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Gloria Coates (1938-     )

Gloria
          Coates, composerIn the Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart article on the American Symphony, Ludwig Finscher hails Gloria Coates’s symphonic works as "the spirit of an expressionistic-apocalyptic-mystical world view." Kyle Gann writes of her chamber music, "The sparer context of these chamber works sounds solidly American …a rustic stolidity, a willingness to walk firmly forward off the beaten paths …  an American through and through." She also has a lyrical aspect of which her songs are typical. Born in, Wisconsin, Coates began composing and experimenting with overtones and clusters at the age of nine. Her musical intuition has led her to ever widening visions and experiences. She considers both Alexander Tcherepnin, who encouraged her composing since she was 16, and Otto Luening, to have been her "gurus". Her studies took her from Chicago and Louisiana (with a Masters Degree in Composition), to New York’s Cooper Union Art School, and Columbia University for postgraduate studies in music composition. While maintaining a residence in the United States, Coates has lived in Europe since 1969 where she has promoted American music both in organizing a German-American Music Series (1971–1984), writing musicological articles, and producing broadcasts for the radio stations of Munich, Cologne, and Bremen. From 1975 to 1983 she taught for the University of Wisconsin’s International Programs, initiating the first music programs in London and Munich. She has been invited to lecture on her music with performances in India, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England, and the United States at Harvard, Princeton, Brown, and Boston Universities. Coates’s breakthrough came with the 1978 première of a work composed in 1973, Music on Open Strings, at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, a work for string orchestra in which the strings retune. It proved to be the most discussed work at the festival and throughout the European press. In 1986 it was a finalist for the KIRA Koussevitzsky International Award as one of the most important works to appear on record that year. Festivals and artists performing her compositions include March Music (Berlin Festival), New Music America (New York), Montepulciano Festival (Italy), Dresden Festival, Warsaw Autumn, Dartington (England) and the Aspekte Festival Salzburg, with artists such as the Kronos Quartet, the Kreutzer Quartet, and the Crash Ensemble Dublin. Orchestras to have performed her works include the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Radio Bucharest Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco. Coates signed a publishing agreement with Edition Peters to enter their catalogue in October 2021.

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Gloria Coates Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre    ~ ~ ~    Coates on Coates
The Sighing Wind, voice and piano (1950) [text: Gloria Coates]
Sylken, flute and piano (1961)
Dies Sanctificatus from "Saint Joan", chorus (1961)
The Rainy Day, low voice and piano (1961) [text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]
Twilight, voice and piano (1961) [text: Gloria Coates]
Sonatina, violin and piano (1962)
Trio, flute, oboe and piano (1962)
Glissando String Quartet (1962) [merged into "Sym No.1, Music on Open Strings", mvt IV, 1972-73/74]
Jedermann (Everyman). Morality Play, incidental music, flute, oboe and percussion (1962; lost)
Five Abstractions, piano (1962)
Rondo, flute, oboe, bassoon, tambourine and field drum (1963)
Thieves' Carnival (Karneval der Diebe), incidental music, clarinet (1963) [for the play by Jean Anouihl]
Saint Joan, music for the theatre, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra (1963) [theatre-play after George Bernard Shaw]
Fall of the House of Usher, opera (1962-64; unfinished) [after Edgar Allan Poe]
Interlude, organ (1964)
Mathematical Equations (3 songs), soprano and piano (1964) [after texts by Janice Rubin]
Missa Brevis, or Little Mass, children's or female chorus and organ (1963-64)
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song, chorus (1964)
Te Deum from "Saint Joan", chorus (1964)
Overture to "Saint Joan", organ and percussion (1964)
String Quartet with Provincial Drum (1964)
Hamlet, incidental music, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra (1964-65) [theremin and tape???] [for Shakespeare's play]
Ophelias Lieder, medium voice and songharp (1964-65) [text: Shakespeare]
The Three Billy Goat's Gruff, interactive musictheatre piece for children (1965) [libretto: G. Coates based on Norwegian tales]
String Quartet No. 1, "Protestation Quartet" (1965-66)
Trio, 3 flutes (1966)
String Quartet No. 2, "Mobile" (1971)
Eine Stimme ruft elektronische Klänge auf, live electronics, modulator, singing and laser (1971)[collab. w/Ulrike & Dieter Trüstedt]
I'm Nobody from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1965/72)
I´ve Seen a Dying Eye from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1966/72)
I Held a Jewel in my Fingers from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1966/72)
Wild Nights from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1971/72)
We Have Ears and Hear Not/ Kontrapunkt-Kontra (Point Counterpoint), actor w/record-player, actor w/radio & chbr ensbl (1972)
    - Missed, flute, saxophone, violin, viola, double bass, accordian, and bongos (1987) [abstraction of "We Have Ears ..., 1972]
Sonata for Piano No. 1, "Tones in Overtones", piano (1972)
Naturstimme und elektronische Klangbänder. Vocal Multiphonics and Modulator, multimedia work (1972)
            [in collaboration with Ulrike and Dieter Trüstedt] (1972)
Natural Voice and Electronic Modulator, multimedia work (1972) [in collaboration with Ulrike and Dieter Trüstedt]
Armistice from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice anc piano (1972)
Cantata da Requiem, "WW II Poems for Peace", sopr, va, vc, pf &2 perc (1972-73)[merged into "The Force for Peace...", 1974/89]
Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star", amplified viola and organ (1973) ["May the Morning Star Rise"]
    - German title: Phantasy/Fantasie über "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern"
    - Star Tracks Through Darkness, organ (1974-89) [an expansion of Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star", 1973]
    - Im Finstern sei des Geistes Licht und Sonne, ocarina, cello and organ (1993) [extension of "How Lovely Shines...", 1973]
Symphony No. 1, "Music on Open Strings", string orchestra (1972-73/74) [mvt 4 from "Glissando St Qt"]
Planets, Three Movements for Chamber Orchestra (1974) [merged into "Halley's Comet", 1974; also developed into Sym No. 2]
Halley's Comet, nonet (fl/picc, ob/EH, bsn/contra bsn, hn, 2 vln, va, vc, db) (1974) [related to "Planets" and "Sym No. 2"]
Five Abstractions of the Poems by Emily Dickinson, woodwind quartet (fl/picc, ob/EH, cl/bass cl and bsn) (1975)
Fragment from Leonardo's Notebooks: "The Elements", chorus and orchestra (1975)
Neptune Odyssey, tape (1975) [musique concrete]
String Quartet No. 3 (1975)
Variations on "Lo! How a Rose", violin, viola, organ and triangle (1975)
Memories of Childhood, sonata for 2 pianos (1975) [merged into "My Country Tis of Thee", 1975]
My Country Tis of Thee, piano 4-hands, w/2 instruments ad lib. (1975)
Textures and Shades of E.D. (3 songs), voice, organ, xylophone, timp, perc and tape (1975) [after poems by Emily Dickinson]
The Tune Without the Words, voice, glockenspiel, perc & timp (1975) [expansion of #3 from "Textures and Shades of E.D., 1975]
From a Poetry Album, cello, harp and percussion (1976; withdrawn)
Fragment from Leonardo’s Notebooks: "Fonte di Rimini", chorus and orchestra (1976; rev. 1982)
String Quartet No. 10, "Among the Asteroids" (1971-76)
String Quartet No. 4 (1976)
Symphony No. 3, "Symphony Nocturne", string orchestra (1978)
Six Movements for String Quartet (1978)
Ecology 1, tape (1978)
Ecology 2, 2 tapes, 5 instruments for one percussionist and speaker (1978)
Between, 2 tapes and percussion (1978) [version of "Ecology 2" without speaker]
The Beatitudes, chorus and organ (1978)
A  Word is Dead from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1979)
Valse triste, clarinet, bassoon, cello, piano and 2 percussionists (1980)
Mine by the Right from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Bind Me, I Still Can Sing from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Now I Lay Thee Down / On the Death of a Child from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Sinfonietta della Notte, orchestra (1974-82)
Spring Morning in Grobholz' Garden, 3 flutes and tape (1976-82)
Fragment from Leonardo's Notebooks: "Vita - Anima della Terra", 4 vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra (1981-82)
Go the Great Way, voice, organ, timpani and 2 percussionists (1982) [text: Emily Dickinson]
Colony Air, harp and piano (1982) [incorporates "Will There Really Be a Morning?", 1982-84] [also arr. for piano; or for harp]
Will There Really Be a "Morning"? from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1982-84)
Transitions, orchestra (1984)
Meteor March, wind ensemble (1984)
In Falling Timbers Buried from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1984)
Choral Symphony No. 5, "Three Mystical Songs", chorus and chamber orchestra (1985) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Auto-Madic Music, 12 motorbikes, 6 cars, 18 car-horns and one conductor (1986)
Music in Microtones, orchestra (1986)
Resistances, orchestra (1987)
Missed, flute, saxophone, violin, viola, double bass, accordian, and bongos (1987)
Symphony No. 2, "Illuminatio in Tenebris", orch (1974-88) [orig title:"Music on Abstract Lines"] [derived from "The Planets", 1974]
The Force for Peace in War, cantata, soprano and chamber orchestra (1974-88) [an extension of "Cantata da Requiem", 1972/73]
Lunar Loops, 2 guitars (1987-88)
Breaking Through, alto recorder (1988)
Fiori, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Fiori and the Princess, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Seven Songs with Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice and chamber orchestra (1988)
String Quartet No. 5 (1988)
Fiori, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Fiori and the Princess, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Breaking Through II, "Reaching for the Moon", flute (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder]
Lichtsplitter, flute, harp and viola; or flute, harp, viola and 1 percussionist (1988)
To Be Free of It, 3 percussionists (1988) [related to "In the Mt.Tremper Zen Monastery", 1992]
Dramatic Scene (The Swan), soprano, ob/EH, 2 perc & opt. tape (1988) [text: Mallarme] [extended in "Cette Blanche...", 1991]
Reaching for the Moon' "Breaking Through II", flute (1988) [an extension of "Breaking Through"]
Star Tracks Through Darkness, organ (1974-89) [an expansion of the Phantasy "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern", 1973]
Five Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice, piano and percussion (1978-89)
Symphony No. 4, "Chiaroscuro", orchestra (1984-90) [an extension of "Transitions", 1984]
Rainbow across the Night Sky, female voices, vln, va, vc, perc, singing saw or flexatone and timpani (1990)
Blue Steel Bent, 2 piccolos, 6 flutes, bass flute and contrabass flute (1990)
Blue Flowers, 9 flutes and bass flute (1990)
In the Glacier, 2 piccolos, 6 flutes, bass flute and contrabass flute (1990)
Königshymne (The Royal Anthem), 2 piccolos, 8 flutes, bass flute, contrabass flutes and percussion (1991)
Transfer 482, flute, viola, harp and 2 percussionists (1988-91) [3rd version and extension of "Lichtsplitter", 1988]
Symphony No. 7, "Dedicated to those who brought down the Wall in PEACE", orchestra (1990-91)
Indian Sounds, voices and chamber orchestra (1991) [texts drawn from Seneca, Winnebago and Plains Indians Songs]
Symphony No. 8, "Indian Sounds", voices and orchestra (1991) [an extension of "Indian Sounds"]
Wir Tönen Allein, soprano and chamber orchestra (1991) [text: Paul Celan] [an extension of "Sperriges Morgen", 1988-94]
Cette Blanche Agonie, soprano and chamber orchestra (1991) [text: Mallarmé] [an extension of "Dramatic Scene", 1988]
Ungeziefer (Insects), soprano, sopr saxophone, double bass, piano, 2 perc and tape (1992) [text: Alexandra Coates]
In the Mt. Tremper Zen Monastery, viola, harp and 2 percussionists (1992) [related to "To Be Free of It", 1988]
Night Music, tenor saxophone, piano and gongs (1992-93)
Castles in the Air (Luftschlösser), tenor saxophone (1993)
Olympic Roller Blading, 2 guitars (1993)
Vitality, Begun from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1993)
Bride of the Holy Ghost from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1993)
Time Frozen, chamber orchestra (1988-94) [Sym No. 6 is an extension of "Time Frozen"]
Symphony No. 6, "Time Frozen", orchestra (1988-94) [an extension of "Time Frozen"]
Blue Monday, guitar and 2 roto-tom players (1988-94)
Sperriges Morgen, soprano, tuba, double bass and percussion (1988-94) [text: Paul Celan] [merged into "Wir tönen allein", 1991]
The Quinces' Quandery, "Homage to Van Gogh", chamber orchestra (1993-94) [chamber orchestra vers. of Sym No. 9]
Symphony No. 9, "The Quinces Quandary (Homage to Van Gogh)", orch (1993-94) [an extension of "The Quinces' Quandery"]
Symphony No. 10, "Drones of Druids on Celtic Ruins" (1993-94)
Turning to, 2 flutes (piccolo, alto flute, bass flute) (1995)
Lyric Suite, "Split the Lark - and you'll find the Music" (6 mvts), piano trio/violin, cello and piano (1996)
Heinrich von Ofterdingen, "Hommage a Novalis", flute, 2 cellos and harp (1996)
Fairytale Suite (Märchen Suite), flute (1997)
Floating Down the Mississippi, 8 guitars (1997)
After Great Pain from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson" (1984-98)
15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice and piano (1965-98)
Ode to the Moon, tenor saxophone, cello, piano and percussion (1998)
Symphony No. 11, "Philemon und Baucis", orchestra (1998-99)
Einsamkeit (Loneliness), voice (alto) and piano (1999) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Komplementär (Complementary), soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano (1999) [text: Alexandra Coates]
String Quartet No. 6 (2000)
String Quartet No. 7, "Angels" (2000)
Im Ausland (Abroad), soprano and piano (2000) [text: Friederike Mayröcker]
Sonata for Piano No. 2 (2001)
Symphony No. 12, orchestra (2000-01)
Symphony No. 13, orchestra (2000-01)
Sonata for Violin Solo (2000-01)
String Quartet No. 8 (2001-02)
Elegy, flute and piano (2002)
Prayers Without Words, organ (2002)
Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address (Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address, multimedia work (2003)
    [images, music and actors on stage and in the audience, opt. spinet and bells] [text: Lincoln; M.L. King; G. Coates]
Lyric Suite No. 2, flute, cello and piano (2003)
Mirage, baritone, flute, cello and piano (2003) [Portuguese translation: "Miragem"]
Symphony No. 14, orchestra (2003)
The Books, piano (2003)
Phantom, flute and piano (1988/2004)
Entering the Unknown, incidental music, spinett, string quartet and video (2004) [video by Birgit Ramsauer]
Symphony No. 15, "Homage to Mozart", orchestra (2004-05)
String Quartet No. 9 (2006)
Along the Yangtze River, flute and piano (2008)
Nightscape, double bass and piano (2008)
Fange den Wind (Catch the Wind), voice and piano (2009) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Three Songs, voice and piano (1972-2009) [collection of 3 previously composed songs]
Obdachlose am alten Friedhof (Homeless at the Old Cemetery), voice and piano (2009) [text: Christa Jost]
La Voix Humaine, ballet, 2 percussionists and dancers (2010) [story: John Cocteau]


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Gloria Coates Links     ~ ~ ~    Coates on Coates    ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Saint Joan, music for the theatre, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra (1964) [theatreplay after George Bernard Shaw]
Fall of the House of Usher, opera (1962-64; unfinished) [after Edgar Allan Poe]
The Three Billy Goat's Gruff, interactive musictheatre piece for children (1965) [libretto: G. Coates based on Norwegian tales]
We Have Ears and Hear Not/ Kontrapunkt-Kontra (Point Counterpoint), actor w/record-player, actor w/radio & chbr ensbl (1972)
Auto-Madic Music, 12 motorbikes, 6 cars, 18 car-horns and one conductor (1986)
Dramatic Scene (The Swan), soprano, ob/EH, 2 perc & opt. tape (1988) [text: Mallarme] [extended in "Cette Blanche...", 1991]
Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address (Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address, multimedia work (2003)
    [images, music and actors on stage and in the audience, opt. spinet and bells] [text: Lincoln; M.L. King; G. Coates]
Leonardo's Universe, 4 voices, string quartet and 2 percussionists (1974-1983/2011)
The Portrait Libretto, opera (unfinished)

Ballet
Ikarus, ballet (1982) [choreography by Bruno Roveroni] [using String Quartet No. 3]
Machinemen, ballet (1982) [choreography by Irene Moser] [using String Quartet No. 4]
La Voix Humaine, ballet, 2 percussionists and dancers (2010) [story: John Cocteau]

Orchestra
Symphony No.1, "Music on Open Strings", string orchestra (1972-73/74)
    - Theme and Transformation
    - Scherzo
    - Scordatura
    - Refracted Mirror Canon for Fourteen Lines [derived from "Glissando String Quartet", 1962]
Planets, Three Movements for Chamber Orchestra (1974) [merged into "Halley's Comet", 1974; also developed into Sym No. 2]
    - Horizontal
    - Diagonal
    - Back and Forth
Symphony No. 3, "Symphony Nocturne", string orchestra (1978)
Sinfonietta della Notte, orchestra (1974-82)
    - Eleven o'clock
    - One o'clock
    - Three o'clock
Transitions, orchestra (1984)
    - Illumination
    - Mystical Plosives
    - Dream Sequence
Choral Symphony No. 5, "Three Mystical Songs", chorus and chamber orchestra (1985) [text: Alexandra Coates]
    - The Books are Wilted
    - Seven Birds Arrived
    - The Sunflowers Are Screaming
Music in Microtones, orchestra (1986) [2nd mvt of Sym No. 6]
Resistances, orchestra (1987)
Symphony No. 2, "Illuminatio in Tenebris", orch (1974-88) [orig title:"Music on Abstract Lines"] [derived from "The Planets", 1974]
    - Aurora Borealis
    - Aurora Australis
    - Dawn
Symphony No. 4, "Chiaroscuro", orchestra (1984-90) [an extension of "Transitions", 1984]
    - Illumination
    - Mystical Plosives
    - Dream Sequence
Symphony No. 7, "Dedicated to those who brought down the Wall in PEACE", orchestra (1990-91)
    - Whirlgig of Time
    - Glass of Time
    - Corridors of Time
Indian Sounds, voices and chamber orchestra (1991) [texts drawn from Seneca, Winnebago and Plains Indians Songs]
    - Indian Sounds
    - Indian Mounds
    - Indian Grounds
Symphony No. 8, "Indian Sounds", voices and orchestra (1991) [text: see "Indian Sounds"] [an extension of "Indian Sounds"]
    - Indian Sounds
    - Indian Mounds
    - Indian Grounds
Time Frozen, chamber orchestra (1988-94) [Sym No. 6 is an extension of "Time Frozen"]
Symphony No. 6, "Time Frozen", orchestra (1988-94) [an extension of "Time Frozen"]
The Quinces' Quandery, "Homage to Van Gogh", chamber orchestra (1993-94) [chamber orchestra vers. of Sym No. 9]
Symphony No. 9, "The Quinces Quandary (Homage to Van Gogh)", orch (1993-94) [an extension of "The Quinces' Quandery"]
Symphony No. 10, "Drones of Druids on Celtic Ruins" (1993-94)
    - Drones of Druids
    - The Otherworld Opens
    - Transmigration of Souls
Symphony No. 11, "Philemon und Baucis", orchestra (1998-99)
Symphony No. 12, orchestra (2000-01)
Symphony No. 13, orchestra (2000-01)
Symphony No. 14, orchestra (2003)
Symphony No. 15, "Homage to Mozart", orchestra (2004-05)
    - Iridiscences
    - Puzzle Canon
    - What Are Stars?

Band
Meteor March, wind ensemble (1984)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Fragment from Leonardo's Notebooks: "The Elements", chorus and orchestra (1975)
Fragment from Leonardo’s Notebooks: "Fonte di Rimini", chorus and orchestra (1976; rev. 1982)
Fragment from Leonardo's Notebooks: "Vita - Anima della Terra", 4 vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra (1981-82)
Choral Symphony No. 5, "Three Mystical Songs", chorus and chamber orchestra (1985) [text: Alexandra Coates]
    - The Books are Wilted
    - Seven Birds Arrived
    - The Sunflowers Are Screaming

Choral
Dies Sanctificatus from "Saint Joan", chorus (1961)
Missa Brevis, or Little Mass, children's or female chorus and organ (1963-64)
Sing Unto the Lord a New Song, chorus (1964)
Te Deum from "Saint Joan", chorus (1964)
The Beatitudes, chorus and organ (1978)
Rainbow across the Night Sky, female voices, vln, va, vc, perc, singing saw or flexatone and timpani (1990)
    - Canto I, Bisema Tuwamoh
    - Canto II, Vah, Voh, Batami
    - Canto III, Tereje, Famara

String Quartets
Glissando String Quartet (1962) [merged into "Sym No.1, Music on Open Strings", mvt IV, 1972-73/74]
String Quartet with Provincial Drum (1964)
String Quartet No. 1, "Protestation Quartet" (1965-66)
String Quartet No. 2, "Mobile" (1971)
String Quartet No. 3 (1975)
String Quartet No. 4 (1976)
Six Movements for String Quartet (1978)
String Quartet No. 5 (1988)
    - Through Time (Moderato)
    - Through Space (Sostenuto)
    - In the Fifth Dimension (Sehr bewegt)
String Quartet No. 6 (2000)
    - Still
    - Meditation
    - Evanescence
String Quartet No. 7, "Angels" (2000)
String Quartet No. 8 (2001-02)
String Quartet No. 9 (2006)
String Quartet No. 10, "Among the Asteroids" (1971-76)

Chamber
Sylken, flute and piano (1961)
Sonatina, violin and piano (1962)
Trio, flute, oboe and piano (1962; withdrawn)
Glissando String Quartet (1962) [merged into "Sym No.1, Music on Open Strings", mvt IV, 1972-73/74]
Rondo, flute, oboe, bassoon, tambourine and field drum (1963)
Overture to Saint Joan, organ and percussion (1964)
String Quartet with Provincial Drum (1964)
String Quartet No. 1, "Protestation Quartet" (1965-66)
Trio, 3 flutes (1966)
String Quartet No. 2, "Mobile" (1971)
Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star", amplified viola and organ (1973) ["May the Morning Star Rise"]
    - German title: Phantasy/Fantasie über "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern"
    - Im Finstern sei des Geistes Licht und Sonne, ocarina, cello and organ (1993) [extension of "How Lovely Shines...", 1973]
Halley's Comet, nonet (fl/picc, ob/EH, bsn/contra bsn, hn, 2 vln, va, vc, db) (1974) [related to "Planets" and "Sym No. 2"]
Five Abstractions of the Poems by Emily Dickinson, woodwind quartet (fl/picc, ob/EH, cl/bass cl and bsn) (1975)
    - I shall keep singing
    - Had I known that the first was the last
    - He fumbles at your soul
    - Under the light
    - I Felt a cleavage in my mind
String Quartet No. 3 (1975)
Variations on "Lo! How a Rose", violin, viola, organ and triangle (1975)
String Quartet No. 10, "Among the Asteroids" (1971-76)
String Quartet No. 4 (1976)
From a Poetry Album, cello, harp and percussion (1976; withdrawn)
Six Movements for String Quartet (1978)
Ecology 2, 2 tapes, 5 instruments for one percussionist and speaker (1978)
Between, 2 tapes and percussion (1978) [version of "Ecology 2" without speaker]
Valse triste, clarinet, bassoon, cello, piano and 2 percussionists (1980)
Spring Morning in Grobholz' Garden, 3 flutes and tape (1976-82)
Colony Air, harp and piano (1982) [incorporates "Will There Really Be a Morning?", 1982-84]
Missed, flute, saxophone, violin, viola, double bass, accordian, and bongos (1987) [abstraction of "We Have Ears ..., 1972]
Lunar Loops, 2 guitars (1987-88)
String Quartet No. 5 (1988)
    - Through Time (Moderato)
    - Through Space (Sostenuto)
    - In the Fifth Dimension (Sehr bewegt)
Lichtsplitter, flute, harp and viola; or flute, harp, viola and 1 percussionist (1988)
    - Bending Beams
    - Play of Light
    - Eclipses
To Be Free of It, 3 percussionists (1988) [related to "In the Mt.Tremper Zen Monastery", 1992]
    - The Call
    - In the Zendo
    - Satori
Blue Steel Bent, 2 piccolos, 6 flutes, bass flute and contrabass flute (1990)
Blue Flowers, 9 flutes and bass flute (1990)
In the Glacier, 2 piccolos, 6 flutes, bass flute and contrabass flute (1990)
Königshymne (The Royal Anthem), 2 piccolos, 8 flutes, bass flute, contrabass flutes and percussion (1991)
Transfer 482, flute, viola, harp and 2 percussionists (1988-91) [3rd version and extension of "Lichtsplitter", 1988]
    - Bending Beams
    - Play of Light
    - Eclipses
In the Mt. Tremper Zen Monastery, viola, harp and 2 percussionists (1992) [related to "To Be Free of It", 1988]
    - Call to the Zendo
    - In the Zendo
    - Satori
Night Music, tenor saxophone, piano and gongs (1992-93)
Im Finstern sei des Geistes Licht und Sonne, ocarina, cello & org (1993) [extension of Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines...", 1973]
Olympic Roller Blading, 2 guitars (1993)
Blue Monday, guitar and 2 roto-tom players (1988-94)
Turning to, 2 flutes (piccolo, alto flute, bass flute) (1995)
    - Darkness
    - Shadows
    - Light
Lyric Suite, "Split the Lark - and you'll find the Music" (6 mvts), piano trio/violin, cello and piano (1996)
    - Bells in Steeples
    - An Amethyst Remembrance
    - Split the Lark - and you'll find the Music
    - The Heart Within
    - Noon - is the Hinge of Day
    - A wind with fingers
    - Evening - the Tissue Door
Heinrich von Ofterdingen, "Hommage a Novalis", flute, 2 cellos and harp (1996)
    - The Moon Sits on its Silver Throne (Der Mond saß auf seinem Silberthron)
    - The Eternal Kingdom (Das Reich der Ewigkeit)
    - The Night of Cliffs (Die Nacht der Klüfte)
    - The Holy Cities (Heiligt diese Wunderstätten)
Floating Down the Mississippi, 8 guitars (1997)
Ode to the Moon, tenor saxophone, cello, piano and percussion (1998)
String Quartet No. 6 (2000)
    - Still
    - Meditation
    - Evanescence
String Quartet No. 7, "Angels" (2000)
String Quartet No. 8 (2001-02)
Elegy, flute and piano (2002)
Lyric Suite No. 2, flute, cello and piano (2003)
Phantom, flute and piano (1988/2004)
String Quartet No. 9 (2006)
Along the Yangtze River, flute and piano (2008)
Nightscape, double bass and piano (2008)

