Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American 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...

, teacher, and pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. He was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work and teaching as well as for training many noted composers in composition at 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...

.

His students at Juilliard included 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...

, Michael Jeffrey Shapiro

Michael Jeffrey Shapiro

Michael Jeffrey Shapiro is a noted American composer and conductor.The son of a klezmer band clarinetist, Michael Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, New York, and spent most of his high school years in Baldwin, a Long Island suburb. The winner of several piano competitions during his youth, he earned...

, Kenneth Fuchs

Kenneth Fuchs

Kenneth Fuchs is an American composer, conductor, and educator. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut ....

, Richard Danielpour

Richard Danielpour

Richard Danielpour is an American composer.-Biography:Danielpour is born of Persian/Jewish descent. He studied at Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory of Music, and later at the Juilliard School of Music, where he received a DMA in composition in 1986...

, Robert Dennis, Peter Schickele

Peter Schickele

Johann Peter Schickele is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist. He is best known for his comedy music albums featuring his music that he presents as music written by the fictional composer P. D. Q...

, Lowell Liebermann

Lowell Liebermann

Lowell Liebermann is an American composer, pianist and conductor.At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1...

, Robert Witt

Robert William Witt

Robert William Witt was one of the mid-20th century neoclassical and experimental composers. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, he was a composer, pianist, and professor of music at Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University...

 and Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...

. He also taught composition to conductor James DePreist

James DePreist

James Anderson DePreist is an American conductor. One of the few African American conductors on the world stage, he is currently the director of conducting and orchestral studies at the Juilliard School and laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony.-Biography:DePreist was born in Philadelphia...

 at the Philadelphia Conservatory

University of the Arts (Philadelphia)

The University of the Arts is one of the United States' oldest universities dedicated to the arts. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia...

.

Life

Persichetti was born in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in 1915 and remained a resident of that city throughout his life. Though neither of his parents were musicians, his musical education began early. Persichetti enrolled in the Combs College of Music

Combs College of Music

Combs College of Music was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1885 as Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music by Gilbert Raynolds Combs, celebrated pianist,organist and composer....

 at the age of five, where he studied piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

, double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

 and later music theory and composition with Russel King Miller, whom he considered a great influence. By the time he reached his teens, he was paying for his own education by accompanying and performing. He continued to do so throughout high school, adding church organist, orchestral player and radio staff pianist to his experience. His first public performance of his own original works came at the age of 14. In addition to his musical talents, the young Persichetti attended art school and remained an avid sculptor until his death. He attended Combs for his undergraduate education as well. After receiving his bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in 1936 he was immediately offered a teaching position.

By the age of 20, Persichetti was simultaneously head of the theory and composition department at Combs, a conducting major with Fritz Reiner

Fritz Reiner

Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...

 at the Curtis Institute, and a student of piano (with Olga Samaroff

Olga Samaroff

Olga Samaroff was a pianist, music critic, and teacher. Her second husband was conductor Leopold Stokowski.Samaroff was born Lucy Mary Agnes Hickenlooper in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Galveston, where her family owned a business later wiped out in the Great 1900 Galveston hurricane...

) and composition at the Philadelphia Conservatory. He earned a master's degree in 1941 and a doctorate in 1945 from Philadelphia, as well as a conducting diploma from Curtis. In 1941, while still a student, Persichetti headed the theory and composition department as well as the department of postgraduate study at Philadelphia. In 1947, William Schuman

William Schuman

William Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...

 extended an offer of professorship at Juilliard, where his students included Einojuhani Rautavaara

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Einojuhani Rautavaara is a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music, and is one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius.-Life:...

, Leonardo Balada

Leonardo Balada

Leonardo Balada , is a Catalan American composer, now teaching and composing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Life:...

, Steven Gellman

Steven Gellman

Steven Gellman is a Canadian composer and pianist. He has been commissioned to write works for the Besançon International Music Festival, the CBC Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, McGill University, Musica Camerata, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra,...

, Peter Schickele

Peter Schickele

Johann Peter Schickele is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist. He is best known for his comedy music albums featuring his music that he presents as music written by the fictional composer P. D. Q...

 (P.D.Q. Bach), Michael Jeffrey Shapiro

Michael Jeffrey Shapiro

Michael Jeffrey Shapiro is a noted American composer and conductor.The son of a klezmer band clarinetist, Michael Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, New York, and spent most of his high school years in Baldwin, a Long Island suburb. The winner of several piano competitions during his youth, he earned...

, Larry Thomas Bell, Claire Polin

Claire Polin

Claire Polin was an American composer of contemporary classical music, musicologist, and flutist....

, Toshi Ichiyanagi

Toshi Ichiyanagi

is a Japanese composer of avant-garde music. He studied with Tomojiro Ikenouchi and John Cage.One of his most notable works is the 1960 composition, Kaiki, which combined Japanese instruments, shō and koto, and western instruments, harmonica and saxophone. Another work Distance requires the...

, Robert Witt

Robert William Witt

Robert William Witt was one of the mid-20th century neoclassical and experimental composers. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, he was a composer, pianist, and professor of music at Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University...

 (who also studied with Persichetti at the Philadelphia Conservatory) and 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...

. He became Editorial Director of the Elkan-Vogel publishing house in 1952.

Music

Persichetti is one of the major figures in American music of the 20th century, both as a teacher and a composer. Notably, his Hymns and Responses for the Church Year has become a standard setting for church choirs. His numerous compositions for wind ensemble are often introductions to contemporary music for high school and college students. His early style was marked by the influences of Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

, Bartók

Béla Bartók

Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...

, Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

, and 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"...

 before developing into his own distinct voice in the 1950s.

Persichetti's music draws on a wide variety of thought in 20th century composition as well as Big Band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 music. His own style was marked by use of two elements he refers to as "graceful" and "gritty": the former being more lyrical and melodic, the latter being sharp and intensely rhythmic. He frequently used polytonality

Polytonality

The musical use of more than one key simultaneously is polytonality . Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time...

 and pandiatonicism in his writing and his music could be marked by sharp rhythmic interjections, but his embracing of diverse strands of musical thought makes characterizing his body of work difficult. This trend continued throughout his compositional career. His music lacked sharp changes in style over time. (Persichetti once proclaimed in an interview in Musical Quarterly that his music was "...not like a woman, that is, it does not have periods!"). He frequently composed in his car, sometimes taping staff paper to the steering wheel.

His piano music forms the bulk of his creative output, with a concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

, a concertino, twelve sonatas, and a variety of other pieces written for the instrument, virtuosic

Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...

 pieces as well as pedagogical and amateur-level compositions. Persichetti was an accomplished pianist. Persichetti wrote many pieces suitable for less mature performers, considering them to have serious artistic merit. Persichetti is also one of the major composers for the concert wind band

Concert band

A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...

 repertoire, with his 14 works for the ensemble. The Symphony No. 6 for band is of particular note as a standard larger work. He wrote one opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, entitled The Sibyl. The music was noted by critics for its color, but the dramatic and vocal aspects of the work were found by some to be lacking. He wrote nine symphonies

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

, of which the first two were withdrawn (as were the first two symphonies by two other American composers of the late thirties and early forties, William Schuman

William Schuman

William Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...

 and Peter Mennin

Peter Mennin

Peter Mennin was an American composer and teacher. He directed the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, then for many years ran the Juilliard School, succeeding William Schuman in this role...

), and four string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

s. Many of his other works are organized into series. One of these, a collection of primarily instrumental works entitled Parables, contains 25 works, many for unaccompanied wind instruments (complete listing below), and his 15 Serenades include such unconventional combinations as a trio for trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

, viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

, and cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 as well as selections for orchestra, for band, and for duo piano.

In addition to his frequent appearances as lecturer on college campuses, for which he was noted for his witty and engaging manner, he wrote the famous music theory textbook Twentieth Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice as well as coauthoring a monograph, with Flora Rheta Schreiber

Flora Rheta Schreiber

Flora Rheta Schreiber , an American journalist, was the author of the 1973 bestseller Sybil, the story of a woman who suffered from dissociative identity disorder....

, on William Schuman

William Schuman

William Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...

.

Selected works

• Celebrations, for Chorus and Wind Ensemble, Op. 103
• Chorale Prelude: So Pure the Star, Op. 91
• Chorale Prelude: Turn Not Thy Face, Op. 105
• Divertimento For Band, Op. 42
• Masquerade for Band, Op. 102
• Masques for violin and piano Op. 99
• Mass for a capella mixed chorus, Op. 84
• Pageant, Op. 59
• Parable IX for Band, Op. 121
• Pastoral for Wind Quintet, Op. 21
• Psalm for Band, Op. 53
• Symphony No. 6 For Band
• The Hollow Men, for trumpet and string orchestra, Op. 25
• The Sibyl: A Parable of Chicken Little (Parable XX): An Opera in One Act, Op. 135
• Winter Cantata, Op. 97 for Women’s Chorus, Flute, and Marimba

Complete listing of parables

• Parable [I] for Flute, Op. 100 (1965)
• Parable II for Brass Quintet, Op. 108 (1968)
• Parable III for Oboe, Op. 109 (1968)
• Parable IV for Bassoon, Op. 110 (1969)
• Parable V for Carillon, Op. 112 (1969)
• Parable VI for Organ, Op. 117 (1971)
• Parable VII for Harp, Op. 119 (1971)
• Parable VIII for Horn, Op. 120 (1972)
• Parable IX for Band, Op. 121 (1972)
• String Quartet No. 4 (Parable X), Op. 122 (1972)
• Parable XI for Alto Saxophone, Op. 123 (1972)
• Parable XII for Piccolo, Op. 125 (1973)
• Parable XIII for Clarinet, Op. 126 (1973)
• Parable XIV for Trumpet, Op. 127 (1973)
• Parable XV for English Horn, Op. 128 (1973)
• Parable XVI for Viola, Op. 130 (1974)
• Parable XVII for Double Bass, Op. 131 (1974)
• Parable XVIII for Trombone, Op. 133 (1975)
• Parable XIX for Piano, Op. 134 (1975)
• The Sibyl: A Parable of Chicken Little (Parable XX): An Opera in One Act, Op. 135
• Parable XXI for Guitar, Op. 140 (1978)
• Parable XXII for Tuba, Op. 147 (1981)
• Parable XXIII for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op. 150 (1981)
• Parable XXIV for Harpsichord, Op. 153 (1982)
• Parable XXV for Two Trumpets, Op. 164 (1986)

Poems for piano

• Volume 1, Op. 4:

1. Unroll the flicker's rousing drum (Louis Untermeyer
   Louis Untermeyer
   Louis Untermeyer was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961.-Life and career:...
   
    First Words Before Spring)
2. Soft is the collied night (James Elroy Flecker
   James Elroy Flecker
   James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
   
    Fountains)
3. Gather for festival bright weed and purple shell (William Watson
   William Watson
   William Watson may refer to:*W. Marvin Watson , U.S. Postmaster General*William E. Watson, military historian*William H. Watson , Mexican-American War soldier from Maryland*William J. Watson...
   
    Songs from Cyprus)
4. Wake subtler dreams, and touch me nigh to tears (William Watson
   William Watson
   William Watson may refer to:*W. Marvin Watson , U.S. Postmaster General*William E. Watson, military historian*William H. Watson , Mexican-American War soldier from Maryland*William J. Watson...
   
    The Frontier)
5. Ravished lute, sing to her virgin ears (Robert Fitzgerald
   Robert Fitzgerald
   Robert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
   
    Song after Campion)
6. Whose thin fraud I wink at privily (William Watson
   William Watson
   William Watson may refer to:*W. Marvin Watson , U.S. Postmaster General*William E. Watson, military historian*William H. Watson , Mexican-American War soldier from Maryland*William J. Watson...
   
    The Mock Self)
   • Volume 2, Op. 5:
7. And warms winds spilled fragrance into her solitudes (Edmond Kowalewski Change)
8. To whose more clear than crystal voice the frost had joined a crystal spell (Léonie Adams
   Léonie Adams
   Léonie Fuller Adams was an American poet. She was appointed the seventh Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1948.-Biography:...
   
    Home Coming)
9. Sleep, weary mind; dream, heart's desire (Edna St. Vincent Millay
   Edna St. Vincent Millay
   Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
   
    There are no islands any more)
10. Dust in sunlight, and memory in corners (T. S. Eliot
    T. S. Eliot
    Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
    
     A Song for Simeon)
11. Make me drunken with deep red torrents of joy (John Gould Fletcher
    John Gould Fletcher
    John Gould Fletcher was an Imagist poet and author. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to a socially prominent family. After attending Phillips Academy, Andover Fletcher went on to Harvard University from 1903 to 1907, when he dropped out shortly after his father's death.Fletcher lived in...
    
     Autumnal Clouds)
    • Volume 3, Op. 14:
12. Rear its frondings sighing in aetherial folds (Hart Crane
    Hart Crane
    -Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened...
    
     Royal Palm)
13. Listen! Can you hear the antic melody of fear those two anxious feet are playing? (Walter Prude)
14. Puffed out and marching upon a blue sky (Amy Lowell
    Amy Lowell
    Amy Lawrence Lowell was an American poet of the imagist school from Brookline, Massachusetts who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926.- Personal life:...
    
     Lilacs)
15. And hunged like those top jewels of the night (Léonie Adams
    Léonie Adams
    Léonie Fuller Adams was an American poet. She was appointed the seventh Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1948.-Biography:...
    
     Twilit Revelation)
16. Each gay dunce shall lend a hand (John Trumbull
    John Trumbull
    John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings...
    
     The Country Clown)

Piano sonatas

1. Op. 3
2. Op. 6
3. Op. 22
4. Op. 36
5. Op. 37
6. Op. 39
7. Op. 40
8. Op. 41
9. Op. 58
10. Op. 67
11. Op. 101
12. Op. 145 (Mirror Sonata)

List of complete works

• Concertino for Piano, op.16, 1941
• Symphony no.1, op.18, 1942
• Symphony no.2, op.19, 1942
• Dance Overture, op.20, 1942
• Fables, op.23, 1943
• The Hollow Men, op.25, 1944
• Symphony no.3, op.30, 1946
• Serenade no.5, op.43, 1950
• Fairy Tale, op.48, 195
• Symphony no.4, op.51, 1951
• Symphony for Strings (Sym. no.5), op.61, 1953
• Symphony no.7 ‘Liturgical’, op.80, 1958
• Piano Concerto, op.90, 1962
• Introit, op.96, 1964
• Symphony no.8, op.106, 1967
• Symphony no.9 ‘Sinfonia janiculum’, op.113, 1970
• Night Dances, op.114, 1970
• A Lincoln Address, op.124, 1972
• Concerto for English Horn and Strings, op.137, 1977

• Band:
  • Divertimento, op.42, 1950
  • Psalm, op.53, 1952
  • Pageant, op.59, 1953
  • Symphony for Band (Sym. no.6), op.69, 1956
  • Serenade no.11, op.85, 1960
  • Bagatelles, op.87, 1961
  • So Pure the Star, chorale prelude, op.91, 1962
  • Masquerade, op.102, 1965
  • Turn not thy Face, chorale prelude, op.105, 1966
  • O Cool is the Valley (Poem for Band), op.118, 1971
  • Parable IX, op.121, 1972
  • A Lincoln Address, op.124a, nar, band, 1973
  • O God Unseen, chorale prelude, op.160, 1984

