John Harbison


John Harris Harbison is an American composer and academic.

Life

John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbison and Janet German Harbison. The Harbisons were a musical family; Elmore had studied composition in his youth and Janet wrote songs. Harbison's sisters Helen and Margaret were musicians as well. He won the prestigious BMI Foundation's Student Composer Awards for composition at the age of 16 in 1954. He studied music at Harvard University, where he sang with the Harvard Glee Club, and later at the Berlin Musikhochschule and at Princeton. He is an Institute Professor of music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a former student of Walter Piston and Roger Sessions. His works include several symphonies, string quartets, and concerti for violin, viola, and double bass.
Harbison won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1987 for The Flight into Egypt, and in 1989 he received a $305,000 MacArthur Fellowship. In 1998, he received the 4th annual Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities. He was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal in 2000. In 2006, a recording of his Mottetti di Montale was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category.
The Metropolitan Opera commissioned Harbison's The Great Gatsby to celebrate James Levine's 25th anniversary with the company. The opera premiered on December 20, 1999, conducted by Levine, with Jerry Hadley, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Mark Baker, Dwayne Croft, and Richard Paul Fink among the cast.
In 1991, Harbison was the music director of the Ojai Music Festival in conjunction with Peter Maxwell Davies. He has served as principal guest conductor for Emmanuel Music in Boston. After founding director Craig Smith's death in 2007, Harbison was named acting artistic director. Harbison and his wife, Rose Mary Harbison, a violinist, ran the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival from 1989 to 2022.

Partial discography

  • Mirabai Songs / Variations. Northeastern Records NR 230-CD. Performed by Janice Felty, mezzo-soprano, Collage New Music Ensemble, conducted by John Harbison — Rose Mary Harbison, violin; David Satz, clarinet; Ursula Oppens, piano. Tracks 1-6: Mirabai Songs, text from Mirabai Versions by Robert Bly. Tracks 7-10: Variations, for violin, clarinet, and piano. Track listing:
  1. I. It's True, I Went to the Market
  2. II. All I Was Doing Was Breathing
  3. III. Why Mira Can't Go Back to Her Old House
  4. IV. Where Did You Go?
  5. V. The Clouds
  6. VI. Don't Go, Don't Go
  7. Variations i–v
  8. Variations vi–x
  9. Variations xi–xv
  10. Finale and Epilogue
  1. The Flight into Egypt, text from the King James translation of the story of the Flight into Egypt in the Gospel of Matthew
  2. The Natural World: Prelude
  3. Where We Must Look for Help, text from Robert Bly
  4. On the Road Home, text from Wallace Stevens
  5. Milkweed, text from James Wright
  6. Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra: I. Invention on a Motif: Tempo giusto
  7. II. Invention on a Chord: Cantabile
  8. III. Invention on a Cadence: Molto allegro
  • At First Light. Archetype Records 60106. Performed by Lorraine Hunt, mezzo-soprano, Dawn Upshaw, soprano, Greenleaf Chamber Players, and Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Scott Yoo. Tracks:
  1. Due Libri dei Mottetti di Montale
  2. Snow Country
  3. Chorale Cantata
  4. Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet, and Strings
  • John Harbison: Ulysses' Bow / Samuel Chapter. First Edition ASIN: B0002RQ35C. Tracks:
  1. Ulysses' Bow ballet performed by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and conducted by André Previn
  2. Samuel Chapter performed by Susan Larson and conducted by John Harbison
  • The Reawakening, String Quartet No. 3, Fantasia on a Ground, Thanks Victor. Musica Omnia om0110. Lydian String Quartet, Dominique Labelle, soprano.
  • World Premiere Recordings: Violin Concerto, Recordare, Seven Motets. Koch 3-7310-2-H1. Emmanuel Music, Craig Smith, conductor, Rose-Mary Harbison, violin.
  • Sessions: Symphony No. 2; Harbison: Symphony No. 2, Oboe Concerto. London 443 376-2. San Francisco Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt, conductor, William Bennet, oboe.
  • String Quartet No.1/String Quartet No. 2/November 19, 1828. Lydian String Quartet, Yehudi Wyner, piano.
  • Simple Daylight/''Words from Patterson/Piano Quintet,. Electra Nonesuch 79189-2. Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Gilbert Kalish, piano, Sanford Sylvan, baritone, Dawn Upshaw, soprano.
  • Four Psalms/Emerson. New World Records 80613-2. Cantata Singers and Ensemble, David Hoose, conductor.
  • Mottetti di Montale. Koch KIC-CD-7545. Collage New Music; David Hoose, music director; Janice Felty and Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-sopranos.Four Songs of Solitude/Variations/Twilight Music'' Naxos. Daniel Blumenthal, Jannine Jansen, Lars Wouters van der Oudenweijer, Bernhard Krug, Spectrum Concerts Berlin.

Works

Operas

Ballet

  • ''Ulysses''

Orchestral

Choral

  • In Spiritu: Prayer, for a cappella male-voice choir
  • Ave Maria, for a cappella S.S.A.A. choir
  • He Shall Not Cry, for S.A. choir and organ
  • Five Songs of Experience, for S.A.T.B. choir, two percussion and string quartet
  • :commissioned by the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston for the Cantata Singers
  • Music When Soft Voices Die, for S.A.T.B. choir and harpsichord or organ
  • :commissioned by the Cantata Singers
  • Nunc Dimittis, for T.B. choir and piano
  • :commissioned by the Harvard Glee Club
  • The Flower-Fed Buffaloes, for baritone solo, S.S.A.T.B.B. choir and instrumental ensemble
  • :commissioned by the New York State Bar Association
  • The Flight into Egypt, for soprano, baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir and chamber orchestra
  • :commissioned by the Cantata Singers
  • Two Emmanuel Motets, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • :commissioned by the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston
  • Ave Verum Corpus, for a cappella S.S.A.T.B. choir
  • :commissioned by the Emmanuel Choir, Boston and the Ojai Festival
  • O Magnum Mysterium, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • :commissioned by Saturday Evening Brass
  • Veni Creator Spiritus, for a cappella T.B. choir
  • :commissioned by the Rosalind Denny Lewis Music Library at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Communion Words, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • Concerning Them Which Are Asleep, for a cappella S.S.A.T.B.B. choir
  • Emerson, a cappella S.A.T.B. double choir
  • :commissioned by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Music for their 100th anniversary
  • Juste Judex, for mezzo-soprano, baritone soli, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra
  • :commissioned as part of the Requiem of Reconciliation
  • Evening , for a cappella S.A.T.B. double choir
  • Four Psalms, for S.A.T.B. soli, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra
  • :commissioned by the Israeli Consulate for the Chicago Symphony
  • Psalm 137, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • Requiem, for S.A.T.B. soli, S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra
  • :commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • We do not live to ourselves, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • Abraham, for double S.A.T.B. choir and two large brass choirs
  • :commissioned for the Papal Concert of Reconciliation in Rome for the Ankara Polyphonic Choir, London Philharmonic Choir, Krakow Philharmonic Choir and musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony
  • Charity Never Faileth, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • My Little Children, Let Us Not Love in Word, for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir
  • :commissioned by the Cantata Singers
  • But Mary Stood, for soprano solo, choir and string orchestra
  • :commissioned by the Cantata Singers
  • Umbrian Landscape with Saint, for optional choir and chamber ensemble
  • :commissioned by the Chicago Chamber Musicians
  • A Clear Midnight, for T.T.B.B. choir and five strings
  • :commissioned by the Georgina Joshi Foundation for Indiana University and the Pro Arte Singers
  • Madrigal, for a cappella S.A.T.B.B. choir
  • :commissioned by the New York Virtuoso Singers
  • The Pool, for S.A.T.B. choir and piano
  • Koussevitzky Said: Choral Scherzo with Orchestra, for S.A.T.B. choir and orchestra: commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Festival
  • The Supper at Emmaus, for S.A.T.B. choir, two oboes, bassoon, organ and string orchestra
  • Never Time, for jazz choir and jazz band
  • Psalm 116, for a cappella S.S.S.A.A.A.T.T.T.B.B.B. choir
  • :commissioned by Chanticleer

Chamber

Andante con moto, for cello and pianoDuo, for flute and pianoCanzonetta, for bassoon quartetConfinement, for twelve players
  • :written for the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and Arthur WeisbergFour Preludes from "December Music", for flexible instrumentation: 3 instruments – flute, violin, oboe, clarinet
  • Serenade, for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola and cello
  • Piano Trio, for violin, cello and pianoBermuda Triangle, for tenor saxophone, electric organ and amplified cello
  • :commissioned by the New York CamerataDie Kurze, for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello
  • :commissioned by the New York Composer's ForumSnow Country, for oboe and string quintet
  • :commissioned by Dr. Maurice Pechet
  • Wind Quintet, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon
  • :commissioned by the Naumburg FoundationDue Libri, for mezzo-soprano and nine players
  • :commissioned by the New York Philomusica and Robert LevinMottetti di Montale, for mezzo-soprano and nine players or piano
  • :commissioned by New York Philomusica, the University of Oregon and CollageOrganum for Paul Fromm, for glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone, harpsichord and piano
  • :commissioned by the University of Chicago
  • Piano Quintet, for two violins, viola, cello and piano
  • :commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music FestivalExequien for Calvin Simmons, for seven playersOverture: Michael Kohlhaas, for twelve brass
  • Variations, for clarinet, violin and piano
  • :commissioned by Frank Taplin for the Token Creek Festival, Wisconsin
  • String Quartet No. 1, for two violins, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by the Cleveland QuartetTwilight Music, for horn, violin and piano
  • :commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterFanfare for Foley's, for twelve brass and two percussionMusic for Eighteen Winds
  • :commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • String Quartet No. 2, for two violins, viola and celloTwo Chorale Preludes for Advent , for brass quintetFantasy-Duo, for violin and piano
  • :commissioned by the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress for David Abel and Julie SteinbergLittle Fantasy on "The Twelve Days of Christmas", for brass quintetNovember 19, 1828, for violin, viola, cello and piano
  • :commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts for the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Da Capo Chamber Players and Voices of ChangeFanfares and Reflection, for two violins
  • :commissioned by Token Creek FestivalFourteen Fabled Folksongs, for violin and marimba
  • Prelude, for cello and piano
  • String Quartet No. 3, for two violins, viola and celloSan Antonio, for alto saxophone and pianoThanks Victor, for string quartet
  • :commissioned by the Lydian Quartet
  • Trio Sonata, for three clarinets or three saxophones or oboe, cor Anglais and bassoon or string trioFanfare for a Free Man, for three oboes and three bassoonsLa Primavera di Sottoripa, for mezzo-soprano and nine players
  • :commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music FestivalNorth and South, for soprano/mezzo-soprano and seven players
  • :written for Lorraine Hunt LiebersonSix American Painters, for flute/oboe, violin, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by the radio station WGUC CincinnatiChaconne, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
  • String Quartet No. 4, for two violins, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music FestivalCucaraccia and Fugue, for four violas
  • :commissioned by the Token Creek Festival
  • Trio II., for violin, cello and piano
  • :commissioned by the Harris Foundation, Chamber Music America and Meet the Composer for the Amelia TrioSongs America Loves to Sing, for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello
  • :commissioned by the Atlanta Chamber Players and the Da Capo Chamber PlayersAbu Ghraib, for cello and piano
  • :commissioned by the Rockport Festival for Rhonda Rider and David DeveauDeep Dances, for cello and double bass
  • :commissioned by the Bank of America Celebrity Series for Rebecca RiceFrench Horn Suite, for four French horns
  • :commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCortège: in memoriam Donald Sur, for percussion sextet
  • :commissioned by the New England Conservatory Percussion EnsembleDiamond Watch, for two pianos
  • :commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Priscilla Myrick Diamond for Peter Diamond and pianist Robert LevinFinale, Presto, for two violins, viola and celloSonata No. 1, for violin and piano
  • String Quartet No. 5, for two violins, viola and cello
  • :written in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Pro Arte QuartetCrossroads, for soprano or mezzo-soprano, oboe, two violins, viola, cello and double bass or oboe and string orchestraInvention on a Theme of William Shakespeare, for solo cello, two violins, viola and double bassThe Right to Pleasure, for mezzo-soprano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass or piano
  • String Trio, for violin, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by Camerata Pacifica audience membersThe Cross of Snow, for countertenor and four violas da gamba or two violins, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by William John Wartmann in memory of Joyce Frances WartmannPresences, for cello solo, two violins, viola, cello and double bass
  • :commissioned by Charles Felsenthal in memory of David AndersonMark the Date, for flute and piano
  • :commissioned by Asadour SantourianThe Nine Rasas, for clarinet, viola and piano
  • String Quartet No. 6, for two violins, viola and cello
  • :commissioned by the Lark Quartet, Telegraph Quartet and Tanglewood Music CenterIF , for soprano and eight players
  • :commissioned by Boston Musica Viva for the 50th anniversary of Boston Musica Viva, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterSonata for Viola and Piano, for viola and piano
  • :commissioned anonymously in honor of John Harbison's 80th birthday

