George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

. As a composer, his music was largely

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 ...

, using methods similar to the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

of the Second Viennese School. This serialist style, and atonality in general, was the subject of much of his theoretical writings. His 1962 book, ''Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern'' remains a standard text for 20th-century classical music theory. Among Perle's awards was the 1986

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

for his Wind Quintet No. 4.

Life and career

Perle was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He graduated from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, where he studied with

Wesley LaViolette Wallace Wesley LaViolette (4 Jan 1894 Saint James, Minnesota - 29 Jul 1978 Escondido, California) was an American musician who composed, conducted, lectured, and wrote about music. He was also a poet and music theorist. As an educator, he mentor ...

and received private lessons from

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

. Later, he served as a technician fifth grade in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He earned his doctorate at

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, th ...

in 1956. Perle composed with a technique of his own devising called "twelve-tone tonality". This technique was different from, but related to, the

of the Second Viennese School, of which he was an "early admirer" and whose techniques he used aspects of but never fully adopted. Perle's former student Paul Lansky described Perle's twelve-tone tonality thus: In 1968, Perle cofounded the Alban Berg Society with Igor Stravinsky, and Hans F. Redlich, who had the idea (according to Perle in his letter to Glen Flax of 4/1/89). Perle's important work on Berg includes documenting that the third act of ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

'', rather than being an unfinished sketch, was actually three-fifths complete and that the '' Lyric Suite'' contains a secret program dedicated to Berg's love-affair. After retiring from Queens College in 1985, he became a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical sy ...

. In 1986, Perle was awarded a

for his Wind Quintet No. 4 and also a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

. In about 1989 Perle became composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony, a three-year appointment. It was also around this time that he had published his fourth book entitled ''The Listening Composer''. He died aged 93 in his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in January 2009. He was subsequently buried in Calverton National Cemetery. On his headstone are inscribed the words "

An die Musik Franz Schubert composed his lied "An die Musik" (German for "To Music") in March 1817 for solo voice and piano, with text from a poem by his friend Franz von Schober. In the Deutsch catalog of Schubert's works it is number D547. The original key i ...

". A growing number of younger artists have come to express their appreciation for Perle. In the run-up to his 100th birthday celebrations the composer-pianist Michael Brown released a well received CD of a sampling of Perle's work for piano. Perle was married to the sculptor

Laura Slobe Laura Slobe (sometimes credited as Laura Gray; November 17, 1909 – January 11, 1958) was an Americans, American painter, sculptor and cartoonist. Slobe was born in Pittsburgh to a well-to-do Jewish family, and grew up in Chicago, enrolling in th ...

from 1940 to 1952; the couple were members of the Socialist Workers Party. His second wife, Barbara Philips, died in 1978. Perle married Shirley Gabis Rhoads in 1982. He was survived by two daughters, and a stepdaughter.

Works

Richard Swift differentiates between Perle's 'free' or 'intuitive', tone-centered, and twelve-tone modal music. He lists Perle's tone-centered compositions: *Sonata for Solo Viola (1942) *Three Sonatas for Solo Clarinet (1943) *Hebrew Melodies for Solo Cello (1945) *Sonata for Solo Cello (1947) * Quintet for Strings (1958) *Sonata I for Solo Violin (1959) *Wind Quintet I (1959) *Wind Quintet II (1960) *Monody I for Flute (1962) *Monody II for Double Bass (1962) *Three Inventions for Bassoon (1962) *Sonata II for Solo Piano (1963) *Solo Partita for Violin and Viola (1965) *Wind Quintet III (1967)

Selected publications

*Perle, George (1962, reprint 1991). ''Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern''. University of California Press. * *Perle, George (1980). ''The Operas of Alban Berg. Vol. 1: Wozzeck''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1984). "Scriabin's Self-Analysis", ''Musical Analysis'' III/2 (July). *Perle, George (1985). ''The Operas of Alban Berg. Vol. 2: Lulu''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1990). ''The Listening Composer''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1992). "Symmetry, the Twelve-Tone Scale, and Tonality", ''Contemporary Music Review'' 6 (2), pp. 81–96.

References

External links

*
Michael Brown plays George Perle's Six Celebratory Inventions on Classical Connect

20 May 1986 * ,

David Dubal David Dubal (born Cleveland, Ohio) is an American pianist, teacher, author, lecturer, broadcaster, and painter. Musician and painter Dubal has given piano recitals and master classes worldwide, and has also judged international piano competitions ...

WNCN-FM WAXQ (104.3 FM) is a classic rock- formatted radio station licensed to New York City. WAXQ is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is located ...

, 9 December 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perle, George 1915 births 2009 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American musicologists 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American composers American classical composers American male classical composers American music theorists Jewish classical composers Jewish American classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers Pulitzer Prize for Music winners American Conservatory of Music alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters DePaul University alumni MacArthur Fellows Queens College, City University of New York faculty Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) Musicians from Bayonne, New Jersey Pupils of Ernst Krenek United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians

Life and career

Works

Selected publications

See also

References

External links