Argento, Dominick

Argento, Dominick (b York, Penn., 1927). Amer. composer. Mus. dir., Hilltop Opera, Baltimore, 1958. Member of Dept. of Mus., Minnesota Univ., from 1958 (Regents Prof. from 1980). Co-founder, 1963, of Center Opera Co. (now Minnesota Opera). Pulitzer Prize 1975 for From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, commissioned by Janet Baker. Primarily interested in opera. Works incl.:

OPERAS: The Boor (1957); Colonel Jonathan the Saint (1958–60); Christopher Sly (1962); The Masque of Angels (1963); The Shoemaker's Holiday (1967); Postcard from Morocco (1971); The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe (1975–6); Miss Havisham's Fire (1978–9); Casanova's Homecoming (1980–4); The Aspern Papers (1986–8); The Dream of Valentino (1993).MONODRAMAS: A Waterbird Talk (1974); Miss Havisham's Wedding Night (1980).BALLET: The Resurrection of Don Juan (1955).ORCH.: Divertimento, pf., str. (1955); Ode to the West Wind, conc. for sop., orch. (1956); Suite, Resurrection of Don Juan (1956); Songs About Spring, 5 songs for high v., orch. (1960); From the Album of Allegra Harper, 1867 (suite from opera Colonel Jonathan) (1961); Royal Invitation, or Homage to the Queen of Tonga (1964); Suite, Royal Invitation (1964); Variations (The Mask of Night) (1965); Bravo Mozart!, vn., ob., hn., chamber orch. (1969); A Ring of Time (1972); In Praise of Music (1977); Fire Variations (1981–2); Casa Guidi, 5 songs for mez., orch. (1983); Le Tombeau d'Edgar Poe (1985); Capriccio: Rossini in Paris, cl., orch. (1985).CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qt. (1956).CHORAL: Gloria, mixed ch., pf. (1963); Revelation of St John the Divine, ten., male ch., brass, perc. (1966); A Nation of Cowslips, 7 Keats songs for unacc. ch. (1968); Tria Carmina Paschalia, women's vv., harp, guitar (1970); Jonah and the Whale, oratorio, ten., bass, narrator, ch., chamber ens. (1973); Peter Quince at the Clavier, ch., pf. (1981); Te Deum, ch., orch. (1987).SONG-CYCLES: Songs About Spring, sop., pf. (1950 and 1955, with orch. 1960); 6 Elizabethan Songs, ten. (or sop.), pf. (1957), high v., baroque ens. (1960); Letters from Composers, 7 songs, high v., gui. (1968); To be Sung Upon the Water, high v., pf., cl., bcl. (1973); From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, medium v., pf. (1974); I Hate and I Love, ch., perc. (1981); The Andree Expedition, bar., pf. (1982).