Richard Danielpour


Richard Danielpour is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles. Danielpour received a nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for his piece The Passion of Yeshua.
WWW richard-danielpour.com

Early life

Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian descent and grew up in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. He studied at Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory of Music, and later at the Juilliard School of Music, where he received a DMA in composition in 1986. His primary composition professors at Juilliard were Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin.
Danielpour taught at the Manhattan School of Music from 1993 to 2017. He joined the faculty of Curtis Institute of Music in 1997. He joined the faculty of the Herb Alpert School of Music of the University of California Los Angeles in 2017.

Music

In common with many other American composers of the post-war generation, Danielpour began his career in a serialist milieu, but rejected it in the late 1980s in favor of a more ecumenical and "humdrum" idiom. He cites the Beatles—along with John Adams, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner—as influences on his more recent musical style. Danielpour's notable works include First Light for chamber orchestra, three symphonies, four piano concerti, the ballet Anima mundi, and the opera Margaret Garner.
His students include Marcus Paus and Wang Jie.

Selected compositions

Operas

Margaret Garner
  • ''The Grand Hotel Tartarus''

Ballets

Anima Mundi

Orchestral

Oratio Pauli, for S.A.T.B. choir and string orchestra

Chamber

  • "String Quartet No. 1 – Requiem", for two violins, viola and cello
  • Piano Quintet, for string quartet and pianoUrban Dances , for brass quintetSonnets to Orpheus, Book 1, for soprano solo, flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussion and string quintetSongs of the Night, for tenor and piano trio
  • String Quartet No. 2 – Shadow Dances, for two violins, viola and celloUrban Dances, Book 2, for brass quintetSonnets to Orpheus, Book 2, for baritone solo, flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussion and string quintet
  • String Quartet No. 3 – Psalms of Sorrow, for baritone solo and string quartetFantasy Variations, for cello and pianoSweet Talk, for mezzo-soprano, cello, double bass and pianoFeast of Fools – Concertino, for bassoon and string quartetA Child's Reliquary, for piano trioAs Night Falls on Barjeantane, for violin and piano
  • String Quartet No. 4 – Apparitions, two violins, viola and celloPortraits, for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
  • String Quartet No. 5 – In Search of "La Vita Nuova" , for two violins, viola and celloTroubadour's Feast, for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and pianoThe Book of Hours, for piano quartetBenediction, for two horns, two trumpets, three trombones and chimesRiver of Light, for violin & piano
  • * commissioned by the Isaac and Linda Stern Foundation for violinist Sarah Chang, who premièred the work on March 18, 2007 in La Jolla, California.Kaddish, for violin solo & string septet
  • * written for Concertante, who premièred the work in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2010.Remembering Neda, for flute, cello and piano
  • * written for the Dolce Suono Ensemble, who premièred the work on October 22, 2010, at the Trinity Center for Urban Life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • String Quartet No. 6 – Addio
  • * commissioned by LifeMusic for the Ying Quartet, who premièred the work at the Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in October 2009.The Faces of Guernica, for piano trio
  • * commissioned by the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation for the Trio Cavatina, who premièred the work at Carnegie Hall, New York in May 2010.
  • String Quartet No. 7 – Psalms of Solace , for two violins, viola, cello, and soprano soloist
  • String Quintet

Choral

Oratio Pauli, for S.A.T.B. choir and string orchestra
  • Symphony No. 3 – Journey Without Distance, for soprano solo, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestraCanticle of Peace, for baritone solo, S.A.T.B. choir & chamber orchestraAn American Requiem, for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra
  • The Passion of Yeshua, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, 3 baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra

Vocal

  • Symphony No. 2 – Visions, for soprano, tenor soli and orchestraSonnets to Orpheus, Book 1, for soprano solo and ensembleSongs of the Night, for tenor solo and piano trioSonnets to Orpheus, Book 2, for baritone solo and ensemble
  • String Quartet No. 3 – Psalms of Sorrow, for baritone solo and string quartetI Am Not Prey, for soprano and piano duetElegies, for mezzo-soprano, baritone soli and orchestraSweet Talk, for mezzo-soprano solo and small ensembleSpirits in the Well, for treble solo and pianoPortraits, for soprano solo and small ensembleSongs of Solitude, for baritone solo and orchestra
  • Four Arias from Margaret Garner, for baritone and piano
  • 'He Is By', from Margaret Garner, for soprano and pianoThree Arias, from "Margaret Garner", for mezzo-soprano and pianoPastime, for baritone solo and orchestraTriptych, for mezzo-soprano and orchestraA Woman's Life, for soprano and orchestraThree Prayers, for soprano solo and orchestraCome Up from the Fields Father for baritone, viola and piano
  • * commissioned by the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia; premièred by Adrian Kramer, Roberto Díaz and Mikael Eliasen at the Curtis Institute on May 15, 2009.Songs from an Old War, for baritone and piano
  • * written for American baritone Thomas Hampson...Of Love and Longing, for mezzo-soprano and piano Canti Della Natura, for soprano, cello, and piano

Solo instrumental

Psalms, for piano
  • Sonata, for pianoThe Enchanted Garden , for pianoMardi Gras, for pianoElegy, for pianoThree Preludes, for pianoPiano Fantasy: "Wenn Ich Einmal Soll Schneiden", for pianoThe Enchanted Garden , for piano