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Portrait of Seymour Shifrin

Composer

Seymour Shifrin

American composer (1926-1979)

1926–1979

3 works in the index

Born
1926
Died
1979
Birthplace
Brooklyn
Place of death
Natick
Citizenship / historical state
United States
Period (estimated from birth year)
Contemporary

Biography

Seymour Shifrin (28 February 1926 – 26 September 1979) was an American composer. He was described by Time Magazine as "one of the most significant composers of his generation."

Shifrin's Satires of Circumstance (1964, text by Thomas Hardy) received the Koussevitzky International Recording Award for 1970. He received the Naumburg Award, Columbia University's Bearns Prize (1949), the Copley Award, the Horblit Prize (1963), and two Guggenheim Fellowships, in 1956 and 1959. A graduate of Columbia University (M.A., 1947), he was a member of the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley (1952–66) and at Brandeis University from 1966 until his death in 1979.

Shifrin studied with William Schuman, Otto Luening, and Darius Milhaud. A number of notable composers studied with Shifrin, including David Del Tredici, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young.

Orchestral Music:

Music for Orchestra (1948)

Chamber Symphony (1953)

Three Pieces for Orchestra (1958)

Chronicles for chorus, orchestra and soloists (1970)

Vocal and Choral Music

Two Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke for voice and piano (1947)

No Second Troy for voice and piano (Yeats) (1953

A Medieval Latin Lyric for chorus SATB (1954)

Odes of Shang for chorus, piano and percussion (1962)

Satires of Circumstance for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and double bass (Thomas Hardy) 1964

A Renaissance Garland for soprano, tenor, recorders, lute, viola da gambas, tuned percussion (1978)

Five Last Songs for soprano and piano (1979)

Chamber Music:

String quartets I-V (1949, 1962, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72)

Violin Sonata (1948)

Sonata for Cello and Piano (1948)

Serenade for Five Instruments (1954), commissioned by the Juilliard School of Music

The Modern Temper for piano duet (1959)

In Eius Memoriam for mixed quintet (1967–68)

Duo for violin and piano (1968–69)

Duettino for violin and piano (1972)

Piano Trio (1974)

The Nick of Time seven instruments (1977)

Solo Music:

Four Cantos for Piano (1949)

Composition for Piano (1950)

Trauermusik for piano (1956)

Concert Piece for Solo Violin (1959)

Responses for Piano Solo (1973)

Biography excerpt from Wikipedia contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting and reference markers have been removed; the introduction may be shortened. View contributors and article history.

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Life and musical career

Occupations
composer
Education
Columbia University
Teachers
William Schuman; Otto Luening; Darius Milhaud
Career institutions / employers
Brandeis University; University of California, Berkeley
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship; Arts and Letters Award in Music
VIAF ID
116849392
ISNI
0000000108379738
GND ID
119183331
Library of Congress ID
n82111777
MusicBrainz ID
c76ec8de-15f8-4d1d-b994-b4353af7d373

Recorded in Wikidata. Affiliations may refer to earlier stages of the composer's career.

In this catalogue

Common listed instruments
Cello, Piano, violin
Genres represented
Classical
Works with composition dates
0 of 3

These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.

Catalogue

Works

Years are composition dates where known. Instruments describe editions in our catalogue and may include arrangements. A dash means the detail is not recorded.

Works and available sheet music details
WorkYear composedCatalogue / opusKey in titleListed instrumentsGenreEditions
Play For The Young (For Violin And Cello) — —— Piano, Cello, violinClassical 6
Lullaby — —— Piano, Cello, violinClassical 2
Duettino (For Violin And Piano) — —— Piano, Cello, violinClassical 2

Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 116849392.