9 Grylli (1971)
- WoO 10 The Alligator Bride (1972)
- Op. 2 A Toy Symphony (1974)
- Op. 10 Frontier Overture (1976)
- Op. 10a Folk Symphony (1983)
- Op. 10b Folk Symphony (1984), string orchestra
- Op. 15a Three Pastorales (1980) English horn and string orchestra
Chamber and Instrumental
- WoO 6a Sonata for Solo Cello (1968)
- WoO 6b Sonata for Two Cellos (1968)
- WoO 11 Migration (1986) for flute, oboe and piano
- Op. 7a Ten Bagatelles (Butterflies of North America) (1988) for saxophone quartet Score: Encora Music Press
- Op. 7b Ten Bagatelles (Butterflies of North America) (1988) for woodwind quintet
- Op. 10c String Quartet (1984)
- Op. 15 Beautiful Ohio (1980) for English horn and string quartet
- Op. 15b Fantasia and Mimesis (1985) for cello and ensemble
- Op. 16 Piano Trio (1983) for piano, violin and cello
- Op. 16a Duo (1983) for flute and piano
- Op. 21 Celebrations (1981) for brass ensemble
- Op. 22 Ballade (1985) for cello/tenor saxophone and piano, Score: Encord Publications, 1995. Recording: Gasparo (GSCD-274), 1989.
- Op. 36 Country Caprices (1988) for two violas
- Op. 36a Country Caprices (1988) for two violins
- Op. 36b Country Caprices (1988) for two cellos
- Op. 36c Country Caprices (1988) for bassoon and cello
- Op. 36d Country Caprices (1988) for oboe and violin
- Op. 39 Two Blues (1970–1986) for violin and piano
- Op. 45a Poem (1988) for flute and piano
- Op. 45b Poem (1988) for flute, oboe and piano
- Op. 45c Poem (1988) for cello and piano
- Op. 45d Poem (1988) for tenor saxophone and piano
- Op. 48 Hymns to the Night (1998) for narrator and piano trio
- Op. 51 Lives of the Great Butterflies (1999) for two alto recorders and tenor recorder
- Op. 55a Ballade No. 2 (2001) for trumpet, oboe and piano
- Op. 55b Sonata-Ballade (2002) for cello and piano
Electroacoustic
- WoO 8 Honk for Piano and Tape (1970)