Henry Mollicone (March 20, 1946 – May 12, 2022) was an American composer and musical instructor. He died on May 12, 2022, following a lengthy illness. At the time of his death, his home was in

Saratoga, California Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California. Located in Silicon Valley, in the southern Bay Area, its population was 31,051 at the 2020 census. Saratoga is an affluent residential community, known for its wineries, restaurants, and attra ...

. ''The Washington Post'' called him "one of the most distinctive American opera composers".

Career

Mollicone is known for his one-act

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s, including ''Emperor Norton'', ''Starbird'', and ''The Mask of Evil''. One of his most popular works is the one-act chamber opera '' The Face on the Barroom Floor''. Originally commissioned in 1978 for the

Central City Opera Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932 by Julie Penrose and Anne Evans. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Ce ...

Central City, Colorado The historic City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County. ...

, ''The Face on the Barroom Floor'' was inspired by the painting of the same title on the floor of the

Teller House Teller House is a historic hotel in Central City, Colorado. Built in 1872, the building now serves as a restaurant. The bar at the Teller House is well known for the " Face on the Barroom Floor," a painting of a woman's face on the wooden floor ...

Bar in Central City. Mollicone also composed three full-length operas: ''Coyote Tales'', ''Hotel Eden'', and ''Gabriel's Daughter''. In addition, he wrote works for both

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

including '' The Premonition'' (1976), as well as pieces for voice,

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, chorus and other various chamber combinations.

Other works

As a former faculty member of the Santa Clara University Department of Music, Henry Mollicone also acted as an instructor, adjudicator and collaborator. His greatest musical influences were Puccini, Verdi, Britten, and Bernstein.

References

External links

Official website
1946 births 2022 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers American opera composers Male opera composers Santa Clara University faculty People from Saratoga, California 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Classical musicians from California {{US-composer-20thC-stub