Andrew Welsh Imbrie (April 6, 1921 – December 5, 2007) was an American

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and pianist.

Career

Imbrie was born in New York City and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study composition briefly with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and piano with

Robert Casadesus Robert Marcel Casadesus (7 April 1899 – 19 September 1972) was a renowned 20th-century French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a distinguished musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus, ...

. He returned to the United States the next year to attend

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

where he studied with

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1942. His senior thesis there, a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, was recorded by the Juilliard Quartet. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as a Japanese translator. Afterwards, he went to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Music in 1947; there he continued to study with Sessions, who had taken a position at Berkeley. Imbrie taught composition, theory, and analysis at Berkeley from 1949 until his retirement in 1991. In the summer of 1991 he was Composer-in-Residence at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. In addition to his principal teaching job at Berkeley, he served as a visiting professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and had a regular teaching post at the

San Francisco Conservatory The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodg ...

. He died at his home in Berkeley, California at the age of 86. His notable students include Larry Austin, Tamar Diesendruck, Richard Festinger, Alden Jenks,

Frank La Rocca Frank La Rocca (born in 1951 in New Jersey) is an American classical music composer. Life Frank La Rocca was born in 1951 in New Jersey. He studied at Yale and at the University of California at Berkeley. His early musical experiences ranged from ...

Neil Rolnick Neil Burton Rolnick (born October 22, 1947) is an American composer and educator living in New York City. Life Rolnick was born in Dallas, Texas, and studied English literature at Harvard University where he received a BA in 1969. He then turned ...

Allen Shearer Allen Raymond Shearer (born October 5, 1943 in Seattle, Washington) is an American composer and baritone. Life Shearer’s early musical experiences were as a singer; the majority of his works are for the voice or voices, with a later emphasis ...

Laura Schwendinger Laura Elise Schwendinger (born January 26, 1962) was the first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin's Berlin Prize. Biography Schwendinger was the first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin Prize, and her opera Artemisia, is t ...

Nils Frykdahl Nils Frykdahl is an American musician, most known for his work with the bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh. He is also a member of the bands Free Salamander Exhibit, Faun Fables, and Darling Freakhead, and used to be a member of Cha ...

, Kurt Rohde,

Hi Kyung Kim Hi Kyung Kim (; born 1954) is a South Korean composer. Life Hi Kyung Kim was born in South Korea. She graduated from Seoul National University with a BA and the University of California, Berkeley, with an MA and PhD, where she studied compositi ...

, Leslie Wildman and Carolyn Yarnell.

Style

Imbrie's style was influenced early by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

, and then by

, his teacher at both Princeton and Berkeley.Ann P. Basart, revised by Martin Brody and

Robert Commanday Robert Paul Commanday (18 June 1922 – 3 September 2015) was an American music critic who specialized in classical music. Among the leading critics of the West Coast, Commanday was a major presence in the Bay Area music scene over a five-dec ...

, "Imbrie, Andrew (Welsh)", ''Grove Music Online'' (16 October 2013, accessed 18 July 2020). Imbrie preferred harmony that was non-triadic, or if triadic, non-functional, and a tightly organized, often

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

texture with attention to careful motivic development; he avoided the serial techniques that dominated art music composition after the Second World War. Imbrie was also attentive to melodic line and shape to make a free atonal language accessible.

Selected compositions

Imbrie's body of work spans many genres. His chief works are: * ''Three Against Christmas'' (1960 opera) * ''Angle of Repose'' (1976 opera) * ''Dandelion Wine'' (1961 for chamber ensemble) * ''To a Traveler'' (1971 for chamber ensemble) * ''Sextet for Six Friends'' (2007 for chamber ensemble) * ''Drumtaps'' for chorus with orchestra (text by Whitman) * ''Prometheus Bound'' for chorus with orchestra (text by Green after Aeschylus) * ''Adam'' for chorus with orchestra (text from medieval and Civil War sources) * ''Requiem'' (1984, chorus with orchestra) * Three symphonies * Eight concertos * Songs for voice * Sonatas for various instruments * Chamber works for diverse instrumental ensembles * Works for choral ensembles * Five string quartets

Recordings

''First Recordings of Two Naumburg Award Compositions''. Columbia Records, MS 6597 *Violin Concerto ''Andrew Imbrie''. New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1973. Rereleased, New World Records, 2007.New World Records: Album Details
/ref> *Symphony No. 3 *Serenade for flute, viola and piano *Sonata for cello and piano ''New Music for Virtuosos''. New York: New World Records, 1977. *''Three Sketches'' ''Andrew Imbrie and Gunther Schuller''. New York: New World Records, 1978. *String Quartet No. 4 ''New Music Series Vol. 3''. Neuma Records, 1993 *''Short Story'' ''Collage New Music''. Boston: GM Recordings, 1989. *''Pilgrimage'' ''Andrew Imbrie''. Boston: GM Recordings, 1993. *String Quartets 4 & 5 *''Impromptu for Violin and Piano'' ''Music of Andrew Imbrie''. New York: CRI, 1994. *Symphony No. 3 *Serenade for Flute, Viola and Piano *Sonata for cello and piano ''Dream Sequence – Chamber Music of Andrew Imbrie''. New York: New World Records, 1995. *''Dream Sequence'' *''Roethke Songs'' *''Three Piece Suite'' *''Campion Songs'' *''To a Traveler'' ''Andrew Imbrie, Requiem''. New Rochelle, NY: Bridge Records, 2000. *''Requiem'' *Piano Concerto No. 3 ''Andrew Imbrie''. Albany, NY: Albany Records, 2002. *''Spring Fever'' *''Chicago Bells'' *''Songs of Then and Now''

References

Sources

* Ann P. Basart, Martin Brody: "Andrew Imbrie", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed July 21, 2006) * Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages,

External links

Imbrie's San Francisco Conservatory Of Music faculty pageArt of the States: Andrew Imbrie
three works by the composer

April 26, 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:Imbrie, Andrew 1921 births 2007 deaths 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Princeton University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Chicago faculty Brandeis University faculty Northwestern University faculty New York University faculty University of Alabama faculty Harvard University staff University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty 21st-century classical composers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Musicians from New York City Pupils of Roger Sessions 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians