О знаменитости

Джордж Крам: биография

День рождения 24 октября 1929

американский композитор, приверженец «технического расширения» возможностей музыки

Биография

Учился в музыкальном колледже Чарльстона (закончил его в 1950), затем в Университете Иллинойса и в Мичиганском университете, который закончил в 1959. Много лет преподавал музыку — в колледже в Виргинии, в Университете Колорадо, в Пенсильванском университете, где среди его учеников были Дженнифер Хигдон и Освальдо Голихов. Отошёл от преподавания в 1992.

Его сын Дейвид Крам (1962) — тоже композитор, дочь Энн Крам — актриса и певица.

Творчество

В начале пути испытал сильное влияние А.Веберна, позднее — Бартока и Дебюсси. Музыка Крама тяготеет к сценическим формам представления — но не к сложившимся, "отвердевшим" жанрам театрального спектакля, а к превращению самого процесса создания и извлечения музыки в своеобразное зрелище. Оособенно много работал и продолжает работать над вокальными сочинениями. Его произведения исполняли Д. Де Гаэтани, Кронос-квартет.

Произведения

Оркестровые

Gethsemane (1947), for small orchestra
Diptych (1955)
Variazioni (1959), for large orchestra
Echoes of Time and the River (Echoes II) (1967)
A Haunted Landscape (1984)

Для голоса, хора и оркестра

Star-Child (1977), for soprano, antiphonal children’s voices, male speaking choir, bell ringers, and large orchestra

Камерно-инструментальные

Two Duos (1944), for flute and clarinet
Four Pieces (1945), for violin and piano
Violin Sonata (1949)
String Trio (1952)
Three Pastoral Pieces (1952), for oboe and piano
Viola Sonata (1953)
String Quartet (1954)
Sonata for Solo Cello (1955)
Four Nocturnes (Night Music II) (1964), for violin and piano
Eleven Echoes of Autumn (Echoes I) (1966), for violin, alto flute, clarinet, and piano
Black Angels (Images I) (1970), for electric string quartet
Vox Balaenae (1971), for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano
Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) (1974), for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players)
Dream Sequence (Images II) (1976), for violin, cello, piano, percussion (one player), and off-stage glass harmonica (two players)
String Trio (1982)
Pastoral Drone (1982), for organ
An Idyll for the Misbegotten (Images III) (1986), for amplified flute and percussion (three players).
Easter Dawning (1991), for carillon
Quest (1994), for guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, double bass, and percussion (two players)
Mundus Canis (1998), for guitar and percussion

Фортепианные

Piano Sonata (1945)
Prelude and Toccata (1951)
Five Pieces (1962)
Makrokosmos, Volume I (1972), for amplified piano
Makrokosmos, Volume II (1973), for amplified piano
Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV) (1979), for amplified piano (four hands)
A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 (1980)
Gnomic Variations (1981)
Processional (1983)
Zeitgeist (1988), for two amplified pianos
Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (2002)
Otherworldly Resonances (2003), for two pianos

Вокальные

Four Songs (1945), for voice, clarinet and piano
Seven Songs (1946), for voice and piano
Three Early Songs (1947), for voice and piano
A Cycle of Greek Lyrics (1950), for voice and piano
Night Music I (1963), for soprano, piano/celeste, and two percussionists
Madrigals, Books I (1965), for soprano, vibraphone, and double bass
Madrigals, Books II (1965), for soprano, flute/alto flute/piccolo, and percussion
Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death (1968), for baritone, electric guitar, electric double bass, amplified piano/electric harpsichord, and two percussionists
Night of the Four Moons (1969), for alto, alto flute/piccolo, banjo, electric cello, and percussion
Madrigals, Books III (1969), for soprano, harp, and percussion
Madrigals, Books IV (1969), for soprano, flute/alto flute/piccolo, harp, double bass, and percussion
AncientVoicers of Children (1970), for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, amplified piano (and toy piano), and percussion (three players)
Lux Aeterna (1971) for soprano, bass flute/soprano recorder, sitar, and percussion (two players)
Apparition (1979), for soprano and amplified piano
The Sleeper (1984), for soprano and piano
Federico’s Little Songs for Children (1986), for soprano, flute/piccolo/alto flute/bass flute, and harp
Unto the Hills (2001), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
A Journey Beyond Time (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
River of Life (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
Winds of Destiny (2004), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook I: The River of Life (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook II: A Journey Beyond Time (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook III: Unto the Hills (2001), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook IV: Winds of Destiny (2004), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook V: Voices from a Forgotten World (2007), for soprano, baritone, percussion quartet and piano
American Songbook VI: Voices from the Morning of the Earth (2008), for soprano, baritone, percussion quartet and piano