George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) 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 def ...

and music theorist. As a composer, his music was largely atonal, using methods similar to the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

of the Second Viennese School. This serialist style, and atonality in general, was the subject of much of his theoretical writings. His 1962 book, ''Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern'' remains a standard text for

20th-century classical music 20th-century classical music is Western art music that was written between the years 1901 and 2000, inclusive. Musical style diverged during the 20th century as it never had previously, so this century was without a dominant style. Modernism, i ...

theory. Among Perle's awards was the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Wind Quintet No. 4.

Life and career

Perle was born in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

, to Russian Jewish parents. He graduated from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

, where he studied with Wesley LaViolette and received private lessons from Ernst Krenek. Later, he served as a technician fifth grade in the

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during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He earned his doctorate at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1956. Perle composed with a technique of his own devising called "twelve-tone tonality". This technique was different from, but related to, the

of the Second Viennese School, of which he was an "early admirer" and whose techniques he used aspects of but never fully adopted. Perle's former student Paul Lansky described Perle's twelve-tone tonality thus: In 1968, Perle cofounded the Alban Berg Society with

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

, and Hans F. Redlich, who had the idea (according to Perle in his letter to Glen Flax of 4/1/89). Perle's important work on Berg includes documenting that the third act of ''

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'', rather than being an unfinished sketch, was actually three-fifths complete and that the '' Lyric Suite'' contains a secret program dedicated to Berg's love-affair. After retiring from Queens College in 1985, he became a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the Aaron Copland School of Music. In 1986, Perle was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Wind Quintet No. 4 and also a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

. In about 1989 Perle became composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony, a three-year appointment. It was also around this time that he had published his fourth book entitled ''The Listening Composer''. He died aged 93 in his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in January 2009. He was buried in Calverton National Cemetery. A growing number of younger artists have come to express their appreciation for Perle. In the run-up to his 100th birthday celebrations the composer-pianist Michael Brown released a well received CD of a sampling of Perle's work for piano. Perle was married to the sculptor Laura Slobe from 1940 to 1952; the couple were members of the Socialist Workers Party. His second wife, Barbara Philips, died in 1978. Perle married Shirley Xenia Gabis in 1982.

Works

Richard Swift differentiates between Perle's 'free' or 'intuitive', tone-centered, and twelve-tone modal music. He lists Perle's tone-centered compositions: *Sonata for Solo Viola (1942) *Three Sonatas for Solo Clarinet (1943) *Hebrew Melodies for Solo Cello (1945) *Sonata for Solo Cello (1947) * Quintet for Strings (1958) *Sonata I for Solo Violin (1959) *Wind Quintet I (1959) *Wind Quintet II (1960) *Monody I for Flute (1962) *Monody II for Double Bass (1962) *Three Inventions for Bassoon (1962) *Sonata II for Solo Piano (1963) *Solo Partita for Violin and Viola (1965) *Wind Quintet III (1967)

Selected publications

*Perle, George (1962, reprint 1991). ''Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern''. University of California Press. * *Perle, George (1980). ''The Operas of Alban Berg. Vol. 1: Wozzeck''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1984). "Scriabin's Self-Analysis", ''Musical Analysis'' III/2 (July). *Perle, George (1985). ''The Operas of Alban Berg. Vol. 2: Lulu''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1990). ''The Listening Composer''. California: University of California Press. *Perle, George (1992). "Symmetry, the Twelve-Tone Scale, and Tonality", ''Contemporary Music Review'' 6 (2), pp. 81–96.

References

External links

*
Michael Brown plays George Perle's Six Celebratory Inventions on Classical Connect

20 May 1986 * , David Dubal, WNCN-FM, 9 December 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perle, George 1915 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American musicologists 21st-century American classical composers American male classical composers American music theorists Jewish American classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers Pulitzer Prize for Music winners American Conservatory of Music alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters DePaul University alumni MacArthur Fellows Queens College, City University of New York faculty Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) Musicians from Bayonne, New Jersey Pupils of Ernst Krenek United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Berg scholars