Vocal

  • Autumnal, for alto and piano
  • Cantata III, for soprano, two violins, viola and cello
  • Moments of Vision, for soprano and tenor doubling handbells, alto recorder/sopranino recorder/bass recorder/alto krumhorn, lute/hurdy-gurdy/dulcimer and gamba
  • Samuel Chapter, for high voice and six players
  • Due Libri, for mezzo-soprano and nine players
  • :commissioned by the New York Philomusica and Robert Levin
  • Mottetti di Montale, for mezzo-soprano and nine players or piano
  • :commissioned by New York Philomusica, the University of Oregon and Collage
  • Mirabai Songs, for soprano/mezzo-soprano and eight players or piano The Rewaking, for soprano and string quartet
  • December 1, for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra
  • La Primavera di Sottoripa, for mezzo-soprano and nine players
  • :commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
  • Il Saliscendi Bianco, for mezzo-soprano and nine players
  • :commissioned by Collage
  • North and South, for soprano/mezzo-soprano and seven players
  • :written for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
  • Ain't Goin' to Study War No More, for baritone, two trumpets, snare drum and string orchestra
  • Milosz Songs, for soprano and orchestra
  • Closer to My Own Life, for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra
  • Crossroads, for soprano or mezzo-soprano, oboe, two violins, viola, cello and double bass or oboe and string orchestra
  • :commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for Dawn Upshaw
  • Seven Poems of Lorine Niedecker, for soprano and piano
  • :composed in honor of the Tanglewood Music Center's 75th anniversary
  • IF , for soprano and eight players
  • :commissioned by Boston Musica Viva in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Boston Musica Viva, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Solo

  • Sonata for Viola Alone
  • Amazing Grace, for oboe
  • :commissioned by oboist Philip West
  • Four Occasional Pieces, for piano
  • :written for André Previn, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and in memory of John Boros, respectively
  • Parody-Fantasia, for piano
  • :adapted from December Music
  • Four Songs of Solitude, for violin
  • :written for the composer's wife, Rose Mary Harbison
  • Four More Occasional Pieces, for piano
  • :written for Joan Tower, Harriet Thiele, Rose Mary Harbison and Milo Feinberg, respectively
  • Sonata No. 1 – In Memoriam Roger Sessions, for piano
  • :commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts for Robert Shannon, Ursula Oppens and Alan Feinberg
  • Suite, for cello
  • Trio Sonata, for piano or harpsichord or fortepiano or electric keyboard
  • :commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Gatsby Etudes, for piano
  • A Violist's Notebook, Book 1, for viola
  • Sonata No. 2, for piano
  • :commissioned by G. Schirmer Associated Music for Robert Levin, to whom the work is dedicated
  • A Violist's Notebook, Book 2, for viola
  • Montale Sketches, for piano
  • :after three poems by Eugenio Montale
  • Ten Micro-Waltzes, for piano
  • Leonard Stein Anagrams
  • :written for Leonard Stein
  • For Violin Alone, for violin
  • :commissioned by 92nd Street Y
  • Painting the Flowers Blue, for violin
  • A Bag of Tails, for piano
  • Nocturne, for piano
  • :commissioned in honor of Linda Reichert’s tenure as Artistic Director of Network for New Music
  • Passage, for piano
  • Suite for Solo Violin, on soggetti cavati, for violin