Machlis, Joseph
Machlis, Joseph
Machlis, Joseph, Latvian-born American writer on music and pedagogue; b. Riga, Aug. 11,1906; d. N.Y., Oct. 17,1998. He was taken to the U.S. as an infant. He studied at the Coll. of the City Univ. of N.Y. (B.A., 1927), and at the Inst. of Musical Art (teacher’s diploma, 1927). He later took an M.A. in English literature from Columbia Univ. (1938). He was on the music faculty of Queens Coll. of N.Y. (1938–74), and then on the graduate faculty at the Juilliard School (from 1976). He made English trs. of a number of opera librettos, and pubi, several well-written texts: the immensely popular The Enjoyment of Music (N.Y., 1955; 8th ed., 1999), Introduction to Contemporary Music (N.Y., 1961; 2nd ed., 1979), American Composers of Our Time (N.Y., 1963), and Getting to Know Music (N.Y., 1966). He also pubi. 5 novels.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire