Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein | |
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Born | Marcus Samuel Blitzstein March 2, 1905 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Died | January 22, 1964 | (aged 58)
Cause of death | Homicide |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1926–1964 |
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905 – January 22, 1964), was an American
Life and career
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Blitzstein was born in Philadelphia on March 2, 1905, to affluent parents. Blitzstein's musical gifts were apparent at an early age; he had performed a Mozart piano concerto by the time he was seven. He went on to study piano with Alexander Siloti (a pupil of Tchaikovsky and Liszt), and made his professional concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Liszt's E-flat Piano Concerto when he was 21.
After studying composition at the Curtis Institute of Music, he went to Europe to continue his studies in Berlin with Arnold Schoenberg (with whom he did not get on), and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (with whom he did). Despite his later political beliefs, he was, in the early years of his career, a self-proclaimed and unrepentant artistic snob, who firmly believed that true art was only for the intellectual elite. He was vociferous in denouncing composers—in particular Respighi, Ravel, and Kurt Weill—who, he felt, debased their standards to reach a wider public.
His works of this period, mostly pianistic vehicles such as the Piano Sonata (1927) and the
The dramatic premiere of the pro-
Additional major compositions include the autobiographical radio song play
In 1958, Blitzstein was subpoenaed to appear before the U.S.
During a visit to Martinique in 1964, at the age of 58, Blitzstein was murdered by three sailors he had picked up in a bar,[5] one of whom he was said to have propositioned. He is buried at Chelten Hills Cemetery in Philadelphia.[6]
Personal life and family
Blitzstein was openly gay.[7] He wrote to his sister in 1929, regarding prior attempts to suppress or hide his orientation, "it is absurd to assume there are no sins; there are definitely Cardinal sins -- sins against oneself, against one's law. My sin is, has been... the willingness to corrupt my nature."[8] His first lover was the conductor Alexander Smallens, with whom he traveled to Europe in 1924.[9][5] Blitzstein nevertheless married novelist Eva Goldbeck on March 2, 1933. They had no children. His mother-in-law was
Selected works
- Triple-Sec (1928)
- Garrick Gaieties (1930) — revue — contributing composer (revival of Triple-Sec)
- The Harpies, opera (1931)
- The Condemned (1932, unproduced)
- Parade (1935) — revue — featured songwriter
- The Spanish Earth (1937) — composer with Virgil Thomson
- revival — incidental musiccomposer
- bookwriter
- , and actor in the roles of Clerk, First Reporter, and Professor Mamie
- Danton's Death (1938) — play revival — incidental music composer
- I've Got the Tune (1938) — radio opera
- No for an Answer (1941)
- Native Land (1942)
- The Airborne Symphony (1946) — symphony — composer
- Another Part of the Forest (1946) — play — incidental music composer
- Androcles and the Lion (1946) — play revival — incidental music composer
- librettist
- Let's Make an Opera (1950) — special performance — director
- King Lear (1950) — play revival — incidental music composer
- The Threepenny Opera (1954) — operetta revival — editor of Bertolt Brecht's book and lyrics into English
- Reuben, Reuben (1955) — opera
- Juno (1959) — musical — composer, lyricist and co-orchestrator
- Toys in the Attic (1960) — play — featured songwriter for "French Lessons in Songs" and "Bernier Day"
- Tales of Malamud (two one-act operas): Idiots First (1963, unfinished, completed by Leonard Lehrman, 1973) and The Magic Barrel (1964, unfinished)
- Sacco and Vanzetti (1964, unfinished opera, completed by Leonard Lehrman, 2001)
References
- ^ "Marc Blitzstein Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society, retrieved 12 January 2014". Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780199977086.
- ISBN 0313300275. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ Jansson, John (2001). "Marc Blitzstein: a brief biography 1958-1964", marcblitzstein.com; accessed June 8, 2017.
- ^ a b Shewey, Don (July 16, 1989). "'Moonlight' and Marxism". The New York Times Book Review.
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 4244-4245). McFarland & Company, Inc. Kindle Edition.
- New York Times, retrieved May 12, 2010
- ^ Gordon, Eric A. Ethics and Evidence on Gay and Lesbian Studies Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, February 1989
- ^ Encyclopedia of American Jewish history, volume 2. ABC-CLIO. 2007. p. 691.
- ^ Jansson, John (2001). "Marc Blitzstein: a brief biography 1935-1941". marcblitzstein.com
Sources
- John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. ISBN 0-19-869164-5
- Eric A. Gordon (1989), Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein. New York: St. Martin's Press. Reprinted: New York: iUniverse, 2000. ISBN 0-595-09248-9
External links
- Official Blitzstein website, managed by Kurt Weill Foundation for Music and the Blitzstein Estate
- Unofficial Blitzstein website, managed by John Jansson
- Marc Blitzstein Papers Archived December 10, 2013, at archive.today at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
- Marc Blitzstein at the Internet Broadway Database
- Marc Blitzstein at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Marc Blitzstein at ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com
- Marc Blitzstein at Find a Grave
- Marc Blitzstein plaque in Philadelphia