Jacob Druckman (1928-1996)
Throughout his
musical life, Jacob Druckman was considered one of the most
promising and most erudite American composers of his generation. Born
in Philadelphia, he studied piano and violin in his youth and also
became an accomplished jazz trumpeter. He studied composition with
Aaron Copland at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood), and with
Peter Menin, Bernard Wagenaar, and Vincent Persichetti at The Juilliard
School— whose faculty he joined in 1956. He also held teaching
positions at Brooklyn College and at Yale, where he became chairman of
the composition department in 1976. Ranging from abstract to
theatrical, Druckman’s music, which embraced purely instrumental,
vocal, and electronic genres and expressions, is known for its dramatic
sonic impact. In the 1960s his theretofore neoclassical formal
tendencies (his 1950 Divertimento,
for example) gave way to experimental music for combinations of
instruments together with prerecorded electronic parameters and sounds.
By the 1970s he was leaning as well toward rich, sometimes extravagant
orchestral colors and timbres in his pieces for larger ensembles. At
the same time, he was always concerned with well calculated structure
and judicious focus on detail. Indeed, he once described these two
sides of his musical personality as "Apollonian and Dionysian"—sides
that can sometimes be juxtaposed in a single piece. He also turned to
the device of quotation from other, earlier works, which could involve
music of such stylistically and chronologically disparate composers as
Cavalli (1602–76), Cherubini (1760–1842), M. A. Charpentier
(1643–1704), and Leonard Bernstein. In 1978 Druckman was elected
to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Commenting on his untimely
passing, ASCAP president and chairman Marilyn Bergman observed,
"American music has lost one of its leading citizens, a greatly
talented man who was also an inspired teacher and a determined
advocate." .- Naxos
COMPOSITIONS Druckman Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Druckman on Druckman
String Quartet No. 1 (1948)
Duo, violin and piano (1949)
Divertimento, string trio [violin, viola, cello], harp, horn and clarinet (1950)
Laude (5 songs), baritone, alto flute, viola and cello (1952) [text: anonymous medieval texts]
The Simple Gifts, cantata based on themes of the American Shakers, soloists, chorus and piano (1954)
The Seven Deadly Sins, variations for piano (1955)
Dark Upon the Harp, mezzo-soprano, brass and percussion (1961-62) [text: Psalms]
Antiphonies (I, II, III), double chorus (1963) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
Madridals (4 pieces), chorus (pub. 1963)
The Sound of Time, soprano and piano (1964) [text: Norman Mailer]
The Sound of Time, orchestra (1965)
String Quartet No. 2 (1966)
Animus I, trombone and electronic tape (1966-67)
Incenters, 13 instruments (1968) [also arr. for orchestra]
Animus II, mezzo-soprano, 2 percussionists and electronic tape (1967-68)
Animus III, clarinet and electronic tape (1969)
Valentine, double bass (1969)
Orison, organ and electronic tape (1970)
Le traité du Rossignol, film score (1971)
Synapse, tape (1971) [used as the electronic prelude to "Valentine", 1969]
Windows, orchestra (1972) [Pulitzer Prize winner]
Delizie contente che l'alme Beate after Francesco Cavalli, wind quintet and tape (1973)
Lamia, soprano and orchestra (1974; expanded 1975) [text: John Keats]
Other Voices, brass quintet (1976; pub. 1993)
Mirage, orchestra (1976)
Animus IV, tenor, instrumental ensemble and tape (1977)
Chiaroscuro, orchestra (1977)
Viola Concerto (1978)
Aureole, orchestra (1979)
Bo, marimba, harp, bass clarinet, and 3 accompanying female voices (1979) [text: Hai-Fu ("The Sea"), by Mu Hua, c300AD]
Prism, orchestra (1980)
- Engram, band (1982) [arrangement of 3rd mvt of "Prism", 1980]
