David T. Little (1978- )
The
music of American composer David T. Little has been described as
“dramatically wild…rustling, raunchy and eclectic,” showing “real
imagination” by New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini, and his work
“completely gripped” New Yorker critic Alex Ross: “every bad-ass
new-music ensemble in the city will want to play him.” Little’s highly
theatrical, often political work draws upon his experience as a rock
drummer, and fuses classical and popular idioms to dramatic effect. His
music has been performed throughout the world - including in Dresden,
London, Edinburgh, LA, Montreal, and at the Tanglewood, Aspen, MATA and
Cabrillo Festivals - by such performers as the London Sinfonietta,
eighth
blackbird, So Percussion, ensemble courage, Dither, NOW Ensemble, PRISM
Quartet, the New World Symphony, American Opera Projects, the New York
City Opera, the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra under Marin Alsop. He has received awards and recognition
from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Mid Atlantic Arts
Foundation, Meet The Composer, the American Music Center, the Harvey
Gaul Competition, BMI, and ASCAP, and has received commissions from
Carnegie Hall, the Baltimore Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the New
World Symphony, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the University of
Michigan, and Dawn Upshaw’s Vocal Arts program at the Bard
Conservatory. In 2004, Little founded the
amplified octet Newspeak,
for which he is also the drummer and artistic
director. Hailed as “potent” (TheRestIsNoise.com), “innovative” (New
York Magazine), and “fierce” (Time Out New York), Newspeak
explores the
relationship of music and politics, while confronting head-on the
boundaries between the classical and the rock
traditions. Little
holds degrees from Susquehanna University (2001), The University
of Michigan (2002) and Princeton University (2006, PhD completed spring
2011), and his primary teachers have included Osvaldo Golijov, Paul
Lansky, Steven Mackey, William Bolcom, and Michael Daugherty. He has
taught music in New York City through Carnegie Hall’s Musical
Connections program, served as the inaugural Digital
Composer-in-
Residence for the UK-based DilettanteMusic.com, and is
currently
the Executive Director of New York’s MATA Festival.COMPOSITIONS David T. Little Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Little on Little
The State of Our Union is … , mixed ensemble, narrator and 10-30 actors (1999)
Music for Wycherley’s The Country Wife, baroque chamber orchestra (2000)
Music for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, electronics, percussion, soprano and oboe (2001)
descanso (after omega), solo clarinet and ensemble (2004) [sax version commissioned by Brian Sacawa]
Soldier Songs, bass-baritone and sextet (2004-2006)
East Coast Attitude, band (2006)
Screamer! – a three-ring blur for orchestra (2002)
Sunday Morning Trepanation, violin, clarinet (bass clarinet), percussion, piano and CD playback (2002)
hope in the proles, flute, clarinet, (bass clarinet), piano, percussion (1 player), violin and cello (2002)
Immolation, chamber orchestra (2003)
how we got here (fourth evolution), 13 players (2003)
attitude, adjusted, flute, clarinet, tenor sax, violin, viola, cello and piano (2003)
Valuable Natural Resources, [large ensemble] (2004)
descanso (after omega), solo clarinet and ensemble (2004) [sax version commissioned by Brian Sacawa]
for Amos, violin, cello and piano (2004)
Piano Trio, violin, cello and piano (2003-04)
Speak Softly, 4 percussionists playing sticks of varying bigness (2004)
Songs of Love, Death, Friends and Government, soprano, clarinet and violin (2004)
descanso (waiting), flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (2004-05)
Red Scare Sketchbook, saxophone and percussion (2005)
Electric Proletariat, electric gtr, cl, electric vln, electric vc, drumset, vibes & synth. (2005) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
Soldier Songs, bass-baritone and sextet (2004-2006)
Musik für den Schultheiß, string quartet (2006/09)
