William Hugh Albright (October 20, 1944 – September 17, 1998) 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 ...
,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
and
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
.
Biography
Albright was born in
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...
, and began learning the piano at the age of five, and attended the
Juilliard Preparatory Department (1959–62), the
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...
(1962–63) and the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
(1962–70), where he studied composition with
Ross Lee Finney
Ross Lee Finney Junior (December 23, 1906–February 4, 1997) was an American composer who taught for many years at the University of Michigan.
Life and career
Born in Wells, Minnesota, Finney received his early training at Carleton College a ...
and
George Rochberg
George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...
, and organ with
Marilyn Mason
Marilyn Mason (June 29, 1925 – April 4, 2019) was an American concert organist, recording artist, and professor. Mason joined the staff of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1947, became chair of the organ department in 1962, and was ...
. He interrupted his studies for the 1968–69 academic year when he received a
Fulbright scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
to study with
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
in Paris. Upon his graduation in 1970 he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he taught until his death from
liver failure in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...
, in 1998.
Career
His music combined elements of
tonal and
non-tonal classical music (in particular the influence of Messiaen) with American
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
and non-Western music, in what has been described as "polystylistic" or "quaquaversal" music—which makes the definition of an overall style difficult. Albright's approach to some of his music has been considered to be surrealistic. He was an enthusiast for
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
and made notable recordings of the piano rags of
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...
and others. He also recorded an album of his own ragtime compositions.
In addition to his compositional and teaching activities, Albright maintained an active career and was regarded as both a virtuoso organist and pianist, performing many recitals on both instruments throughout North American and Europe. He was the featured organist for the 1976 International Contemporary Organ Music Festival at the
Hartt School of Music
The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...
.
He had earlier been commissioned to write his organ work ''Stipendium Peccati'' for the 1973 International Contemporary Organ Music Festival.
He commissioned new works for the organ from other contemporary composers to play on his international concert tours. His hymns appear in hymnals of the
Unitarian and
Episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
Churches.
Albright's notable students include
Derek Bermel
Derek Bermel (born 1967, in New York City) is an American composer, clarinetist and conductor whose music blends various facets of world music, funk and jazz with largely classical performing forces and musical vocabulary. He is the recipien ...
,
John Burke,
Evan Chambers
Evan Chambers (born 1963, in Alexandria, Louisiana) is a composer, traditional Irish fiddler, and Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan. He received a Doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan. His teachers in ...
,
Chihchun Chi-sun Lee
Chihchun Chi-sun Lee (, born 1970) is a composer of contemporary classical music. Dr. Lee is originally from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and is currently an invited professor of composition at Ewha Womans University, in Seoul, Korea, She received a doct ...
,
Gabriela Lena Frank
Gabriela Lena Frank (born Berkeley, California, United States, September 1972) is an American pianist and composer of contemporary classical music.
Biography
Gabriela Lena Frank's father is an American of Lithuanian Jewish heritage and her mothe ...
,
Alexander Frey
Alexander Frey, KM (SMOM), KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success in the conce ...
,
Evan Hause
Evan Hause (born 1967) is an American composer, percussionist and conductor. Hause has composed over one hundred works ranging from rock music to opera.
Biography and career
After growing up in Greenville, North Carolina, he earned the Doctor o ...
,
Katt Hernandez
KATT-FM (100.5 MHz, "ROCK 100.5 The KATT") is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a mainstream rock radio format. The playlist leans toward hard-edged classic rock with some current and re ...
,
Joseph Lukasik
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
,
John Howell Morrison,
Carter Pann
Carter Pann (born February 21, 1972 in La Grange, Illinois) is an American composer. He studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. His ...
,
Frank Ticheli
Frank Ticheli (born January 21, 1958) is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California. He was ...
, and
Michael Sidney Timpson.
References
Sources
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*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Beckford, Richard Edward. 1997. "The Organ Symphony: Its Evolution in France and Transformation in Selected Works by Composers of the Twentieth Century". DMA diss. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University.
* Krahn, Stephen W. 1994. "Structural, Tonal, and Linear Problems in William Albright's Symphony for Organ". DMA diss. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.
* Little, Jeanie R. 1975. "Serial, Aleatoric, and Electronic Techniques in American Organ Music Published between 1960 and 1972." Ph.D. diss. Ames: University of Iowa.
* Santos, Eric. 1999. "Requiem for Bill Albright". ''
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 ...
'' 37, no. 1 (Winter): 35–37.
* Szoka, Marta. 1994. "Twórczosc Williama Albrighta na tle wspólczesnej muzyki organowej w USA"
he Works of William Albright against the Background of Contemporary Organ Music In ''Organy i muzyka organowa IX'' (Prace specjalne 52), edited by Janusz Krassowski. Gdańsk: Akademia Muzyczna im. Stanisława Moniuszki.
External links
William Albright obituaryWilliam Albright's page Theodore Presser Company
The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albright, William
1944 births
1998 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century classical composers
American classical composers
American contemporary classical composers
American male classical composers
Contemporary classical music performers
Eastman School of Music alumni
Juilliard School Pre-College Division alumni
Musicians from Gary, Indiana
Ragtime composers
University of Michigan faculty
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni
Fulbright alumni