Claire Polin (January 1, 1926 – December 6, 1995) was an American composer 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 ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, and

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Education

She obtained three degrees in music from the Philadelphia Conservatory: a Bachelor, Masters and Doctorate in Music. She also studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

. Her teachers included

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work ...

, Lukas Foss,

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...

, and Peter Mennin. She also studied flute with William Kincaid, with whom she collaborated on a multi-volume method of flute technique.

Career

Her works were commissioned and performed by the Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonia, the Israel Bach Society, and the London Pro Musica Antiqua of Westminster, as well as by William Kincaid, Gordon Gottlieb, and the Gregg Smith Singers. Polin served on the faculty at

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 ...

, where she taught composition, as well as courses in the music of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, music of ancient

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and music of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. She also published books on musicological subjects.

Personal life

She is survived by two sons, Josef and Gabriel Schaff, and one grandchild.

List of works

Note: This is not a complete list. In some cases, the dates listed may have been the original publication date as opposed to the year it was written. Many pieces were published several times in new editions.

Compositions

* ''Sonata No. 1 for Flute'' 1959 * ''Symphony in two movements'' 1960 * ''No-Rai: Songs from Korea,'' 1963? Soprano Voice, Flute, Double Bass * ''Sonata for Flute and Harp'' 1964/73 * ''No Man is an Island'', SATB chorus, piano, 196_ * ''Serpentine: Lyrical instances for solo viola and imaginary dancer'', 1965 * ''Structures for Solo Flute'' 1965 * ''Consecutivo: Study on a Requiem'', 1966 * ''Summer Settings'', harp, 1967 * ''Makimono'', flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, 1969 * ''Second Sonata for flute and harp (From the Painter’s Brush)'', 197x * ''Music for the Prince of Wales: Hen ganiadau gwanwyn'', medium high voice (male or female) with cello accompaniment * ''Cader Idris: Landscape for Brass Quintet'', 1971 * ''Infinito: A Requiem'', alto sax, soprano solo, narrator, SATB chorus, 1972 * ''Out of childhood; variations on Russian-Turkish folksongs for piano'', 1972 * ''Margóä for solo flute'', 1972 * ''O, Aderyn Pur'', Flute, Alto Sax, Tape, or flute solo 1972 * ''The Death of Procris: Studies After a Painting by Piero di Cosimo'', 1972-73 Flute and Tuba * ''Telemannicon: Solo obe flute, canonically played with tape or live'', 1974 * ''Second Symphony'', 1974 * ''Journey of Owain Madoc: Symphonic Meditations on the Discovery of America'', 1974 * ''Scenes from Gilgamesh'', flute and string orchestra, 1974 * ''Makimono II: for brass quintet'', 1975 * ''Laissez sonner for solo piano'', 1976 * ''Pièce d’encore: for solo viola (or violin)'', 1976 * ''Synaulia II'', flute(alto fl), clar(bass clar), piano, 1976 * ''Paraselene: Dark nebulae I: Book of Songs for Soprano, Flute, and Piano'', 1976/77 * ''A klockwork diurnal'', alto sax, French horn, bassoon, 1977 * ''Amphion: for symphony orchestra'', 1977 * ''Wind Songs for soprano and guitar'', 1978? * ''Vigniatures: Variations for Violin and Harp'', 1979 * ''Felína, Felína'', violin, harp, 1980 * ''Res naturae: The Carmarthan dove in a mialiseet dance'', woodwind quintet, 1980 * ''Dark nebulae II: Ma’a lot'', viola and percussion, 1981 * ''Georgics: After Virgil for Solo Flute'', 1981 * ''Mythos: Concerto for Harp and String Orchestra'', 1982 * ''Kuequenaku-Cambiola'', percussion and piano, 1983 * ''Phantasmagoria'', piano 4 hands, 1985 * ''Freltic Sonata for Violin and Piano'', 1985 * ''Shirildang: trans-Ural Suite for piano'', 1991 * ''Walum olum'', clarinet, viola, piano

Publications

* Music of the ancient Near East, 1974 Greenwood Press (Westport, CT) * "Why Minimalism Now?" Music and the Politics of Culture, ed. Christopher Norris, pp. 226–239, London: Lawrence & Wishart 1989 * "Interviews with Soviet Composers", Tempo 1984 151, 10-16 Cambridge University Press *“The Composer as Seer, but not Prophet” Tempo Combridge 1994 Issue 190, p13-18 *New York: Women in Music and Soviet Contemporaries. Tempo 174, 1990 p32,34,36-37 *The Ap Huw manuscript. 1982 Henryville, PA: Institute of Mediaeval Musicological Studies. (Vol 34?) *“Observations on the Ap Huw manuscript. Music & Letters 60(3) 1979, 296-304: Oxford University Press. *A Possible Provenance for parts of the Ap Huw manuscript. Welsh Music, 1985. *The Ap Huw Manuscript. Music & Letters 62(1): 120, 1981 *Moscow Festival Diary. Tempo 1984 No. 150 p. 35-38 *Ancient Semitic Music: A study starting in earliest times and ending circa 500 BC (1950) * A Treasury of Jewish Folksong. Ethnomusicology 9(2). 191-193 (1965) * Gifts of Jubal; musical instruments from the ancient East. Philadelphia, PA: University Museum Press

References

External links

Claire Polin biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polin, Claire 1926 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American classical composers American women classical composers People from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Pupils of Roger Sessions Pupils of Vincent Persichetti University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni American women flautists 20th-century American women composers 20th-century American flautists