John Charles Eaton (March 30, 1935 – December 2, 2015) was an American composer. Born in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr, pronounced , from Welsh language, Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, Radnor Township and Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaw ...

, Eaton attended

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 graduated in 1957. He later lived in Rome (1957–68), returning to Princeton to earn a PhD in 1970. He subsequently held faculty appointments at Indiana University (1970–92) and the University of Chicago (1989–99). Eaton was a prominent composer of

microtonal music Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones— intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of ...

, and worked with Paul Ketoff and

Robert Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...

during the 1960s in developing several types of synthesizer. Notably, he was involved in the development, use, and ultimately unsuccessful commercialization of the SynKet. He devised a compositional genre called ''pocket opera'', operas scored for a small cast of vocalists and a chamber group, and composed such pocket opera works as ''Peer Gynt'', ''Let's Get This Show on the Road'', and ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. His operas include '' The Cry of Clytaemnestra'' (1980), a re-telling of some of the events surrounding the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

from the perspective of

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the ...

's wife Clytaemnestra, which has been hailed as the first feminist opera. It was premièred in Bloomington, at the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

Opera Theater, on March 1, 1980, and received a number of subsequent productions, most notably in New York and California. Eaton's opera, '' The Tempest'', with a libretto by Andrew Porter after

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, was premièred at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

on July 27, 1985, and subsequently performed in the autumn of 1986 at the

School of Music. During his tenure at the University of Chicago, Eaton concentrated on works for smaller ensembles, including chamber operas that involved dramatic participation of the instrumentalists alongside the singers. He founded and directed The Pocket Opera Players, a professional troupe dedicated to the performance of his works in this genre, and occasionally those of fellow composers interested in the form. He continued to lead the Pocket Opera Players in New York City, after his retirement from Chicago in 2001. He was a recipient of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

ship, and a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

ship. Eaton died on December 2, 2015, following a brain hemorrhage. His wife Nelda Nelson-Eaton and two children, Estela and Julian, survive him.

Operas

*''Ma Barker'' (written 1957–58) *''Herakles'' (written 1964; October 10, 1968,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

) *''Myshkin'' (April 23, 1973 Bloomington, Ind.) *''The Lion and Androcles'' (written 1973; May 1, 1974 Indianapolis) *''Danton and Robespierre'' (written 1978; April 21, 1978 Bloomington) *''The Cry of Clytemnestra'' (written 1979–80; March 1, 1980 Bloomington) *''The Tempest'' (written 1983–85; July 27, 1985 Santa Fe) *''The Reverend Jim Jones'' (written 1989) *''Let's Get This Show on the Road'' (written 1993) *''Golk'' (written 1995) *''Antigone'' (written 1999) *''. . . inasmuch'' (written 2002) *''King Lear'' (written 2003–2004)

References

* * *

Footnotes

External links

Living Composers Project entry for John EatonExtensive interview with John Eaton

Music Sales page on John Eaton

Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music page on John Eaton

University of Chicago page on John Eaton

American Composers Alliance page on John EatonJohn Eaton Interview – NAMM Oral History Library (2010)
July 9, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, John 1935 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century classical composers American classical composers American expatriates in Italy American male classical composers American opera composers MacArthur Fellows Male opera composers Microtonal composers Musicians from Pennsylvania People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Princeton University alumni Pupils of Roger Sessions Pupils of Edward T. Cone University of Chicago faculty 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians