Daniel James Wolf (born September 13, 1961 in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

) is 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 ...

Studies

Wolf studied composition with Gordon Mumma, Alvin Lucier, and

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best k ...

, as well as musical tunings with

Erv Wilson Ervin Wilson (June 11, 1928 – December 8, 2016) was a Mexican/ American (dual citizen) music theorist. Early life Ervin Wilson was born iColonia Pacheco a small village in the remote mountains of northwest Chihuahua, Mexico, where he lived u ...

and Douglas Leedy and ethnomusicology (M.A., Ph.D. 1990

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

). Important contacts with

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

, Walter Zimmermann. Managing Editor of the journal '' Xenharmonikon'', 1985-89. Based in Europe from 1989, he is known as a member of the "Material" group of composers, along with Hauke Harder, Markus Trunk and others.

Compositions

Wolf's compositions apply an experimental approach to musical materials, with a special interest in intonation, yet often display a surface that playfully - if accidentally - recalls historical music. Major works include ''The White Canoe'', an opera seria for hand puppets to the libretto by

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for book ...

, six

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s, ''Figure & Ground'' for string trio, ''Field Study'' for vn, tb, ban, gui, ''Decoherence for x orchestras of x players'', ''Twoity'' fl,pf and ''A Beckett Gray Code'' for wind quintet. Much of his music is in

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is a musical tuning, tuning system in which the space between notes' frequency, frequencies (called interval (music), intervals) is a natural number, whole number ratio, ratio. Intervals spaced in thi ...

, but his work with alternative tunings includes a collection of Etudes in all equal temperaments between 8 and 23 notes per octave. Composer Wolf identifies with the experimental music tradition—especially its American West Coast manifestation—spiritually, intellectually and personally. He jokingly calls his method "dysfunctional harmony" or "not yet tonal", with some reference to the "anarchic harmony" found in the late music of John Cage. Three distinct streams combine to form Wolf's work: sound installations, experimental concert works based on sound structures mostly free from historical associations,Kahlcke, Thomas (19/8/91). "Viele Wege führen nach Rom", ''Kieler Nachrichten''. and experimental concert works based on reifying the tradition of European art music (or other world musics) and then performing operations on its internal principles.

References

External links

Daniel James Wolf
composer's own webpage with list of works, sample scores, articles
Material Press
publisher
Renewable Music
blog by Daniel Wolf {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Daniel James 1961 births Wesleyan University alumni 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers American male classical composers Living people American experimental composers Microtonal composers American bloggers American male bloggers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians

Studies

Compositions

References

Further reading

External links