Ceely, Robert (Paige)
Ceely, Robert (Paige)
Ceely, Robert (Paige), American composer and teacher; b. Torrington, Conn., Jan. 17, 1930. He studied at the New England Cons. of Music (B.Mus., 1954), with Milhaud and Kirchner at Mills Coll. (M.A., 1955), with Sessions at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (1955), and with Sessions, Babbitt, and Cone (analysis) and Strunk (musicology) at Princeton Univ. (1957–59). He also attended the summer courses in new music in Darmstadt (1962, 1964), and seminars in electronic music and digital sound synthesis in the U.S. He taught at the U.S. Naval School of Music (1955–57), Robert Coll. in Istanbul (1961–63), the New England Cons, of Music (1967–97), where he also was founder-director of its electronic music studio (1995–97), Emmanuel Coll. (1969–73), and Northeastern Univ. (1984–85). He publ. Electronic Music Resource Book (1983).
Works
DRAMATIC: Kyros, theatrical documentary for Viola, Optics, and Tape (1969); Beyond the Ghost Spectrum, ballet (1969); Automobile Graveyard, opera after Fernando Arrabal (Boston, Feb. 21, 1995). chamber: String Trio (1953); Wind Quintet (1954); Composition for 10 Instruments (1963); Logs for 2 Double Basses (1968); Slide Music for Trombone Quartet (1974); Rituals for 40 Flutes (1978); Bottom Dogs for 4 Double Basses (1981); Roundels for Wind Ensemble and Tape (1981); Totems for Oboe and Tape (1982); Dialogues for Flute (1983); Pitch Dark for Jazz Ensemble (1985); Synoecy for Clarinet and Tape (1986); Timeshares for Percussion Ensemble (1989); Post hoc, ergo propter hoc for Bass Clarinet (1989); Harlequin for Double Bass and Tape (1990); Hypallage for Trumpet and Tape (1990); Roundels, Book 4, La Valse Twist for Wind Ensemble (1993); Group Sax for 5 Saxophonists (Boston, Feb. 6, 1996); Music for Ten for 10 Instruments (Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 10, 1996); Auros for Oboe, Clarinet, Piano, Violin, and Cello (Cambridge, Mass., March 29, 1997); Wieman’s treibt, so geht’s for Bass Clarinet and Tape (Boston, April 3, 1997); Gymel for 2 Oboes (Cambridge, Mass., May 16, 1998); Triple Double for Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon, and Tape (Brookline, Mass., May 10, 1999). keyboard: piano:Piano Piece (1980); Minute Rag (in honor of Gunther Schuller’s 60th birthday; 1985); Special K, variations (1989); Asyndeton for Piano and Tape (1993). tape:Stratti (1963); Elegia (1964); Vonce (1967); Mitsyn 1971 (1971); La Fleur, les fleurs (1975); Infractions for Tape (1985); Enchanted Cycles for Computer-generated Tape (Boston, May 2, 1996). vocal:Flee, Floret, Florens for 15 Solo Voices (1979).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire