Charles Clement Fussell (born February 14, 1938, in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

)Zullinger, Nathan. “A Guide to the Choral Music of Charles Fussell.” DMA diss., Boston University, 2012. is an American composer and conductor of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. He has composed six symphonies and three

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s.Fussell, Charles. ''Charles Fussell: Wilde''. Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Gil Rose. BMOP/sound 1005, 2008, compact disc. Liner notes. His symphony ''Wilde'' for solo

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, based on the life of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

and premiered by the Newton Symphony Orchestra and the baritone Sanford Sylvan in 1990, was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received a citation and award from 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 of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

in 1992.Fussell, Charles. ''Charles Fussell: Cymbeline''. Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Gil Rose. BMOP/sound 1059, 2018, compact disc. Liner notes. Fussell received advanced degrees in composition and conducting from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, where he studied with Thomas Canning and Bernard Rogers. He received a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

grant to study at the

Berlin Hochschule für Musik Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

, where he worked with

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...

. He also attended the

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

masterclasses of Friedelind Wagner. In 1964 he received a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

grant to be a composer-in-residence in the

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

public school system. He was an assistant and close friend of the composer Virgil Thomson. He served as the president of the Thomson Foundation for many years. Fussell has served on the faculty of the

University of Massachusetts at Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

, the North Carolina School of the Arts (1976–1977),

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

(1983–2003), and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Catalogue of works

Late 1950s * ''Essay for Orchestra'' * ''Variations for Orchestra'' * ''Six Dances for Orchestra'' 1962 * ''Caligula'', opera based on a play by

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

* ''Trio'', for violin, cello, and piano 1963 * ''Dance Suite'', for flute, trumpet, viola, and two percussionists * Symphony in One Movement o. I for large orchestra 1964 * ''Sweelinck Liedvariationen Mein Junges Leben'', for solo string trio, marimba, mandolin, harp, and small orchestra * ''Saint Stephen and Herod'', drama for speaker, chorus, and winds 1965 * ''Poems for Chamber Orchestra and Voices after Hart Crane'', text by Hart Crane * ''Three Choral Pieces'' (rev. 1975), for chorus and piano ** I. ''Fancy's Knell'' (SA and piano) ** II. ''Three Epitaphs'' (TB and piano) ** III. ''I Saw a Peacock'' (mixed chorus and piano) 1967 * Symphony No. II, for soprano and large orchestra 1968 * ''Two Ballades'' (rev. 1976), for cello and piano * ''The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation'', realization after

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

for soprano and ten instruments 1970 * ''Voyages'', for soprano and tenor soloists, female chorus, piano, and solo wind instrument plus recorded speaker. Text by Hart Crane. 1971 * ''Julian'', drama in five scenes after the tale of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

1973 * ''Three Processionals for Orchestra'' 1975 * ''Eurydice'', for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, with obligato trumpet, horn, trombone, and bass-drum 1976 * ''Résumé'', cycle of nine songs for soprano, clarinet, string bass, and piano. Text by

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker ros ...

. * ''Greenwood Sketches, Music for String Quartet'' * ''A Prophecy'', for chorus and piano. Text by

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. 1977 * ''Etudes and Portraits'', for solo organ 1979 * ''Northern Lights'', two portraits for chamber orchestra ** I. ''Leós Janacek'', for two flutes, four solo violins, timpani, and strings ** II. ''Edvard Munch'', for two flutes, string quartet, timpani, and string orchestra * ''A Joyful Fugue'', transcription for band of an orchestral score by Virgil Thomson 1981 * ''Landscapes'', Symphony No. III, for chorus and large orchestra ** I. ''A Prophecy'' (Allen Ginsberg) ** II. ''A Night Battle'' (

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

) ** III. ''Moment Fugue 1929'' (Hart Crane) ** IV. ''Landscape'' (Alberta Phillips) * ''Four Fairy Tales After Oscar Wilde'', for orchestra ** I. ''The Young King'' ** II. ''The Nightingale and the Rose'' ** III. ''The Happy Prince'' *** A. ''Prelude'' *** B. ''Romance of the Sparrow and Reed'' *** C. ''Coda'' ** IV. ''The Remarkable Rocket'' 1982 * Overture to ''Paul Bunyan'', transcription for band of an orchestral score by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

1983 * ''Song of Return'', for SATB chorus with piano. Text by W. H. Auden. 1985 * ''Cymbeline'', drama after

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...

for soprano and tenor soli, narrator, plus chamber ensemble (11 players) 1986 * ''The Gift'', for SATB chorus with soprano solo. Text by William Carlos Williams. * ''Three Portraits for Chamber Orchestra'' ** I. ''Virgil Thomson'' (1981) *** Version for solo piano composed in 2015 ** II. ''Maurice Grosser'' (1983) ** III. ''Jack Larson'' (1986) 1988 * ''Free-fall'', for chamber ensemble (seven players) 1989 * ''A Song of Return'', cantata for small chorus and orchestra. Text by W. H. Auden. * ''The Gift'', for chorus, soprano solo, and orchestra 1990 * ''Wilde'' ymphony No. IV for baritone and orchestra. Runner-up for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music. 1991 * ''Goethe Lieder'', cycle of five songs with an epilogue ** 1. Soprano or tenor and piano ** 2. Version for seven players ** 3. Version for orchestra * ''Last Trombones'', for five percussionists, two pianos, and six (or twelve) trombones 1992 * ''Specimen Days'', cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra. Text by Will Graham, based on the life and writings of Walt Whitman. 1993 * ''Being Music'', for baritone solo and string quartet. Text by Walt Whitman. * ''Song and Dance'', for violin and piano * ''Invocation'', for chorus (SA and accompaniment or SATB). Text by May Sarton. 1994 * ''Sonata-Duo'', for flute and piano 1995 * Symphony No. V, for orchestra * ''Night Song'', for solo piano 1996 * ''Comrade'' and ''The Journey'', two songs for baritone and piano 1997 * ''The Astronaut's Tale'', chamber opera. Text by Jack Larson. * ''Mists'', three pieces for a cappella chorus. Texts by Hart Crane. 1998 * ''November Leaves'', four songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Texts by Alfred Corn. * ''Sonnet'', for baritone solo, flute, and organ. Text by Elizabeth Bishop. * ''Trio'', for violin, cello, and piano 1999 * ''From A Pioneer Songbook'', for a cappella chorus 2000 * ''A Walt Whitman Sampler'', for TTBB chorus and piano. Text by Will Graham. * ''Venture'', four songs for baritone and piano on poems by Toni Mergentime Levi ** Version for baritone and orchestra was composed in 2016 2002 * ''Right River'', Variations on an Original Theme for 'cello and string orchestra 2003 * ''Infinite Fraternity'', for SATB chorus, baritone solo, flute, and viola. Texts by

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

, and Will Graham. * ''High Bridge'' (rev. 2008), A Choral Symphony o. VIafter poems of Hart Crane, for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone solos, chorus and orchestra 2008 * ''Moonshine'', for double bass and vibraphone 2011 * ''Marion in Memory'', for flute, clarinet, horn, violin, cello, piano, and marimba 2018 * ''K.G. in Space and Time'', for flute, clarinet, horn, marimba (and vibraphone), piano (and celesta), violin, and cello

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fussell, Charles Living people American male classical composers 20th-century American classical composers Place of birth missing (living people) 1938 births 20th-century American male musicians