George Rochberg

George Rochberg, (July 5, 1918, Paterson, New Jersey – May 29, 2005, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American composer. He abandoned serialism after 1963 when his son died, saying that serialism was empty of expressive emotion and was inadequate to express his grief and rage. By the seventies he was causing controversy with often obviously tonal music. He compared atonality to abstract art and tonality to concrete art and compared his artistic evolution with Philip Guston's, saying "the tension between concreteness and abstraction" is a fundamental issue for both of them (Rochberg, 1992).

Related Topics:
July 5 - 1918 - Paterson, New Jersey - May 29 - 2005 - Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania - American - Composer - Serialism - 1963 - Seventies - Tonal music - Atonality - Abstract art - Tonality - Concrete art - Philip Guston - Concrete - Abstract

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Rochberg is perhaps best known for his "String Quartet No. 6" (recorded by the Concord String Quartet), which includes a movement of variations on the Pachelbel Canon in D.

Related Topics:
Concord String Quartet - Pachelbel - Canon in D

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Many of his works were musical collages of quotations from other composers. "Contra Mortem et Tempus", for expample, contains passages from Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, Edgard Varese and Charles Ives.

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Collage - Pierre Boulez - Luciano Berio - Edgard Varese - Charles Ives

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Rochberg attended the Mannes College of Music, where one of his teachers was George Szell. He was the chairman of the music department at the University of Pennsylvania until 1968, and continued to teach there until 1983.

Related Topics:
Mannes College of Music - George Szell - University of Pennsylvania - 1968 - 1983

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