Matthew Jonathan Greenbaum (born February 12, 1950) is an American musician, composer and author.

Background

Born in New York City, Greenbaum studied privately with

Stefan Wolpe Stefan Wolpe (25 August 1902, Berlin – 4 April 1972, New York City) was a German-Jewish-American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz mo ...

, and Mario Davidovsky at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in Composition from the Graduate Center (1985), and has served as a professor of music composition at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance since 1998. Since 1999 Greenbaum has worked with

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

to create hybrid works of visual music, as well as

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

with a video component. Greenbaum has also written on

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

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 ...

and

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

in relation to Wolpe's dialectical and "cubist" approach to musical structure. He is the curator of Amphibian, a new music and video series in the Hi Art Gallery in New York City.

Music

Greenbaum's most significant work is ''Nameless'', a 25-minute wordless psalm for three sopranos and two chamber ensembles. It was composed for the Momenta Quartet and the Cygnus Ensemble, and bears a quotation from the Medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides.

Awards

Greenbaum's awards include the following: *Mary Flagler Charitable Trust Award Recording Award, 2008 *''Es ist zum Lachen'': Commission,

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

Fund/ Library of Congress for Ensemble Surplus (Freiburg), 2007 *Academy Awards: American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2005 *''Crossing Brooklyn Ferry'':

Fromm Music 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 Kit ...

commission 1994 *''Amulet for piano'', commissioned by Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest Commission for a consortium of pianists ( Gilbert Kalish, Marc-André Hamelin, David Holzman, Randall Hodgkinson,

Kathleen Supové Kathleen Supové is an American pianist specializing in modern classical music. She has premiered the works of dozens of composers on her Exploding Piano series. Her recitals involve recitation, costume, theatrical elements such as lighting, and ...

and Anthony De Mare) and WGBH-Boston 1989 *Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, 1986 * John Simon Guggenheim Foundation award, 1984 *''Chamber Music'': Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Recordings, 1982

Selected works

Solo instrument

*''Double Song'' for viola sola: In memoriam

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 ...

(2011) *''Chaconne by Attrition'' for solo violin (2006) *''You Crack Me Up'' for piano solo (2012) *''Ballate'' for solo piano (2005) *''Mute Dance'' for solo guitar (2000) *''Elegy'' for solo piano (1998) *''Amulet'' for solo piano (1990)

Solo instrument with piano

*''Untimely Observations'' for viola and piano (2002) *''Dance Moments'' for flute/violin and piano (2000) *''Nod Quiet Ox'' for oboe and piano (1994) *''On the river the shadowy group'' for baritone sax and piano (1993)

Chamber music

*''More Venerable Canons'' for string quartet (2014) *''Venerable Canons'' for flute and violin (2007) *''Es ist zum Lachen'' for oboe, trombone, violin, cello, percussion and piano (2008) (commissioned by Ensemble Surplus and the Serge Koussevitzky Fund/Library of Congress *''Castelnau'' for string quartet (2002) *''Enharmonicon'' for clarinet trumpet and violin (1994)

Chamber music with voice

*''Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes'' for soprano and two guitars (2014) *''West-Östicher Divan'' (2010) for soprano and 2 guitars (2010) *''Wild Rose, Lily, Dry Vanilla'' for soprano, flute, oboe, violin, cello, guitar and banjo (2004) *Psalter for mezzo, alto flute, English horn, string trio harp and piano (1992)

Orchestral music

*''The Jig is Up'' for oboe and string orchestra (2009) *''Nameless'' for three sopranos,

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

, English horn, violin, cello guitar and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and string quartet (2009) *''Spherical Music'' for piano and chamber orchestra (1995)

Theater works

*''A Floating Island'', chamber opera for soprano, saxophone,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

, percussion and dancers (2000)

Visual music (video animation and electronic sound)

*''I saw the Procession of the Empress on First Avenue'' (2014) *''Automat'' (2012) *''Headshot'' (2012) *''23 Skidoo'' (2011) *''On Broadway'' (2008)

With instruments/voice

*''Leviathan'' for trombone and video animation (2016) *''Effacement'' for piano and video animation (2014) *''Bits and Pieces'' for saxophone and video animation (2012) *''Rope and Chasm'' for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and video animation (2010–13)

Recordings

*''Double Song for viola sola'', a contribution to ''

Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz (who were its initial editors-in-chief). ''Perspectives'' was first ...

''s memorial to

, Spring 2012 *''Nameless'' and other Works: Furious Artisans Recordings; The Cygnus Ensemble and the Momenta Quartet, with sopranos Priscilla Herreid, Elizabeth Farnum and Julie Bishop, mezzo-soprano Re'ut Ben Ze'ev, and violinist Miranda Cuckson **''Nameless'' for three sopranos, alto flute,

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

, violin, cello guitar and mandolin and string quartet (2009) **''Wild Rose, Lily, Dry Vanilla'' for mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, violin, cello, guitar and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

**''Chaconne by Attrition'' for violin alone **''Venerable Canons'' for flute and violin *''Psalter'' and other works, Centaur #2789 **''Psalter'', Joyce Castle/Parnassus **''Prospect Retrospect'' for cello and piano: Fred Sherry/Blair McMillen **from ''A Floating Island'': Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène **''Castelnau'' for string quartet: The Momenta Quartet **''Elegy'': David Holzman, piano **''Untimely Observations'' for viola and piano: Stephanie Griffin/Blair McMillen *''Nod Quiet Ox'' for oboe and piano: Fabian Menzel and Bernhard Endres. Antes/Bella Musica *''Amulet'', for piano solo: David Holzman, Centaur CRC 2291 *''Chamber Music'', for flute, cello and piano: The Contemporary Trio re-release. New World NWCRL513

Articles

Greenbaum is the author of the following articles: *"Dialectic in Miniature: Schoenberg's 'Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke Op. 19.'" '' Ex Tempore'' (Summer 2010) *"Surrealism in New York." ''New Music Jukebox'' (American Music Center) (Fall 2009) *"Debussy, Wolpe and Dialectical Form." ''Contemporary Music Review'': Stefan Wolpe Issue (Spring 2008) *"The Proportions of ''

Density 21.5 ''Density 21.5'' is a composition for solo Western concert flute, flute written by Edgard Varèse in 1936 and revised in 1946. The piece was composed at the request of Georges Barrère for the premiere of his platinum flute, the density of platinu ...

'': Wolpean Symmetries in the Music of Edgard Varèse", ''On the Music of Stefan Wolpe''. Austin Clarkson, ed. Pendragon (Hillsdale, New York: 2003) *"Stefan Wolpe's Dialectical Logic: A Look at the 'Second Piece for Violin Alone, ''

'', volume 40, number 2 (2002) *Stefan Wolpe, "On Proportions" trans. Matthew Greenbaum. ''Perspectives of New Music'' 34/2 (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenbaum, Matthew 1950 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Musicians from New York City CUNY Graduate Center alumni American classical composers American male classical composers Composers for piano Jewish composers Modernist composers