Daniel James Wolf (born September 13, 1961 in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

) is an American composer.

Studies

Wolf studied composition with

Gordon Mumma Gordon Mumma (born March 30, 1935, in Framingham, Massachusetts) is an American composer. He is known most for his work with electronics, many devices of which he builds himself, and for his performances on horn. Biography Mumma entered the Univer ...

, Alvin Lucier, and La Monte Young, as well as musical tunings with

Erv Wilson Ervin Wilson (June 11, 1928 – December 8, 2016) was a Mexican/ American (dual citizen) music theorist. Early life Ervin Wilson was born in a remote area of northwest Chihuahua, Mexico, where he lived until the age of fifteen. His mother taugh ...

and Douglas Leedy and ethnomusicology (M.A., Ph.D. 1990

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

). Important contacts with

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

, John Cage, Walter Zimmermann. Managing Editor of the journal '' Xenharmonikon'', 1985-89. Based in Europe from 1989, he is known as a member of the "Material" group of composers, along with Hauke Harder, Markus Trunk and others.

Compositions

Wolf's compositions apply an experimental approach to musical materials, with a special interest in intonation, yet often display a surface that playfully - if accidentally - recalls historical music. Major works include ''The White Canoe'', an opera seria for hand puppets to the libretto by Edward Gorey, six string quartets, ''Figure & Ground'' for string trio, ''Field Study'' for vn, tb, ban, gui, ''Decoherence for x orchestras of x players'', ''Twoity'' fl,pf and ''A Beckett Gray Code'' for wind quintet. Much of his music is in just intonation, but his work with alternative tunings includes a collection of Etudes in all equal temperaments between 8 and 23 notes per octave. Composer Wolf identifies with the experimental music tradition—especially its American West Coast manifestation—spiritually, intellectually and personally. He jokingly calls his method "dysfunctional harmony" or "not yet tonal", with some reference to the "anarchic harmony" found in the late music of John Cage. Three distinct streams combine to form Wolf's work: sound installations, experimental concert works based on sound structures mostly free from historical associations,Kahlcke, Thomas (19/8/91). "Viele Wege führen nach Rom", ''Kieler Nachrichten''. and experimental concert works based on reifying the tradition of European art music (or other world musics) and then performing operations on its internal principles.

References

External links

Daniel James Wolf
composer's own webpage with list of works, sample scores, articles
Material Press
publisher
Renewable Music
blog by Daniel Wolf {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Daniel James 1961 births Wesleyan University alumni 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Living people Experimental composers Microtonal composers American bloggers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers American male bloggers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians

Studies

Compositions

References

Further reading

External links