Rochberg, George

Composed in 1949; revised in 1957.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Capriccio / George Rochberg. [1957?] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 236485838

Originally part of Symphony no. 1. Composed as a separate work, 1949. First performance New York, 23 April 1953, New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulos conductor. Winner of the 8th annual George Gershwin Memorial Award, 1952.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Night music : for orchestra / George Rochberg. 1949. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785171

Composer.

From the description of Oral history conducted by Sharon Eisenhour, October 29, 1990. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155891557

George Rochberg is an American composer.

From the description of Papers, ca. 1936-1976. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122517374

From the guide to the George Rochberg papers, ca. 1936-1976, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)

Originally composed as 12 Bagatelles for piano, 1952. This version 1964. First performance Cincinnati, Ohio, 8 May 1965, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Max Rudolf conductor. Dedication: In memory of Paul.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Zodiac : for orchestra / George Rochberg. 1964. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785325

MA, University of Pennsylvania, 1948; professor, University of Pennsylvania, 1960-1983; chair, Department of Music, University of Pennsylvania, 1960-1968.

From the description of Collection : of annotated music theory books, n.d. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155864934

Original version commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony. Composed 1960. Revised 1962. First performance Buffalo, New York, 19 January 1964, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the composer conducting. Dedication: To the memory of my son Paul whose time-span was so brief.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Time-span (II) : for orchestra / George Rochberg. 1962. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785304

Originally composed for string orchestra, ca. 1955, under the title Ballet Music. This version 1957. First performance Cincinnati, Ohio, 14 February 1958, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Thor Johnson conductor.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Waltz serenade : for orchestra / George Rochberg. 1957. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785318

Composed 1955-56. First performance Cleveland, Ohio, 28 February 1959, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell conductor. Dedicated to George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. Received the Naumburg Recording Award, 1961.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Symphony no. 2 : 1955-1956 / George Rochberg. 1956. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785254

Music for The Act, a ballet-mime choreographed by Anna Sokolow. Commissioned by the Lincoln Center Fund for NET Educational TV. Composed 1965. First performance New York, September 1965, NET telecast. Dedicated to Anna Sokolow. Shared the Prix Italia.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Black sounds : for small orchestra / George Rochberg. 1965. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785095

Originally planned in five movements, 1948. Two movements deleted, of which one became the composer's Night Music for Orchestra (see FLC callno.: 5038). Composed 1949-57. First performance Philadelphia, 28 March 1958, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conductor. A revised version in 4 movements is now published by Theodore Presser, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Symphony no. 1 / George Rochberg. [1955] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785221

Commissioned by the St. Louis Orchestra. Composed 1960. Withdrawn and revised in 1962, subsequently titled Time-span II. (For revised version, see callno.: 6035). --Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Time-span : for orchestra (1960) / George Rochberg. 1960. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 181335502

Text in Hebrew. Originally composed 1954. First performance Philadelphia, 8 December 1966, University of Pennsylvania Orchestra, Melvin Strauss conductor.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of David, the Psalmist : a cantata for tenor solo and orchestra / by George Rochberg. 1954. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 53785143

George Rochberg (1918-2005) was an American composer of classical music, and a music author, theorist, and educator. Born Aaron George Rochberg in Paterson, New Jersey, he served in the 261st Infantry during World War II. After the war, Rochberg studied with George Szell and Leopold Mannes at the Mannes School of Music and earned his bachelor's degree in music from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1947. He received a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948, and soon after began teaching composition at the Curtis Institute. In the 1950s, while working for the Theodore Presser Company, Rochberg became one of the most prominent American serialist composers. Major symphony orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh premièred many of his symphonic works, and he received numerous honors, including the 1956-1957 Guggenheim Fellowship. During the 1950s, Rochberg also published several musical treatises on twelve-tone composition. In the early 1960s, however, he became disenchanted with the strictures of serial and atonal composition that had dominated the academy. Rochberg embraced the language of tonal music and thus led the way for other academic composers to break from serial orthodoxy.

Rochberg chaired the music department at the University of Pennsylvania from 1960 until 1968 and continued as a professor there until his retirement in 1983. The year following his retirement, he published the book The Aesthetics of Survival: A Composer's View of Twentieth-Century Music. Rochberg continued composing and writing on music and aesthetics throughout the 1990s.

Rochberg married Gene Rosenfeld in 1941, and together they had two children, Paul and Francesca (Chessie). Paul died of a brain tumor in 1964. George Rochberg died in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 2005.

From the guide to the George Rochberg papers, Additions, 1937-2006, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)