Rands, Bernard

Rands, Bernard , remarkable English-born American composer; b. Sheffield, March 2, 1934. He studied piano and organ at home. At the age of 18, he entered the Univ. of Wales in Bangor, majoring in music and English literature. He also developed a passion for Celtic lore; in his student days he became a sort of polyglot, delving into the linguistic mysteries of Welsh, Irish, and Scottish vocables, and on the way acquiring a fluency in French, Italian, and Spanish. He also immersed himself in the hypergrammatical and ultrasyntactic glossolalia of James Joyce. After graduating from the Univ. of Wales (B.Mus., 1956; M.Mus., 1958), he took lessons in musicology with Vlad in Rome and studied composition with Dallapiccola in Florence (1958–60). He also attended seminars in composition and conducting given by Boulez and Maderna at the Darmstadt summer courses in new music, and later consulted with Berio in Milan on problems of electronic music. He was on the faculty of the Univ. of York (1968–75), and then was engaged as a prof. of music at the Univ. of Calif, at San Diego, where he found the musical atmosphere particularly congenial to his innovative ideas. Rands was a visiting prof. at the Calif. Inst. of the Arts in Valencia in 1984–85 while retaining his San Diego post. In 1989 he became prof. of music at Harvard Univ., where he was the Walter Bigelow Rosen Prof. of Music from 1993. He also taught at the Juilliard School in N.Y. In 1982–83 he held a Guggenheim fellowship. In 1983 he became a naturalized American citizen. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1984 for his Canti del sole for Tenor and Orch. From 1989 to 1996 he was composer-in-residence of the Philadelphia Orch. In 1994 he married Augusta Read Thomas .

The sources of Rand’s music are astonishingly variegated, drawing upon religious, mystical, mathematical, and sonoristic premises. At one time he was preoccupied with Hinduism; these interests are reflected in his work Aum, a mantric word (Om) interpreted as having 3 sounds representing the triune stasis of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Despite the complex nature of his compositions, he seems to encounter little resistance on the part of performers and audiences; his music possesses the rare quality of immediate communication. Several Works reflect the scientific bent of his mind, as exemplified by Formants; there are mundane references in the titles of such Works as Mémos (2B and 2D) and Agenda; other sets contain references to sports, as in Wildtrack. Then there are in his catalog educational pieces, such as Sound Patterns, designed to be interpreted by children and professional performers alike. His Canti lunatici penetrate the inner recesses of the human mind in a state of turbulence.

Works

DRAMATIC : Memo 2B for Trombone and Female Dancer (1980); Memo ID for Trombone, String Quartet, and Female Dancer (1980); Belladonna, opera (1999). ORCH.: Per esempio (1968); Wildtrack l (1969) and 2 for Soprano and Orch. (1973); Agenda (1969–70); Mesalliance for Piano and Orch. (1972); Aum for Harp and Orch. (1974); Madrigali, after Monteverdi/Berio (1977); Le Tambourin, 2 suites (both 1984); Ceremonial 1 (1985), 2 (1986), and 3 (N.Y., March 18, 1991); Requiescant (1985–86); Hiraeth for Cello and Orch. (San Diego, Feb. 19, 1987); …Body and Shadow… (1988; Boston, Feb. 22, 1989); London Serenade (1988); Tre canzone senza parole (Philadelphia, April 22, 1992); …Where the Murmurs Die… (N.Y., Dec. 9, 1993); Sym. (Los Angeles, Feb. 24, 1994); Canzoni (1995); Cello Concerto No. 1 (1996); Triple Concerto for Piano, Cello, Percussion, and Orch. (1997). INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE : Actions for 6 for Flute, Harp, 2 Percussion, Viola, and Cello (1962–63); Formants 2 —Labyrinthe for Clarinet, Trombone, Piano, 2 Percussion, Viola, and Cello (1969–70); Tableau for Flute, Clarinet, Piano, Percussion, Viola, and Cello (1970); déjà for Flute, Clarinet, Piano, Percussion, Viola, and Cello (1972); ”as all get out” (1972); Response—Memo IB for Double Bass and Tape or 2 Double Basses (1973); Cuaderno for String Quartet (1974); étendre (1974); Scherzi for Clarinet, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1974); Serenata 75 (1976); Obbligato—Memo 2C for Trombone and String Quartet (1980); Serenata 85 for Flute, Harp, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1986); …in the receding mist… for Flute, Harp, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1988); Ceremonial for Symphonic Wind Ensemble (1993); String Quartet No. 2 (1994); Concertino for Oboe and Ensemble (1996). INSTRUMENTAL SOLO : Tre espressioni for Piano (1960); Formants l—Les Gestes for Harp (1965); Memo 1 for Double Bass (1971), 2 for Trombone (1972), and 5 for Piano (1975). VOICES AND INSTRUMENTS : Sound Patterns 1 for Voices and Hands (1967), 2 for Voices, Percussion, and Instruments (1967), and 3 for Voices (1969); Ballad 1 for Mezzosoprano and 5 Instruments (1970), 2 for Voice and Piano (1970), 3 for Soprano, Tape, and Bell (1973), and 4 for Voices and 20 Instruments (1980); Canti lunatici for Soprano and Orch. (1981); Canti del sole for Tenor and Orch. (1983–84); Flickering Shadows for Solo Voices and Instruments (1983–84); …among the voices… for Chorus and Harp (Cleveland, April 16, 1988); Canti dell’ Eclisse for Bass and Orch. (1992); Interludium for Chorus and Orch. (1995); Requiescant for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1996).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire