Alfred Whitford (Fred) Lerdahl (born March 10, 1943, in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

) is the

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...

Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and a composer and

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

best known for his work on musical

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...

and cognition, rhythmic theory,

pitch space In music theory, pitch spaces model relationships between pitches. These models typically use distance to model the degree of relatedness, with closely related pitches placed near one another, and less closely related pitches placed farther apa ...

, and cognitive constraints on compositional systems. He has written many orchestral and chamber works, three of which were finalists for the

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

: ''Time after Time'' in 2001, String Quartet No. 3 in 2010, and ''

Arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

'' in 2011.

Life

Lerdahl studied with James Ming at

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducati ...

, where he earned his BMus in 1965, and with Milton Babbitt,

Edward T. Cone Edward Toner Cone (May 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, and philanthropist. Life and career Cone was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He studied composition under Roger Sessions at Prince ...

, and Earl Kim at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, where he earned his MFA in 1967. At

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

he studied with Arthur Berger in 1964 and

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

in 1966. He then studied with

Wolfgang Fortner Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor. Life Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense contact with music. ...

at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg/Breisgau in 1968–69, on a Fulbright Scholarship. From 1991 to 2018 Lerdahl was Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University; previously he taught at 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 ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

. Lerdahl was awarded an honorary doctorate from

in 1999. He is a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. Lerdahl's maternal uncle was the astronomer Albert Whitford. Lerdahl has written three books: '' A Generative Theory of Tonal Music'' (1983, second edition 1996, with linguist

Ray Jackendoff Ray Jackendoff (born January 23, 1945) is an American linguist. He is professor of philosophy, Seth Merrin Chair in the Humanities and, with Daniel Dennett, co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He has always st ...

MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...

), ''Tonal Pitch Space'' (2001,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

), and ''Composition and Cognition'' (2019,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

). He has also written numerous articles on music theory, music cognition, computer-assisted composition, and other topics. Lerdahl's music is published by Schott, and

Bridge Records Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York. History A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his first ...

is producing an ongoing series of recordings of it. Lerdahl's students include composers Christopher Buchenholz,

Zosha Di Castri Zosha Di Castri (born 1985) is a Canadian composer and pianist living and working in New York. She is the Francis Goelet Assistant Professor of Music at Columbia University. Her work came to international attention when a specially commissioned ...

, R. Luke DuBois, John Halle, Huck Hodge, Arthur Kampela, Alex Mincek,

Paul Moravec Paul Moravec (born November 2, 1957) is an American composer and a University Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York and also a member of the composition department of the Mannes School of Music . Already a prolific composer, he ...

, Matthew Ricketts,

Allen Shearer Allen Raymond Shearer (born October 5, 1943 in Seattle, Washington) is an American composer and baritone. Life Shearer’s early musical experiences were as a singer; the majority of his works are for the voice or voices, with a later emphasis ...

, Kate Soper,

Tyshawn Sorey Tyshawn Sorey (born July 8, 1980) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music. Sorey has received accolades for performances, recordings, and compositions ranging from improvised solo percussion to opera, ...

, Christopher Trapani, Carl Voss, Wang Lu, Eric Wubbels, and Nina Young; and music theorists Elizabeth Margulis and David Temperley.

Music

Lerdahl's influences include the German classics,

Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, Schoenberg, Bartók, Stravinsky,

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

, Messiaen, and Ligeti. He has said he “always sought musical forms of isown invention,” and to discover the appropriate form for the intended expression.Schweitzer, Vivien (November 21, 2010).
Spiral Form and Other Compositional Modes of Fred Lerdahl
, ''NYTimes.com''. In '' Fanfare'', Robert Carl wrote: "Lerdahl is a profoundly musical composer, engaged in all his work in a rigorous and respectful dialogue with tradition, eager to imbue his pieces with the maximum of both information and clarity." Of Lerdahl's composition ''Waves'', Phillip Scott wrote, "''Waves'' is an orchestral

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...

. It conjures up (rather than depicts) the motion and the sense of waves, not merely of the oceanic variety but also those found on graphs: sound waves, heartbeats, and so on. It begins with a surge of activity and never lets up in its cascading scales and rapid figuration. Unlike Debussy's '' La mer'', whose deep-sea swells it recalls only fleetingly, it has no moments of repose."