Percussion
Ecology 2, 2 tapes, 5 instruments for one percussionist and speaker (1978)
Between, 2 tapes and percussion (1978) [version of "Ecology 2" without speaker]
To Be Free of It, 3 percussionists (1988) [related to "In the Mt.Tremper Zen Monastery", 1992]
    - The Call
    - In the Zendo
    - Satori

Instrument and Piano/Organ
Sylken, flute and piano (1961)
Sonatina, violin and piano (1962)
Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star", amplified viola and organ (1973) ["May the Morning Star Rise"]
Colony Air, harp and piano (1982) [incorporates "Will There Really Be a Morning?", 1982-84] [also arr. for piano]
Elegy, flute and piano (2002)
Phantom, flute and piano (1988/2004)
Along the Yangtze River, flute and piano (2008)
Nightscape, double bass and piano (2008)

Solo Instrument
Colony Air, harp (1981) [arr. from work for harp and piano]
Breaking Through, alto recorder (1988)
Fiori, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Fiori and the Princess, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Fiori, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Fiori and the Princess, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Breaking Through II, "Reaching for the Moon", flute (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder] ???
Reaching for the Moon' "Breaking Through II", flute (1988) [an extension of "Breaking Through"] ???
Castles in the Air (Luftschlösser), tenor saxophone (1993)
Fairytale Suite (Märchen Suite), flute (1997)
    - Tom Thumb (Der Däumling)
    - The King's New Clothes (Des Kaisers neue Kleider)
    - Puss in Boots (Der gestiefelte Kater)
    - The Story of Kalif Storch (Die Geschichte von Kalif Storch)
Sonata for Violin Solo (2000-01)
    - Prelude
    - Fantasia
    - Berceuse
    - Hornpipe

Piano/Organ
Five Abstractions, piano (1962)
Interlude, organ (1964)
Overture to Saint Joan, organ and percussion (1964)
Sonata for Piano No. 1, "Tones in Overtones", piano (1972)
    - Prime
    - Triads and Clusters
    - Scales Open and Closed
    - Tetrachord
Memories of Childhood, sonata for 2 pianos (1975) [merged into "My Country Tis of Thee", 1975]
My Country Tis of Thee, piano 4-hands, w/2 instruments ad lib. (1975)
Colony Air, piano (1982) [arr. from work for harp and piano]
Star Tracks Through Darkness, organ (1974-89) [an expansion of Fantasy on "How Lovely Shines the Morning Star", 1973]
Sonata for Piano No. 2 (2001)
Prayers Without Words, organ (2002)
The Books, piano (2003)

Vocal
The Sighing Wind, voice and piano (1950) [text: Gloria Coates]
The Rainy Day, low voice and piano (1961) [text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]
Twilight, voice and piano (1961) [text: Gloria Coates]
Mathematical Equations (3 songs), soprano and piano (1964) [after texts by Janice Rubin]
    - Multiplication (Queen Times Chosen Drone)
    - Subtraction (Sirocco)
    - Equivalents (White Azaleas)
Ophelias Lieder, medium voice and songharp (1964-65) [text: Shakespeare]
I'm Nobody from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1965/72)
I´ve Seen a Dying Eye from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1966/72)
I Held a Jewel in my Fingers from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1966/72)
Wild Nights from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1971/72)
Armistice from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice anc piano (1972)
Cantata da Requiem, "WW II Poems for Peace", sopr, va, vc, pf &2 perc (1972-73)[merged into "The Force for Peace...", 1974/89]
    - Junge Witwe
    - Recitative: BBC Weather Forecast 1942
    - Aria: The Flying Bombers
    - Recitative: Brief der Lehrerin Elfriede Birndorfer
    - Aria: Rinne Regen Rinne
    - Aria: All These Dyings
Fragment from Leonardo's Notebooks "Anima della Terra" Vita, 4 vocal soloists and orchestra (1973-73) [also titled: "Vita"]
Textures and Shades of E.D., voice, organ, xylophone, timpani, percussion and tape (1975) [after poems by Emily Dickinson]
    - After great pain (voice and tape)
    - A Formal Feeling (voice, organ, xylophone, timpani and percussion)
    - Hope is a Thing with Feathers (voice and tape)
The Tune Without the Words, voice, glockenspiel, perc & timp (1975) [expansion of #3 from "Textures and Shades of E.D., 1975]
A  Word is Dead from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1979)
Mine by the Right from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Bind Me, I Still Can Sing from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Now I Lay Thee Down / On the Death of a Child from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1980)
Go the Great Way, voice, organ, timpani and 2 percussionists (1982) [text: Emily Dickinson]
Will There Really be a "Morning"? from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1982-84)
In Falling Timbers Buried from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1984)
The Force for Peace in War, cantata, soprano and chamber orchestra (1974-88) [an extension of "Cantata da Requiem", 1972/73;
            other versions: sopr, pf, 3 vc, 2 perc, 1975; and sopr, pf, va, vc, 2 perc, 1986]
    - Recitative: A Telegram
    - Aria: Young Widow
    - Recitative: BBC Weather Forecast
    - Aria: The Flying Bombers
    - Recitative: Note from a School Teacher
    - Aria: Run, Rain, Run
    - Recitative: Orchestral Interlude
    - Aria: All the World is an Orphan's Home
Seven Songs with Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice and chamber orchestra (1988)
    - To the Civil War Dead (Armistice)
    - The Sign in the Scarlet Prison (Mine by the Right)
    - It Just Begins to Live (A Word is Dead)
    - Chanting to Paradise (Bind Me, I Still Can Sing)
    - There Breathed a Man (In Falling Timbers Buried)
    - Thy Dust to Keep (Now I Lay Thee Down)
    - The Place Called Morning (Will There Really Be a Morning?)
Dramatic Scene (The Swan), soprano, ob/EH, 2 perc & opt. tape (1988) [text: Mallarme] [extended in "Cette Blanche...", 1991]
Five Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice, piano and percussion (1978-89)
    - To be Somebody (I'm Nobody)
    - In Search of Something (I've Seen a Dying Eye)
    - An Amethyst Remembrance (I Held a Jewel)
    - Were I with Thee (Wild Nights)
    - It Just Begins to Live (A Word is Dead)
Rainbow Across the Night Sky, female voices/chorus, vln, va, vc, perc, singing saw or flexatone and timpani (1991)
    - Canto I, Bisema Tuwamoh
    - Canto II, Vah, Voh, Batami
    - Canto III, Tereje, Famara
Wir Tönen Allein, soprano and chamber orchestra (1991) [text: Paul Celan] [an extension of "Sperriges Morgen", 1988-94]
Cette Blanche Agonie, soprano and chamber orchestra (1991) [text: Mallarmé] [an extension of "Dramatic Scene", 1988]
Ungeziefer (Insects), soprano, sopr saxophone, double bass, piano, 2 perc and tape (1992) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Vitality, Begun from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1993)
Bride of the Holy Ghost from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson", voice and piano (1993)
Sperriges Morgen, soprano, tuba, double bass and percussion (1988-94) [text: Paul Celan] [merged into "Wir tönen allein", 1991]
After Great Pain from "15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson" (1984-98)
15 Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, voice and piano (1965-98)
    - (I'm) Nobody (1965/72)
    - I've Seen a Dying Eye (1966/72)
    - I Held a Jewel (In my Fingers) (1966/72)
    - Wild Nights (1971/72)
    - Armistice (1972)
    - Mine by the Right (1980)
    - A Word is Dead (1979)
    - Bind Me, I Still Can Sing (1980)
    - If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking (1980)
    - Vitality, Begun (1993)
    - After Great Pain (1984/98)
    - Bride of the Holy Ghost (1993)
    - In Falling Timbers Buried (1984)
    - Now I Lay Thee Down / On the Death of a Child (1980)
    - Will There Really be a "Morning"? (1982/84)
Einsamkeit (Loneliness), voice (alto) and piano (1999) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Komplementär (Complementary), soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano (1999) [text: Mayroicker]
Im Ausland (Abroad), soprano and piano (2000) [text: Friederike Mayröcker]
Mirage, baritone, flute, cello and piano (2003) [Portuguese title: "Miragem"]
Fangen den Wind (Catch the Wind), voice and piano (2009) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Three Songs, voice and piano (1972-2009) [collection of 3 previously composed songs]
    - Komplementär (Complementary) (1999) [text: Mayroicker]
    - Fangen den Wind (Catch the Wind) (2009) [text: Alexandra Coates]
    - Armistice (They Dropped Like Flakes) (1972) [text: Emily Dickinson]
Obdachlose am alten Friedhof (Homeless at the Old Cemetery), voice and piano (2009) [text: Christa Jost]

Incidental
Jedermann (Everyman). Morality Play, incidental music, flute, oboe and percussion (1962; lost)
Thieves' Carnival (Karneval der Diebe), incidental music, clarinet (1963) [for the play by Jean Anouihl]
Saint Joan, music for the theatre, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra (1963) [theatreplay after George Bernard Shaw]
    - Overture to "Saint Joan", organ and percussion (1964)
    - Dies Sanctificatus from "Saint Joan", chorus (1961)
    - Te Deum from "Saint Joan", chorus (1964)
Hamlet, incidental music, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra (1964-65) [theremin and tape???] [for Shakespeare's play]
Der Weg zum Bahnhof - Ein Märchen für Heilbronn, incidental music (1994) [using various chamber wks]
Entering the Unknown, incidental music, spinett, string quartet and video (2004) [video by Birgit Ramsauer]

Film
Politik vom Notenblatt, documentary film score (1981) [using "Voices of Women in Wartime"]
Turin – Die geräderte Stadt, documentary film score (1983) [using String Quartet No. 4]
Zwei Künstler: Eine Ausstellung, documentary film score (1983) [using "Music on Open Strings"]
Death of Cain, film score (2001) [using "Symphony No. 2]
Another Kind, film score (2011) [using various works for orchestra]

