Blackwood, Easley,
American composer; b. Indianapolis, April 21,1933. He
studied piano in his hometown and appeared
as a soloist with the Indianapolis Sym. Orch. at age 14; studied
composition during summers at the Berkshire Music Center (1948—50),
notably with Messiaen in 1949; then with Bernhard Heiden at Indiana Univ.
and Hindemith at Yale (1949—51); received his M.A. from Yale in 1954; then
went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger (1954—56). In 1958 he was
appointed to the faculty of the Univ. of Chicago. His music is marked by
impassioned Romantic éclat and is set in a highly evolved chromatic idiom.
Blackwood is an accomplished pianist, particularly notable for his
performances of modern works of transcendental difficulty, such as the
Concord Sonata of Ives and the 2nd Piano Sonata of Boulez. Hepubl. The
Structure of Recognizable Diatornc Tunings (Princeton, N.J.,
1986).
Works: 5 syms.: No. 1 (1954—55; Boston,
April 18, 1958; - won the Koussevitzky Music Foundation prize); No. 2
(1960; Cleveland, Jan. 5, 1961; commissioned for the centenary of the
music firm G. Schirmer); No. 3 for Small Orch. (1964; Chicago, March
7,1965); No. 4 (1973); No. 5(1978); Chamber Sym. for 14 Wind Instruments
(1955); Clarinet Concerto (Cmcinnati, Nov. 20, 1964); Symphonic Fantasy
(Louisville, Sept. 4, 1965); Concerto for Oboe and String Orch.
(1966); Violin Concerto (Bath, England, June 18, 1967); Concerto for Flute
and String Orch. (Hanover, N.H., July 28, 1968); Piano Concerto(1969—70;
Highland Park, Ill.,July 26, 1970); Viola Sonata (1953); 2 string quartets
(1957,1959); Concertino for 5 Instruments (1959); 2 violin sonatas (1960,
1973); Fantasy for Cello and Piano (1960); Pastorale and Variations
for Wind Quintet (1961); Fantasy for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (1965); 3
Short Fantasies for Piano (1965); Symphonic Episode for
Organ (1966); Un Voyage a Cythère for Soprano and 10 Players
(1966); Piano Trio (1968); l2Microtonal Etudes for
Synthesizer(1982).