• Vocal
  • Choral:
    • Mag and Nunc, op.8, SATB, pf, 1940
    • Canons, op.31, SSAA/TTBB/SATB, 1947
    • 2 Cummings Choruses (e.e. cummings), op.33, 2vv, pf, 1948
    • Proverb, op.34, SATB, 1948
    • 2 Cummings Choruses, op.46, SSAA, 1950
    • Hymns and Responses for the Church Year (W.H. Auden and others), op.68, 1955
    • Seek the Highest (F. Adler), op.78, SAB, pf, 1957
    • Song of Peace (anon.), op.82, TTBB/SATB, pf, 1959
    • Mass, op.84, SATB, 1960
    • Spring Cantata (Cummings), op.94, SSAA, pf, 1963
    • Stabat mater, op.92, SATB, orch, 1963
    • Te Deum, op.93, SATB, orch, 1963
    • 4 Cummings Choruses, op.98, 2vv, pf, 1964
    • Winter Cantata (11 Haiku), op.97, SSAA, fl, mar, 1964
    • Celebrations (cant., W. Whitman), op.103, SATB, wind ens, 1966
    • The Pleiades (cant., Whitman), op.107, SATB, tpt, str, 1967
    • The Creation (Persichetti), op.111, S, A, T, Bar, SATB, orch, 1969;
    • Love (Bible: Corinthians), op.116, SSAA, 1971
    • Glad and Very (Cummings), op.129, 2vv, 1974
    • Flower Songs (Cant. no.6) (Cummings), op.157, SATB, str, 1983
    • Hymns and Responses for the Church Year, vol. 2, op.166, 1987
  • Solo:
    • 2 Chinese Songs, op.29, 1945
    • e.e. cummings Songs, op.26, 1945, unpubd
    • 3 English Songs (17th century), op.49, 1951, unpubd
    • Harmonium (W. Stevens), song cycle, op.50, S, pf, 1951
    • Carl Sandburg Songs, op.73, 1957, unpubd
    • Emily Dickinson Songs, op.77, 1957
    • Hilaire Belloc Songs, op.75, 1957
    • James Joyce Songs, op.74, 1957
    • Robert Frost Songs, op.76, 1957, unpubd
    • Sara Teasdale Songs, op.72, 1957, unpubd
    • A Net of Fireflies (Jap., trans. H. Steward), song cycle, op.115, 1970

• Chamber and Solo Instrumental
  • 3 or more instruments:
    • Serenade no.1, op.1, 10 wind, 1929
    • Str Qt no.1, op.7, 1939
    • Concertato, op.12, piano quintet, 1940
    • Serenade no.3, op.17, violin, cello, piano, 1941
    • Pastoral, op.21, woodwind quintet, 1943
    • String Quartet no.2, op.24, 1944
    • King Lear, op.35, woodwind quintet, timpani, piano, 1948
    • Serenade no.6, op.44, trombone, viola, cello, 1950
    • Piano Quintet, op.66, 1954
    • String Quartet no.3, op.81, 1959
    • Parable II, op.108, brass quintet, 1968
    • String Quartet no.4 (Parable X), op.122, 1972
    • Parable XXIII, op.150, violin, cello, piano, 1981
  • 1–2 instruments:
    • Sonata, op.10, violin, 1940
    • Suite, op.9, violin, cello, 1940, unpubd
    • Fantasy, op.15, violin, piano, 1941, unpubd
    • Serenade no.4, op.28, violin, piano, 1945
    • Vocalise, op.27, cello, piano, 1945
    • Sonata, op.54, cello, 1952
    • Little Recorder Book, op.70, 1956
    • Serenade no.9, op.71, 2 recorder, 1956
    • Serenade no.10, op.79, flute, harp, 1957
    • Infanta marina, op.83, viola, piano, 1960
    • Serenade no.12, op.88, tuba, 1961
    • Serenade no.13, op.95, 2 clarinets, 1963
    • Masques, op.99, violin, piano, 1965
    • Parable [I], op.100, flute, 1965
    • Parable III, op.109, oboe, 1968
    • Parable IV, op.110, bassoon, 1969
    • Parable VII, op.119, harp, 1971
    • Parable VIII, op.120, horn, 1972
    • Parable XI, op.123, alto saxophone, 1972
    • Parable XII, op.125, piccolo, 1973
    • Parable XIII, op.126, clarinet, 1973
    • Parable XIV, op.127, trumpet, 1973
    • Parable XV, op.128, English horn, 1973
    • Parable XVI, op.130, viola, 1974
    • Parable XVII, op.131, double bass, 1974
    • Parable XVIII, op.133, trombone, 1975
    • Parable XXI, op.140, guitar, 1978
    • Parable XXII, op.147, tuba, 1981
    • Serenade no.14, op.159, oboe, 1984
    • Parable XXV, op.164, 2 trumpet, 1986

