Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. He was a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, and he won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for his String Quartet No. 3.Alexander L. Ringer, "Kirchner, Leon". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).Robert Riggs, ''Leon Kirchner: Composer, Performer, and Teacher'', Eastman Studies in Music (Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 2010): 160. .Melvin Berger, ''Guide to Chamber Music'', third, corrected edition (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2001) 243, 245. .David Ewen, ''The World of Twentieth-Century Music'' (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1968): 421.Anonymous, "Pulitzer Prize Winners", ''The Washington Post'' (May 2, 1967): A3.Henry Raymont, "Moderns Crowd Marlboro Scene: Listeners Show Enthusiasm for Newer Composers", ''The New York Times'' (August 21, 1967): 39.Peter Kihss, "Albee Play Wins Pulitzer; Malamud Novel Is Chosen", ''The New York Times'' (May 2, 1967): 1.Nicolas Slonimsky, Laura Kuhn, and Dennis McIntire, "Kirchner, Leon", ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', enlarged 8th edition, edited by Nicolas Slonimsky and Laura Kuhn. Vol. 3 (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 2001): 1887.

Life and career

Kirchner was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He began his music studies at the age of four. Five years later, his family moved to Los Angeles. He began composing while a student at Los Angeles City College. With the encouragement of his piano teachers and

Ernst Toch Ernst Toch (; 7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. Biography Toch was born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family ...

, he entered the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

to study with

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 ...

. Kirchner began graduate studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and was awarded the George Ladd Prix de Paris in 1942. As World War II put Europe in turmoil, he went to New York and studied 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 ...

. At the war's end, he returned to Berkeley as a lecturer and assisted Sessions and

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

in theory. Kirchner held a Slee Professiorship at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

(succeeding

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 professorships at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, the Juilliard School of Music, and Mills College, where he was the first Luther Brusie Marchant Professor from 1954 to 1961. In 1961 he moved to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where in 1966 he succeeded

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

as Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music and taught until 1989.CD liner notes of Leon Kirchner ''The Complete String Quartets'', Albany Records, by Boston Composers String Quartet, based on conversations with and materials provided by Leon Kirchner, biographical sketch about the composer by Ellen Schantz. Biography at Allmusic by Blair Johnston/ref> He won the

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 ...

in 1967 for his Quartet No. 3."Music"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved November 20, 2013. According to Alexander Ringer, he "remained consistently individual, unimpressed by changing fashion where 'idea, the precious ore of art, is lost in the jungle of graphs, prepared tapes, feedbacks and cold stylistic minutiae'." Kirchner married Gertrude Schoenberg, a singer and student of

(no relation), on July 8, 1949; they had one son and one daughter. In 2009 he died of congestive heart failure at his home on Central Park West in New York City. He was 90.

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

,
Leon Kirchner, Composer and Teacher, Dies at 90
, ''New York Times'' (September 18, 2009).

References

* Kennedy, Michael (2006). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. . * Newlin, Dika. (1980) ''Schoenberg Remembered: Diaries and Recollections, 1938–1976''. New York: Pendragon Press. . *Riggs, Robert. 2010. ''Leon Kirchner: Composer, Performer, and Teacher''. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press. *Ringer, Alexander L. 2001. "Kirchner, Leon". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by

and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers. *

Tommasini, Anthony Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

.
Leon Kirchner, Composer and Teacher, Dies at 90
, ''New York Times'' (September 18, 2009). *Wakin, Daniel J.
Remembering Leon Kirchner, Who Made Music Heard at Harvard
. ''New York Times. Arts Beat blog'' (October 13, 2009, 5:43 pm)

External links

Recordings and videos of Leon Kirchner's compositions
from the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded ...

Leon Kirchner papers, 1939–2009
Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Biography and list of compositions from Wise Music Classical
*

December 16, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchner, Leon 1919 births 2009 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers Jewish American classical composers Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Pupils of Arnold Schoenberg Pupils of Roger Sessions 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Music & Arts artists University at Buffalo faculty

Life and career

References

Further reading

External links