Vladimir Ussachevsky
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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 Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
.


Biography

Vladimir Ussachevsky was born in the Hailar District of China, in modern-day
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
to an Imperial Russian Army officer assigned to protect Trans-Siberian Railway interests. He emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1930 and studied music at Pomona College in Claremont,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
(B.A., 1935), as well as at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (M.M., 1936, Ph.D., 1939). Ussachevsky's early, neo-Romantic works were composed for traditional instruments, but in 1951 he began composing electronic music.Salzman, Eric
"Vladimir Ussachevsky: Electronic And Acoustic Works 1957-1972"
Liner notes. New World Records.
He served as president of the American Composers Alliance from 1968 to 1970 and was an advisory member of the CRI record label, which released recordings of a number of his compositions. Recordings of his music have also been released on the Capstone, d'Note, and New World labels.


Teaching career

In 1947, following a stint with the U.S. Army Intelligence division in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he joined the faculty of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, teaching there until his retirement in 1980. Together with Otto Luening, Ussachevsky founded, in 1959, the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in
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 ...
. While acting as head of the Electronic Music Center Ussachevsky specified the
ADSR envelope In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immediate initial sound which gradually decreases in volume to zero. An envelope may relate to elements such ...
in 1965, a basic component of modern
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s, samplers and electronic instruments. Ussachevsky also taught and was composer-in-residence at the University of Utah. His students included Charles Wuorinen, Alice Shields, Ilhan Mimaroglu,
Faye-Ellen Silverman Faye-Ellen Silverman (born October 2, 1947) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She is also an author and an educator. Life and education Born in New York, New York, Silverman began studying music at the Dalcroze eurhythmic ...
, Charles L. Bestor, Ingram Marshall, Joan Tower, Wendy Carlos, Kenjiro Ezaki, Pril Smiley, Charles Dodge, Ruth Anderson, and Richard Einhorn.


Discography

"VLADIMIR USSACHEVSKY ELECTRONIC AND ACOUSTIC WORKS 1957–1972". New York: New World Records (80654-2), 2007. This is a compilation rerelease of recordings originally issued on various CRI LP's in the 1960s and 1970s. *Metamorphosis (1957) *Linear Contrasts (1958) *Poem in Cycles and Bells (1959) *Wireless Fantasy (1960) *Of Wood and Brass (1965) *Computer Piece No. 1 (1968) *Two Sketches for a Computer Piece (1971) *Three Scenes from The Creation (1960; rev. 1973) *Missa Brevis (1972) "Vladimir Ussachevsky: Film Music". New York: New World Records (80389), 1990.New World Records: Album Details
/ref> *Suite from No Exit (1962) *Line of Apogee (1967)


References


External links

*
Listen to Ussachevsky's "Incantation for Tape" (with Otto Luening) at Acousmata music blog
*CMC (previously known as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center
history page

The Music of Vladimir Ussachevsky To Explore
October 31, 1987
Vladimir Ussachevsky Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1987)
Obituary of Ussachevsky
by Robert Moog from the ( Journal of the Audio Engineering Society)
Finding aid to Vladimir Ussachevsky papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ussachevsky, Vladimir 1911 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American classical composers American people of Russian descent Soviet emigrants to the United States Pomona College alumni Pupils of Howard Hanson Pupils of Bernard Rogers Pupils of Otto Luening Russian male classical composers Russian electronic musicians Russian experimental musicians Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) 20th-century Russian male musicians Expatriates from the Russian Empire in China