oh Gott, es regnet, electric guitar quartet (2006)
Shapeshifter (a machine tries to be beautiful), 6 percussionists (2004/07)
Tricky Bits, elec-gtr, clarinet/bass cl, synth & drums (or elec-gtr, synth, bass & drums) (2007/09) [written for "Newspeak"]
from The Musical Illusionist, string quartet (2007)
Three Sams (etudes), solo percussion (2007)
Ashe – in memoriam Babatunde Olatunji, 2 voices and amplified chamber orchestra (2007)
sweet light crude, soprano, e-gtr, cl, e-vln, e-vc, drumset, vibes, synth. (2007) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
Music for The Musical Illusionist, [????], string quartet and electronics (2007)
Spalding Gray, flute, clarinet, electric guitar, bass and piano (2008)
The Closed Mouth Speaks (Seven Soldier Songs), bass-baritone and orchestra (2008)
1986, string quartet (2009)
Shock Doctrine, solo snare drum (2009)
Scenes from Dog Days, 5 voices and chamber ensemble (2009)
Mirror, Mirror, soprano and cello ensemble (or live/prerecorded celli) (2009)
Vinkensport or, The Finch Opera (2009-2010)
Conspiracy Theory, big band (2010)
raw power, saxophone quartet (2010)
and the sky was still there, electric violin and playback (2010) [text: Amber Ferenz]
Haunt of Last Nightfall (a death play in two acts), percussion quartet and electronics (2010)
To A Stranger, baritone voice and piano (2010) [text: Walt Whitman]
Charm, orchestra (2011)
RADIANT CHiLD, concertino for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra (2011)
Last Nightfall, soprano, e-gtr, cl, e-vln, e-vc, drumset, vibes, synth. (2011) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
Dog Days, [opera], 6 singers, 1 actor and amplified chamber ensemble (in-progress) [libretto by Royce Vavrek]
WORKS BY GENRE David T. Little Links ~ ~ ~ Little on Little ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
The State of Our Union is … , mixed ensemble, narrator and 10-30 actors (1999)
Soldier Songs, bass-baritone and sextet (2004-2006)
Vinkensport or, The Finch Opera (2009-2010)
Dog Days, [opera], 6 singers, 1 actor and amplified chamber ensemble (in-progress) [libretto by Royce Vavrek]
Orchestra
Screamer! – a three-ring blur for orchestra (2002)
Immolation, chamber orchestra (2003)
Charm, orchestra (2011)
Band
East Coast Attitude, band (2006)
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra or Ensemble
descanso (after omega), solo clarinet and ensemble (2004) [sax version commissioned by Brian Sacawa]
RADIANT CHiLD, concertino for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra (2011)
Large Ensemble
how we got here (fourth evolution), 13 players (2003)
Valuable Natural Resources, [large ensemble] (2004)
Conspiracy Theory, big band (2010)
Chamber
Sunday Morning Trepanation, violin, clarinet (bass clarinet), percussion, piano and CD playback (2002)
hope in the proles, flute, clarinet, (bass clarinet), piano, percussion (1 player), violin and cello (2002)
attitude, adjusted, flute, clarinet, tenor sax, violin, viola, cello and piano (2003)
descanso (after omega), solo clarinet and ensemble (2004) [sax version commissioned by Brian Sacawa]
for Amos, violin, cello and piano (2004)
Piano Trio, violin, cello and piano (2003-04)
- East Coast Attitude
- On-the-job Training
Speak Softly, 4 percussionists playing sticks of varying bigness (2004)
descanso (waiting), flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (2004-05)
Red Scare Sketchbook, saxophone and percussion (2005)
- Red Scare 1
- Blacklist
- UnAmerican Activities, Red Scare 2
Electric Proletariat, electric gtr, cl, electric vln, electric vc, drumset, vibes & synth. (2005) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
- prologue: seeing
- prolesong
- assimilation
- interlude: understanding
- brutality
- hope
- epilogue: defying
Musik für den Schultheiß, string quartet (2006/09)
oh Gott, es regnet, electric guitar quartet (2006)
Tricky Bits, elec-gtr, clarinet/bass cl, synth & drums (or elec-gtr, synth, bass & drums) (2007/09) [written for "Newspeak"]
from The Musical Illusionist, string quartet (2007)
Spalding Gray, flute, clarinet, electric guitar, bass and piano (2008)
1986, string quartet (2009)
raw power, saxophone quartet (2010)
