Sergio Cervetti Guigou (born 9 November 1940 in Dolores, Soriano) is a Uruguayan composer and teacher domiciled in the United States. His early compositional language reflects the post serialist Uruguayan

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, often employing electronics and complex graphical notation. He gained international prominence in 1966 when he achieved first place with 5 Episodes for Piano Trio in the Inter-American Music Festival in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, Venezuela. His compositions have been widely recorded on labels such as

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. In May 2024, Albany Records wa ...

, Vienna Modern Masters, and Navona Records, which have been reviewed in ''Gramophone'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. His music has been played by renowned orchestras such as the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Sergio Cervetti was exposed to music at a young age by his parents. His Italian father was a clarinettist and his French mother helped motivate him to learn the piano. His early piano studies were with José María Martino Rodas and Hugo Balzo and later studied counterpoint and harmony at the National Conservatory with Carlos Estrada and Guido Santorsola. In 1962 he left Uruguay to study composition in the United States at the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and ...

in Baltimore under Austrian-born composer

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

and South African composer

Stefans Grové Stefans Grové (23 July 1922 – 29 May 2014) was a South African composer. Before his death the following assessment was made of him: "He is regarded by many as Africa's greatest living composer, possesses one of the most distinctive composi ...

, graduating in 1967. In 1969, Cervetti, went to Berlin to take up a one-year

DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (German: Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) is a residential program for artists of all countries and ages run by the German Academic Exchange Service (German: 'Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst', DAAD) ...

composer-in-residence. Whilst in Germany he received

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

commissions and wrote an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

work ''Lux Lucet In Tenebris'' which won a

Gaudeamus International Composers Award The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch ...

which was premiered at the festival in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. After 1970, Cervetti attended the Electronic Music Centre at Columbia-Princeton University where he studied under

Vladimir Ussachevsky Vladimir Alexeevich Ussachevsky (November 3, 1911 in Hailar, China – January 2, 1990 in New York, New York) was a Russian-American composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music. Biography Vladimir Ussachevsky was born in ...

and

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

. Whilst in New York, he taught for 25 years at the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

having started his tenure in 1972. As Master Teacher of Music he tutored in music history, composition and historic dance.

Selected works

Chamber

* ''Five episodes for violin, cello and piano'' (1965) (''Cinco episodios para violín, violonchelo y piano'') * ''Six sequences : for dance'' (1966) for chamber orchestra * Divertimento, ''para cuarteto de maderas'' (1967) for woodwind quartet * ''Zinctum'' (1969) for string quartet * ''Dies tenebrarum'' (1968) for electric organ, percussion, choir and strings * ''Prisons No. 1'' (1969) for dancers, musicians, singers and pantomime * ''Pulsar'' (1969) for brass sextet * ''Cuatro fragmentos de Pablo Neruda'' (1970) for soprano, oboe, violoncello and percussion * ''Peripetia'' (1970) for voices and musicians * ''Cocktail Party'' (1970) work for music-theatre * ''Lux Lucet in Tenebris'' ("''and the light shineth in the darkness''") (1970) for a cappella voices * ''Plexus'' (1971) for chamber orchestra * ''Raga I'' (1971) for ensemble * ''...de la tierra...'' (''...from the earth...'') (1972) for ensemble * Concerto for Trumpet and Strings (1974), reorchestrated 2015 * ''Duelle'' (1974) concerto for cor anglais and string bass * ''Madrigal III'' (1976) for two sopranos and small ensemble * ''Ines de Castro'' (1988) ballet * ''The Triumph of Death'' ''(El Triunfo de la Muerte)'' (1993) mezzo-soprano and piano; Text: Circe Maia * ''House of Blues'' (1995) for wind ensemble *''Nazca'' (2010) for string orchestra *''Toward the Abyss'' (2015) piano quintet *''And the Huddled Masses'' (2015) for clarinet and string quartet

Opera

* ''Elegy for a Prince (2005) opera in two acts. Libretto: Elizabeth Esris'' * ''YUM!'' (2008) opera in one act for voices and chamber ensemble. Libretto: Elizabeth Esris

Orchestra

* ''El Carro de Heno (

The Hay Wain ''The Hay Wain'' – originally titled ''Landscape: Noon'' – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs ...

)'' (1967) for chamber choir and orchestra * ''Orbitas'' (1967) for orchestra * ''Candombe II'' (1996) for orchestra * ''Descent'' (2001) piano and orchestra * ''Consolamentum'' (2016) for orchestra *''Et in Arcadia ego'' (2017) symphonic poem *''Fanfare: Gated Angel'' (2019) for orchestra

Solo instrument or voice

* ''Guitar Music (the Bottom of the Iceberg)'' (1975) * ''Four Fragments of Isadora'' (1979) soprano; Text: Letters of Duncan and Craig * Three Pieces for Marimba (2014)

Works with electronics or tape

* ''Studies in Silence'' (1968) for electronics * Oulom for tape, in 1970 * ''Graffiti'' (1971) for spoken chorus, orchestra and tape * ''Prisons No. 2'' (1970-–71) for spoken choir, orchestra and tape * ''Raga II'' (1971) for trombone and tape * ''Raga III'' (1971) for tape * ''Stella Vindemiatrix'' (1975) for oboe and pre-recorded oboe * ''Bits & pieces and Moving Parts'' (1977) for tape * ''El Rio de los Pajaros Pintados'' (1979) for

bandoneon The bandoneon () or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and played ...

and tape * ''Something Borrowed, Something Blue'' (1979–1980) for tape

Discography

* 1987 – ''The Hay Wain'', Sergio Cervetti. (Periodic Music: PE-1631) * 1998 – ''New Music for Orchestra'', Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Jiri Mikula. (Vienna Modern Masters: VMM 3045) * 2011 – ''From East to West, Music from Ukraine to Uruguay,'' Lithuanian Music Academy Chamber Choir. (Vienna Modern Masters: VMM2030) * 2012 – ''Nazca and Other Works'' Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Chamber Players, Vit Micka, cond.

Petr Vronský Petr Vronský (born 4 March 1946) is a Czech people, Czech conducting, conductor, violinist and music teacher. He was born to a musical family, his grandfather Bóža Wronski (1889–1953) was an operatic tenor, his father, Karel Vronský (1918– ...

. (Navona Records: NV5872) * 2015 – ''Las Indias Olvidadas (The Forgotten Indies)'' (Nibius: NIBI 118) * 2017 – Sunset at Noon (Six Works In Memory Of), Vít Muzík, María Teresa Chenlo,cond. Enrique Pérez Mesa, Kühn Choir of Prague, cond. Marek Vorlicek. (Navona: NV6072) * 2016 – Pursuing Freedom, UNC Percussion Ensemble, Juan Álamo. (Albany Records: TROY1650) * 2020 – ''Mortal Dreams:'' Four Vocal Works Sergio Cervetti, Cara Latham, Charles Abramovic. (Navona Records: NV6313) * 2022 – ''Sparks : Eye of London'', London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Miran Vaupotić. (Navona: 4385947)

References

External links

Official website

Musicalics, The Classical Composers DatabaseOfficial channel
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cervetti, Sergio 1940 births Living people Uruguayan music educators 20th-century Uruguayan classical composers 21st-century classical composers Uruguayan expatriates in the United States Peabody Institute alumni