George Rochberg facts for kids

George Rochberg (born July 5, 1918 – died May 29, 2005) was an American composer who wrote contemporary classical music. For a long time, Rochberg used a style called serialism in his music. But after his teenage son passed away in 1964, he stopped using it. He felt that serialism couldn't express his deep sadness and that it lacked real feeling.

By the 1970s, Rochberg started using tonality (music with clear keys and melodies) in his works. This caused some debate among music critics and other composers. Rochberg was also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania until 1983, and he led its music department until 1968. In 1978, he became the first Annenberg Professor of the Humanities.

About George Rochberg's Life

George Rochberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He studied music at the Mannes College of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. Some of his teachers were famous musicians like George Szell and Gian Carlo Menotti. During World War II, he served in the United States Army.

Rochberg led the music department at the University of Pennsylvania until 1968. He continued to teach there until 1983. In 1978, he was given the special title of the first Annenberg Professor of the Humanities.

He married Gene Rosenfeld in 1941, and they had two children, Paul and Francesca. Sadly, his son Paul died from a brain tumor in 1964.

George Rochberg passed away in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 2005, when he was 86 years old. Many of his musical works are kept safe at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Switzerland. You can also find some of his music at places like the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.

George Rochberg's Musical Style

George Rochberg was known for using serialism, a complex way of composing music. However, after his son's death in 1964, he stopped using this style. He said that serialism felt "empty" and couldn't help him express his intense grief and anger.

By the 1970s, Rochberg became well-known for bringing back tonality into his music. This means he started using clear melodies and harmonies that sounded more traditional. His String Quartet No. 3 (from 1972) was one of the first works where this change became clear. This quartet even had parts that sounded like the music of famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Gustav Mahler.

Because he used tonality again, some critics called him a "neoromantic" composer. He compared atonality (music without a clear key) to abstract art and tonality to concrete art. He felt his artistic journey was similar to that of painter Philip Guston, saying both explored the balance between "concreteness and abstraction."

One of Rochberg's early and important works was his Symphony No. 2 (1955–56). It is considered a great example of serial music by an American composer. He is perhaps most famous for his String Quartets Nos. 3–6 (1972–78). He called Quartets 4–6 the "Concord Quartets" because they were first performed and recorded by the Concord String Quartet. His String Quartet No. 6 even includes variations on Pachelbel's famous Canon in D.

Some of his pieces were like musical collages. This means they included parts or "quotations" from other composers' music. For example, "Contra Mortem et Tempus" uses parts from works by Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, Edgard Varèse, and Charles Ives.

Recordings of his Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, and 5, and his Violin Concerto were made in 2001–2002. They were performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken and released by the Naxos record label.

Rochberg's Impact on Other Composers

George Rochberg's decision to change his musical style inspired many other young composers. James Freeman, a musician and teacher, said that Rochberg showed them they didn't have to stick to just one style, like serial music. He felt Rochberg gave them the freedom to compose in any way they wanted, even if it sounded like older music from composers like Johannes Brahms. This was a very important feeling for composers in the late 1960s.

George Rochberg's Writings

George Rochberg also wrote essays about music. His collected essays were published in 1984 as The Aesthetics of Survival. A newer, updated version of this book won an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in 2006. Some of his letters with Canadian composer István Anhalt were published in 2007. His own life story, called Five Lines, Four Spaces, was published in 2009.

George Rochberg's Major Works

Here are some of the musical works George Rochberg created:

Stage Works

• The Confidence Man, an opera (1982); based on a novel by Herman Melville.

Orchestral Music

• Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 1 (1948–49; revised 1977; 2003)
  • Symphony No. 2 (1955–56)
  • Symphony No. 3, for voices and orchestra (1966–69)
  • Symphony No. 4 (1976)
  • Symphony No. 5 (1984)
  • Symphony No. 6 (1986–87)
• Canto Sacra, for small orchestra (1954)
• Cheltenham Concerto, for small orchestra (1958)
• Imago Mundi, for large orchestra (1973)
• Night Music, for orchestra with cello solo (1948)
• Music for the Magic Theater, for small orchestra (1965–69)
• Time-Span I (1960)
• Time-Span II (1965)
• Transcendental Variations, for string orchestra (1975)
• Zodiac (A Circle of 12 Pieces), (1964–65)

Concertos (Music for Solo Instrument and Orchestra)

• Clarinet Concerto (1996)
• Oboe Concerto (1983), written for Joe Robinson
• Violin Concerto (1974; revised 2001), written for and first played by Isaac Stern with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
• Eden: Out of Time and Out of Space, for guitar and ensemble (1998)

Wind Ensemble Music

• Black Sounds, for winds and percussion (1965)
• Apocalyptica, for large wind ensemble (1964)

Chamber Music (for Small Groups of Instruments)

