Steven Stucky

Stucky wrote commissioned works for many of the major American orchestras, including Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and St. Paul. He was long associated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he was resident composer 1988–2009 (the longest such affiliation in American orchestral history); he was host of the New York Philharmonic's Hear & Now series 2005–09; and he was Pittsburgh Symphony Composer of the Year for the 2011–12 season. For Pittsburgh, he composed Silent Spring, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson's epochal book of the same title. He teamed with the celebrated pianist and author Jeremy Denk to create his first opera, The Classical Style (based on the celebrated book by Charles Rosen), which premiered in June 2014 at the Ojai Music Festival. Other noteworthy compositions by Stucky include the symphonic poem Radical Light (2007), Rhapsodies for Orchestra (2008), the oratorio August 4, 1964 (2008), a Symphony (2012), and his Second Concerto for Orchestra (2003), which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Stucky was an expert on the Polish composer Witold Lutosławski and authored the 1981 study Lutoslawski and His Music. He also was curator of the Philharmonia Orchestra's 2013 centenary celebration of that composer, Woven Words: Music Begins Where Words End. Stucky was the Given Foundation Professor of Composition at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

There he founded Ensemble X and led it for nine seasons, from 1997 until 2006, while at the same time he also was the guiding force behind the celebrated Green Umbrella series in Los Angeles. He has also taught at Eastman and Berkeley, the latter as Ernest Bloch Professor in 2003. After several earlier teaching and conducting visits, in 2013 he became artist-faculty composer-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival and School. In 2014 he became Professor Emeritus at Cornell and joined the composition faculty at the Juilliard School.

Among the composers who studied with Stucky are Marc Mellits, Robert Paterson, David Conte, Thomas C. Duffy, Yotam Haber, James Matheson, Steven Burke, Xi Wang, Spencer Topel, Diego Vega, Fang Man, Anna Weesner, Hannah Lash, Andrew Waggoner, Sean Shepherd, Yotam Haber, Chris Arrell and Jesse Jones. He taught master classes and served residencies around the world, including at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, Rice University, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, the Tanglewood Music Center, and many others.

In his review of the chamber piece Cantus for the London-based Bachtrack.com, Thomas May described Stucky as "a masterful colorist who exploits his sextet of players to paint with an orchestrally rich palette of sonorities: bell-like chimings and sparkling flecks from percussion and piano create a mysterious aura to suggest something imminent, an event horizon we long to cross."

Stucky died of brain cancer at his home in Ithaca, New York on February 14, 2016, aged 66.

Compositions

-Orchestral

Kenningar (Symphony No. 4) (1977–78)

Transparent Things: In Memoriam V.N. (1980)

Double Concerto (1982–85, rev. 1989), for violin, oboe/oboe d'amore & chamber orchestra

Voyages (1983–84), for cello & orchestral winds

Dreamwaltzes (1986)

Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 (1986–87)

Son et Lumière (1988)

Threnos (1988), for wind ensemble

Angelus (1989–90)

Anniversary Greeting (1991)

Impromptus (1991)

Funeral Music for Queen Mary (after Purcell) (1992), for orchestral winds

To Whom I Said Farewell (1992, rev. 2003), for mezzo-soprano & chamber orchestra

Fanfare for Los Angeles (1993)

Ancora (1994)

Fanfares and Arias (1994), for wind ensemble

Fanfare for Cincinnati (1994)

Double Flute Concerto (1994), for two flutes & orchestra

Pinturas de Tamayo (1995)

Music for Saxophones and Strings (1996)

Concerto Mediterraneo (1998), for guitar & orchestra

Escondido Fanfare (1998)

American Muse (1999), for baritone & orchestra

Concerto for Percussion and Wind Orchestra (2001)

Colburn Variations (2002), for string orchestra

Etudes (2002), concerto for recorder & chamber orchestra

Spirit Voices (2002–03), concerto for percussion & orchestra

Second Concerto for Orchestra (2003)

Jeu de timbres (2003)

Hue and Cry (2006), for wind ensemble

Radical Light (2006–07)

Rhapsodies for Orchestra (2008)

Chamber Concerto (2009)

Silent Spring (2011)

Symphony (2012)

-Opera

The Classical Style: An Opera (of Sorts) (2013–14), libretto by Jeremy Denk, after the book by Charles Rosen

-Choral

Spring and Fall: To a Young Child (1972), for a cappella SATB choir

Drop, drop, slow tears (1979), for a cappella SSAATTBB choir

Cradle Songs (1997), for a cappella SATB choir

To Musick (2000), for a cappella men's choir

Skylarks (2001), for a cappella S.A. & SATB choir

Whispers (2002), for a cappella SATB soli & SATTBB choir

Three New Motets (2005), for a cappella double SATB choir (O admirabile commercium, O sacrum convivium, O vos omnes)

