Peter Mennin (born Mennini) (May 17, 1923 in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

– June 17, 1983 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was a prominent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

, teacher and administrator. In 1958, he was named Director of the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

in Baltimore, and in 1962 became President of 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 el ...

, a position he held until his death in 1983. Under his leadership, Juilliard moved from Claremont Avenue to its present location at Lincoln Center. Mennin is responsible for the addition of drama and dance departments at Juilliard. He also started the Master Class Program, and brought many artists to teach including Maria Callas, Pierre Fournier and others.

Biography

Born Peter Mennini in Erie, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1923, Mennin was the son of Italian immigrants Amalia (née Benacci) and Attilio Mennini and the younger brother of composer Louis Mennini. Musically gifted from an early age, he started his first orchestral piece at eleven and completed his first symphony (out of nine he would eventually write) before his 19th birthday. He began his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory with Norman Lockwood when he was 16, but left in 1941 to join the U. S. Army Air Force. He continued his studies with

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

at the Eastman School of Music, where he received his BA and master's degree in 1945. His Third Symphony, finished the day he turned 23 and initially written for his PhD requirements at Eastman, immediately catapulted him to music prominence. The work was performed by the New York Philharmonic the following year, and it led Mennin’s appointment to the composition faculty of The Juilliard School. It was a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. Dr. Mennin led the first artistic exchange with the Soviet Union in 1958, where he spent six weeks. He received two Guggenheim fellowships for Music composition, in 1949 and 1957. His String Quartet No 2 was premiered by the Juilliard String Quartet in New York City on 24 February 1952, and was subsequently recorded on Columbia Records. Mennin wrote nine

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, several

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

s, and numerous works for wind band,

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, and other ensembles. His style became more chromatic and astringent with time, but was always essentially tonal, relying heavily on

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

. His work received renewed attention in the CD era; all of his symphonies have been recorded, with the exception of the first two symphonies, which have been withdrawn. Juilliard awards an annual Peter Mennin prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. His notable students include

Van Cliburn Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (; July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who, at the age of 23, achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold Wa ...

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

Richard Danielpour Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer. Early life Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jewish descent and grew up in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. He studied at Oberlin College and the New E ...

Karl Korte Karl Richard Korte (June 23,1928 – March 27, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was born in Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York (state), New York, and grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. He attended th ...

, Charles L. Bestor,

Jack Behrens Jack Behrens (born 25 March 1935) is a Canadian composer, music educator, and writer of American birth. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his music has been performed throughout North Ame ...

, and

Claire Polin Claire Polin (January 1, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – December 6, 1995 in Merion, Pennsylvania) was an American composer of contemporary classical music, musicologist, and flutist. Education She obtained degrees in music (including a do ...

Principal works

Symphonies

*Symphony No. 1 (1942) withdrawn *Symphony No. 2 (1944) (Gershwin Memorial Award, 1945) withdrawn *Symphony No. 3 (completed May 17, 1946, his doctoral dissertation. Premiered February 1947 by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by

Walter Hendl Walter Hendl (January 12, 1917April 10, 2007) was an American conductor, composer and pianist. Biography Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia ...

.) *Symphony No. 4 ''The Cycle'' (1947–8) (Chorus & orchestra) *Symphony No. 5 (1950) (commissioned and premiered by the Dallas Symphony and Walter Hendl) *Symphony No. 6 (1953) *Symphony No. 7 ''Variation-symphony'' (1963, pub. 1967) *Symphony No. 8 (1973) *Symphony No. 9 (1981)

Other orchestral works

*Folk Overture (1945) *Fantasia for String Orchestra (1947) *Concertato ''Moby Dick'' (1952) *Cello concerto (1956) *Piano concerto (1958) (Premiered by Eunice Podis, piano, with George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra) *Canto (1962; pub. 1965) *Flute concerto (1983) :Note: A number of sources have listed a violin concerto among Mennin's works, leading to many questions on the internet. In fact, Mennin began to write a violin concerto for Roman Totenberg during the early 1950s. He completed a slow movement in short score, but nothing beyond that.ms. in possession of composer's family

Concert Band works

*Canzona for band (1951)

Piano

*Five pieces (1949) *Piano sonata (1963)

Choral works

*Four Chinese Poems (1948) **In the Quiet Night **Crossing the Han River **A Song of the Palace **The Gold Threaded Robe *Christmas Story (1949) *Cantata di Virtute, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (1969) *Reflections of Emily (1978)

Chamber works

*String quartet #1 *String quartet #2 (1951) *Sonata concertante, for violin and piano (1956)

References

*Walter Simmons: ''Voices of Stone and Steel: The Music of William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, and Peter Mennin''. Lanham, MD. Scarecrow Press, 2011 .

External links

Art of the States: Peter MenninPeter Mennin's page at Carl FischerPeter Mennin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mennin, Peter 1923 births 1983 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American classical composers American male classical composers Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Musicians from Erie, Pennsylvania Juilliard School faculty Presidents of the Juilliard School Peabody Institute faculty Pupils of Howard Hanson Pupils of Bernard Rogers Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics