Harry Gilbert Trythall (October 28, 1930 – February 17, 2023) was an American composer and pianist of contemporary classical music.

Early life and education

Harry Gilbert Trythall was born on October 28, 1930, in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

, the older brother of composer and pianist

Richard Aaker Trythall Richard Aaker Trythall (July 25, 1939 – December 21, 2022) was an American and Italian composer and pianist of contemporary classical music. Early life and education Trythall was born on July 25, 1939 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the younger b ...

. He attended Central High School in Knoxville and, in 1948, he enrolled at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

where he studied under David Van Vactor graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1951. He was then admitted, that same year, to

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

where he studied under

Wallingford Riegger Wallingford Constantine Riegger ( ; April 29, 1885 – April 2, 1961) was an American modernist composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral and modern dance music. He was born in Albany, Georgia, but spent most of his career in New York Ci ...

obtaining a Master of Music in 1952. Trythall served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

from 1953 to 1957. He then completed his music studies attending, from 1957 to 1960, advanced composition courses at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

where he studied under

Robert Moffat Palmer Robert Moffat (variously "Moffatt" and "Moffett") Palmer (b. June 2, 1915, Syracuse, New York; d. July 3, 2010, Ithaca, New York) was an American composer, pianist and educator. He composed more than 90 works,''Ithaca Journal'' obituary, July 5 ...

obtaining a

Doctor of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...

degree. Trythall was part of the group of David Van Vactor's notable students named the Van Vactor Five together with

David P. Sartor David Sartor (rhymes with "Carter") is an American composer and conductor of symphonic, chamber, and choral music. He is on the music faculties of Belmont University and Cumberland University, and is the founder and music director of the Parth ...

, Jesse Ayers, and Doug Davis.

Career

Trythall started his academic career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

during his studies at Cornell University after which he served as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...

at Knox College in Galesburg,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, from 1960 to 1964 where he was director of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestra. He was then appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of music theory and composition at Peabody College in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, where he taught from 1964 to 1975. During his

academic tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

he also served as chairman of the Department of Music from 1973 to 1975. He was then appointed

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Creative Arts Center at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in Morgantown,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, from 1975 to 1981. Following his retirement in 1996, he was a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

of music at the

Federal University of Espírito Santo The Federal University of Espírito Santo ( pt, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, ''Ufes'') is a federal university with headquarters in the city of Vitória, capital of Espírito Santo state, in Brazil. It is the largest and most importa ...

in Vitória,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 1999 to 2001, where he taught courses in music. As a musician, Trythall is best known for his experiments and compositions in

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

. For instance, "Planet" by

Four Tet Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ...

and "myriad.industries" by

Oneohtrix Point Never Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer and songwriter. His music has experimented with tropes from various music genres and eras, s ...

sample his 1980 composition "Echospace."

Personal life and death

Trythall married Jean Marie Slater on December 28, 1951, but the couple divorced in 1976. He then married Carol King on September 19, 1985. Trythall had two daughters from his first marriage, Linda Marie and Karen Elizabeth. Gil Trythall died in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

on February 17, 2023, at the age of 92.

Compositions

*1960 – ''Symphony no. 1'' *1958 – ''A Solemn Chant'', for strings *1960 – ''The Music Lesson'' *1961 – ''Fanfare and Celebration'' *1961 – ''A String Quartet'' *1962 – ''Surfaces'', for wind ensemble, tape, and lights *1963 – ''A Harp Concerto'' *1964 – ''Dionysia'', for chamber orchestra *1964 – ''A Flute Sonata'' *1966 – ''A Vacuum Soprano'', for brass quintet and tape *1967 – ''Entropy'', for stereo brass, improvisation group, and stereo tape *1968 – ''In the Presence'', for chorus and tape *1969 – ''The Electronic Womb'', for tape *1971 – ''Echospace'', for brass, tape, and film *1971 – ''A Time to Every Purpose'', for chorus and tape *1975 – ''Cyndy the Synth (Minnie the Moog)'', for synthesizer and string orchestra *1981 – ''Luxikon II'', for tape *1982 – ''The Terminal Opera'' *1988 – ''Mass in English and Spanish'', for congregation, organ, and descant *1989 – ''Sinfonia Concertante'' *1990 – ''From the Egyptian Book of the Dead'', for soprano, saxophone or wind controller, and synthesizer *1993 – ''The Pastimes of Lord Chaitanya'', for jazz soprano and synthesizer *1994 – ''Intermission'', for soprano and synthesizer

Discography

* ''Symphony No. 1 '', Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, David Van Vactor, Composers Recordings, Inc. (1961) * ''Yakety Moog / Foggy Mountain Breakdown '', Athena Records, (1970) * ''Switched On Nashville (Country Moog)'', Athena Records, (1972) * ''Nashville Gold (Switched On Moog)'', Summit Records Australia, (1973) * ''Principles and Practice of Electronic Music'', Grosset & Dunlap, (1973) * ''Luxikon II / Echospace'', Pandora Music, (1980) * ''Country Moog + Nashville Gold'', Vroom Sound Records, (2003) * ''Country Moog (Switched On Nashville) / Nashville Gold (Switched On Moog)'', The Omni Recording Corporation, (2007)

Publications

* ''Principles and Practice of Electronic Music'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1973 * ''Eighteenth Century Counterpoint'', Brown & Benchmark, 1993 * ''Sixteenth Century Counterpoint'', Brown & Benchmark, 1994

References

External links

Official website
*
Biography
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Gilbert Harry Trythall
at

DMOZ DMOZ (from ''directory.mozilla.org'', an earlier domain name, stylized in lowercase in its logo) was a multilingual open-content directory of World Wide Web links. The site and community who maintained it were also known as the Open Directory ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trythall, Gil 1930 births 2023 deaths 20th-century classical composers Cornell University alumni Northwestern University alumni American classical composers Musicians from Tennessee American people of Norwegian descent American male classical composers Musicians from Knoxville, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni American people of Welsh descent 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians