Paul Ramsier (September 23, 1927 – January 31, 2021) was a classical composer most noted for his contributions to the bass literature. Ramsier, born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, showed promise as a pianist at the age of five, and began composing at nine. At sixteen, he entered the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

School of Music. His graduate studies included piano with

Beveridge Webster Beveridge Webster (May 13, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1999, in Hanover, New Hampshire) was an American pianist and educator. Beveridge Webster studied with his father, initially, and in 1921, at age 14, he began five years of ...

at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

and composition with

Ernst von Dohnányi Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: ''Dohnányi Ernő'', ; 27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most published compositions. Biography Dohnányi was born in Pozsony ...

at Florida State University. In his early career in New York City, he was a staff pianist with the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

where he was influenced by Balanchine and Stravinsky. During that period he studied composition with

Alexei Haieff Alexei Vasilievich Haieff (August 25, 1914 – March 1, 1994) was an American composer of orchestral and choral works. He is known for following Stravinsky's neoclassicism, observing an austere economy of means, and achieving modernistic effect ...

. Ramsier's output includes orchestral, opera, choral, instrumental and chamber works, but his best known contribution to contemporary music is his body of work for the double bass, which has established him as a major figure in the development of the instrument. His renowned double bass compositions include four works with orchestra beginning with the landmark ''Divertimento Concertante on a Theme of Couperin''. The ''Divertimento Concertante'' and three subsequent works—''Road to Hamelin'', ''Eusebius Revisited'', and ''Silent Movie''—have since become bass standards, and are regarded as the most performed compositions for bass and orchestra since 1965. His one-act opera, ''The Man on the Bearskin Rug'', is also well-known and frequently performed. There have been well over 150 performances of Ramsier's bass works with orchestral ensembles including the: Chicago Symphony,

Toronto Symphony The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Melbourne (Australia) Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Puerto Rico Symphony, Montevideo Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Israel Sinfonia, Louisville Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony, Florida Symphony, Atlantic Symphony, Basel Symphony, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and I Musici de Montreal. Ramsier taught composition 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 ...

and the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. After earning a Ph.D., he turned his attention to the study of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

, and pursued a double career: psychotherapy and musical composition. Dr. Ramsier composed and practiced psychotherapy in Sarasota, Florida. After moving to Sarasota, the Florida West Coast Symphony presented five of his compositions, including one commissioned by the orchestra.

References

External links

Paul Ramsier webpages

March 26, 1988 *
Music Publisher Biography, approved by Paul Ramsier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsier, Paul 1937 births American male classical composers American classical composers American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists Living people Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky 20th-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists Albany Records artists Classical musicians from Kentucky