Pete Rugolo, Stan Kenton, and Bob Graettinger, 1947 or 1948 (William P

Robert Frederick Graettinger (October 31, 1923 – March 12, 1957) was an American composer, best known for his work with

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Biography

Graettinger grew up in

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

, United States, learning to play the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

in high school. While at school he also began arranging music. In the 1940s he played alto saxophone with

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

among others. Around this time he focused more on composing. In 1947 he offered a short composition, "Thermopylae", to Stan Kenton, who decided to record it. Graettinger then came up with "City of Glass", a four-part

tone poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

. At this time he was studying composition under Russell Garcia. Graettinger's radical polystylistic soundworld, with its polyphonic density and bracing atonality, while drawing on ideas previously explored by the likes of

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

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Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

and even

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

, still remains truly distinctive. He died aged only 33, of lung cancer.

Discography

Capitol recordings with Stan Kenton

* ''

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

'' (78) 1947 * '' Everything Happens To Me'' (78) 1947 * ''

A Presentation of Progressive Jazz ''A Presentation of Progressive Jazz'' is a 1948 jazz album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton. Background The album features performances recorded in 1947 and originally released on the Capitol label as four 78rpm discs, reissued as a 10-inc ...

'' (includes "Thermopylae") * ''

Innovations in Modern Music ''Innovations in Modern Music'' is an album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton with his "Innovations" Orchestra featuring performances recorded in 1950 and originally released on the Capitol label.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed Apri ...

'' (includes "Incident in Jazz") 1950 * ''

Stan Kenton Presents ''Stan Kenton Presents'' is an album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton with his "Innovations" Orchestra featuring performances recorded in 1950 and originally released as 78 RPM records and a 10-inch LP on Capitol before being reissued in 12- ...

'' (includes "House of Strings") 1950 * '' City of Glass'' (10") 1951 * ''

The Kenton Era ''The Kenton Era'' is a compilation album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton featuring recordings from 1940 to 1954 which was originally released in two limited edition box sets, as fifteen 7 inch 45 rpm discs and four 12 inch LPs, on Capitol i ...

'' (includes "Modern Opus" and "You Go to My Head") 1952 * ''

This Modern World ''This Modern World'' is a weekly satirical comic strip by cartoonist and political commentator Tom Tomorrow (real name Dan Perkins) that covers current events from a left-wing point of view. Published continuously for more than 30 years, ''This M ...

'' 1953

The Ebony Big Band

* ''City of Glass: Robert Graettinger'' 1994 * ''The Ebony Big Band: Live at the Paradiso — Robert Graettinger'' 1998

Terry Vosbein and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra

* ''Progressive Jazz 2009'' ax Frank Music2009

Arrangements and compositions created for Kenton

+ indicates original composition * Afternoon + (1948) * April in Paris (1948) * April in Paris (1949) oodwinds, brass, strings* Autumn in New York (1947) * Beachcomber, The + (1948) * Cello, A + (1952) * Cello Solo + (1951) * City of Glass + (1947) * City of Glass + (1951) * Condolence + (1948) * Cuban Pastorale + (1948) * Everything Happens to Me (1948) une Christy/vocal ith strings* Everything Happens to Me (1948) une Christy/vocal ithout strings* Fine and Dandy (1948) une Christy/vocal* Graettinger No.1 + (1949) ka Incident in Jazz* Graettinger No.2 + (1950) * Graettinger No.3 + (1950) * Horn, A + (1951) * House of Strings + (1950) * I Only Have Eyes for You (1948) * I'm in the Mood for Love (1947) * Irresistible You (1948) * Laura (1948) * Lover Man (1948) une Christy/vocal* Modern Opus + (1952) * Molshoaro + (1947) * Orchestra, An + (1953) * Piece for Flute and String Quartet + * Some Saxophones + (1953) * Suite for Small Orchestra + (1950) ka Above The Timberline * Suite for String Trio and Wind Quartet + (1953–57) * Theme (1946) + * Thermopylae + (1947) * Thought, A + (1947) * Thought, A + (1953) * Too Marvelous for Words (1948) * Transparency + (1952) * Trumpet, A + (1952) aynard Ferguson feature* Untitled n Three Tempi+ (1948) * Untitled Piece for Innovations Orchestra + (1950) * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + (1948) * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + (1952) * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + (1952) Conte Candoli feature * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + (1952) Frank Rosolino feature * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + wo In One, parts 1 & 2(1952) * Untitled Piece for Jazz Band + (1948) nfinished* Untitled Piece for Strings + (1950) * Walkin' by the River * Yenta + * You Go To My Head (1953)