List of compositions

Orchestral

* ''Chords'', large orchestra (12 winds, 11 brass, harp, piano, percussion, violas, cellos, double basses), 1974–83 * ''Cross-Currents'', large orchestra (12 winds, 10 brass, harp, piano, percussion, strings), 1987 * ''Waves'', small orchestra (8 winds, 2 French horns, strings), 1988 * ''Without Fanfare'', small orchestra (12 winds, 11 brass, 3 percussion), 1994 * ''Quiet Music'', large orchestra (12 winds, 11 brass, harp, piano, percussion, strings), 1994 (also version for 2 pianos) * ''Spirals'', orchestra (8 winds, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, piano, percussion, strings), 2006 * ''Arches'', cello, small orchestra (22 players), 2011 * ''Time and Again'', small orchestra, 2014

Chamber music

* String Trio, violin, viola, cello, 1966 * ''Imitations'', flute, harp, viola, 1977, revised 2001 * String Quartet No. 1, 1978, revised 2008 * ''Waltzes'', violin, viola, cello, double bass, 1981 * ''Episodes and Refrains'', flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1982 * ''Fantasy Etudes'', flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1985 * ''Marches'', clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1992 * ''Time after Time'', flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2000 * ''Imbrications'', flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2001 * Oboe Quartet, oboe, violin, viola, cello, 2002 * Duo, violin, piano, 2005 * String Quartet No. 2, 1982–2010 * String Quartet No. 3, 2008 * ''Arches'', cello, ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, 2 violins, viola, double bass, piano, 2 percussion), 2010 (also version for cello, small orchestra 2 players * ''There and Back Again'', cello, 2010 * ''Times 3'', violin, cello, piano, 2012 * ''Give and Take'', violin, cello, 2014 * ''String Quartet no. 4 "Chaconne"'', 2016 * ''Three Bagatelles'', violin, guitar, 2016 * ''Duo'', cello, piano, 2017 * ''Chords'', version for 13 instruments, 2018 * ''Cyclic Descent'', piano and large ensemble, 2018 * ''Solitude'', flute, clarinet, piano, 2020

Choral

* ''Cornstalks'' (text by

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

), 16 mixed voices, 2012

Vocal

* ''Wake'' (text by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

), soprano, harp, violin, viola, cello, 3 percussion, 1967–68 * ''Aftermath'' (dramatic cantata, text by the composer), soprano, alto, baritone, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, harp, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), 1973 * ''Eros'' (text by Ezra Pound), mezzo-soprano, alto flute, harp, electric guitar, viola, bass guitar, piano, 2 percussion, 1975 * ''Beyond the Realm of Bird'' (text by

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

), soprano, orchestra (8 winds, French horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, piano, percussion, strings), 1984 * ''The First Voices'' (text by

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, translated by John H. Moran and Alexander Gode), soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, 8 percussion, 2007 * ''Fire and Ice'' (text by Robert Frost), high soprano, double bass, 2015

Piano

* ''Piano Fantasy'', 1964 * ''Quiet Music'', 2 pianos, 2001 (version of orchestral work) * ''Three Diatonic Studies'', 2004–09 * ''Embedded Loops'', 2 pianos, 2020

Discography

* String Quartet No. 1 (original version). Juilliard String Quartet (Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 551, 1987 eissued_as_New_World_Records:_NWCR551,_2007.html" ;"title="New_World_Records.html" ;"title="eissued as New World Records">eissued as New World Records: NWCR551, 2007">New_World_Records.html" ;"title="eissued as New World Records">eissued as New World Records: NWCR551, 2007 * Waltzes; Fantasy Etudes; Eros; Wake. Bethany Beardslee, soprano; Beverly Morgan, mezzo-soprano; Rolf Schulte, violin; Scott Nickrenz, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Donald Palma, double bass; Robert Beaser/Musical Elements; David Epstein (conductor), David Epstein/

Boston Symphony Chamber Players The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881 ...

; Fred Lerdahl/ Collage ( Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 580, 1991 eissued as New World Records: NWCR580, 2007; Bridge Records: 9269; Bridge Records: 9391; and New World Records: NWCRL378 * Waves. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

: 435 389–2, 1992, reissued as Bridge Records: 9191) * Fantasy Etudes. eighth blackbird (eighth blackbird, 1999) * Time after Time; Marches; Oboe Quartet; Waves. Antares; La Fenice; Jeffrey Milarsky/Columbia Sinfonietta; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Bridge Records: 9191, 2006, reissue of Deutsche Grammophon: 435 389-2) * Cross-Currents; Waltzes; Duo; Quiet Music (original version). Rolf Schulte, violin; Scott Nickrenz, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Donald Palma, double bass; James Winn, piano; Paul Mann/ Odense Symphony (Bridge Records: 9269, 2008 artial reissue of Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 580, New World Records: NWCR580 * String Trio; Piano Fantasy. Robert Miller, piano; members of The Composers Quartet (New World Records: NWCRL319, c. 2009) * String Quartets Nos. 1–3. Daedalus Quartet (Bridge Records: 9352, 2011) * The First Voices. Frank Epstein/New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble ( Naxos Records: 8.559684, 2011) * Eros. Beverly Morgan, mezzo-soprano; Fred Lerdahl/Collage (New World Records: NWCRL378, 2011, reissue of Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 580) * Spirals; Three Diatonic Studies; Imbrications; Wake; Fantasy Etudes. Bethany Beardslee, soprano; Mirka Viitala, piano; eighth blackbird; Michel Galante/Argento Ensemble; David Epstein/Boston Symphony Chamber Players; Scott Yoo/Odense Symphony (Bridge Records: 9391, 2013, reissue of Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 580, New World Records: NWCR580) * There and Back Again.

Anssi Karttunen Anssi Karttunen (born 1960) is a Finnish cellist. Karttunen's repertoire ranges from the early baroque to living composers and improvisation. He has performed with many orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the Philharmonia, BBC ...

, cello (

Toccata Classics Toccata Classics is an independent British classic music label founded in 2005. The founder of Toccata Classics is Martin Anderson, a music journalist. The label was founded primarily to promote unrecorded works by lesser-known composers, inc ...

: TOCC0171, 2013) * There and Back Again, String Quartet no. 4 "Chaconne", Fire and Ice, Three Bagatelles, Arches (orchestral version). (Bridge Records: 9522, 2020)

Awards

*1966, Koussevitzky Composition Prize *1967,

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

Fellowship *1971, 1988 Composer Award from the

*1974, Guggenheim Fellowship *1977, Naumburg Recording Award *1982, Martha Baird Rockefeller Recording Award *1991,

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Fellowship *1999, Doctor of Fine Arts (honorary degree),

*2001, Finalist,

(for ''Time after Time'') *2002, ASCAP-Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award (for ''Tonal Pitch Space)'' *2003, Wallace Berry Distinguished Book Award (for ''Tonal Pitch Space)'' *2010, Finalist,

(for ''String Quartet No. 3'') *2010, Member, American Academy for Arts and Letters *2011, Finalist,

(for ''

'')

Bibliography

*Lerdahl, Fred (1992). Cognitive Constraints on Compositional Systems, Contemporary Music Review 6 (2), pp. 97–121. *Lerdahl, Fred and Jackendoff, Ray (1983)
''A Generative Theory of Tonal Music''

. . *Lerdahl, Fred (2001)
''Tonal Pitch Space''

. *Lerdahl, Fred (2019). ''Composition and Cognition: Reflections on Contemporary Music and the Musical Mind''.

References

External links

Fred Lerdahl at Schott MusicFred Lerdahl at Project Schott New YorkFaculty Page at Columbia UniversityFred Lerdahl's Homepage"Fred Lerdahl"
''bussigel''
New Music Box asks Fred Lerdahl: What role has theory played in your compositions and how important is it for people to know the theory behind the music in order to appreciate it?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerdahl, Fred American male classical composers American classical composers 21st-century classical composers 1943 births Living people American music theorists Lawrence University alumni Princeton University alumni Pupils of Roger Sessions Pupils of Wolfgang Fortner 21st-century American composers University of Michigan faculty 21st-century American male musicians Columbia University faculty Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters