Loos, Armin

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Loos, Armin

Loos, Armin, German-born American composer; b. Darmstadt, Feb. 20,1904; d. New Britain, Conn., March 23, 1971. He studied law at the Univ. of Dresden, then attended the univs. of Berlin and Geneva and the École Supérieur de Commerce in Neuchâtel, Switzerland; he also had lessons in composition with Paul Buettner. In 1928 he emigrated to the U.S. After living in N.Y., he settled in New Britain, becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1940.

Works

orch.:3 syms.: No. 1, “in memoriam Ferruccio Busoni” (1940), No. 2 for Strings (1940), and No. 3, “in canon form” (1941); Pastoral and Perpetuum mobile (1941); Precepts for Chamber Orch. (1968); Aquarius 70 for Strings (1970); Lento: Prelude to Easter (1970). chamber: 4 string quartets (1933–63); Woodwind Quintet (1964); 2 violin sonatas (1968; 1970–71); piano pieces. vocal:Te Deum for Chorus (1934); Missa spiritorum for Chorus and Orch. (1948); Psalm CXX for Chorus and Orch. (1963); songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire