Joan Peyser (June 12, 1930 – April 24, 2011) was an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

and writer, particularly known for her writing on 20th-century music and for her biographies of

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

. Her biography of Bernstein was, according to

Leon Botstein Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conducting, conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career Botstein was ...

, the first attempt at a critical account of his life and work.

Biography

Born Joan Gilbert in Manhattan, Peyser began studying piano when she was 5 and gave her first recital at the age of 13 in New York's

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. When she enrolled at the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, she continued to study piano and took up the

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

as well. After graduating from high school, she attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

from 1947 to 1949 and then went to

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

where she majored in music and received her BA in 1951. She earned her MA in musicology in 1956 from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

studying under

Paul Henry Lang Paul Henry Lang (August 28, 1901 – September 21, 1991) was a Hungarian-American musicologist and music critic. Career Lang was born as "Pál Láng" in Budapest, Hungary, and was educated in Catholic schools. In 1918, as World War I was coming ...

.Morgan, Paula, "Peyser ée Gilbert Joan",

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

, ed. L. Macy. Accessed 12 September 2010. She was one of the winners of

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 ...

's first annual

Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...

for excellence in music writing with her 1966 article on the American composer Marc Blitzstein ("The Troubled Times of Marc Blitzstein" published in the ''Columbia University Forum''). She went on to win the award four more times during her career. The Biltzstein article brought her to the attention of

Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

, who gave her a contract for her first book, ''The New Music: the Sense behind the Sound'', published in 1971. In addition to her books and scholarly articles, she was editor of ''

The Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'' from 1977 to 1984 and a regular contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

''. Joan Peyser died in Manhattan on April 24, 2011, aged 80, following heart surgery.Kilgannon, Corey
"... And All That Jazz Memorabilia!"
''The New York Times'', March 1, 2005. Accessed September 12, 2011.

Selected bibliography

*''The New Music: the Sense behind the Sound'' (New York: Delacorte Press, 1971 (the revised 2nd edition was published in 1980 as ''Twentieth-Century Music: the Sense behind the Sound'')) *''Boulez: Composer, Conductor, Enigma'' (New York: Schirmer Books, 1976) *''The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1986 (editor)) *''Bernstein: a Biography'' (New York: Beech Tree Books, 1987) *''The Memory of all That: the Life of George Gershwin'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993) Kozinn, Allan
"Probing the Inner Life of Gershwin the Man"
''The New York Times'', January 19, 1993 *''The Music of My Time'' (New York: Pro/AM Music Resources Inc., 1995), foreword by

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...

Notes and references

External links

*Articles by Joan Peyser for ''

''
"Ned Rorem Delivers a Solo on the State of Music"
''The New York Times'', May 3, 1987

''The New York Times'', June 5, 1988 {{DEFAULTSORT:Peyser, Joan 1930 births 2011 deaths Musicians from New York City People from Manhattan American musicologists American women musicologists Barnard College alumni The High School of Music & Art alumni 21st-century American women