Eyesight (2007), for a cappella SATB choir

August 4, 1964 (2007–08), for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor & baritone soli, SATB choir & orchestra

The Kingdom of God (In No Strange Land) (2008), for a cappella SATB choir

Gravity’s Dream (2009), for a cappella SATB choir

Say Thou Dost Love Me (2012) for a cappella SATB choir

Take Him, Earth (2012) for SATB choir with chamber orchestra

Winter Stars (2014) for a cappella SATB choir

-Chamber

Movements (1970), for four celli

Quartet (1972–73), for clarinet, viola, cello & piano

Movements III.: Seven Sketches (1976), for flute & clarinet

Refrains (1976), for five percussion

Notturno (1981), for alto saxophone & piano

Varianti (1982), for flute, clarinet & piano

Boston Fancies (1985), for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola & cello

Serenade (1990), for wind quintet

Birthday Fanfare (1993), for three trumpets

Salute (1997), for flute, clarinet, horn, trombone, percussion, piano, violin & cello

Ad Parnassum (1998), for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin & cello

Ai due amici (1998), for chamber ensemble

Tres Pinturas (1998), for violin & piano

Nell'ombra, nella luce (1999–2000), for string quartet

Partita-Pastorale after J.S.B. (2000), for clarinet, piano & string quartet

Tamayo Nocturne (2001), for chamber ensemble

Sonate en forme de préludes (2003–04), for oboe, horn & harpsichord

Meditation and Dance (2004), for clarinet & piano

Piano Quartet (2005), for violin, viola, cello & piano

Four Postcards (2008), for wind quintet & marimba

Piano Quintet (2009–10), for two violins, viola, cello & piano

Scherzino (2010), for alto saxophone and piano

Allegretto quasi Andantino (Schubert Dream) (2010), for piano four hands

Aus der Jugendzeit (2011), for bass-baritone, flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion

Rain Shadow (2012), for violin, viola, cello & piano

Sonata for Violin and Piano (2013)

Cantus (2015), for 6 players

-Vocal

Sappho Fragments (1982), for female voice & chamber ensemble

Two Holy Sonnets of Donne (1982), mezzo-soprano, oboe & piano

Four Poems of A.R. Ammons (1992), for baritone & chamber ensemble

To Whom I Said Farewell (1992, rev. 2003), for mezzo-soprano & chamber orchestra

American Muse (1999), for baritone & orchestra

Aus der Jugendzeit (2010–11), for baritone & chamber ensemble

The Stars and the Roses (2013), for tenor & orchestra

The Stars and the Roses (2013), for tenor & chamber ensemble

Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking (2014), for bass-baritone & piano

-Solo instrumental

Three Little Variations for David (2000), for solo piano

Album Leaves (2002), for solo piano

Dialoghi (2006), for solo cello

Dust Devil (2009), for solo marimba

Isabelle Dances (2009–10), for solo marimba

Sonata for Piano (2014)

-Arrangements of music by other composers

Noctuelles (Miroirs, No.1) (Maurice Ravel, orch. Stucky 2001) (Theodore Presser Co.)

Les Noces (Igor Stravinsky, orch. Stucky 2005), for solo voices, SATB. and full orchestra (Chester Music)

Bucolics (Witold Lutosławski, arr. Stucky 2006), for 9 instruments (Chester Music)

Eight Songs from the Spanish Songbook (Hugo Wolf, orch. Stucky 2008), for mezzo-soprano & orchestra (Theodore Presser Co.)

Four songs for the Dolce Suono Ensemble and baritone voice ("Per questa bella mano", "Ruhe sanft" (from Zaide), and "Das Veilchen" by Mozart; "Erlkönig" by Schubert, arr. Stucky 2012) (Theodore Presser Co.)

-Awards

1974: ASCAP Victor Herbert Prize for composition

1975: First Prize, American Society of University Composers Competition

1978: Composer Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts

1982: ASCAP Deems Taylor Award (for "Lutoslawski and His Music")

1986: John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship

1989: Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Music (Concerto for Orchestra No. 1)

1991: Koussevitzky Music Foundation Commission

1995: Special Commendation, National Association of Composers USA

1997: Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, Centro Studi Ligure (Italy)

1998: Barlow Endowment Commission

2001: Aaron Copland Fund for American Music recording grant

2002: Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, American Academy of Arts and Letters

2003: Bloch Lecturer, University of California at Berkeley

2005: Pulitzer Prize for Music for Second Concerto for Orchestra

2006: Paul Fromm Composer-in-Residence, American Academy in Rome

2006: Elected a trustee of the American Academy in Rome

2006: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

2006: Joined Board of Directors of the Koussevitzky Music Foundation

2007: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters

2008: Elected Chair of the Board of Directors, American Music Center

2011: Elected Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, New Music USA

2011: Composer of the Year, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, 2011/12 season

2013: August 4, 1964 Grammy Award nominee for Best Classical Contemporary Composition