Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924 – May 31, 2010) was an American composer of classical music.

Early life

Lees was born Benjamin George Lisniansky in Harbin,

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

, of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. Lees was still an infant when his family emigrated to the United States and settled in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He began piano lessons at 5 with Kiva Ihil Rodetsky of San Francisco. When he was seven years old, he became an American citizen. In 1939, he moved with his family to Los Angeles and continued studies in piano with Marguerite Bitter. In his early teens, he studied harmony and theory and began to compose. After serving in the United States military, Lees studied composition under

Halsey Stevens Halsey Stevens (December 3, 1908 – January 20, 1989) was a music professor, biographer, and composer of American music. Life Halsey Stevens was born in Scott, New York and educated at Syracuse University and the University of California, Ber ...

, as well as with Kalitz and

Ingolf Dahl Ingolf Dahl (June 9, 1912 – August 6, 1970) was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Biography Dahl was born Walter Ingolf Marcus in Hamburg, Germany, to a German Jewish father, attorney Paul Marcus, and his Swed ...

, at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Composer

George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...

, impressed by Lees' compositions, offered further tutelage; this period lasted four years, at the end of which Lees won a

Fromm Foundation Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish Chicago wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation. The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by John Harbison in his honor. Early life Born in Kitz ...

Award. Of Antheil, Lees declared: "He changed my life." The receipt of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1954 allowed him to live in Europe, realizing his goal of developing his individual style away from current fashions in the American art music scene and resulting in a number of mature and impressive works. Returning to the United States in 1961, he divided his time between composition and teaching at several institutions. These included the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869), ...

(1962–64, 1966–68), Queens College (1964–66), the Manhattan School of Music (1972–74), and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

(1976–77).O'Loughlin, ''New Grove (2001)'', 14:467.

Compositions

Lees rejected

atonalism 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 ...

and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

in favor of classical structures. Niall O'Loughlin writes in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "From an early interest in the bittersweet melodic style of

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

and the bizarre and surrealist aspects of Bartók's music, he progressed naturally under the unconventional guidance of Antheil." Lees' music is rhythmically active, with frequently changing accents and meter even in his early works, and is known for its semitonal inflections in melody and harmony. In 1954, the NBC Symphony Orchestra performed his ''Profiles for Orchestra'' on a national

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

broadcast.Fox, Margalit. (2010, June 7). ''Benjamin Lees, 86, Versatile Classical Composer''. The New York Times, p A-19 In 1970, ''Medea in Corinth'', his one-act musical drama, was given its premiere at the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, and was subsequently broadcast by CBS Television in 1974. Other, notable works include Symphony No. 4: ''Memorial Candles'', commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1985 to commemorate the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, and Symphony No. 5: ''Kalmar Nyckel'', written in 1986 to honor the founding of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. (''

Kalmar Nyckel ''Kalmar Nyckel'' (''Key of Kalmar'') was a Swedish ship built by the Dutch famed for carrying Swedish settlers to North America in 1638, to establish the colony of New Sweden. The name Kalmar Nyckel comes from the Swedish city of Kalmar and nyc ...

'' was the name of the ship that first carried the original settlers from Sweden to what would become Wilmington.) In 1994 ''Echoes of Normandy'' was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. His 1998 Piano Trio no. 2, "Silent Voices" was written in Palm Springs.Library of Congress data: Lees received a Grammy nomination for ''Kalmar Nyckel'' in 2003, following release of a recording by the German orchestra

Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate) is the largest and leading symphony orchestra of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. It gives concerts in Rhineland-Palatin ...

under

Stephen Gunzenhauser Stephen Charles Gunzenhauser (born April 8, 1942) is an American conductor of classical music. He was the music director of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra for 40 years, retiring after the 2019–20 season. In 2005, he founded the Endless Mounta ...

. He lost to

Dominick Argento Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas '' Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...

Personal life

Lees married Luba Leatrice Banks in 1948. They had one daughter. Lees donated his archive of manuscripts, sketches, scores, letters, photographs, articles, recordings and posters to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Shortly before his death at age 86, he emailed that he was, "busy as fleas in a circus". He died in Glen Cove, New York.

Awards and honors

*1953:

Award *1954: Guggenheim Fellowship *1955: Copley Medal *1956:

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

*1958:

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Award, Sir Arnold Bax Society Medal *1966: Guggenheim Fellowship *1985:

Lancaster Symphony Orchestra The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra is a local orchestra in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It performs year-round at the city's historical Fulton Opera House and consists of many highly talented musicians from around the area. It is a member of the American ...

's Composer's Award *2003: Grammy Nomination *National Patron of

Delta Omicron Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship. History Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 at ...

, an international professional music fraternity.Delta Omicron

Discography

* String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 and 6 (Naxos) * Complete Violin Works of Benjamin Lees (Albany) * Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra (New World) * Violin Sonata No. 2 (Polystone) * Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (VoxBox, EPR) * Prologue, Capriccio and Epilog (CRI) * Symphonies No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5, Etudes for Piano & Orchestra (Albany) * Symphony No. 4: Memorial Candles (Naxos) * Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Orchestra (Albany) * Concerto No. 1 for Piano & Orchestra (Pierian) * Piano Trio No. 2: Silent Voices (Albany) * Passacaglia for Orchestra (Delos) * Piano Sonata No. 4, Mirrors, Fantasy Variations (Albany) * Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (conducted by

Igor Buketoff Igor Konstantin Buketoff (29 May 19157 September 2001) was an American conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted British contemporary musi ...

)

References

* O'Loughlin, Niall. "Lees, Benjamin". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 29 vols. .

Notes

External links

Personal Page

Benjamin Lees @ Boosey & Hawkes

by Bruce Duffie, June 13, 1987 * , WNCN-FM, September 9, 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Benjamin 1924 births 2010 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers Chinese people of Russian-Jewish descent Chinese emigrants to the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent Musicians from Palm Springs, California Musicians from Harbin Pupils of George Antheil 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American composers USC Thornton School of Music alumni Peabody Institute faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty Manhattan School of Music faculty Juilliard School faculty Jewish American classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews