Beatrice Braverman Witkin (May 13, 1916 – February 7, 1990) was an American composer and pianist who was best known for her electronic music, especially the theme she composed for the TV show '' Wild, Wild World of Animals'' in 1973. Witkin studied piano with

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892 in Sambor, Austro-Hungarian Empire – November 11, 1964 in New York City) was an Austrian (and later American) pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Fer ...

and composition 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 ...

Mark Brunswick Mark Brunswick ( January 6, 1902 – May 25/26, 1971) was an American composer of the twentieth century. He had only recently completed the second act of an opera based on Ibsen's ''The Master Builder'' when he died suddenly in London in May 1971, ...

and

Stefan Wolpe Stefan Wolpe (25 August 1902, Berlin – 4 April 1972, New York City) was a German-Jewish-American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz mo ...

. She received a B.A. from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and a master's degree from

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 ...

. She married Louis Witkin in 1938 and they had one daughter (Judy) and one son (Steve). Witkin received grants from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, and the Hebrew Arts Music School. She released two LPs of chamber music, and received the Creative Arts Public Service Grant and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) Standard Award. In 1963, Witkin helped establish the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a performing group that commissioned new works. She was a guest composer at the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

in New Hampshire as well as a longtime member of the Women's Composers Forum and ASCAP. In 1968, she was invited to work at the Electronic Music Studio at the New York University School of the Arts. Two years later, her electronic composition ''Glissines'' was a winner in ''High Fidelity'' magazine's Electronic Music Contest. Witkin's papers are archived at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

in Middletown, Connecticut. Her compositions include:

Band

*Stephen Foster Revisited (1980)

Chamber

*Cantillations I (two clarinets and piano; 1982) *Cantillations II (two clarinets; 1983) *Cantillations III (two violins) *Cantillations of the Bible (string quartet; 1985) *Chiaroscuro (cello and piano; 1968) *Combinations for 13 Instruments (1965) *Contour (piano; 1964) *Duo (violin and piano; 1960–61) *Interludes for Flute (1960) *Nocturne for Solo Cello *Parameters for Eight Instruments (1964) *Serenade *Sonata, Opus 2 *Treble Trio *Triads and Things (brass quintet) *Work for Two B-flat Clarinets (1981)

Electronic

*Beethoven Piano Sonata *Breath and Sounds (tuba and tape; 1972) *Echologie (flute and tape; 1972) *Electronic (1971) *Electronic Mother Goose *Glissines *Homage to Handel *Oboe Trio *Pendulum *Reports from the Planet Mars (orchestra and tape) *Time Machine (1971) *Wild, Wild World of Animals (for television; 1973)

Orchestra

*Fanfare in B and E Flat (1968) *Stephen Foster Variations for Orchestra *Swingeroo (1938) *Twelve Tone Variations Derived from the Beatles

Theatre

*Crisis: A Play (script by Gloria Goldsmith; music by Beatrice Witkin) *Does Poppy Live Here? (based on the book by

Arthur Gregor Arthur Gregor (1890–1948) was an Austrian-born American playwright and film director.Goble p.192 Selected filmography * ''The Count of Luxembourg (1926 film), The Count of Luxembourg'' (1926) * ''Say It with Diamonds (1927 film), Say It with D ...

; music by Beatrice Witkin; 1957) *Iliad of Indian Creek (1979)

Vocal

*Emerson Songs (1987–88) *Kitchen Music Songs (1949–50) *Prose Poem (words by J. F. Farrell; music by Beatrice Within; soprano, narrator, cello, horn and percussion; 1963–64) *Ya Wanna Be Friends? (words by Belle Goldstine; music by Beatrice Witkin)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witkin, Beatrice American women composers 1916 births 1990 deaths American electronic musicians MacDowell Colony fellows ASCAP New York University alumni String quartet composers Soundtracks by American artists