Mark Bucci (26 February 1924,

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 ...

– 22 August 2002,

Camp Verde, Arizona Camp Verde (; Western Apache: Gambúdih) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873. Every summer, the downtown area of Camp Verde is the site of the annual Corn Fest; hel ...

) 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 ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

, and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

. Influenced by

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

, his work is composed in a contemporary yet lyrical style, which frequently employs marked rhythms and memorable harmonies and melodies.

Early life and education

Born in Manhattan, Bucci was of Sicilian and Scottish ancestry. He studied music composition with

Tibor Serly Tibor Serly (; Losonc, Kingdom of Hungary, 25 November 1901 – London, 8 October 1978) was a Hungarian violist, violinist, and composer. Life Serly was the son of Lajos Serly, a pupil of Franz Liszt and a composer of songs and operettas in ...

in New York City from 1942 to 1945 and then 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 ...

with

Frederick Jacobi Frederick Jacobi (May 4, 1891 – October 24, 1952) was a Jewish-American composer and teacher. His works include symphonies, concerti, chamber music, works for solo piano and for solo organ, lieder, and one opera. He taught at Juilliard School o ...

and

Vittorio Giannini Vittorio Giannini (October 19, 1903 – November 28, 1966) was an American neoromanticism, neoromantic composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works, and member of the Giannini family. Life and work Giannini was born in Philadelphia on Oct ...

. At Juilliard he was notably the first winner of the school's Irving Berlin scholarship award in 1948 which was made possible through a donation by

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

. Bucci also studied composition under

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

at the

Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...

during the summers.

Career

Bucci's first professional composition was written for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television program ''

The Motorola Television Hour ''The Motorola Television Hour'' is an hourlong anthology series that alternated biweekly with ''The United States Steel Hour'' on ABC. The show premiered on November 3, 1953. It was originally known as ''The TV Hour''. Actors who appeared on the ...

'' for an adaptation of

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...

's ''

The 13 Clocks ''The 13 Clocks'' is a fantasy tale written by James Thurber in 1950, while he was in Bermuda completing one of his other novels. It is written in a unique cadenced style, in which a mysterious prince must complete a seemingly impossible task to ...

'' in 1953. The production starred

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...

as the evil Duke and garnered a considerable amount of national attention. Commissions for

musical revue ''Musical Revue'' is a live album featuring Prince Far I and Suns of Arqa released on ROIR Europe in 1988. The album was produced by Phil Rainford and features a live recording of Prince Far I with Suns of Arqa at Band on the Wall in Mancheste ...

s and

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 followed, including the opera ''

Tale for a Deaf Ear ''Tale for a Deaf Ear'' is an opera in one act with music and lyrics by Mark Bucci, sung in three languages and based on a story by Elizabeth Enright that appeared in the April 1951 edition of ''Harper's Magazine''. The work was commissioned by Sam ...

'' which premiered at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 1957 and was later mounted at the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

in 1958. His opera '' The Hero'', commissioned by the

Lincoln Center Fund Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (nam ...

and first broadcast from New York in 1965, won the

Italia Prize The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

in 1966. Bucci also wrote music for two

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

s, ''

Vintage '60 In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...

'' (1960) and ''

New Faces of 1962 New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

'' (1962), and several film scores including ''

Seven in Darkness ''Seven in Darkness'' is an American made-for-TV adventure film directed by Michael Caffey and based on the novel ''Against Heaven's Hand'' by Leonard Bishop. The premiere entry in the 1969–76 series ABC Movie of the Week, it was broadcast on ...

'' (1969), ''My Friends Need Killing'' (1976) and ''

Human Experiments ''Human Experiments'' (also known as ''Beyond the Gate'') is a 1979 American horror film directed and co-produced by Gregory Goodell. It stars Linda Haynes, Geoffrey Lewis, Ellen Travolta, Aldo Ray, Jackie Coogan and Lurene Tuttle. This film e ...

'' (1979). He is also the author of a handful of plays.

Accolades

He was awarded

Guggenheim Fellowships Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1953 and 1957.

Personal life

He had one son, Jonathan Phillips Bucci, with his wife theatre publicist and playwright Peggy Phillips Bucci.

References

External links

* * 1924 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American lyricists American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers American opera composers American male opera composers American television composers American writers of Italian descent American people of Scottish descent Juilliard School alumni Musicians from Manhattan Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters {{US-composer-20thC-stub