Matthew Greenbaum

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Matthew Jonathan Greenbaum (born February 12, 1950) is an American musician, composer and author.

Background[]

Born in New York City, Greenbaum studied privately with Stefan Wolpe, and with Mario Davidovsky at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in Composition from the City University of New York Graduate Center (1985), and has served as a professor of music composition at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance since 1998.[1]

Since 1999 Greenbaum has worked with computer animation to create hybrid works of visual music, as well as chamber music with a video component. Greenbaum has also written on Debussy, Schoenberg and Varèse in relation to Wolpe's dialectical and "cubist" approach to musical structure. He is the curator of Amphibian, a new music and video series in the Hi Art Gallery in New York City.[2][failed verification]

Music[]

Greenbaum's most significant work is Nameless, a 25-minute wordless psalm for three sopranos and two chamber ensembles. It was composed for the Momenta Quartet and the Cygnus Ensemble, and bears a quotation from the Medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides.[3]

Awards[]

Greenbaum's awards include the following:[2]

Selected works[]

Solo instrument[]

  • Double Song for viola sola: In memoriam Milton Babbitt (2011)
  • Chaconne by Attrition for solo violin (2006)
  • You Crack Me Up for piano solo (2012)
  • Ballate for solo piano (2005)
  • Mute Dance for solo guitar (2000)
  • Elegy for solo piano (1998)
  • Amulet for solo piano (1990)

Solo instrument with piano[]

  • Untimely Observations for viola and piano (2002)
  • Dance Moments for flute/violin and piano (2000)
  • Nod Quiet Ox for oboe and piano (1994)
  • On the river the shadowy group for baritone sax and piano (1993)

Chamber music[]

  • More Venerable Canons for string quartet (2014)
  • Venerable Canons for flute and violin (2007)
  • Es ist zum Lachen for oboe, trombone, violin, cello, percussion and piano (2008) (commissioned by Ensemble Surplus and the Serge Koussevitzky Fund/Library of Congress
  • Castelnau for string quartet (2002)
  • Enharmonicon for clarinet trumpet and violin (1994)

Chamber music with voice[]

  • Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes for soprano and two guitars (2014)
  • West-Östicher Divan (2010) for soprano and 2 guitars (2010)
  • Wild Rose, Lily, Dry Vanilla for soprano, flute, oboe, violin, cello, guitar and banjo (2004)
  • Psalter for mezzo, alto flute, English horn, string trio harp and piano (1992)

Orchestral music[]

  • The Jig is Up for oboe and string orchestra (2009)
  • Nameless for three sopranos, alto flute, English horn, violin, cello guitar and mandolin and string quartet (2009)
  • Spherical Music for piano and chamber orchestra (1995)

Theater works[]

Visual music (video animation and electronic sound)[]

  • I saw the Procession of the Empress on First Avenue (2014)
  • Automat (2012)
  • Headshot (2012)
  • 23 Skidoo (2011)
  • On Broadway (2008)

With instruments/voice[]

  • Leviathan for trombone and video animation (2016)
  • Effacement for piano and video animation (2014)
  • Bits and Pieces for saxophone and video animation (2012)
  • Rope and Chasm for mezzo-soprano and video animation (2010–13)

Recordings[]

  • Double Song for viola sola, a contribution to Perspectives of New Music's memorial to Milton Babbitt, Spring 2012[4]
  • Nameless and other Works: Furious Artisans Recordings; The Cygnus Ensemble and the Momenta Quartet, with sopranos Priscilla Herreid, Elizabeth Farnum and Julie Bishop, mezzo-soprano Re'ut Ben Ze'ev, and violinist Miranda Cuckson
    • Nameless for three sopranos, alto flute, English horn, violin, cello guitar and mandolin and string quartet (2009)
    • Wild Rose, Lily, Dry Vanilla for mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, violin, cello, guitar and banjo
    • Chaconne by Attrition for violin alone
    • Venerable Canons for flute and violin
  • Psalter and other works, Centaur #2789
    • Psalter, Joyce Castle/Parnassus
    • Prospect Retrospect for cello and piano: Fred Sherry/Blair McMillen
    • from A Floating Island: Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène
    • Castelnau for string quartet: The Momenta Quartet
    • Elegy: David Holzman, piano
    • Untimely Observations for viola and piano: Stephanie Griffin/Blair McMillen
  • Nod Quiet Ox for oboe and piano: Fabian Menzel and Bernhard Endres. Antes/Bella Musica
  • Amulet, for piano solo: David Holzman, Centaur CRC 2291
  • Chamber Music, for flute, cello and piano: The Contemporary Trio re-release. New World NWCRL513

Articles[]

Greenbaum is the author of the following articles:

  • "Dialectic in Miniature: Schoenberg's 'Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke Op. 19.'" Ex Tempore (Summer 2010)
  • "Surrealism in New York." New Music Jukebox (American Music Center) (Fall 2009)[5]
  • "Debussy, Wolpe and Dialectical Form." Contemporary Music Review: Stefan Wolpe Issue (Spring 2008)
  • "The Proportions of Density 21.5: Wolpean Symmetries in the Music of Edgard Varèse", On the Music of Stefan Wolpe. Austin Clarkson, ed. Pendragon (Hillsdale, New York: 2003)
  • "Stefan Wolpe's Dialectical Logic: A Look at the 'Second Piece for Violin Alone' ", Perspectives of New Music, vol. 40, no. 2 (2002)[6]
  • Stefan Wolpe, "On Proportions" trans. Matthew Greenbaum. Perspectives of New Music 34/2 (1996)

References[]

  1. ^ "Matthew J. Greenbaum". Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Matthew Greenbaum". American Composers Alliance. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "Nameless: Works by Matthew Greenbaum". New Focus Recordings.
  4. ^ "Supplemental Issue – Milton Babbit: A Composer's Memorial". Perspectives of New Music. 49 (2S). Spring 2012. JSTOR 10.7757/persnewmusi.49.issue-2s.
  5. ^ "New Music Box".[dead link]
  6. ^ Greenbaum, Matthew (Summer 2002). "Stefan Wolpe's Dialectical Logic: A Look at the 'Second Piece for Violin Alone'". Perspectives of New Music. 40 (2): 91–114. JSTOR 25164488.
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