and the sky was still there, electric violin and playback (2010) [text: Amber Ferenz]
Percussion
Speak Softly, 4 percussionists playing sticks of varying bigness (2004)
Shapeshifter (a machine tries to be beautiful), 6 percussionists (2004/07)
Three Sams (etudes), solo percussion (2007)
Shock Doctrine, solo snare drum (2009)
Haunt of Last Nightfall (a death play in two acts), percussion quartet and electronics (2010)
RADIANT CHiLD, concertino for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra (2011)
Solo Instrument
and the sky was still there, electric violin and playback (2010) [text: Amber Ferenz]
Vocal
Songs of Love, Death, Friends and Government, soprano, clarinet and violin (2004)
Soldier Songs, bass-baritone and sextet (2004-2006)
Ashe – in memoriam Babatunde Olatunji, 2 voices and amplified chamber orchestra (2007)
sweet light crude, soprano, e-gtr, cl, e-vln, e-vc, drumset, vibes, synth. (2007) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
The Closed Mouth Speaks (Seven Soldier Songs), bass-baritone and orchestra (2008)
Scenes from Dog Days, 5 voices and chamber ensemble (2009)
Mirror, Mirror, soprano and cello ensemble (or live/prerecorded celli) (2009)
To A Stranger, baritone voice and piano (2010) [text: Walt Whitman]
Last Nightfall, soprano, e-gtr, cl, e-vln, e-vc, drumset, vibes, synth. (2011) [written for "Newspeak" ensemble]
Incidental/Film
Music for Wycherley’s The Country Wife, baroque chamber orchestra (2000)
Music for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, electronics, percussion, soprano and oboe (2001)
Music for The Musical Illusionist, [????], string quartet and electronics (2007)
Electronic
Music for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, electronics, percussion, soprano and oboe (2001)
Sunday Morning Trepanation, violin, clarinet (bass clarinet), percussion, piano and CD playback (2002)
Music for The Musical Illusionist, [????], string quartet and electronics (2007)
and the sky was still there, electric violin and playback (2010) [text: Amber Ferenz]
Haunt of Last Nightfall (a death play in two acts), percussion quartet and electronics (2010)
DAVID T. LITTLE LINKS Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Little on Little ~ top of page ~
Attention BSO: David T. Little Is a Screamer! (Brian Sacawa, Sound Directions)
Cocktail Conversation: David T. Little (Feast of Music)
David T. Little - Rocking Classics (Carrie Stetler, NJ.com)
David T. Little - Witness In Sound (Molly Sheridan, NewMusicBox)
"It's Not Just About the Art, It's About the Ideas" (Olivia Giovetti, WQXR)
"Soldier Songs" Grapples with the Complexity of War (Jim Shelton, New Haven Register)
Sounding Discord (Steve Smith, Time Out New York)
Spotlight on VOX: David T. Little (New York City Opera)
Until the Next Revolution (David T. Little, The New York Times)
Composer's website . . . contact David T. Little: here
David T. Little @ Wikipedia
David T. Little @ American Music Center
David T. Little @ Carnegie Hall Commissions
David T. Little @ Classical Archives
David T. Little @ composition:today
David T. Little @ InstantEncore
David T. Little @ MATA Festival
David T. Little @ Meet the Composer
David T. Little @ MusicWeb International
David T. Little @ MySpaceMusic
David T. Little @ New Amsterdam Records
David T. Little @ NewMusicBox
David T. Little @ The New York Times
David T. Little @ Sequenza21
David T. Little @ WQXR
Publisher
David T. Little @ Composer's website
Streaming Audio
David T. Little @ Composer's website - check under individual work listings
David T. Little @ Classical Archives
David T. Little @ MySpaceMusic
David T. Little @ WQXR
Recordings
David T. Little @ ArkivMusic
David T. Little @ CD Universe
David T. Little @ ClassicsOnline
David T. Little @ New Amsterdam Records
Video
David T. Little @ YouTube here
David T. Little @ Google Video
David T. Little @ NewMusicBox
David T. Little @ Vimeo
~ top of page ~
Little on Little: Witness in Sound/NewMusicBox (VIDEO)
Little on Little: We Got Next/WQXR (streaming audio)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
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