Persichetti, Vincent Ludwig
Born: June 6, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: August 15, 1987, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Composer, Educator, Pianist, Author
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Keywords: Concierto for Piano- Four Hands; Guggenheim Fellowship; Juilliard School of Music; National Institute of Arts and Letters; National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities; the Piano Quintet, the Piano Sonata no. 10; Symphony for Strings; Twentieth Century Harmony, Creative Aspects and Practice;
Abstract: Composer Vincent Persichetti was born in Philadelphia in 1915. From the young age of two years old, Vincent Persichetti was fascinated with learning to produce music on both the piano and the organ. As Persichetti matured he educated himself in music theory, conducting, and composition at the Combs Conservatory of Music. He pursued his career, of music study, at the Curtis Institute of Music where he would also meet and court Dorothea Flanagan, a very talented pianist and student at the institute. During the 1950’s Persichetti would compose some of his most famous sonatas, conciertos, and orchestral pieces. After some forty years associated with the Juilliard School of Music, Persichetti died in 1987.
Biography:
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was born on June 6, 1915. As a child, Persichetti was raised in South Philadelphia in an Italian neighborhood. Although Persichetti’s parents, Martha Catherine Buch and Vincent Roger Persichetti, were not musicians themselves, they nurtured their son’s desire to begin a career in the performance and study of music. As a child of two years, Vincent Persichetti requested to begin taking piano lessons. When Vincent Persichetti was four years old, his family moved to South Broad Street in Philadelphia. An explorer of the world of music, Persichetti soon ascertained that Mr. Combs, the founder of the Combs Conservatory of Music, only lived six houses down the road. Thus as a result of Combs’ availability to Persichetti, the young, ambitious child would constantly visit and question the musical maestro, Mr. Combs, on his knowledge of music. Persichetti began his study of performing, on the piano, at age five, under the instruction of William Stanger. As a musician, Persichetti also became a competent performer with the organ as well as the double-bass, or tuba. In 1921, at only six years of age, Persichetti made his first appearance in a piano recital. As a result of his success and mastery of his musical craft, Persichetti was granted admission into the Combs Conservatory of Music. At this music-focused learning institute, Persichetti would immerse himself in the study of music theory taught by Russell King Miller. The knowledge that Miller imparted on Persichetti was vital for his preparation and execution on his first radio performance, on the piano, in 1925.
In 1935, at age 20, Persichetti had begun to study the piano, under Olga Samaroff, a seasoned pianist who had the privilege of studying as a pupil under the supervision of Antoine Francois Marmontel, at the Conservatoire de Paris, and Ernest Jedliczka. As a young man, Persichetti continued his education at the Curtis Institute of Music, a conservatory in Philadelphia, and attained a master’s and a doctorate degree. Although Persichetti was a student of the Curtis Institute, he held the position of head of the theory department. In the same year, 1941, Persichetti married Dorothea Flanagan, a fellow student of piano at the Curtis Institute. As a young composer before the age of 35, many of Persichetti’s works demonstrated his thorough appreciation, and admiration, of older composers such as Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Bartok, and Hindemith. In 1947, Persichetti was invited to join the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music, a posting he would fill for the rest of his life.
During the 1950’s, Persichetti was perceived to “truly achieve his own distinctive voice,” in the words of Walter G. Simmons. One of Persichetti’s most revered compositions is his Concierto for Piano, Four Hands. This duet, for two pianists, was first performed at the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival on November 29, 1952. The piece itself gives the listener the illusion that the two pianists are having a pleasant conversation, without the use of any words but, by mere musical notes. The duet featured, both Vincent and Dorothea Persichetti, as the performers. A review of this piece by Colin Mason, of the Manchester Guardian, stated, “The Concierto for Piano, Four Hands was for me one of the most interesting stimulating American works of the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival.”
Persichetti’s Piano Sonata No. 10 also proved to be a most notable one of his compositions. This work, composed in 1955, is considered to be Persichetti’s “longest and possible most elaborate of the composer’s piano sonatas.” His 10th sonata, a movement of which takes twenty minutes to perform, is viewed as a “highly cerebral music with charm, grace, tenderness, and dynamism.” One distinctive characteristic of Persichetti’s compositions is the continuous development of a meditative state of mind among his audiences. Persichetti would continue to baffle many students and colleagues with his fluency in composing beautiful harmonies and interactions between the orchestra and soloist. That was demonstrated in his Piano Quintet, Opus 66 which was composed in 1954 to be performed by a piano with the accompaniment of strings, and his Symphony No.5, “Symphony for Strings,” which was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and commissioned by Riccardo Muti and Charles Dutoit.
Persichetti would add to his prolific music career by writing his instructional book, Twentieth Century Harmony, Creative Aspects and Practice, which is valuable to students because of its literary clarity and its in-depth analysis which “reflect his all-encompassing experience as a composer, performer, scholar, and artist-teacher.” The organizational scheme of this literary, instructional book is “clear and complete” as a result of its well segmented chapters which “progresses logically from the relatively simple to complex.” Persichetti’s non-partisan method of writing allows the reader “to examine what composers of this century (the 20th century) actually have accomplished and, further, to organize the harmonic materials 20th –century-composers have created in terms of objective presentation of the problems, procedures, and solutions.” Since the book does not solely discuss Persichetti’s method of composition, students are able to compare, and contrast, Persichetti’s methods, sources of inspiration, from that of other great American composers. Twentieth Century Harmony also provides the reader with a humorous, idiom unique to Persichetti. For instance, William Schuman writes that “Persichetti is too impatient to be obliged to use a whole phrase to describe a harmony combining the major and minor modes.” His solution was embodied in the word “mijor.” As a true all around musician Persichetti was well-acquainted with and skilled in his ability to play both the piano and organ, affinity to score read, transpose, and produce his own melodious, musical masterpieces. This book serves to map out necessary measures to become an effective composer, and is written by author who is most credible due to his experience and success with the performance and composition of music.
Without a doubt, Persichetti’s musical career was one worthy of merit and distinguished awards; one of which was the Guggenheim Fellowship. The Guggenheim Fellowships are grants which allocate the composer, or artist, a minimum time of six months and a maximum of 12 months to creatively compose with as much freedom as necessary. Persichetti received three Guggenheim grants during his career. Persichetti also received grants from the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, a federally funded program, established in 1965, which allots grants to artists for projects in the arts, education, and research in humanities. Another distinction was Persichetti’s grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1898, the Institute was founded for the purpose of nurturing literature and the fine arts in the U.S. Only 250 members exist in this institute, all of which, are only given grants based on original, creative work of outstanding merit.
However, on August 15, 1987, this talented composer, educator, and performer died. Vincent Persichetti was a permanent resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from early childhood to the end of his life in 1987. For twentieth century composers, Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was believed to have developed into a musical genius, comparable to any classical composer. Persichetti’s production of numerous sonatas and symphonies, arranged for both string and brass orchestras, as well as, piano and organ soloists, proved that Persichetti had successfully harnessed his gift of performance into a creative power.
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This biography was prepared by Matthew A. Kontogianis.