David Del Tredici

David Del Tredici , 1937-, American composer, b. Cloverdale, Calif. Originally a pianist, he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at 16, and studied composition with Darius Milhaud (1958). He taught at Harvard (1966-72) and Boston Univ. (1973-84) before joining the faculty of the City Univ. of New York in 1984. Del Tredici has composed for orchestra (sometimes including "folk" instruments), chamber groups, piano, and accompanied voice. His early works, e.g., I Hear an Army (1964) and Syzygy (1966), are in an atonal modernist idiom and largely inspired by the verbal pyrotechnics of James Joyce . For some two decades Del Tredici manifested an obsession with Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, composing many pieces inspired by them. Usually melodic and popular with audiences, these works include An Alice Symphony (1969, rev. 1976), Final Alice (1976), In Memory of a Summer Day (1980, Pulitzer Prize), and Haddock's Eyes (1986). Since the mid-1980s many of the openly gay composer's songs and song cycles, e.g., Gay Life (2001) and Wondrous the Merge (2003), have incorporated poems that celebrate homosexual love; his style has become lusher and more romantic.

Del Tredici, David (Walter) (b Cloverdale, Calif., 1937). Amer. composer and pianist. Turned to comp. 1958, encouraged by Milhaud. Ass. prof. of mus., Harvard Univ. 1966–72; on mus. faculty Boston Univ. 1973–84. Teacher at City Coll. of City Univ., NY, from 1984. Pulitzer Prize in Mus., 1980. Works incl.:Night Conjure-Verse, 2 Joyce poems, sop., mez. or counterten., wind, str. qt. (1965); Syzgy, 2 Joyce poems, sop., hn., chamber orch. (1966); The Last Gospel, amplified sop., rock group, ch., orch. (1967); Pot-Pourri, amplified sop., rock group, ch., orch. (1968); The Lobster Quadrille, extract from In Wonderland, folk group, orch. (1969, rev. 1974); Vintage Alice, text from L. Carroll, amplified sop., folk group, chamber orch. (1972); Adventures Underground ( Carroll), amplified sop., folk group, orch. (1973); In Wonderland (Carroll) Part I, A Scene with Lobsters, amplified sop., folk group, orch. (1969–74), Part II, amplified sop., orch. (1975); Final Alice (Carroll), amplified sop., folk group, orch. (1976); Annotated Alice, amplified sop., folk group, orch. (1976); Child Alice, orch., in 4 parts: In memory of a summer day, Happy Voices, All in the golden afternoon, and Quaint Events (1977–81, f.p. Aspen 1984); March to Tonality, orch. (1983–5); Haddock's Eyes, sop., chamber ens. (1985–6); Steps, orch. (1990).