Portrait of Charles Fussell in 1986, by Maurice Grosser.

Charles Clement Fussell (born February 14, 1938, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina)[1] is an American composer and conductor of contemporary classical music. He has composed six symphonies and three operas.[2] His symphony Wilde for solo baritone and orchestra, based on the life of Oscar Wilde and premiered by the Newton Symphony Orchestra and the baritone Sanford Sylvan in 1990, was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music.[3][4] He received a citation and award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1992.[2][5][6]

Fussell received advanced degrees in composition and conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Thomas Canning and Bernard Rogers. He received a Fulbright grant to study at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, where he worked with Boris Blacher. He also attended the Bayreuth masterclasses of Friedelind Wagner.[2][6] In 1964 he received a Ford Foundation grant to be a composer-in-residence in the Newton, Massachusetts public school system.[7] He was an assistant and close friend of the composer Virgil Thomson.[8] He served as the president of the Thomson Foundation for many years.[6]

Fussell has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the North Carolina School of the Arts (1976–1977), Boston University (1983–2003), and Rutgers University.[1]

Catalogue of works

Late 1950s

  • Essay for Orchestra
  • Variations for Orchestra
  • Six Dances for Orchestra

1962

  • Caligula, opera based on a play by Albert Camus
  • Trio, for violin, cello, and piano

1963

  • Dance Suite, for flute, trumpet, viola, and two percussionists
  • Symphony in One Movement [No. I], for large orchestra

1964

  • Sweelinck Liedvariationen Mein Junges Leben, for solo string trio, marimba, mandolin, harp, and small orchestra
  • Saint Stephen and Herod, drama for speaker, chorus, and winds

1965

  • Poems for Chamber Orchestra and Voices after Hart Crane, text by Hart Crane
  • Three Choral Pieces (rev. 1975), for chorus and piano
    • I. Fancy's Knell (SA and piano)
    • II. Three Epitaphs (TB and piano)
    • III. I Saw a Peacock (mixed chorus and piano)

1967

  • Symphony No. II, for soprano and large orchestra

1968

  • Two Ballades (rev. 1976), for cello and piano
  • The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation, realization after Henry Purcell for soprano and ten instruments

1970

  • Voyages, for soprano and tenor soloists, female chorus, piano, and solo wind instrument plus recorded speaker. Text by Hart Crane.

1971

1973

  • Three Processionals for Orchestra

1975

  • Eurydice, for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, with obligato trumpet, horn, trombone, and bass-drum

1976

  • Résumé, cycle of nine songs for soprano, clarinet, string bass, and piano. Text by Dorothy Parker.
  • Greenwood Sketches, Music for String Quartet
  • A Prophecy, for chorus and piano. Text by Allen Ginsberg.

1977

  • Etudes and Portraits, for solo organ

1979

  • Northern Lights, two portraits for chamber orchestra
    • I. Leós Janacek, for two flutes, four solo violins, timpani, and strings
    • II. Edvard Munch, for two flutes, string quartet, timpani, and string orchestra
  • A Joyful Fugue, transcription for band of an orchestral score by Virgil Thomson

1981

  • Landscapes, Symphony No. III, for chorus and large orchestra
    • I. A Prophecy (Allen Ginsberg)
    • II. A Night Battle (Walt Whitman)
    • III. Moment Fugue 1929 (Hart Crane)
    • IV. Landscape (Alberta Phillips)
  • Four Fairy Tales After Oscar Wilde, for orchestra
    • I. The Young King
    • II. The Nightingale and the Rose
    • III. The Happy Prince
      • A. Prelude
      • B. Romance of the Sparrow and Reed
      • C. Coda
    • IV. The Remarkable Rocket

1982

  • Overture to Paul Bunyan, transcription for band of an orchestral score by Benjamin Britten

1983

  • Song of Return, for SATB chorus with piano. Text by W. H. Auden.

1985

  • Cymbeline, drama after Shakespeare for soprano and tenor soli, narrator, plus chamber ensemble (11 players)

1986

  • The Gift, for SATB chorus with soprano solo. Text by William Carlos Williams.
  • Three Portraits for Chamber Orchestra
    • I. Virgil Thomson (1981)
      • Version for solo piano composed in 2015
    • II. Maurice Grosser (1983)
    • III. Jack Larson (1986)

1988

  • Free-fall, for chamber ensemble (seven players)

1989

  • A Song of Return, cantata for small chorus and orchestra. Text by W. H. Auden.
  • The Gift, for chorus, soprano solo, and orchestra

1990

  • Wilde [Symphony No. IV], for baritone and orchestra. Runner-up for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

1991

  • Goethe Lieder, cycle of five songs with an epilogue
    • 1. Soprano or tenor and piano
    • 2. Version for seven players
    • 3. Version for orchestra
  • Last Trombones, for five percussionists, two pianos, and six (or twelve) trombones

1992

  • Specimen Days, cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra. Text by Will Graham, based on the life and writings of Walt Whitman.

1993

  • Being Music, for baritone solo and string quartet. Text by Walt Whitman.
  • Song and Dance, for violin and piano
  • Invocation, for chorus (SA and accompaniment or SATB). Text by May Sarton.

1994

  • Sonata-Duo, for flute and piano

1995

  • Symphony No. V, for orchestra
  • Night Song, for solo piano

1996

  • Comrade and The Journey, two songs for baritone and piano

1997

  • The Astronaut's Tale, chamber opera. Text by Jack Larson.
  • Mists, three pieces for a cappella chorus. Texts by Hart Crane.

1998

  • November Leaves, four songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Texts by Alfred Corn.
  • Sonnet, for baritone solo, flute, and organ. Text by Elizabeth Bishop.
  • Trio, for violin, cello, and piano

1999

  • From A Pioneer Songbook, for a cappella chorus

2000

  • A Walt Whitman Sampler, for TTBB chorus and piano. Text by Will Graham.
  • Venture, four songs for baritone and piano on poems by Toni Mergentime Levi
    • Version for baritone and orchestra was composed in 2016

2002

  • Right River, Variations on an Original Theme for 'cello and string orchestra

2003

  • Infinite Fraternity, for SATB chorus, baritone solo, flute, and viola. Texts by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Will Graham.
  • High Bridge (rev. 2008), A Choral Symphony [No. VI] after poems of Hart Crane, for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone solos, chorus and orchestra

2008

  • Moonshine, for double bass and vibraphone

2011

  • Marion in Memory, for flute, clarinet, horn, violin, cello, piano, and marimba

2018

  • K.G. in Space and Time, for flute, clarinet, horn, marimba (and vibraphone), piano (and celesta), violin, and cello

References

  1. 1 2 Zullinger, Nathan. “A Guide to the Choral Music of Charles Fussell.” DMA diss., Boston University, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Fussell, Charles. Charles Fussell: Wilde. Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Gil Rose. BMOP/sound 1005, 2008, compact disc. Liner notes.
  3. ↑ Dyer, Richard (October 2, 2004). "Modern Orchestra is in fine voice". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  4. ↑ Valdes, Lesley (May 18, 1992). "Whitman's 'Days' Given Spin As Cantata "We Wanted This To Be A Portrait Of The Whole Man," Says Composer Charles Fussell". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  5. ↑ Fussell, Charles. Charles Fussell: Specimen Days; Being Music. Sanford Sylvan; Cantata Singers. David Hoose. Koch International Classics 3-7338-2H1, 1997, compact disc. Liner notes.
  6. 1 2 3 Fussell, Charles. Charles Fussell: Cymbeline. Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Gil Rose. BMOP/sound 1059, 2018, compact disc. Liner notes.
  7. ↑ "$5,000 Ford Grants For 10 Composers". The New York Times. March 6, 1964. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Rustic Streams Hiding Complicated Traditions". The New York Times. January 14, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
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