Electronic/Multimedia
The Three Billy Goat's Gruff, interactive musictheatre piece for children (1965) [libretto: G. Coates based on Norwegian tales]
Eine Stimme ruft elektronische Klänge auf, live electronics, modulator, singing and laser (1971)[collab. w/Ulrike & Dieter Trüstedt]
Naturstimme und elektronische Klangbänder. Vocal Multiphonics and Modulator, multimedia work (1972)
            [in collaboration with Ulrike and Dieter Trüstedt] (1972)
Natural Voice and Electronic Modulator, multimedia work (1972) [in collaboration with Ulrike and Dieter Trüstedt]
We Have Ears and Hear Not/ Kontrapunkt-Kontra (Point Counterpoint), actor w/record-player, actor w/radio & chbr ensbl (1972)
Neptune Odyssey, tape (1975) [musique concrete] [under the pseudonym: Wilhelm Fischer]
Textures and Shades of E.D., voice, organ, xylophone, timpani, percussion and tape (1975) [after poems by Emily Dickinson]
Ecology 1, tape (1978)
Ecology 2, 2 tapes, 5 instruments for one percussionist and speaker (1978)
    - Between, 2 tapes and percussion (1978) [version of "Ecology 2" without speaker]
Spring Morning in Grobholz' Garden, 3 flutes and tape (1976-82)
Auto-Madic Music, 12 motorbikes, 6 cars, 18 car-horns and one conductor (1986)
Fiori, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Fiori and the Princess, alto recorder and tape (1988)
Fiori, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Fiori and the Princess, flute and tape (1988) [extended version of work for alto recorder and tape]
Dramatic Scene (The Swan), soprano, ob/EH, 2 perc & opt. tape (1988) [text: Mallarme] [extended in "Cette Blanche...", 1991]
Musik-Kunst (Music-Art), multimedia wrk (1990) [prem. of Sym # 4, performance of Sym # 2, w/ paintings by Ursula Thiele-Zoll]
Ungeziefer (Insects), soprano, sopr saxophone, double bass, piano, 2 perc and tape (1992) [text: Alexandra Coates]
Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address (Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address, multimedia work (2003)
    [images, music and actors on stage and in the audience, opt. spinet and bells] [text: Lincoln; M.L. King; G. Coates]


GLORIA COATES  LINKS                                                         Works by Genre     ~ ~ ~    Coates on Coates     ~ top of page ~
Composer Gloria Coates - A Conversation with Bruce Duffie (bruceduffie.com)
Electronic Dialogues - Gloria Coates (Sequenza21)
Gloria Coates: A Composer You’ll Love (Dan Wallace Music)
Gloria Coates: Beyond the Spheres (Trevor Hunter, NewMusicBox)
Gloria Coates Interview with Nolan Gasser (Classical Archives)
"My Most Sincere Search for the Truth" - An Interview with Gloria Coates (Robert Burns Neveldine, MusicWeb International)
Postmodern Symphonies (Don Mager, Eclectica Magazine)
Gloria Coates Signs to Edition Peters

Composer's website    . . .   contact Gloria Coates:  [via Wayback Machine]
Werkverzeichnis Gloria Coates (Gloria Coates List of Works)

Gloria Coates @ Wikipedia
Gloria Coates @ Audiophile Audition
Gloria Coates @ Classical Archives
Gloria Coates @ ClassicalMusicNow
Gloria Coates @ Classical Net
Gloria Coates @ Columbia University/Gloria Coates papers, 1970-1986
Gloria Coates @ Facebook
Gloria Coates @ Infography
Gloria Coates @ Ionarts
Gloria Coates @ Klassika
Gloria Coates @ The LiederNet Archive
Gloria Coates @ LinkedIn
Gloria Coates @ Musicalics
Gloria Coates @ MusicWeb International
Gloria Coates @ Musical Pointers
Gloria Coates @ Naxos
Gloria Coates @ NewMusicUSA
Gloria Coates @ New World Records
Gloria Coates @ The New York Times
Gloria Coates @ The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (Julie Sadie, et al, W.W. Norton, books.google.com)
Gloria Coates @ Requiemsurvey.org
Gloria Coates @ Sequenza21
Gloria Coates @ Peter Sheppard Skærved    also    here
Gloria Coates @ Untrammeled Mind (Jacob Wallace)

Publisher
Gloria Coates @ Composer's website  [via Wayback Machine]
Gloria Coates @ Edition Peters
Gloria Coates @ Ahn & Simrock--Crescendo
Gloria Coates @ Celle Moeck
Gloria Coates @ Edition Pro Nova
Gloria Coates @ Furore-Verlag
Gloria Coates @ Lagny sur Marne Musik Fabrik
Gloria Coates @ Möck Verlag
Gloria Coates @ Musik Fabrik – Editions de la Fabrique Musique
Gloria Coates @ Schott Music
Gloria Coates @ Sonoton Verlag

Streaming Audio
Gloria Coates @ Composer's website [not currently available]
Gloria Coates @ Classical Archives
Gloria Coates @ last.fm
Gloria Coates @ Peter Sheppard Skærved

Recordings
Gloria Coates @ Composer's website [not currently available]
Gloria Coates @ ArkivMusic
Gloria Coates @ CD Universe
Gloria Coates @ ClassicsOnline
Gloria Coates @ Discogs
Gloria Coates @ Naxos
Gloria Coates @ New World Records

Video
Gloria Coates @ YouTube
Gloria Coates @ Google Video
Gloria Coates @ NewMusicBox/Beyond the Spheres

                                                                                                                                                                                                 ~ top of page ~
Coates on Coates: Beyond the Spheres/NewMusicBox (VIDEO)
Composer, composerComposers Speak on the Web at Pytheas
                            ~ click on composer picture to listen ~


. . . and check out more    Composers Speak on the Web    at Pytheas

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