Ingolf Dahl
Ingolf Dahl | |
---|---|
Born | June 9, 1912 |
Died | August 6, 1970 Frutigen, Switzerland | (aged 58)
Occupation(s) | Classical composer, pianist, conductor, educator |
Ingolf Dahl (June 9, 1912 – August 6, 1970) was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator.
Biography
Dahl was born Walter Ingolf Marcus
In Hamburg, Dahl studied piano under
Since
He also worked in the entertainment industry, touring as pianist to
Among his compositions, the most frequently performed is the Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra commissioned and premiered by
He legally changed his name to Ingolf Dahl in February 1943
Among Dahl's honors were a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition in 1951,[22] two Huntington Hartford Fellowships, an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Southern California, the ASCAP Stravinsky Award, and a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1954.[23]
He died in Frutigen, Switzerland, on August 6, 1970, just a few weeks after the death of his wife on June 10.[24]
Personal life
From his teenage years, Dahl was initially
Notations in his manuscripts show he sometimes found inspiration in his male companions for his compositions. Hymn (1947) was inspired by Dahl's year-long affair with an art student he met at U.S.C.[30] and movements of A Cycle of Sonnets (1967) carry the initials of two others.[31][32]
His step-son, Anthony Linick, only learned of his homosexuality in a letter of condolence the step-son received upon Dahl's death.[33] He assessed the relationship between Dahl's private and public sides in these words:[34]
His social life and his compositions never seemed to acquire that ease of communication that sustain many gifted creators, those titans whose ability to tap into the well-springs of their being allow them to produce a copious and enviable body of artistic endeavor. Ingolf labored under levels of repression that were antithetical to such a process. He did not choose to be who he was, nor did he choose to make his true self available to the wider world. He lived and died without the luxury of candor.
Later recognition
Dahl's music has been recorded on the Boston Records, Capstone, Centaur, Chandos Records, CRI, Crystal, Klavier Music Productions , MKH Medien Kontor Hamburg, Nimbus, and Summit labels.
Among Dahl's students are the American conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Lawrence Christianson, William Hall, William Dehning, Frank A. Salazar, the pianist William Teaford, and the composers Morten Lauridsen, Williametta Spencer, Norma Wendelburg, and Lawrence Moss. Tilson Thomas assessed him this way: "Dahl was an inspiring teacher; over and above the subject matter, he showed his students about the practical value of humanism. That is, how to let humanistic concerns infuse your daily existence."[35]
The Music Library of the University of Southern California (USC) holds the Ingolf Dahl Archive. It includes scores, manuscripts, papers, and tapes.[36] Dahl also kept a diary in annual volumes from 1928 until his death in 1970. In 2012 his stepson, Anthony Linick, who wrote an extensive biography of Ingolf, donated these to USC.[37]
The West Coast chapters of the American Musicological Society present the Ingolf Dahl Memorial Award in Musicology annually.[38]
Recently there has been a revival of interest in the history of the Marcus–Dahl family, its flight from Hamburg, and the cultural contributions of Ingolf Dahl and his brother, the sculptor Gert Marcus. In 2017 residents of Groß Borstel founded a new society, "Initiative Marcus und Dahl", with the goal of reviving interest in the work of Gert Marcus and Ingolf Dahl as well as other artists living or working, or having lived or worked, in Gross-Borstel.[39] "Initiative Marcus und Dahl" has been responsible for a number of projects. Among these one can cite the production of a new CD in 2018 of Ingolf Dahl's chamber music – Intervals – under the direction of Volker Ahmels.
In 2019, Melina Paetzold produced a German language biography of Ingolf Dahl.[40]
List of works (partial)
- Allegro and Arioso (1943, woodwind quintet)[41]
- Aria Sinfonica (1965, revised 1968, orchestra, 4 movements)[42]
- Cello Duo, aka Duo (1946, revised 1949, 1959, and 1969, cello and piano)[43]
- Concerto a Tre (1947, violin, cello, and clarinet); premiered by Benny Goodman, clarinet, with Eudice Shapiro, violin, and Victor Gottlieb, cello[44][45][46]
- A Cycle of Sonnets (1968, baritone and piano)[47][32]
- Divertimento for Viola and Piano, aka Viola Divertimento (1948)[48]
- Duettino Concertante (1966, flute and percussion)[49]
- Elegy Concerto (1970, violin and chamber orchestra)
- Five Duets (1970, two clarinets)[50]
- Hymn and Toccata for Solo Piano, later Hymn (1947, solo piano, 2 movements, later each movement performed alone)[51][52][53]
- I.M.C. Fanfare (1973, three trumpets and three trombones)[54]
- Intervals aka Four Intervals (1967, fourth movement added 1969, string orchestra; later piano four hands)[55]
- Little Canonic Suite (1969, violin and viola)[56]
- Music for Brass Instruments, aka Brass Quintet (1944, two trumpets, horn, two trombones, and optional tuba)[57][58]
- A Noiseless Patient Spider (1970, women's chorus and piano)[59]
- Notturno (1953, a movement excerpted from Cello Duo, cello and piano)[60]
- Piano Quartet (1957, revised 1959, 1961, string trio and piano)[61]
- Quodlibet on American Folktunes: The Fancy Blue Devil's Breakdown (1953, two pianos, eight hands; 1966, version for orchestra)[62]
- Saxophone Concerto (1948, alto saxophone and concert band; 1959, revised for alto saxophone and wind ensemble)[63][64][65]
- Serenade for Four Flutes (1960)[66]
- Sinfonietta for Concert Band (1961)[67]
- Sonata da Camera (1970, clarinet and piano)[68]
- Sonata Pastorale (1959, piano solo)[69]
- Sonata Seria (1953, revised 1962, piano solo)[70][71]
- Symphony Concertante (1952, later revised, two clarinets and orchestra)[72][73]
- Three Songs to Poems by Albert Ehrismann (1933, soprano and piano)[74]
- The Tower of Saint Barbara: A Symphonic Legend in Four Parts (1955, revised 1960, orchestra, 4 movements, ballet)[75][76]
- Trio (1962, piano, violin, cello)[77]
- Variations on a French Folk Tune (1935, flute and piano)[78]
- Variations on a Swedish Folk Tune (1945, solo flute; 1970, revised for flute and alto flute)[79]
- Variations on an Air by Couperin (alto recorder and harpsichord or flute and piano)[80]
Written works
- "Notes on Cartoon Music" in Mervyn Cooke, ed., The Hollywood Film Music Reader (Oxford University Press, 2010)
Notes
- ^ a b Crawford 2009, 21
- ^ Linick, 4.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 22.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 211.
- ^ Linick, 514–525
- ^ Crawford 2009, 213, 215.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 215.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 213–214.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 214.
- ^ Linick, 294
- ^ Linick, 340
- IMDb
- IMDb
- ^ Heard Again for the First Time, Ravello RR8057 (2021)
- ^ Crawford 2009, 218–219.
- ^ Crawford 2009, 221.
- ^ Schwartz 1999.
- ^ Linick, 523–524
- ^ Crawford 2009, 216.
- ^ "Tanglewood's Future; Measures to Insure Continuity Include Extensive New Scholarship Program" by Aaron Copland, The New York Times, February 24, 1952, accessed January 17, 2022
- ^ Linick, 203, 212, 220
- ^ Guggenheim Foundation: "Ingolf Dahl" Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2010. Linick mentions another Guggenheim Fellowship in 1960, but it does not appear in the records of the Guggenheim Foundation. Linick, 226, 355
- ^ "Music: Prize Winners; Works Played Here of Three Composers" by R. P., The New York Times, February 20, 1955, accessed January 17, 2022
- ^ Linick, 490–491, 512, 607
- ^ a b Linick, 528
- ^ Linick, 525–607, passim
- ^ Crawford 2009, 22, 211, 216–217.
- ^ Linisk, 528, 531, 566–567, 582
- ^ Linick, 565, 568–570, 576, 582–584
- ^ The student is identified by the pseudonym "Guy" in Linick's biography. Linick, 556–559
- ^ Linick, 596
- ^ a b Jones, Cody M. (2017). ""Composed in the Closet:" Ingolf Dahl's A Cycle of Sonnets".
- ^ Linick, 525
- ^ Linick, 622
- ^ Crawford 2009, 286n42.
- ^ University of Southern California: Ingolf Dahl Archive, accessed June 1, 2010
- ^ Linick, 526–527
- ^ American Musicological Society: Ingolf Dahl Award, accessed June 1, 2010
- ^ The web page of the society "Initiative Marcus und Dahl": www.marcus-und-dahl.de
- ^ Paetzold 2019.
- ^ Commissioned by bassoonist Adolph Weiss. Linick, 103
- ^ Linick, 392–398, 467: "the closest Ingolf came to ever writing a true symphony"
- ^ The 1969 revision included changes made at the suggestion of Gregor Piatigorsky. Linick, 154–155, 243, 345, 466–467
- ^ Crawford 2009, 219.
- ^ "Chamber: The Music Project" by Tim Page, The New York Times: December 22, 1982, accessed May 31, 2010. "Mr. Dahl's composition recalled Stravinsky at his least acerbic."
- ^ Linick, 155–157, 159
- ^ The texts are by Petrarch. Linick, 445, 468–469.
- ^ After hearing the premiere, Benny Goodman asked Dahl, "Did you learn all that jazz in my house?, and Joseph Szigeti commented, "I wish you had written it for violin." Linick, 157, 160–161
- ^ Linick, 416, 435
- ^ Dahl's last fully completed work. Linick, 498, 502–503, 513 [recordings:Grenadillamusic.com and Crystalrecords.com]
- ^ Beginning in the 1960s, Dahl discouraged the pairing of the 2 movements and viewed the Hymn movement as the stronger. It was inspired by Dahl's year-long affair with an art student Dahl met at U.S.C., identified by the pseudonym "Guy" in Linick's biography. Linick, 155, 448–449, 556–559
- ^ Hymn was orchestrated after Dahl's death by Lawrence Morton. answers.com: Review of "Ingolf Dahl: Concerto, etc.", accessed June 20, 2010
- ^ Schwartz 1999: Michael Tilson Thomas later commissioned and recorded a version for orchestra. "Like all of Dahl's music, the piece contains both flawless craft and a large measure of poetry."
- ^ Linick, 466: "a one-minute work"
- ^ Linick, 445–446, 468
- ^ Linick, 496
- ^ Google Books: "Brass Quintet", accessed June 1, 2010; Linick, 104–107
- ^ Schwartz 1999: "May be the closest thing to a Dahl hit, the 'Intermezzo' movement having been used as a signature piece for Armed Forces Radio".
- ^ Text by Walt Whitman. Dedicated to his wife. Linick, 493, 497–498
- ^ Linick, 243
- ^ Dedicated to Stravinsky. Linick, 274–276, 345
- ^ Linick, 242–243, 409–410
- ^ To the Fore Publishers: Paul M. Cohen, "The Original 1949 Saxophone Concerto of Ingolf Dahl: A Historical and Comparative Analysis" Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 20, 2010
- ^ Linick, 158–159, 345
- ^ Schwartz 1999: "The music's emotional world, particularly the first two movements, overflows with a wistfulness Stravinsky lacks. The finale opens everything up. Rhythmically lively – almost as manic as Martinů – it's a melodic and dancing delight."
- ^ Dedicated to Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Linick, 348
- ^ Commissioned by the College Band Directors National Association. Linick, 348–350, 398–400; College Band Directors National Association: "Sinfonietta for Concert Band – Ingolf Dahl, 1961", accessed June 20, 2010
- ^ Linick, 446–447, 468, 496
- ^ Linick, 346–347
- ^ "Local Piano Debut for Robert Drumm", The New York Times, October 13, 1962, accessed May 31, 2010. "This proved to be a densely written work in a style reminiscent of much Central-European music of the nineteen-twenties. One heard, here and there, a certain Brahmsian influence, distilled in much the same way that Schonberg [sic] did in his early piano pieces."
- ^ Linick, 243–245, 273
- ^ Commissioned by Benny Goodman. Dahl never heard it performed. Rice Digital Scholarship Archive: "Symphony Concertante for two clarinets and orchestra by Ingolf Dahl: A critical edition", accessed June 10, 2010
- ^ First performed in 1976. Linick, 160–161, 241–242, 253–254, 273, 613–614
- ^ Linick, 54, 340. Ehrismann was "a Swiss surrealist whom Ingolf encountered frequently in the Zürich cafes".
- ^ Schwartz 1999: "The score,...while fully in a neo-classic idiom, manages to avoid its clichés. Yet the score displays positive virtues as well: a grave beauty, really interesting textural shifts, and an even-handed distribution of interest throughout the orchestra. Finally, there's an almost indefinable sense of mastery....Little in it shakes you by the scruff of the neck. Its beauty steals over you."
- ^ Linick, 231, 270–273, 345, 448–449
- ^ On commission from the Koussevitsky Foundation. It was, according to Paul Hume writing in the Washington Post, "in the style that favors clarity in all things, that can be terse but that also shows a willingness to be amiable and zestful." Linick, 366–371, 374–375, 378–379, 382–383
- ^ Linick, 54
- ^ Linick, 106, 467, 496
- ^ Premiered at Tanglewood in 1956 by Doriot Anthony Dwyer. Dahl first heard the Couperin melody played by Bill Colvig on a hiking trip the year before. Linick, 276–277, 297, 582
Sources
- Crawford, Dorothy Lamb (2009). A Windfall of Musicians: Hitler's Émigrés and Exiles in Southern California. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Anthony Linick, The Lives of Ingolf Dahl (Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2008)
- Paetzold, Melina (2019). Ingolf Dahl: Biografie eines musikalischen Wanderers. Rostock: Zentrum für Musik, Rostock University of Music and Theatre.
- Schwartz, Steve (1999). "Defining Dahl: The Music of Ingolf Dahl – review". ClassicalNet. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
Further reading
- Dorothy Lamb Crawford, Evenings on and off the Roof: Pioneering Concerts in Los Angeles, 1939–1971 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995)
- Halsey Stevens, "In Memoriam: Ingolf Dahl (1912–1970)" in Perspectives of New Music, vol. 9, no. 1 (Autumn 1970), 147–148.
- Michael Tilson Thomas, "Ingolf Dahl, 1912–1970", in Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1970
- "Ingolf Dahl", exhibition catalogue Flucht ins Ungewisse: Hamburger Persönlichkeiten im Exil. Körber Foundation, 2021, pp. 22–23.