Peter Lieberson

Peter Lieberson

born on 25/10/1946 in New York City, NY, United States

died on 23/4/2011 in Tel-Aviv, Israel

Peter Lieberson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Peter Lieberson (October 25, 1946, New York City   April 23, 2011, Tel Aviv, Israel) was an American composer. He was the son of ballerina and choreographer Vera Zorina (née Eva Brigitta Hartwig) and Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records.

Lieberson studied composition with Milton Babbitt, Charles Wuorinen, Donald Martino, and Martin Boykan. After completing his musical studies at Columbia University, he left New York in 1976 for Boulder, Colorado, to continue his studies with Chögyam Trungpa, a Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist master. It was there he met and married Ellen Kearney, a fellow student of Trungpa's. At their teacher's request, the Liebersons moved from Boulder to Boston, Massachusetts, to co-direct Shambhala Training, a meditation and cultural program.

Lieberson attended Brandeis University, from which he received a Ph.D. From 1984 to 1988 he taught at Harvard University. He then became international director of Shambhala Training in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Beginning in 1994, Lieberson devoted his time entirely to composition. He met his second wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, in 1997 during the Santa Fe Opera production of his work Ashoka's Dream; they married in 1999 after Lieberson and his first wife were divorced. He wrote his song cycles Rilke Songs and Neruda Songs for Hunt Lieberson. The Neruda Songs were co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony; the world premiere was given on May 20, 2005, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting and Hunt Lieberson as soloist.[1] The Boston Symphony performed the work in November 2005 with Hunt Lieberson as soloist and James Levine conducting, followed by performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting. Hunt Lieberson died of breast cancer in July 2006, aged 52.[2] Nonesuch subsequently released a commercial recording of the Boston/Levine performance of the Neruda Songs.[3]

In December 2007, Lieberson won the 2008 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for Neruda Songs.[4] The Rilke Songs have also been issued, in separate studio and concert performances by Hunt Lieberson, both on the Bridge Records, Inc. label.[5]

Lieberson was commissioned by the Boston Symphony to compose another cycle of Neruda songs, which became the Songs of Love and Sorrow. When he returned to the work, it was no longer simply a memorial to Hunt Lieberson and personal farewell, but also reflected the influence of his daughters and his third wife, Rinchen Lhamo.[6]

Lieberson had three daughters from his first marriage. Shortly after Lorraine Hunt Lieberson died, Lieberson himself was diagnosed with lymphoma. Though thought to have achieved full remission,[4] he died of complications of the disease.[7] He was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the time of his death.

Selected works

Opera

  • Ashoka's Dream (1997)[8]

Orchestral

  • Drala (1986)
  • The Gesar Legend (1988)
  • Worlds Turning (1991)
  • The Five Great Elements (1995)
  • Processional (1995)
  • Ah (2002)

Concertante

  • Concerto for Four Groups of Instruments (1972)
  • Concerto for Violoncello with Accompanying Trios (1974)
  • Concerto for Piano (1980)
  • Viola Concerto (1992)
  • Rhapsody for viola and orchestra (1994)
  • Horn Concerto (1998)
  • Red Garuda for piano and orchestra (1999)
  • The Six Realms for cello and orchestra (2000)
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 (2003)

Chamber music

  • Flute Variations for flute solo (1971)
  • Accordance for 8 Instruments (1975)
  • Tashi Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1978)
  • Lalita, Chamber Variations (1984)
  • Feast Day for flute (also piccolo, alto flute), oboe, cello and harpsichord (or piano) (1985)
  • Ziji for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano (1987)
  • Raising the Gaze for flute (also piccolo), clarinet (also bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, piano and percussion (1988)
  • Elegy for violin and piano (1990)
  • Wind Messengers for 3 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (also bass clarinets), 2 bassoons and 2 horns (1990)
  • A Little Fanfare for flute, trumpet, violin and harp (1991)
  • A Little Fanfare (II) for clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano (1993)
  • Variations for violin and piano (1993)
  • Rumble, Medley for viola, double bass and percussion (1994)
  • String Quartet (1994)
  • Three Variations for cello and piano (1996)
  • Free and Easy Wanderer (1998)
  • Piano Quintet (2001)
  • Remembering Schumann for cello and piano (2009)

Piano

  • Piano Fantasy (1975)
  • Bagatelles (1985)
  • Fantasy Pieces (1989)
  1. Breeze of Delight
  2. Dragon's Thunder
  3. Memory's Luminous Wind
  • Scherzo No. 1 (1989)
  • Garland (1994)
  • The Ocean that Has No West and No East (1997)
  • Tolling Piece (1998)

Vocal

  • Three Songs for soprano and chamber ensemble (1981)
  • King Gesar for narrator and chamber ensemble (1991)
  • C'mon Pigs of Western Civilization Eat More Grease for baritone and piano (2001)
  • Forgiveness for baritone and cello (2001)
  • Rilke Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano (2001)
  • Neruda Songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2005)
  • The Coming of Light for baritone, oboe and string quartet (2009)
  • Remembering JFK (An American Elegy) for narrator and orchestra (2010)
  • Songs of Love and Sorrow for baritone and orchestra (2010)

Choral

  • The World in Flower for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra (2007)

References

  1. Mark Swed, Love and hate, juxtaposed; L.A. Philharmonic pairs Lieberman's exquisite 'Neruda Songs' with Shostakovich's nasty broadside at Stalin, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2005.
  2. Anthony Tommasini, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Luminous Mezzo, Dies at 52, New York Times, July 5, 2006. URL accessed on 2007-12-04.
  3. Matthew Westphal, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's Performance of Her Husband's Neruda Songs to Be Issued on CD, Playbill Arts, November 29, 2006. URL accessed on 2007-12-04.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Matthew Westphal, Peter Lieberson Wins 2008 Grawemeyer Award for Neruda Songs, Playbill Arts, December 3, 2007. URL accessed on 2007-12-04.
  5. Arkiv music website.
  6. David Weiniger, After loss, new love and creativity found Peter Lieberson's personal journey through Songs, Boston Globe, March 19, 2010. URL accessed on 2011-04-25.
  7. Zachary Woolfe, Peter Lieberson, Composer Inspired by Buddhism, Dies at 64, New York Times, April 23, 2011. URL accessed on 2011-04-23.
  8. Anthony Tommasini, A Man Unafraid to Change, And Then to Sing About It, New York Times, July 30, 1997. URL accessed on 2007-12-04.

External links

  • Biography at Schirmer
  • Neruda Songs, new album on Nonesuch
  • Article in Shambhala Sun Magazine
  • Alex Ross remembrance
  • David Weininger on Lieberson & Songs of Love & Sorrow
This page was last modified 08.10.2013 16:58:51

This article uses material from the article Peter Lieberson from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.