For 2 Players

• Duo for Oboe and Bassoon (1946; revised 1969)
• Duo Concertante, for violin and cello (1955–59)
• Dialogues, for clarinet and piano (1957–58)
• La bocca della verita, for oboe and piano (1958–59); also a version for violin and piano (1964)
• Ricordanza Soliloquy, for cello and piano (1972)
• Slow Fires of Autumn (Ukiyo II), for flute and harp (1978–79)
• Viola Sonata (1979)
• Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo III), for flute and piano (1982)
• Violin Sonata (1988)
• Muse of Fire, for flute and guitar (1989–90)
• Ora pro nobis, for flute and guitar (1989)
• Rhapsody and Prayer, for violin and piano (1989)

For 3 Players

• Piano Trios
  • Piano Trio No. 1 (1963)
  • Piano Trio No. 2 (1985)
  • Piano Trio No. 3 Summer (1990)
• Trio for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano (1980)

For 4 Players

• String Quartets
  • String Quartet No. 1 (1952)
  • String Quartet No. 2, with soprano voice (1959–61)
  • String Quartet No. 3 (1972)
  • String Quartet No. 4 (1977)
  • String Quartet No. 5 (1978)
  • String Quartet No. 6 (1978)
  • String Quartet No. 7, with baritone voice (1979)
• Contra Mortem et Tempus, for violin, flute, clarinet, and piano (1965)
• Piano Quartet (1983)

For 5 or More Players

• Chamber Symphony for Nine Instruments (1953)
• Serenata d'estate, for six instruments (1955)
• Electrikaleidoscope, for an amplified group of instruments (1972)
• Quintet for piano and string quartet (1975)
• Octet: A Grand Fantasia, for eight instruments (1980)
• String Quintet (1982)
• To the Dark Wood, for wind quintet (1985)

Instrumental Solos

• 50 Caprice Variations, for violin (1970)
• American Bouquet, for guitar (1991)

Keyboard Music

• Arioso (1959)
• Bartokiana (1959)
• Book of Contrapuntal Pieces for Keyboard Instruments (1979)
• Carnival Music, for piano (1971)
• Circles of Fire, for two pianos (1996–1997)
• Four Short Sonatas, for piano (1984)
• Nach Bach: Fantasia, for harpsichord or piano (1966)
• Partita-Variations, for piano (1976)
• Sonata Seria, for piano (1948/98)
• Sonata-Fantasia, for piano (1956)
• Three Elegiac Pieces, for piano (1945/48/98)
• Twelve Bagatelles, for piano (1952)
• Variations on an Original Theme, for piano (1941)

Vocal and Choral Music

• Behold, My Servant, for mixed chorus (1973)
• Blake Songs, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1957; revised 1962)
• David, the Psalmist, for tenor and orchestra (1954)
• Eleven Songs to Poems of Paul Rochberg, for mezzo-soprano and piano (1969)
• Fantasies, for voice and piano (1971)
• Four Songs of Solomon, for voice and piano (1946)
• Music for The Alchemist, for soprano and eleven players (1966; revised 1968)
• Passions [According to the Twentieth Century], for singers, jazz quintet, and other instruments (1967)
• Phaedra, a solo drama for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1973–74)
• Sacred Song of Reconciliation (Mizmor L'piyus), for baritone and orchestra (1970)
• Seven Early Love Songs, for voice and piano (1991)
• Songs in Praise of Krishna, for soprano and piano (1970)
• Songs of Inanna and Dumuzi, for alto and piano (1977)
• Tableaux, for soprano, speakers, chorus, and instruments (1968)
• Three Cantes Flamencos, for high baritone (1969)
• Three Psalms, for mixed chorus (1954)

Awards and Recognitions

George Rochberg received many awards and honors throughout his life, including:

• 1950–1951 – Fulbright Fellow
• 1950–52 – Fellow of American Academy in Rome
• 1952 – George Gershwin Memorial Award for Night Music
• 1956 – Society for the Publication of American Music award for String Quartet No. 1
• 1956 – Guggenheim Fellowship
• 1959 – First prize in Italian ISCM International Music Competition for Cheltenham Concerto
• 1961 – Naumburg Recording Award for Symphony No. 2
• 1962 – Honorary degree from Montclair State University
• 1964 – Honorary degree from University of the Arts
• 1966 – Prix Italia for Black Sounds
• 1966 – Guggenheim Fellowship
• 1972 – Naumburg Chamber Composition Award for String Quartet No. 3
• 1972–74 – National Endowment for the Arts Grants
• 1979 – Kennedy Center Friedhelm Award for String Quartet No. 4
• 1980 – Honorary degree from University of Michigan
• 1985 – Honorary degree from University of Pennsylvania
• 1985 – Gold Medal at Brandeis Creative Arts Awards
• 1986 – Lancaster Symphony Composers Award
• 1987 – University of Bridgeport's Andre and Clara Mertens Contemporary Composer Award
• 1987 – Alfred I. duPont Composer's Award
• 1991 – Bellagio artist in residence
• 1994 – Honorary degree from Miami University
• 1997 – Longy School of Music Distinguished Achievement Award
• 1998 – Grammy Award (nominated) "String Quartet No. 3"
• 1999 – ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2004 – Grammy Award (nominated) "String Quartet No. 5"
• 2006 – Deems Taylor Award for The Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of Twentieth-Century Music