Robert Moran
Encyclopedia
Robert Moran is an American
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 operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works.

Life

A native of Denver, Moran studied twelve-tone music
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...

 privately with Hans Apostel in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and completed his Masters Degree
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1963 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...

 in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, where he studied with Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

 and Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...

 (Ruppenthal and Patterson 2001). After having lived for periods ranging from a few months to a couple of years in various locales, from Vienna, Berlin, NYC, and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 to Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 and San Francisco, he has made Philadelphia his home since 1984.

Many of his works have been recorded: his two albums for Argo Records
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...

 were taken out of print, but reissued as a two CD set by Innova Records
Innova Records
Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum, based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 as a way to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minnesota Innova Recordings is the independent...

, which also released a new CD of his music. Some of his music has been made available in mp3 format at the classical midi archives site.http://www.classicalarchives.com/artists/moran.html The Juniper Tree was finally issued on CD in 2009.

Operas

  • The Juniper Tree
    The Juniper Tree (opera)
    The Juniper Tree is an opera co-composed by Philip Glass and Robert Moran in 1985 to a libretto by Arthur Yorinks based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale....

    (1985) (co-composed with Philip Glass
    Philip Glass
    Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...

    )
  • Desert of Roses (premiered February 1992)
  • From the Towers of the Moon
    From the Towers of the Moon
    From the Towers of the Moon is an opera in one act by Robert Moran, with a libretto by Michael John LaChiusa. It is Moran's third opera and is based upon an ancient Japanese legend, called Princess Kaguya, of a Moon Goddess who comes to Earth...

    (premiered March 1992)
  • The Dracula Diary (1994)
  • Night Passage (1995)


Miniature operas with durations of less than ten minutes, for a variety of voices and small instrumental ensembles:
1) "Remember Him to Me"
2) "So Suddenly a War"
3) "Your Pig is Dead"
etc.
The libretti-fragments are by Gertrude Stein.

Ballets

  • Rocky Road to Kansas (1995)


"Waltz In Memoriam Maurice Ravel" for piano

"Wendekreise" world premiere at the Bavarian State Opera, 1972

"ALICE" full length ballet, commissioned by the Scottish Ballet, world premiere April 2011

Other works

  • For Organ (1967)
  • Thirty Nine Minutes for Thirty Nine Autos (August 1969)
  • Hallelujah (1971)
  • Emblems of Passage (1974)
  • Dream Quilt (1997)
  • The Eternal Hour (1974)
  • Pachelbel Promenade
  • Waltz in Memoriam Maurice Ravel
    Maurice Ravel
    Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...

    (1977)
  • Ten Miles High Over Albania (1983)
  • Three Dances (1983/86)
  • Survivor From Darmstadt (1984)
  • Open Veins (1986)
  • Halicarnassian Quartet
  • Leipziger Kerzenspiel
  • Three 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...

     Songs
    (1988)
  • Requiem
    Requiem
    A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...

    : Chant Du Cygne
    (March 1990)
  • Points of Departure (1993)
  • Seven Sounds Unseen (1993)
  • 32 Cryptograms for Derek Jarman
    Derek Jarman
    Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...

    (1995)
  • Obrigado (1996)
  • Voce Della Fontana (1998)
  • Trinity Requiem (Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001) (2011)

External links

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