• Keyboard
  • Piano:
    • Serenade no.2, op.2, 1929
    • Poems, vols.1–2, opp.4–5, 1939
    • Sonata no.1, op.3, 1939
    • Sonata no.2, op.6, 1939
    • Sonata, op.13, 2 pianos, 1940
    • Poems, vol. 3, op.14, 1941
    • Sonata no.3, op.22, 1943
    • Variations for an Album, op.32, 1947
    • Sonata no.4, op.36, 1949
    • Sonata no.5, op.37, 1949
    • Sonata no.6, op.39, 1950
    • Sonata no.7, op.40, 1950
    • Sonata no.8, op.41, 1950
    • Sonatina no.1, op.38, 1950
    • Sonatina no.2, op.45, 1950
    • Sonatina no.3, op.47, 1950
    • Concerto, op.56, 4 hands, 1952
    • Parades, op.57, 1952
    • Serenade no.7, op.55, 1952
    • Sonata no.9, op.58, 1952;
    • Little Piano Book, op.60, 1953
    • Serenade no.8, op.62, 4 hands, 1954
    • Sonatina no.4, op.63, 1954
    • Sonatina no.5, op.64, 1954
    • Sonatina no.6, op.65, 1954
    • Sonata no.10, op.67, 1955
    • Sonata no.11, op.101, 1965
    • Parable XIX, op.134, 1975
    • 4 Arabesques, op.141, 1978
    • Little Mirror Book, op.139, 1978
    • Reflective Studies, op.138, 1978
    • Mirror Etudes, op.143, 1979
    • 3 Toccatinas, op.142, 1979
    • Sonata no.12, op.145, 1980
    • Winter Solstice, op.165, 1986
  • Other:
    • Sonatine, op.11, organ pedals, 1940
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.1, op.52, 1951
    • Organ Sonata, op.86, 1960
    • Shimah b'koli, op.89, organ, 1962
    • Drop, Drop Slow Tears, chorale prelude, op.104, organ, 1966
    • Parable V, op.112, carillon, 1969
    • Parable VI, op.117, organ, 1971
    • Do Not Go Gentle, op.132, organ pedals, 1974
    • Auden Variations, op.136, organ, 1977
    • Dryden Liturgical Suite, op.144, organ, 1980
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.2, op.146, 1981
    • Song of David, op.148, org, 1981
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.3, op.149, 1981
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.4, op.151, 1982
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.5, op.152, 1982
    • Parable XXIV, op.153, harpsichord, 1982
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.6, op.154, 1982
    • Little Hpd Book, op.155, 1983
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.7, op.156, 1983
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.8, op.158, 1984
    • Serenade no.15, op.161, harpsichord, 1984
    • Give Peace, O God, chorale prelude, op.162, organ, 1985
    • Harpsichord Sonata no.9, op.163, 1985

Awards and honors

• In honor of Persichetti's vast influence on American music, on May 19, 1984 he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit. Beginning in 1964, this award "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year that has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."
• Persichetti was an honorary brother of the Omicron Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
  Kappa Kappa Psi
  Kappa Kappa Psi is a fraternity for college and university band members. It was founded on November 27, 1919 at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma. William Scroggs, now regarded as the "Founder," together with "Mr. Kappa Kappa Psi" A...
  
   at West Virginia University
  West Virginia University
  West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
  
  . He was initiated into the fraternity on November 17, 1967.

Further reading

• Minut, Mirabella A. "Style and Compositional Techniques in Vincent Persichetti's Ten Sonatas for Harpsichord.". DMA diss. Muncie: Ball State University, 2009.

External links

• Vincent Persichetti Papers, 1901-1996, the composer's manuscripts and personal papers at the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
• Vincent Persichetti Collection, the composer's personal collection of recordings, at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• UNSUNG SONGS discussion of Emily Dickinson
  Emily Dickinson
  Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
  
  Songs, Opus 77, by Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987)
• Bandroom.com Persichetti information and trivia
• List of works from ArkivMusic
• Vincent Persichetti Society

Interviews

• Vincent Persichetti interview by Bruce Duffie, November 15, 1986

Listening

• Art of the States: Vincent Persichetti Night Dances, op. 114 (1970)