String Quartet No. 3 (1981)
Tromba Marina, 4 double basses (1981)
Vox Humana, chorus and orchestra (1983)
Paean, a fanfare for wind and percussion (1986)
A Birthday Bouquet, orchestra (1986)
Reflections on the Nature of Water, marimba (1986)
Brangle, orchestra, (1988-89)
In Memoriam Vincent Persichetti, band (1987) [on cantus firmus from opening bars of Persichetti's "Symphony for Strings"]
That Quickening Pulse, orchestra (1988)
Dance with Shadows, brass quintet (1989)
Nor Spell, mezzo-soprano and English horn (1989) [text: Shakespeare, from "A Midsummer Night's Dream]
Nor Spell, Nor Charm, chamber orchestra (1990) [an extention and elaboration of same titled work for mezz-sop and EH, 1989]
Summer Lightning, orchestral overture (1991)
Shog, orchestra (1991)
Seraphic Games, orchestra (1992)
Demos, orchestra (1992) ["a celebration of European Folk Music]
Come Round, fl/alto fl, cl/bass cl, 2 perc, pf, vln, va, vc (1992)
Counterpoise (4 songs), soprano and orchestra (1994) [arr. 1995 for soprano and chamber ensemble]
Dark Wind, violin and cello (1994)
Glint, clarinet, violin and piano (1995)
WORKS BY GENRE Druckman Links ~ ~ ~ Druckman on Druckman ~ top of page ~
Orchestra
The Sound of Time, orchestra (1965)
Incenters, 13 instruments (1968) [also arr. for orchestra]
Windows, orchestra (1972) [Pulitzer Prize winner]
Mirage, orchestra (1976)
Chiaroscuro, orchestra (1977)
Aureole, orchestra (1979)
Prism, orchestra (1980)
Paean, a fanfare for wind and percussion (1986)
A Birthday Bouquet, orchestra (1986)
Brangle, orchestra, (1988-89)
That Quickening Pulse, orchestra (1988)
Nor Spell, Nor Charm, chamber orchestra (1990) [an extention and elaboration of same titled work for mezz-sop and EH, 1989]
Summer Lightning, orchestral overture (1991)
Shog, orchestra (1991)
Seraphic Games, orchestra (1992)
Demos, orchestra (1992) ["a celebration of European Folk Music]
Band
Engram, band (1982) [arrangement of 3rd mvt of "Prism", 1980]
Paean, a fanfare for wind and percussion (1986)
In Memoriam Vincent Persichetti, band (1987) [on cantus firmus from opening bars of Persichetti's "Symphony for Strings"]
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Viola Concerto (1978)
Chorus w/Orchestra
Vox Humana, chorus and orchestra (1983)
Choral
The Simple Gifts, cantata based on themes of the American Shakers, soloists, chorus and piano (1954)
Antiphonies (I, II, III), double chorus (1963) [text: Gerard Manley Hopkins]
- Repeat that repeat coockoo bird
- I wake and feel the hell of dark
- Glory be to God for dub of things
Madridals (4 pieces), chorus (pub. 1963)
- Shake Off Your Heavy Trance [text: Francis Beaumont]
- The Faery Beam Upon You, soprano solo and chorus [text: Ben Jonson]
- Death, Be Not Proud, chorus [text: John Donne]
- Corinna's Going a-Maying [text: Robert Herrick]
Chamber
String Quartet No. 1 (1948)
Duo, violin and piano (1949)
Divertimento, string trio [violin, viola, cello], harp, horn and clarinet (1950)
String Quartet No. 2 (1966)
Incenters, 13 instruments (1968) [also arr. for orchestra]
Delizie contente che l'alme Beate after Francesco Cavalli, wind quintet and tape (1973)
Other Voices, brass quintet (1976; pub. 1993)
Bo, marimba, harp, bass clarinet, and 3 accompanying female voices (1979) [text: Hai-Fu ("The Sea"), by Mu Hua, c300AD]
String Quartet No. 3 (1981)
Tromba Marina, 4 double basses (1981)
Dance with Shadows, brass quintet (1989)
Come Round, fl/alto fl, cl/bass cl, 2 perc, pf, vln, va, vc (1992)
Dark Wind, violin and cello (1994)
Glint, clarinet, violin and piano (1995)
Solo Instrument
Animus I, trombone and electronic tape (1966-67)
Animus III, clarinet and electronic tape (1969)
Valentine, double bass (1969) [the tape piece "Synapse" (1971) is used as the electronic prelude to "Valentine"]
Reflections on the Nature of Water, marimba (1986)
Piano or Organ
The Seven Deadly Sins, variations for piano (1955)
Orison, organ and electronic tape (1970)
Vocal
Laude (5 songs), baritone, alto flute, viola and cello (1952) [text: anonymous medieval texts]
Dark Upon the Harp, mezzo-soprano, brass and percussion (1961-62) [text: Psalms]
The Sound of Time, soprano and piano (1964) [text: Norman Mailer]
Animus II, mezzo-soprano, 2 percussionists and electronic tape (1967-68)
Lamia, soprano and orchestra (1974; expanded 1975) [text: John Keats]
Animus IV, tenor, instrumental ensemble and tape (1977)
Bo, marimba, harp, bass clarinet, and 3 accompanying female voices (1979) [text: Hai-Fu ("The Sea"), by Mu Hua, c300AD]
Nor Spell, mezzo-soprano and English horn (1989) [text: Shakespeare, from "A Midsummer Night's Dream]
Counterpoise (4 songs), soprano and orchestra (1994) [arr. 1995 for soprano and chamber ensemble]
- "Nature" is what we see [text: Emily Dickinson]
- Salomé [text: Guillaume Apollinaire]
- La blanche neige [text: Guillaume Apollinaire]
- I taste a liquor never brewed [text: Emily Dickinson]
Incidental/Film
Le traité du Rossignol, film score (1971)
Electronic/Electroacoustic
Animus I, trombone and electronic tape (1966-67)
Animus II, mezzo-soprano, 2 percussionists and electronic tape (1967-68)
Animus III, clarinet and electronic tape (1969)
Orison, organ and electronic tape (1970)
Synapse, tape (1971) [used as the electronic prelude to "Valentine", 1969]
Delizie contente che l'alme Beate after Francesco Cavalli, wind quintet and tape (1973)
Animus IV, tenor, instrumental ensemble and tape (1977)
DRUCKMAN LINKS Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Druckman on Druckman ~ top of page ~
In Memoriam - Jacob Druckman (Jeremy Beck)
Jacob Druckman, 67, Dies; A Composer and Teacher (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times)
Obituary: Jacob Druckman (Bernard Rands, The Independent)
Whither Jacob Druckman? (David Salvage, Sequenza 21 - Composers Forum)
Composer website (@ Boosey & Hawkes) . . . inquire about Jacob Druckman: here
Druckman @ Wikipedia
Druckman @ ANABlog
Druckman @ Answers.com
Druckman @ Boosey & Hawkes
Druckman @ Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Druckman @ Classical Archives
Druckman @ Classical Composers Database
Druckman @ Classical Net
Druckman @ ClassicsToday (via Google Advanced Search)
Druckman @ Facebook
Druckman @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Druckman @ InstantEncore
Druckman @ IRCAM
Druckman @ The Kennedy Center
Druckman @ Klassika
Druckman @ Los Angeles Philharmonic
Druckman @ Milken Archive of Jewish Music
Druckman @ Music Associates of America
Druckman @ MusicWeb International
Druckman @ Naxos
Druckman @ New Music USA [formerly American Music Center]
Druckman @ New World Records - check individual album liner notes
Druckman @ New York Public Library
Druckman @ The New York Times
Druckman @ The Pulitzer Prizes - see 1972
Druckman @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Druckman @ Wind Repertory Project
Druckman @ Yale University/Oral History of American Music (OHAM)
Publisher
Druckman @ Boosey & Hawkes
Druckman @ Theodore Presser
Streaming Audio
Druckman @ Classical Archives
Druckman @ Internet Archive/Avant Garde Project
Druckman @ last.fm
Druckman @ MySpaceMusic (via Google Advanced Search)
Druckman @ New Music USA [formerly American Music Center]
Druckman @ Rhapsody.com
Druckman @ SoundCloud
Recordings
Druckman @ Amazon.com
Druckman @ ArkivMusic
Druckman@ CD Universe
Druckman @ ClassicsOnline
Druckman @ Discogs
Druckman @ DRAM Online
Druckman @ itunes (via Google Advanced Search)
Druckman @ Naxos
Druckman @ New World Records
Video
Druckman @ YouTube
Druckman @ Google Video
Druckman @ Vimeo (via Google Advanced Search)
~ top of page ~
Druckman on Druckman: On the State of Contemporary Music, 1985/WQXR (streaming audio)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
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